System for facilitating technician sales referrals

• US 7,286,994 B1
• Filed: 12/26/2000
• Issued: 10/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dennis, Gary J., Miller, James R., Smith, Steven G., Willis, Robert H., Perkins, Gloria D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Borissov; Igor N.
• Application Number:
  US09/746,507
• Time in Patent Office: 2,492 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/8, 705/9
• US Class Current: 705/346
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0281 Customer communication at a business location, e.g. providing product or service information, consulting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A system for transacting business with customers is disclosed. The system includes a dispatch division receiving a complaint from a customer related to a problem the customer is experiencing. The dispatch division then deploys a technician to repair the problem. While the technician is conducting the repair, the system permits the technician to interact with the customer and negotiate and close deals for additional or modified products, services or features that the customer may want. The system also includes provisions for allowing the technician to retrieve information related to the customer and includes features that automatically notify various appropriate business offices for follow-up with the customer.

Claims

1. A system for transacting business comprising:

a dispatch division for receiving information related to a problem experienced by a customer and for deploying a technician to a location requested by the customer in response to the information,

a computer accessible by the technician at the location requested by the customer that includes instructions that initiate a communication with the company via a telecommunications network when the technician receives a request from the customer for a transaction different from the problem and enters an identity of the customer in the computer, the computer further comprising;

instructions that submit the identity of the customer in the initiated communication, instructions that receive customer information including customer payment delinquency information, and a customer type via the telecommunications network in response to the submission, the customer type comprising a network resource provided by the telecommunications network associated with a customer dwelling,

instructions that select one or more items corresponding to the received customer type from a set of items, the set of items comprising residential product services, residential product features, commercial services, and commercial features in the telecommunications network,

instructions that automatically provide a list of the one or more selected items, instructions that receive a selection corresponding to the received request from the customer from the one or more items, and

instructions that communicate the received selection corresponding to the received request from the customer to the dispatch division over the telecommunications network.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the company receives the request and automatically processes the request and modifies the customer'"'"'s account information.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the telecommunications network is wireless.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the telecommunications network is wire line.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein information related to the transaction is automatically sent by electronic email to the technician'"'"'s supervisor.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein information related to the transaction is automatically sent by electronic email to a sales division.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the transaction includes the sale of a service.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the transaction includes the sale of a product.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the customer information is automatically updated to include the transaction.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the customer information includes customer account information.

20. The system according to claim 1, wherein the computer is configured to populate an electronic sales form with the received customer information and the received selection and communicate the electronic sales form to the dispatch division, and wherein at least one field associated with the electronic sales form is self-populated.

11. A method for transacting business comprising:

receiving information related to a problem experienced by a customer;

deploying a technician to a location requested by the customer in response to the information, wherein the technician is employed by a company which provides services to the customer;

initiating a communication with the company over a telecommunications network by the technician by accessing a computer at the location requested by the customer when the technician receives a request from the customer for a transaction different from the problem, the communication including a submission of an identity of the customer;

sending, in response to the communication, customer information to the computer in use by the technician via the telecommunications network from the company in response to the communication from the technician, wherein the customer information includes customer payment delinquency information and a customer type, the customer type comprising a network resource provided by the telecommunications network associated with a customer dwelling;

selecting by the computer one or more items corresponding to the customer type from a set of items, the set of items comprising residential product services, residential product features, commercial services, and commercial features in the telecommunications network;

providing automatically, by the computer, a list of the one or more selected items;

receiving at the computer a selection from the list; and

communicating the received selection to the dispatch division from the computer over the telecommunications network.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the telecommunications network is a wireless communications network.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the telecommunications network is a wire line communications network.

14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising sending an electronic mail message to the supervisor of the technician, wherein the electronic mail message includes information related to the transaction.

15. The method according to claim 11, further comprising sending an electronic mail message to a sales division, wherein the electronic mail message includes information related to the transaction.

16. The method according to claim 11, wherein the transaction includes the sale of service.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein the transaction includes the sale of a product.

18. The method according to claim 11, further comprising automatically updating the customer information with information related to the transaction.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein the customer information includes customer account information.

21. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:

populating an electronic sales form with the received customer information and the received selection, wherein at least one field associated with the electronic sales form is self-populated; and

communicating the electronic sales form to the dispatch division.