Method and apparatus for economic exploitation of waiting time of customers at call centers, contact centers or into interactive voice response (IVR) systems
First Claim
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a detector to determine that a caller is waiting for service;
a timer that is initiated when said caller is detected as waiting, said timer being stopped when said caller is detected as no longer waiting, wherein a waiting time of said caller, as measured by said timer, is stored as waiting time data;
a calculator, as executed by a processor on a computer, to calculate an estimated waiting time for said caller;
a presentation module to present an advertisement to said waiting caller; and
a selection module to select said advertisement presented to said caller from a plurality of advertisements available for presentation to callers,wherein said calculator divides said estimated waiting time into a plurality of slots, said selected advertisement being presented to said caller in a first slot of said plurality of slots,wherein a compensation is provided to have said advertisement presented to the waiting caller,wherein said selection module makes a selection based upon a priority that is determined based upon;
a relative importance of slots of said plurality of slots; and
a relative importance of presenting a specific advertisement based on what is known or can be deduced about said caller,wherein a price that an advertiser pays is based at least in part upon said priority, andwherein said waiting time data is used for calculation of a likelihood that a caller will continue to wait, including a likelihood that a caller will remain waiting for each time slot.
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Abstract
A structure and method includes a detector to determine that a caller is waiting for service. A presentation module presents an advertisement to the waiting caller, wherein a compensation is paid to have the advertisement presented to the waiting caller.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a detector to determine that a caller is waiting for service; a timer that is initiated when said caller is detected as waiting, said timer being stopped when said caller is detected as no longer waiting, wherein a waiting time of said caller, as measured by said timer, is stored as waiting time data; a calculator, as executed by a processor on a computer, to calculate an estimated waiting time for said caller; a presentation module to present an advertisement to said waiting caller; and a selection module to select said advertisement presented to said caller from a plurality of advertisements available for presentation to callers, wherein said calculator divides said estimated waiting time into a plurality of slots, said selected advertisement being presented to said caller in a first slot of said plurality of slots, wherein a compensation is provided to have said advertisement presented to the waiting caller, wherein said selection module makes a selection based upon a priority that is determined based upon; a relative importance of slots of said plurality of slots; and a relative importance of presenting a specific advertisement based on what is known or can be deduced about said caller, wherein a price that an advertiser pays is based at least in part upon said priority, and wherein said waiting time data is used for calculation of a likelihood that a caller will continue to wait, including a likelihood that a caller will remain waiting for each time slot. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of utilizing call waiting time as a source of revenue, said method comprising:
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detecting that a caller is waiting for service; calculating an expected waiting time for said waiting caller; automatically dividing said estimated waiting time into a plurality of time slots by a process of selecting and presenting an advertisement to said waiting caller, as performed by a processor on a computer, based on a selection priority and said expected waiting time, said selection priority being determined based upon; a relative importance of each time slot of said plurality of time slots; and a relative importance of presenting a specific advertisement based on what is known or can be deduced about said caller; at an end of each said advertisement presentation, determining whether said caller is still waiting; if it is determined that said caller is still waiting, selecting and presenting, as based on said selection priority and a residual of said expected waiting time, another advertisement to said waiting caller in each of successive time slots for as long as said caller is determined to still be waiting; and if it is determined that said caller is no longer waiting, storing data for said caller'"'"'s waiting for service, wherein a compensation is paid to have said advertisement presented to waiting callers to a provider/operator, by advertisers desiring to have their advertisements presented to callers that call said provider/operator for services. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of operating at least one of a call center, a contact center, and an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, said method comprising:
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detecting that a client is waiting for service; calculating an expected waiting time for said client'"'"'s service wait and dividing said expected waiting time into slots of time for advertising; and selecting and presenting, in each said slot of time, an advertisement to said waiting client, as executed by a processor on a computer, and as based on a selection priority, said selection priority being determined based upon; a relative importance of said slots; and a relative importance of presenting a specific advertisement based on what is known or can be deduced about said caller, wherein a compensation is paid to a provider/operator of said call center, contact center, or IVR system to have said advertisement presented to waiting clients. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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Specification