Automated assistance for customer care chats

• US 9,083,561 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2010
• Issued: 07/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: [24]7.ai, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Griesmer, Stephen, Hossain, Monowar, Lewis, Steven, Beattie, James, Cooke, Charles, Rudman, Benjamin
• Primary Examiner(s): Vostal, O. C.
• Application Number:
  US12/899,042
• Publication Number:
  US 20120089683A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,742 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 434/118
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/02 using automatic reactions or user delegation, e.g. automatic replies or chatbot-generated messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/551 Call history recording a computer conference H04L12/1831
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/558 Databases
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4933 with operator assistance
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5133 Operator terminal details
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5166 in combination with interactive voice response systems or voice portals, e.g. as front-ends
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5191 interacting with the Internet

Abstract

An apparatus provides automated assistance to an agent. The apparatus includes a receiver that receives a client communication from a client terminal via a network. A processor processes the client communication and determines a plurality of agent statements based on the client communication. The plurality of agent statements is displayed on a display. An input receives an agent communication from the agent. The agent communication is selected from a custom statement input by the agent and one of the plurality of agent statements selected by the agent. A transmitter transmits the agent communication to the client terminal via the network.

Claims

1. An apparatus for providing automated assistance to an agent, the apparatus comprising:

a display;

a processor;

a database storing previous agent communications, the previous agent communications being between the agent and at least one client in past communication sessions; and

a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations including;

receiving a client communication from a client terminal via a network;

processing the client communication and determining a plurality of agent statements based on the client communication and the previous agent communications stored in the database, the plurality of agent statements being determined as predicted inquiries and replies to the client communication;

displaying the plurality of agent statements on the display, each of the plurality of agent statements configured to be manually selected and customized by the agent, each of the plurality of agent statements further configured to be automatically selected by an automated agent;

receiving a selection of one of the plurality of agent statements that is manually selected by the agent or automatically selected by the automated agent; and

transmitting the one of the plurality of agent statements to the client terminal via the network,

wherein the processor is configured to engage the automated agent for automatically selecting the one of the plurality of agent statements in response to an activity of the agent, and

the automated agent is configured to automatically select the one of the plurality of agent statements based on a frequency of use of the one of the plurality of agent statements.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the operations further include processing a previous agent communication that is previously received from the agent, and the plurality of agent statements is determined based on the client communication and the previous agent communication.

3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the processor queries a backend system to determine the plurality of agent statements.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the processor processes the client communication based on natural language processing.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

the automated agent that automatically selects the one of the plurality of agent statements.

6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, further comprising:

a communication dump that stores an automated assistance session in association with the client terminal, the automated assistance session comprising the client communication and the plurality of agent statements; and

a restorer that restores the automated assistance session in response to the client terminal disconnecting from the network and reconnecting with the network.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the plurality of agent statements includes a custom statement that is manually input by the agent.

8. A method for providing automated assistance to an agent, the method comprising:

receiving a client communication from a client terminal via a network;

processing the client communication;

determining, by a processor and from a database that stores previous agent communications, a plurality of agent statements based on the client communication and the previous agent communications stored in the database, the plurality of agent statements being determined as predicted inquiries and replies to the client communication, the previous agent communications being between the agent and at least one client in past communication sessions;

displaying the plurality of agent statements on a display, each of the plurality of agent statements configured to be manually selected and customized by the agent, each of the plurality of agent statements further configured to be automatically selected by an automated agent;

receiving a selection of one of the plurality of agent statements that is manually selected by the agent or automatically selected by the automated agent; and

transmitting, by the processor, the one of the plurality of agent statements to the client terminal via the network,

wherein the processor is configured to engage the automated agent for automatically selecting the one of the plurality of agent statements in response to an activity of the agent, and

the automated agent is configured to automatically select the one of the plurality of agent statements based on a frequency of use of the one of the plurality of agent statements.

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

processing a previous agent communication that is previously received from the agent; and

wherein the plurality of agent statements is determined based on the client communication and the previous agent communication.

10. The method as set forth in claim 8, further comprising:

querying a backend system to determine the plurality of agent statements.

11. The method as set forth in claim 8, wherein the client communication is processed based on natural language processing.

12. The method as set forth in claim 8, further comprising:

storing an automated assistance session in association with the client terminal, the automated assistance session comprising the client communication and the plurality of agent statements; and

restoring the automated assistance session in response to the client terminal disconnecting from the network and reconnecting with the network.

13. The method as set forth in claim 8, wherein the plurality of agent statements includes a custom statement that is manually input by the agent.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having an executable computer program for providing automated assistance to an agent that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a client communication from a client terminal via a network;

processing the client communication;

determining, from a database that stores previous agent communications, a plurality of agent statements based on the client communication and the previous agent communications stored in the database, the plurality of agent statements being determined as predicted inquiries and replies to the client communication, the previous agent communications being between the agent and at least one client in past communication sessions;

displaying the plurality of agent statements on a display, each of the plurality of agent statements configured to be manually selected and customized by the agent each of the plurality of agent statements further configured to be automatically selected by an automated agent;

receiving a selection of one of the plurality of agent statements that is manually selected by the agent or automatically selected by the automated agent; and

transmitting the one of the plurality of agent statements to the client terminal via the network,

wherein the processor is configured to engage the automated agent for automatically selecting the one of the plurality of agent statements in response to an activity of the agent, and

the automated agent is configured to automatically select the one of the plurality of agent statements based on a frequency of use of the one of the plurality of agent statements.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as set forth in claim 14, wherein

the operations further include processing a previous agent communication that is previously received from the agent, and

the plurality of agent statements is determined based on the client communication and the previous agent communication.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as set forth in claim 14, wherein the processor queries a backend system to determine the plurality of agent statements.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as set forth in claim 14, wherein the processor processes the client communication based on natural language processing.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as set forth in claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

storing an automated assistance session in association with the client terminal, the automated assistance session comprising the client communication and the plurality of agent statements; and

restoring the automated assistance session when the client terminal disconnects from the network and reconnects with the network.