TECHNICAL SUPPORT AGENT AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICE DELIVERY PLATFORM

• US 20080172574A1
• Filed: 12/28/2007
• Published: 07/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Troppus Software Corporation
• Original Assignee: Peak8 Partners LLC
• Inventors: Fisher, John W.
• Granted Patent: US 8,271,402 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/25
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/02 Knowledge representation; Symbolic representation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063112 Skill-based matching of a person or a group to a task
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

An embodiment of a method for providing technical support service includes generating a plurality of problem resolutions that are determined to resolve an identified technical problem; attributing weights to each of said plurality of problem resolutions according to frequency of use; and in response to a request to resolve said identified problem, selecting a problem resolution from among said plurality of problem resolutions based at least in part on said attributed weights.

Claims

1. A method for providing technical support service, the method comprising:

gathering a plurality of problem resolutions that are determined to resolve an identified technical problem;

attributing weights to each of said plurality of problem resolutions according to frequency of use; and

in response to a request to resolve said identified problem, selecting a problem resolution from among said plurality of problem resolutions based at least in part on said attributed weights.

2. The method of claim 1, delivering said selected problem resolution to a client application that generated said request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting a problem resolution from among said plurality of problem resolutions comprises selecting said problem resolution having said greatest weight among said plurality of problem resolutions.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising classifying each of said plurality of problem resolutions according to skill level required to implement said problem resolution.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein selecting a problem resolution from among said plurality of problem resolutions further comprises selecting a problem resolution based at least part on skill level required to implement said problem resolution.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising inferring a skill level of an end user of a client application that generated said request.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein selecting a problem resolution further comprises selecting said problem resolution based at least in part on the skill level of the end user.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising assigning skill levels to said plurality of problem resolutions.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein selecting a problem resolution further comprises selecting a problem resolution assigned a skill level corresponding to the end user'"'"'s skill level.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein inferring a skill level to said end user comprises inferring said skill level based on usage patterns determined about said end user.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising auditing said end user'"'"'s system to determine said usage patterns.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein an initial skill level of the end user is established.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the initial skill level is established based on input from the end user.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the initial skill level is set to default skill level.

15. A method of providing technical support to an end user of an end user system, the method comprising:

inferring skill level of said end user based on usage patterns of said end user; and

selecting a problem resolution to resolve an identified technical problem exhibited by said end user system, wherein selecting a problem resolution is based at least in part on said skill level of said send user.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising prioritizing resolutions based on relationships between agent skill level, end user skill level and applicably weighted resolutions.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising delivering the selected problem resolution to said end user.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising assigning a skill level to each problem resolution among a plurality of problem resolutions determined to resolve the identified problem.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein selecting a problem resolution further comprises selecting a problem resolution assigned a skill level matching said skill level inferred to said end user.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising auditing said end user system to determine said usage patterns.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein auditing comprises gathering usage pattern information from said end user system.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein auditing comprises gathering usage pattern information indicative of one or more applications of said end user system used by said end user.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising storing said gathered usage pattern information in a repository remote from said end user system.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein said gathered usage pattern information in said repository is accessible by one or more technical support agents.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein said selecting a problem resolution comprises a technical support agent in communication with said end user selecting a problem resolution.

26. The method of claim 15, wherein selecting a problem resolution further comprises selecting a problem resolution based at least in part on weights assigned to a plurality of problem resolutions determined to resolve the identified technical problem.

27. The method of claim 15, wherein said end user system comprises a computing system.

28. The method of claim 15, wherein said end user system comprise one of a medical system, a vehicle system, a satellite system, a telecommunications device, and a television system.

29. The method of claim 25, further comprising assigning weights to the plurality of problem resolutions based on frequency of use of said plurality of problem resolutions.

30. A method for delivering a service, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a client application for a service to satisfy a need, the client application including one or more disabled licensable features;

determining that one of the one or more disabled licensable features could provide the service to satisfy the need; and

enabling the one of the one or more disabled licensable features.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein enabling the one of the one more disabled licensable features comprises remotely enabling the one of the one or more disabled licensable features.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising determining the one or more disabled licensable features.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the one or more licensable features are associated with a key uniquely identifying the client application, a provider of the one or more licensable features, and the one or more licensable features.

34. The method of claim 30, wherein the request for a service to satisfy a need comprises a request for technical support to resolve a technical problem.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the one of the one or more licensable feature is determined based on a collection of previously identified technical problems and associated resolutions.

36. The method of claim 30, wherein receiving a request from a client application comprises receiving a message by way of a chat application.

37. The method of claim 30, wherein enabling the one of the one or more disabled licensable features comprises an agent selecting one or more activation buttons associated with the one or more licensable features.

38. The method of claim 30, further comprising establishing a connection between the client application and an agent application.

39. The method of claim 30, wherein the client application comprises a embedded browser.

40. The method of claim 30, wherein the client application is independent of an operating system and browser.

41. The method of claim 30, wherein the request is received by an agent application operable to present a list of the one or more disabled licensable features on and output device.

42. The method of claim 30, further comprising monetizing each of the one or more disabled licensable features.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein monetizing comprises attributing a monetary value to each of the one or more disabled licensable features.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising modifying a service subscription fee according to the monetary value attributed to the enabled feature.

45. The method of claim 30, wherein the one or more disabled features comprise one or more of:

a chat feature;

a provider feature offered by a service provider;

a history feature;

a phone support feature;

a settings feature;

a filtered help feature;

a smart help feature;

a remote control feature.

46. The method of claim 30, wherein the client application executes on an end user system, and wherein the one or more disabled features comprise software modules stored on the end user system.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein enabling the one of the one or more disabled features comprises an agent, remote from the end user system, sending a command to the client system to enable the one of the one or more licensable features.

48. The method of claim 46, wherein the sending a command to the client system occurs during an interactive communication session between the end user and the agent.

49. A method for delivering a service, the method comprising:

establishing communication with a client application executing on a client system, the client application including one or more disabled features;

selecting one of the one or more disabled features based at least in part on client system parameters; and

enabling the selected one of the one or more disabled features.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising auditing the client system.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein auditing the client system comprises gathering usage data, indicating how the client system is used.

52. The method of claim 49, further comprising monetizing each of the one or more disabled features.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein monetizing comprises attributing a monetary value to each of the one or more disabled features.

54. The method of claim 53, further comprising modifying a service subscription fee according to the monetary value attributed to the enabled feature.

55. The method of claim 49, wherein the one or more disabled features comprise one or more of:

a chat feature providing;

a provider feature offered by a service provider;

a history feature;

a phone support feature;

a settings feature;

a filtered help feature;

a smart help feature;

a remote control feature.

56. The method of claim 49, wherein enabling the selected one of the one or more disabled features comprises a technical support agent sending a command to the client application.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the sending of the command comprises sending the command during an established communication session with an end user of the client application.

58. The method of claim 56, wherein the sending of the command comprises sending the command to an end user of the client application when the end user is offline, and wherein the command is executed by the technical support agent when the user is offline.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein the client application receives the command at a later time when the end user comes online.

60. The method of claim 49, further comprising capturing the client system parameters.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the client system parameters are captured during the established communication.

62. The method of claim 49, wherein the one or more disabled features are stored on the client system and wherein enabling the selected one of the one or more disabled features comprises sending a command to the client application from a location remote from the client system.

63. A method for delivering technical support service, the method comprising:

selecting a customer via a customer selection graphical element; and

presenting an adaptive ticket data entry region for entry of problem report ticket data for a selected problem report ticket associated with the selected customer, wherein the ticket data entry region includes a plurality of ticket data entry fields, wherein data options that are selectable in at least one data entry field adapt in response to one or more data option selections in at least one other data entry field.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein one of the ticket data entry fields is adapted to receive data specifying an appliance to which the given problem relates, and wherein another of the data entry fields is adapted to receive data further defining the given problem, and wherein the data available for entry in the another field is limited to predetermined data associated with the specified appliance.

65. The method of claim 63, wherein the plurality of ticket data entry fields comprise two or more of a ticket identification field, an appliance field, a computer group field, a computer type field, a manufacturer field, an interface/application field, a model/version field, a symptom field, an error message field, a symptom field, a problem description field, and a ticket status field.

66. The method of claim 63, further comprising presenting a history graphical element, wherein selection of the history graphical element causes presenting a history data region including history of the selected problem report ticket.

67. The method of claim 63, wherein the plurality of ticket data entry fields comprises a ticket identification field having ticket identifiers identifying a plurality of problem report tickets associated with the customer.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein the ticket identifiers are selectable.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein the problem report ticket data that is presented in the adaptive ticket data entry region relates to the selected problem report ticket.

70. An adaptable problem report ticket comprising:

a customer identifier;

a problem report ticket identifier;

a plurality of data elements wherein a first data element is selected from a first set of data options, and wherein a second data element is selected from a second set of data options, and wherein the second set of data options is adapted according to the option selected from among the first set of data options for the first data element.

71. The adaptable problem report ticket of claim 70, wherein the first set of options includes appliance types.

72. The adaptable problem report ticket of claim 71, wherein the appliance types comprise a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an audio device, and a standard console, and wherein if desktop computer is selected, the second set of data options comprises high-level computer categories.

73. The adaptable problem report ticket of claim 72, wherein the high-level component categories comprise hardware, software and network.

74. The adaptable problem report ticket of claim 73, wherein when hardware is selected from the high-level computer categories, a third data element can be selected from a third set of data options including a plurality of component types.

75. The adaptable problem report ticket of claim 73, wherein the plurality of component types comprises two or more of floppy drive, hard disk, IDE controller, IDE device joystick, Keyboard, and display.

76. An adaptable problem report ticket comprising:

a customer identifier;

a problem report ticket identifier;

a first data element selected from a first set of data options, wherein selection of the first data element from among the first set of data options causes a second set of data options to adapt, wherein data options of the second set are selectable for a second data element.

77. An adaptive ticket management system for managing technical problem report tickets, the adaptive ticket management system comprising:

a ticket including a plurality of data fields, each data field configured to hold designated type of ticket data;

a ticket information entry user interface configured to enable entry of ticket data into each of the data fields, wherein the ticket information entry user interface adapts the range of ticket data available for entry in a selected data field, based on ticket data entered into previously selected data field.

78. The adaptive ticket management system of claim 77, wherein the range of ticket data available for entry into the previously selected data field includes hardware, software, and network.

79. The adaptive ticket management system of claim 78, wherein the range of ticket data available for entry into the selected data field includes a plurality of hardware component identifiers when hardware is entered in the previously selected data field, a plurality of software component identifiers when software is entered in the previously selected data field, and a plurality of network component identifiers when network is entered in the previously selected data field.

80. An apparatus comprising:

a device platform;

an operating system executable on the device platform; and

a client application operable to facilitate technical support services independent of the operating system and the device platform.

81. The apparatus of claim 80, wherein the client application is functionally at least semi-autonomous from the operating system.

82. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the client application includes a embedded browser functionally autonomous from any browser application installed on the apparatus.

83. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the client application comprises a virtual machine.

84. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the client application includes a network adapter interface independent from the operating system to enable network communications if the operating system network adapter interface is not fully operational.

85. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the client application includes a process manager independent from the operating system to enable process management if the operating system process manager is not fully operational.

86. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the client application includes a memory manager independent from the operating system to enable memory management if the operating system memory manager is not fully operational.

87. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the client application includes structured file system support independent from the operating system to enable file system support if the operating system file system support is not fully operational.

88. The apparatus of claim 81, wherein the client application includes security functionality independent from the operating system to enable security if the operating system security functionality is not fully operational.

89. The apparatus of claim 82, wherein the embedded browser enables Internet browsing if a technical problem prevents browsing via another browser application.

90. The apparatus of claim 89, wherein the embedded browser is configured to navigate to one or more technical problem resolution pages accessible via the Internet.

91. The apparatus of claim 82, wherein the client application further comprises a chat module.

92. The apparatus of claim 91, wherein the chat module enables online chat between an end user and a technical support agent.

93. The apparatus of claim 92, wherein a chat user interface is integrated with an apparatus inventory interface.

94. The apparatus of claim 92, wherein a chat user interface is integrated with a user region configured to present a user interface selectable from a plurality of user interfaces.

95. The apparatus of claim 94, wherein the plurality of user interfaces comprise two or more of an inventory user interface, a embedded browser user interface, and a resolutions user interface.

96. A method comprising:

providing a device platform;

providing an operating system on the device platform;

loading a client application on the device platform, the client application being operable to facilitate technical support services independent of the operating system and device platform.

97. The method of claim 96 wherein the client application is functionally at least semi-autonomous from the operating system.

98. The method of claim 96 wherein the client application can establish network communications, despite improper functioning of a network communications function of the operating system.

99. The method of claim 96, further comprising providing a embedded browser as part of the client application.

100. The method of claim 99, wherein the embedded browser is autonomous from any browsers installed on the device platform.

101. The method of claim 99, wherein the embedded browser enables network resource browsing, despite malfunction of the operating system or malfunction of other browser applications provided on the computer.

102. The method of claim 96, further comprising providing a chat module as part of the client application.

103. The method of claim 96, further comprising providing a user interface comprising a chat interface region and a user interface region, wherein the chat interface region presents a user interface for chatting and wherein the user interface region presents a user interface associated with another module.

104. The method of claim 103, wherein the user interface associated with another module is user selectable from a plurality of user interfaces.

105. The method of claim 103, wherein the plurality of user interfaces comprises a computer inventory user interface, a problem resolutions interface, and a embedded browser interface.

106. The method of claim 96, wherein the device platform comprises one of a computer, a handheld computer, a PDA, a set-top box, a cell phone, a router, a game console, or a media console.