Systems and methods for online information exchange using server-mediated communication routing
First Claim
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1. A method for communicating over a computer network comprising:
- receiving, at a server computer, a communication from a user to the server computer on the network, wherein the communication comprises at least one of;
e-mail, telephone call, short message service (SMS) message, on-line form submission, on-line message, chat message, sale listing, wanted listing, request for information and bulletin board message;
determining, at the server computer, substantive characteristics of the communication, wherein substantive characteristics comprises keywords that describe a field to which the communication is relevant, wherein the field comprises at least one of a field of interest, a field of expertise, and a field of knowledge;
comparing, at the server computer, the substantive characteristics of the communication with substantive characteristics of a plurality of members of at least one of a plurality of member groups, wherein the substantive characteristics of the plurality of group members comprise at least one of a field of interest, a field of expertise, and a field of knowledge, and the comparing comprises finding one or more matches between the substantive characteristics of the communication and the substantive characteristics of the plurality of members;
routing the communication, at the server computer, to a first of the plurality of members based, at least in part, on the comparison between the substantive characteristics of the communication with the substantive characteristics of the plurality of members;
determining, at the server computer, whether a timeout period has occurred, wherein the timeout period occurs if the first of the plurality of members does not explicitly decline to respond and does not respond substantively before the end of the timeout period; and
in response to the timeout period occurring, routing the communication at the server computer to a second one of the plurality of members, selection of the second one of the plurality of members being based, at least in part, on the comparison between the substantive characteristics of the communication with the substantive characteristics of the plurality of members.
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Abstract
The invention, in one embodiment, relates to facilitating communications between a user and one or more members of one or more groups by routing the communications from the user to particular group members based, at least in part, for example, on information known about: the communication; the one or more groups; and/or the one or more group members.
33 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method for communicating over a computer network comprising:
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receiving, at a server computer, a communication from a user to the server computer on the network, wherein the communication comprises at least one of;
e-mail, telephone call, short message service (SMS) message, on-line form submission, on-line message, chat message, sale listing, wanted listing, request for information and bulletin board message;determining, at the server computer, substantive characteristics of the communication, wherein substantive characteristics comprises keywords that describe a field to which the communication is relevant, wherein the field comprises at least one of a field of interest, a field of expertise, and a field of knowledge; comparing, at the server computer, the substantive characteristics of the communication with substantive characteristics of a plurality of members of at least one of a plurality of member groups, wherein the substantive characteristics of the plurality of group members comprise at least one of a field of interest, a field of expertise, and a field of knowledge, and the comparing comprises finding one or more matches between the substantive characteristics of the communication and the substantive characteristics of the plurality of members; routing the communication, at the server computer, to a first of the plurality of members based, at least in part, on the comparison between the substantive characteristics of the communication with the substantive characteristics of the plurality of members; determining, at the server computer, whether a timeout period has occurred, wherein the timeout period occurs if the first of the plurality of members does not explicitly decline to respond and does not respond substantively before the end of the timeout period; and in response to the timeout period occurring, routing the communication at the server computer to a second one of the plurality of members, selection of the second one of the plurality of members being based, at least in part, on the comparison between the substantive characteristics of the communication with the substantive characteristics of the plurality of members. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 31, 32, 33)
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23. A system for communicating over a computer network comprising:
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a client device in communication with a network; a server computer in communication with the network for processing communications from the client device, the server computer configured to; determine substantive characteristics of the communication, wherein; the communication comprises at least one of;
e-mail, telephone call, short message service (SMS) message, on-line form submission, on-line message, chat message, sale listing, wanted listing, request for information and bulletin board message; andsubstantive characteristics comprises keywords that describe a field to which the communication is relevant, wherein the field comprises at least one of a field of interest, a field of expertise, and a field of knowledge; compare the substantive characteristics of the communication with substantive characteristics of a plurality of members of at least one of a plurality of member groups, wherein the substantive characteristics of the plurality of group members comprise at least one of a field of interest, a field of expertise, and a field of knowledge, and the comparing comprises finding one or more matches between the substantive characteristics of the communication and the substantive characteristics of the plurality of members; and route the communication to a first of the plurality of members based, at least in part, on the comparison between the substantive characteristics of the communication with the substantive characteristics of the plurality of members; determine, whether a timeout period has occurred, wherein the timeout period occurs if the first of the plurality of members does not explicitly decline to respond and does not respond substantively before the end of the timeout period; and in response to the timeout period occurring, route the communication to a second one of the plurality of members, selection of the second one of the plurality of members being based, at least in part, on the comparison between the keywords of the question with the substantive characteristics of the member profiles.
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24. A method for knowledge exchange comprising:
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receiving, at a server computer, a question related to a common field of interest from a user; determining, at a server computer, keywords related to the question; determining, at the server computer, the availability of the members within the common field of interest; comparing, at the server computer, the keywords with substantive characteristics in member profiles of a plurality of members within the common field of interest, wherein comparing comprises finding one or more matches between the keywords and the substantive characteristics of member profiles; routing, at the server computer, the question to a first of the plurality of members based at least in part on the availability and comparison; determining, at the server computer, whether a timeout period has occurred, wherein the timeout period occurs if the first of the plurality of members does not explicitly decline to respond and does not respond substantively before the end of the timeout period; and in response to the timeout period occurring, routing the question at the server computer to a second one of the plurality of members, selection of the second one of the plurality of members being based, at least in part, on the comparison between the keywords of the question with the substantive characteristics of the member profiles. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. A method for routing communications in a customer support center comprising:
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receiving, at a server computer, an inquiry over the phone or in an online message related to a consumer product from a customer; determining, at a server computer, substantive characteristics related to the inquiry; comparing, at the server computer, the substantive characteristics of the inquiry with attributes in the expertise profiles of a plurality of service members, wherein comparing comprises finding one or more matches between the substantive characteristics of the inquiry and the attributes in the expertise profiles; routing the inquiry to a first of the plurality of service members that best matches the substantive characteristics of the inquiry; determining, at the server computer, whether a timeout period has occurred, wherein the timeout period occurs if the first of the plurality of service members does not explicitly decline to respond and does not respond substantively before the end of the timeout period; and in response to the timeout period occurring, routing the inquiry at the server computer to a second one of the plurality of service members, selection of the second one of the plurality of service members being based, at least in part, on the comparison between the substantive characteristics of the inquiry with the attributes in the expertise profiles. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A method for commerce comprising:
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receiving, at a server computer, a request from a user, wherein the request is related to at least one of;
selling a good, buying a good, trading a good, selling a service, buying a service and trading a service;determining, at a server computer, substantive characteristics related to the request, wherein the substantive characteristics are related to the good or service; comparing, at a server computer, the substantive characteristics of the request with the substantive characteristics in the profiles of a plurality of group members by finding one or more matches between the substantive characteristics of the request and the substantive characteristics of the group member profiles; routing the request to a first of the plurality of group members whose profile best matches the substantive characteristics of the inquiry; determining, at the server computer, whether a timeout period has occurred, wherein the timeout period occurs if the first of the plurality of group members does not explicitly decline to respond and does not respond substantively before the end of the timeout period; and in response to the timeout period occurring, routing the request at the server computer to a second one of the plurality of group members, selection of the second one of the plurality of group members being based, at least in part, on the comparison between the substantive characteristics related to the request with the substantive characteristics in the group member profiles. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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Specification