STALKING SOCIAL MEDIA USERS TO MAXIMIZE THE LIKELIHOOD OF IMMEDIATE ENGAGEMENT

• US 20110125826A1
• Filed: 02/17/2010
• Published: 05/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: SKIBA, David, MATULA, Valentine C., ERHART, George
• Application Number:
  US12/706,942
• Publication Number:
  US 20110125826A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/016 After-sales
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

Methods and the systems allow a contact center to determine the presence, in near real time, of a user on a social media network. The contact center can receive an identity for a user and associate the user identity with one or more other identities, such as, a screen name, an email, or some other identity that may be used on social media networks. The contact center may then review posts to several social media networks, by several people, to determine one of the posts includes an identity of the user. If one of the posts does include the identity of the user, then the contact center may quickly introduce a human agent to the user on that social media network. As such, by “stalking” the social media user, the contact center is able to engage the customer in near real time or real time communications over the social media network.

Claims

1. A method for conducting a near real-time interaction between a user on a social media network and a contact center, the method comprising:

a processor receiving a first message from the social media network;

the processor determining an identity for the user from the first message;

the processor determining if the identity of the user is being stalked; and

if the identity of the user is being stalked, the processor sending an invitation to engage in a communication.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

the processor waiting for a response to the invitation;

if the response is received, determining if the user desires to engage in the communication,

if the user does desire to engage in the communication, directing a contact center agent to begin communicating with the user;

if the user does not desire to engage in the communication, freeing the contact center agent from communicating with the user.

3. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the contact center agent communicates with the user over the social media network which the user posted the first message.

4. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the contact center agent communicates with the user over a second communication medium different from the social media network which the user posted the first message.

5. The method as defined in claim 4, wherein the second communication medium is a telephone, email, or a text message.

6. The method as defined in claim 4, wherein the first message includes presence information and wherein the second communication medium is determined based on the second communication medium being in proximity with a location of the user based on the presence information.

7. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein determining if the identity of the user is being stalked according to a dialog script comprises:

the processor searching for a dialog data structure in a heuristic rules and dialogs database that includes the identity of the user in an input segment of the dialog data structure.

8. The method as defined in claim 6, further comprising:

the processor retrieving the dialog data structure from the heuristic rules and dialogs database that includes the identity of the user in the input segment of the dialog data structure; and

the processor reading the invitation from the dialog script of the dialog data structure.

9. The method as defined in claim 8, further comprising:

the processor waiting for a response to the invitation;

if the response is received, the processor determining if the user desires to engage in the communication;

the processor scheduling, according to the dialog script, a contact center agent to communicate with the user;

if the user does desire to engage in the communication, the processor directing, according to the dialog script, a contact center agent to begin communicating with the user; and

if the user does not desire to engage in the communication, the processor freeing, according to the dialog script, the contact center agent from communicating with the user.

10. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the invitation is sent in real time.

11. A computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions that cause a computing system to execute a method for conducting an interaction between a user on a social media network and a contact center, the instructions comprising:

instructions to receive a first message from a user posting a first message to the social media network;

instructions to determine a first identity for the user from the first message;

instructions to determine if the first identity of the user is being stalked according to a dialog data structure;

instructions to schedule, according to a dialog script in the dialog data structure, the contact center agent to communicate with the user; and

instructions to send, according to the dialog script and in near real time, an invitation to engage in the communication with a contact center agent.

12. The method as defined in claim 11, further comprising:

instructions to determine if the user desires to engage in the communication;

if the user does desire to engage in the communication, instructions to direct, according to the dialog script, the contact center agent to begin communicating with the user; and

if the user does not desire to engage in the communication, instructions to free, according to the dialog script, the contact center agent from communicating with the user.

13. The method as defined in claim 12, wherein determining if the user desires to engage in the communication comprises:

instructions to wait, according to the dialog script, for a response to the invitation for a predetermined amount of time;

if the response is received, instructions to determine, according to the dialog script, if the response agrees to engage in the communication;

if the response agrees to engage in the communication, instructions to begin, according to the dialog script, the communication;

if the response does not agree to engage in the communication, instructions to free, according to the dialog script, the contact center agent from communicating with the user

if no response is received during the predetermined amount of time, instructions to generate, according to the dialog script, a time out; and

when a time out is generated, instructions to free, according to the dialog script, the contact center agent from communicating with the user.

14. The method as defined in claim 11, further comprising:

instructions to receive a second message from a second user posting a second message to the social media network;

instructions to determine a second identity for the second user from the second message;

instructions to determine if the second identity of the second user is being stalked according to a second dialog data structure;

if the second identity of the second user is being stalked, instructions to retrieve a second dialog script from the second dialog data structure;

instructions to execute a second dialog script concurrently with the dialog script;

instructions to schedule, according to the second dialog script, the contact center agent to communicate with the second user;

instructions to send, according to the second dialog script and in near real time, a second invitation to engage in a second communication with the contact center agent;

instructions to determine if the second user desires to engage in the second communication;

if the second user does desire to engage in the second communication, instructions to direct, according to the second dialog script, the second contact center agent to begin communicating with the second user; and

if the second user does not desire to engage in the second communication, instructions to free, according to the second dialog script, the second contact center agent from communicating with the second user.

15. A communication system comprising:

a social media gateway in communication with a social media network, the social media gateway operable to receive a first message from the social media network, wherein a user posts the first message to the social media network, and operable to send an invitation to the user;

a dialog system in communication with the social media gateway, the dialog system to process the first message, operable to execute a dialog script, wherein the dialog script directs the communication system to stalk the user associated with the first message, in response to executing the dialog script, operable to generate the invitation, and operable to coordinate a communication between the user and a contact center agent; and

a contact center in communication with the dialog system, the contact center operable to provide the contact center agent to communicate with the user.

16. The communication system as defined in claim 15, wherein the dialog system comprises:

a dialog core in communication with the social media gateway, the dialog core operable to stalk the user according to the dialog script and operable to send the invitation;

a heuristic rules and dialogs database in communication with the dialog core, the heuristic rules and dialogs database operable to store the dialog script; and

a dialog creator in communication with the heuristic rules and dialogs database, the dialog creator operable to create a dialog data structure and operable to store the dialog data structure into the heuristic rules and dialogs database.

17. The communication system as defined in claim 16, wherein the dialog creator is operable to:

receive the identity of the user;

receive the invitation associated with stalking of the user;

receive an agent communication protocol;

receive a parameter associated with stalking the user; and

store the identity, the invitation, the agent communication protocol, and the parameter in the dialog data structure.

18. The communication system as defined in claim 17, wherein the dialog system further comprises:

a message history database in communication with the dialog core, the message history database operable to store an interaction history associated with the first message; and

an agent interface in communication with the dialog core and an agent associate with the contact center, the agent interface operable to send the first message to an agent and operable to receive the first response to the first message from the agent.

19. The communication system as defined in claim 18, wherein the dialog core is further operable to:

search the message history database for another identity associated with the user; and

store the other identity in the dialog data structure.

20. The communication system as defined in claim 16, wherein the dialog core further comprises a text processing component operable to determine if an identity associated with a user is the identity being stalked and, if the user accepts the invitation, directing an agent to communicate with the user through an agent interface.