Customer support via social network

• US 8,943,145 B1
• Filed: 02/08/2010
• Issued: 01/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Peters, Vidya, Singh, Aditya
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thanh Tammy
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bui, Jonathan
• Application Number:
  US12/702,215
• Time in Patent Office: 1,814 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/217, 709/218, 709/229
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A method to provide customer support including searching a social network server for a pre-determined customer support keyword in social network messages, to obtain information of a social network message sender where the pre-determined customer support keyword identifies a need of the sender for customer support, automatically sending a surrogate social network message to the sender including an offer to obtain customer support via a customer support link embedded in the surrogate social network message, and presenting customer support information to the sender in response to the sender activating the customer support link upon receiving the surrogate social network message and accepting the offer.

Claims

1. A method to provide customer support, comprising:

searching, by a processor of a customer support computer system, a social network server of a social network for a pre-determined customer support keyword in a plurality of social network messages, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword is found while the plurality of social network messages are exchanged among customers via social network accounts maintained on the social network server for the customers, wherein the customer support computer system is separate from the social network server;

obtaining information of a sender of a social network message of the plurality of the social network messages when the pre-determined customer support keyword is detected in the social network message, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword identifies a need of the sender of the social network message for customer support;

sending, using the processor automatically without human intervention, a first surrogate social network message from a surrogate social network account to the sender of the social network message, wherein the surrogate social network account is registered on the social network server to represent the customer support computer system as a user of the social network, wherein the first surrogate social network message comprises an offer to the sender of the social network message to obtain customer support via a customer support link embedded in the first surrogate social network message; and

responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer, presenting customer support information to the sender of the social network message.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining the pre-determined customer support keyword from a keyword library of a customer support server hosting a customer support forum, wherein the customer support forum comprises a plurality of postings related to customer support,

wherein the keyword library is updated in real time and identified based on the plurality of postings.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the sender of the social network message sends the social network message and receives the first surrogate social network message using a computing device, the method further comprising:

responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer, redirecting a browser of the computing device to view the customer support forum for accessing the customer support information.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the offer to the sender of the social network message to obtain customer support further comprises an offer to post the social network message in the customer support forum as one of the plurality of postings, the method further comprising:

responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer to post the social network message, posting the social network message in the customer support forum;

receiving a response to the social network message from the customer support forum; and

including a link to the response in the customer support information for presenting to the sender of the social network message.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein presenting the customer support information to the sender of the social network message comprises sending a second surrogate social network message comprising the link to the response to the sender of the social network message.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the sender of the social network message sends the social network message and receives the first surrogate social network message using a computing device, the method further comprising:

responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer to post the social network message, redirecting a browser of the computing device to view the customer support forum for confirming the posting of the social network message.

7. The method of claim 1,

wherein searching the social network server for the pre-determined customer support keyword in the plurality of social network messages is via an application programming interface of the social network server.

8. The method of claim 1,

wherein sending the first surrogate social network message from the surrogate social network account registered on the social network server is via an application programming interface of the social network server.

9. The method of claim 1,

wherein obtaining information of the sender of the social network message of the plurality of social network messages is via an application programming interface of the social network server.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an acceptance to the offer from the sender of the social network message via an application programming interface of the social network server.

11. A system for providing customer support, comprising:

a social network server of a social network, communicatively coupled to a customer support server that is separate from the social network server, comprising;

a messaging controller configured to receive and post a plurality of social network messages from a plurality of members of the social network;

an application programming interface (API) configured to provide programming access to data of the plurality of social network messages by third party software applications; and

a surrogate social network account registered on the social network server to represent the customer support server as a user of the social network; and

the customer support server comprising a hardware processor and memory storing instructions executable by the hardware processor configured to perform;

searching the social network server for a pre-determined customer support keyword in the plurality of social network messages, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword is found while the plurality of social network messages are exchanged among customers via social network accounts maintained on the social network server for the customers;

obtaining information of a sender of a social network message of the plurality of the social network messages when the pre-determined customer support keyword is detected in the social network message, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword identifies a need of the sender of the social network message for customer support, wherein the sender of the social network message is one of the member of the social network;

sending, automatically without human intervention, a first surrogate social network message from the surrogate social network account to the sender of the social network message, wherein the first surrogate social network message comprises an offer to the sender of the social network message to obtain customer support via a customer support link embedded in the first surrogate social network message; and

responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer, presenting customer support information to the sender of the social network message.

12. The system of claim 11, the customer support server further comprising:

a customer support forum comprising a plurality of postings related to customer support; and

a keyword library storing a plurality of keywords updated in real time based on the plurality of postings,

wherein the social network agent is further configured to obtain the pre-determined customer support keyword from the keyword library for searching the social network server.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

a computing device of the sender of the social network message for sending the social network message and receiving the first surrogate social network message,

wherein the customer support link is configured to redirect a browser of the computing device to view the customer support forum responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer.

14. The system of claim 12,

wherein the offer to the sender of the social network message to obtain customer support further comprises an offer to post the social network message in the customer support forum as one of the plurality of postings,

wherein the social network agent is further configured to:

post the social network message in the customer support forum responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer to post the social network message;

search the customer support forum for a response to the social network message; and

include a link to the response in the customer support information for presenting to the sender of the social network message.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein presenting the customer support information to the sender of the social network message comprises sending a second surrogate social network message comprising the link to the response to the sender of the social network message.

16. The system of claim 14, further comprising:

a computing device of the sender of the social network message for sending the social network message and receiving the first surrogate social network message,

wherein the customer support link is configured to redirect a browser of the computing device to view the customer support forum for confirming the posting of the social network message responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer to post the social network message.

17. The system of claim 11,

wherein searching the social network server for the pre-determined customer support keyword in the plurality of social network messages is via a search function of the API.

18. The system of claim 11,

wherein sending the first surrogate social network message from the surrogate social network account registered on the social network server is via the API.

19. The system of claim 11,

wherein obtaining information of the sender of the social network message of the plurality of social network messages is via a search function of the API.

20. The system of claim 11, the social network agent is further configured to:

receive an acceptance to the offer from the sender of the social network message via a flag function of the API.

21. A non-transitory computer readable medium, embodying instructions executable by a computer processor to provide customer support, the instructions comprising functionality for:

searching a social network server of a social network for a pre-determined customer support keyword in a plurality of social network messages, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword is found while the plurality of social network messages are exchanged among customers via social network accounts maintained on the social network server for the customers, wherein the customer support computer system is separate from the social network server;

obtaining information of a sender of a social network message of the plurality of the social network messages when the pre-determined customer support keyword is detected in the social network message, wherein the pre-determined customer support keyword identifies a need of the sender of the social network message for customer support;

sending, automatically without human intervention, a first surrogate social network message from a surrogate social network account to the sender of the social network message, wherein the surrogate social network account is registered on the social network server to represent the customer support computer system as a user of the social network, wherein the first surrogate social network message comprises an offer to the sender of the social network message to obtain customer support via a customer support link embedded in the first surrogate social network message; and

responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer, presenting customer support information to the sender of the social network message.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21, the instructions further comprising functionality for:

obtaining the pre-determined customer support keyword from a keyword library of a customer support server hosting a customer support forum, wherein the customer support forum comprises a plurality of postings related to customer support,

wherein the keyword library is updated in real time and identified based on the plurality of postings.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the sender of the social network message sends the social network message and receives the first surrogate social network message using a computing device, the instructions further comprising functionality for:

responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer, redirecting a browser of the computing device to view the customer support forum for accessing the customer support information.

24. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the offer to the sender of the social network message to obtain customer support further comprises an offer to post the social network message in the customer support forum as one of the plurality of postings, the instructions further comprising functionality for:

responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer to post the social network message, posting the social network message in the customer support forum;

receiving a response to the social network message from the customer support forum; and

including a link to the response in the customer support information for presenting to the sender of the social network message.

25. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein presenting the customer support information to the sender of the social network message comprises sending a second surrogate social network message comprising the link to the response to the sender of the social network message.

26. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the sender of the social network message sends the social network message and receives the first surrogate social network message using a computing device, the instructions further comprising functionality for:

responsive to the sender of the social network message activating the customer support link upon receiving the first surrogate social network message and accepting the offer to post the social network message, redirecting a browser of the computing device to view the customer support forum for confirming the posting of the social network message.

27. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein searching the social network server for the pre-determined customer support keyword in the plurality of social network messages is via an application programming interface of the social network server.

28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein sending the first surrogate social network message from the surrogate social network account registered on the social network server is via an application programming interface of the social network server.

29. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein obtaining information of the sender of the social network message of the plurality of social network messages is via an application programming interface of the social network server.

30. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21, the instructions further comprising functionality for:

receiving an acceptance to the offer from the sender of the social network message via an application programming interface of the social network server.