Determining electronic media format when transferring a customer between specialists or amongst communication sources at a customer service outlet

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9264667-B1
Application number	US-201414461131-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 15, 2014
Priority date	Aug 15, 2014
Publication date	Feb 16, 2016
Grant date	Feb 16, 2016

Abstract

Systems, apparatus, and computer program products are provided for determining the media format for transferring a customer from customer between specialists and/or from one communication source to another communication source within a customer service outlet, such as a banking center or the like. For example, while a two-way video conference system may be used for communication between a customer and a remote specialist, in certain instances in which the customer requires transfer to another specialist (e.g., a specialist having a different specialty) other media formats, such as one-way live video conference, live audio-only conference, text chat or the like may be implemented.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for selecting the electronic media format when transferring a customer between business knowledge sources at a business location, the system comprising:
an apparatus including a computing platform having a memory and at least one processor in communication with the apparatus, wherein the apparatus further includes one or more of a display, a video camera, a speaker and a microphone, each of which is operatively in communication with the processor,
wherein the apparatus is configured to implement one or more of the display, the video camera, the speaker and the microphone to provide a customer a communication platform for conducting a communication session with a first specialist located remote from the business location; and

a customer transferring module stored in a memory, executable by a processor and configured to (1) receive a request to transfer a customer from the first specialist to a second specialist during the communication session, (2) in response to receiving the request, apply at least one business rule to determine a media format to implement for communication between the customer and the second specialist, and (3) transfer the customer from the first specialist to the second specialist using the determined media format.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the customer transferring module is further configured to apply the at least one business rule to determine the media format, wherein the business rule that is applied provides for choosing the media format based on one or more of business status of the customer, customer profile information or historical interactions with the customer.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the customer transferring module is further configured to apply the at least one business rule to determine the media format, wherein the business rule that is applied provides for choosing the media format based on a specialty of the second specialist.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the customer transferring module is further configured to apply the at least one business rule to determine the media format, wherein the business rule that is applied provides for prioritizing selection of video communication as the media format based on availability of video communication from an entity associated with the second specialist.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the customer transferring module is further configured to apply the at least one business rule to determine the media format, wherein the business rule that is applied provides selecting the media format based on a shortest queue time for transferring to the second specialist.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the customer transferring module is further configured to apply the at least one business rule to determine the media format, wherein the media format is one of two-way video conference communication, one-way video conference communication, audio-only conference communication, and text chat communication.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the customer transferring module is further configured to seamlessly initiate transfer of the customer from the first specialist to the second specialist using the determined media format, wherein the determined format is video conference communication and the module is configured to present, in a transfer mode, a dual screen display of a first video stream of the first specialist and a second video stream of the second specialist.

8. A method for selecting the media format when transferring a customer between business knowledge sources at a customer service outlet, the method comprising:
receiving, by a computing device processor, a request to transfer a customer from a first specialist to a second specialist during an electronic communication session,
in response to receiving the request, determining, by a computing device processor, a media format to implement for communication between the customer and the second specialist based on application of one or more business rules; and
during the communication session, seamlessly initiate, by a computing device processor, transfer of the customer from the first specialist to the second specialist using the determined media format.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the media format further comprises determining, by a computing device processor, a media format to implement for communication between the customer and the second specialist based on application of one or more business rules, wherein the business rule that is applied provides for choosing the media format based on one or more of business status of the customer, customer profile information or historical interactions with the customer.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the media format further comprises determining, by a computing device processor, a media format to implement for communication between the customer and the second specialist based on application of one or more business rules, wherein the business rule that is applied provides for choosing the media format based on a specialty of the second specialist.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the media format further comprises determining, by a computing device processor, a media format to implement for communication between the customer and the second specialist based on application of one or more business rules, wherein the business rule that is applied provides for prioritizing selection of video communication as the media format based on availability of video communication from an entity associated with the second specialist.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the media format further comprises determining, by a computing device processor, a media format to implement for communication between the customer and the second specialist based on application of one or more business rules, wherein the business rule that is applied provides selecting the media format based on a shortest queue time for transferring to the second specialist.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the customer transferring module is further configured to apply the at least one business rule to determine the media format, wherein the media format is one of two-way video conference communication, one-way video conference communication, audio-only conference communication, and text chat communication.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the media format further comprises determining, by a computing device processor, a media format as video conference communication and the method further includes presenting, in a transfer mode, a dual screen display of a first video stream of the first specialist and a second video stream of the second specialist.

15. A computer program product comprising:
a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:
a first set of codes for causing a computer to receive a request to transfer a customer from a first specialist to a second specialist during an electronic communication session,
a second set of codes for causing a computer to, in response to receiving the request, determine a media format to implement for communication between the customer and the second specialist based on application of one or more business rules; and
a third set of codes for causing a computer to, during the communication session, seamlessly initiate transfer of the customer from the first specialist to the second specialist using the determined media format.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the second set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to determine the media format to implement for communicat

Assignees

• Bank Of America

Inventors

• Mande Christian Michael
• Grimsley James Robert
• Johnson Tyler
• Dent Nathan
• Gill Sara
• Crist Kristy M

Classifications

• G06Q10/06311

  Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group · CPC title

• H04N7/147 Primary

  Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals (selecting H04Q) · CPC title

• H04N7/15 Primary

  Conference systems · CPC title

• G06Q30/016

  After-sales · CPC title