US 6,687,877 B1 · Web-based call center system with web document annotation

Abstract

A web-based call center and a method for its operation include multiple agent and customer terminals connected to a web server. The agent terminals and the customer terminals include a web browser for accessing web documents from the web server and annotation plug-in software for recording and replaying static and dynamic annotations on web documents. An HTML document registration tool formats web documents prior to storage on the web server, so that the web documents are formatted for annotation. An annotation server includes a database for storing annotated documents received from agent and customer terminals. Indexing software associated with the annotation server extracts key information from annotations received from customer terminals as part of callback requests. The extracted key information is indicative of a skills set which is required by an agent in order to handle the callback request. An ACD server utilizes the key information to route callback requests to qualified call center agents. A customer terminal can transmit an information request in the form of a telephone call, a fax transmission, an e-mail, or a callback request which includes an annotated web document. An agent terminal can respond to the information request by telephone, fax, e-mail, or by returning an annotated web document. Alternatively, the customer and agent terminals can initiate a dynamic annotation data sharing session.

Claims15

Dependent claims

In a web-based call center which includes a server accessible by any of a plurality of customer terminals and any of a plurality of agent terminals, a communications method comprising the steps of:

storing an annotatable first document at said server such that said first document remains accessible in an annotatable condition following each of a plurality of non-synchronous downloads of said first document;
during each of a plurality of temporally separate download occasions, receiving a download of said first document in said annotatable condition at one of said customer and said agent terminals;
for each said download occasion, recording a particular sequence of multimedia actions performed on said download of said first document such that said recorded multimedia actions can be played back to display said multimedia actions in said particular sequence, said recorded multimedia actions being specific to said download occasion;
and
transmitting said recorded sequence of multimedia actions, via said server, to the other of said customer and said agent terminals as part of either an information request or a response to an information request, said transmitting being repeatable for each said download occasion;
wherein at least some of said recorded sequences of multimedia actions are recorded to provide data relevant to soliciting desired responsive information to be contained in responses to said information requests, with reception of each said information request during operation of said server initiating an automated search for key words in a corresponding said recorded sequence to determine appropriate processing of said corresponding recorded sequence.

3 more elements

A call center with dynamic annotation capability comprising:

a document server connected to a communications network to provide a plurality of clients access to documents formatted for input of dynamic annotation data, said document server being configured to provide access to said documents as templates for repeated use of said documents in entering said dynamic annotation data;
an annotation server configured to provide storage for dynamically annotated documents received from said clients following independent user inputs of said dynamic annotation data to said formatted documents by said clients, at least a portion of said dynamically annotated documents including information requests received from customer client terminals, said annotation server including indexing software to extract key words from said information requests and to determine skill requirements relevant to each said information request;
and
a plurality of call center client terminals configured to process said information requests for presentation to call center agents, each call center client terminal including a dynamic annotation module responsive to user inputs to record a dynamic annotation session on one of said formatted documents, said recorded dynamic annotation session including sequentially recorded data object manipulations configured for playback to display said sequentially recorded data object manipulations, said data object manipulations including at least one of image object manipulation, text object manipulation, video object manipulation, and recording of voice information.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Web-based call center system with web document annotation

Life of this patent

Web-based call center system with web document annotation

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims15