Patent Issued for Augmented intelligence for profile-matched call center routing (USPTO 11870936): United Services Automobile Association

2024 JAN 26 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States) has been issued patent number 11870936, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Hartshorn, Joel S. (Port Orchard, WA, US), Lyle, Ruthie D. (Durham, NC, US), Schwarz, Jr., Thomas Wayne (Helotes, TX, US).

This patent was filed on June 24, 2021 and was published online on January 9, 2024.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “When customers have an issue or problem with a service provider or other business, they are often directed to a call center where their issue can be addressed by service representatives. These customers may occasionally be met with a poor experience when dealing with the service representative at the call center. Repeated poor experiences by the customer may result in negative consumer sentiment, bias, or eventual loss of business for the service provider.

“Additionally, service representatives at the call center may experience verbal abuse or hostility from the customers they help service. Repeated abusive or hostile interactions experienced by a service representative can lead to a lasting emotional impact or constant stress. Even with counselling or assistance programs, these experiences may lead to eventual resignation from employment by the service representative.

“There is a need in the art for a system and method that addresses the shortcomings discussed above.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In one aspect, a method of routing a call from a customer to a customer service representative at a call center is provided. The method being performed by an augmented intelligence system. The method includes receiving an incoming call from a customer at the call center. The method also includes determining a match between a classification of the customer and a classification of a selected customer service representative based on a profile of the customer and a profile of the selected customer service representative. The method further includes routing the incoming call from the customer to the selected customer service representative.

“In another aspect, a system for routing a call from a customer to a customer service representative at a call center is provided. The system includes a computer system at a call center. The computer system including at least one processor associated with a computing device and at least one database. The call center is in communication with one or more customers through a network. The at least one processor is configured to receive an incoming call from a customer at the call center and determine a match between a classification of the customer and a classification of a selected customer service representative based on a profile of the customer and a profile of the selected customer service representative. The at least one processor being further configured to route the incoming call from the customer to the selected customer service representative.

“In another aspect, a method of matching a customer and a representative of a service provider at a call center is provided. The method being performed by an augmented intelligence system. The method includes building a plurality of customer profiles, including a psychographic profile for each customer of a plurality of customers of the service provider associated with the call center. The method also includes building a plurality of representative profiles, including a psychographic profile for each representative of a plurality of representatives associated with the call center. Based on the psychographic profiles for each customer and each representative, the method further includes determining compatible matches between customers and representatives. Upon receiving an incoming call from a customer, the method includes routing the incoming call to a selected representative that is determined to be a compatible match with the customer based on the respective psychographic profiles of the customer and the selected representative.

“Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the disclosure will be, or will become, apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description and this summary, be within the scope of the disclosure, and be protected by the following claims.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method of routing a call from a customer to a customer service representative at a call center, the method performed by an augmented intelligence system, the method comprising: receiving an incoming call from a customer at the call center; determining a match between a classification of the customer and a classification of a selected customer service representative based on a profile of the customer and a profile of the selected customer service representative, wherein the profile of the customer includes a psychographic profile and the profile of the selected customer service representative includes a psychographic profile; wherein determining the match between the classification of the customer and the classification of the selected customer service representative further comprises using a tiered profile matching hierarchy that is based on relative compatibilities of the psychographic profile of the customer and the psychographic profile of the selected customer service representative; the tiered profile matching hierarchy including: a first tier of customer service representatives that are determined to be most compatible with the customer based on the respective psychographic profiles of the customer and each customer service representative, the first tier including at least two customer service representatives, and a second tier of customer service representatives that are determined to be less compatible with the customer than the first tier based on the respective psychographic profiles of the customer and each customer service representative, the second tier of customer service representatives including a larger number of representatives than the first tier; wherein the profile of the customer is modified using at least one dynamic factor that changes the psychographic profile for the customer, the at least one dynamic factor including one or more of a time, day, or location of the customer; wherein the modified profile of the customer using the at least one dynamic factor that changes the psychographic profile for the customer is used to determine the compatibility match between the respective psychographic profiles of the customer and each customer service representative; wherein, upon determining that a customer service representative in the first tier is not available, the customer is matched to a selected customer service representative in the second tier; and routing the incoming call from the customer to the selected customer service representative.

“2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: building a plurality of customer profiles, including a profile for each customer of a plurality of customers of a service provider associated with the call center; and building a plurality of representative profiles, including a profile for each customer service representative of a plurality of customer service representatives associated with the call center.

“3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of customer profiles and the plurality of representative profiles are built using call transcription data and/or information from customer relationship management systems.

“4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the classification of the customer and the classification of the selected customer service representative include an archetype classification using the four-way Myers-Briggs classification scheme.

“5. The method according to claim 4, wherein determining the match between the classification of the customer and the classification of the selected customer service representative is based on compatibilities of different Myers-Briggs classification types.

“6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tiered profile matching hierarchy further includes a third tier of customer service representatives that are determined to be less compatible than the first tier and the second tier, the third tier of customer service representatives including a larger number of representatives than both the first tier and the second tier.

“7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tiered profile matching hierarchy is specific to a customer.

“8. The method according to claim 6, wherein, upon determining that a customer service representative in the first tier or the second tier is not available, the customer is matched to a selected customer service representative in the third tier.

“9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the profile of the selected customer service representative is also modified using at least one dynamic factor that changes a psychographic profile for the selected customer service representative, the at least one dynamic factor including one or more of a time, day, or location of the selected customer service representative.

“10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining, based on the classification of the customer, whether to provide optional marketing information to the customer at the end of the call.

“11. A system for routing a call from a customer to a customer service representative at a call center, comprising: a computer system at a call center, the computer system including at least one processor associated with a computing device and at least one database; the call center in communication with one or more customers through a network; wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receive an incoming call from a customer at the call center; determine a match between a classification of the customer and a classification of a selected customer service representative based on a profile of the customer and a profile of the selected customer service representative, wherein the profile of the customer includes a psychographic profile and the profile of the selected customer service representative includes a psychographic profile; wherein determining the match between the classification of the customer and the classification of the selected customer service representative further comprises using a tiered profile matching hierarchy that is based on relative compatibilities of the psychographic profile of the customer and the psychographic profile of the selected customer service representative; the tiered profile matching hierarchy including: a first tier of customer service representatives that are determined to be most compatible with the customer based on the respective psychographic profiles of the customer and each customer service representative, the first tier including at least two customer service representatives, and a second tier of customer service representatives that are determined to be less compatible with the customer than the first tier based on the respective psychographic profiles of the customer and each customer service representative, the second tier of customer service representatives including a larger number of representatives than the first tier; wherein the profile of the customer is modified using at least one dynamic factor that changes the psychographic profile for the customer, the at least one dynamic factor including one or more of a time, day, or location of the customer; wherein the modified profile of the customer using the at least one dynamic factor that changes the psychographic profile for the customer is used to determine the compatibility match between the respective psychographic profiles of the customer and each customer service representative; wherein, upon determining that a customer service representative in the first tier is not available, the customer is matched to a selected customer service representative in the second tier; and route the incoming call from the customer to the selected customer service representative.

“12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: store a plurality of customer profiles in the at least one database, the plurality of customer profiles including a profile for each customer of a plurality of customers of a service provider associated with the call center; and store a plurality of representative profiles in the at least one database, the plurality of representative profiles including a profile for each customer service representative of a plurality of customer service representatives associated with the call center.

“13. The system according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of customer profiles and the plurality of representative profiles are built using call transcription data and/or information from customer relationship management systems.

“14. The system according to claim 11, wherein the classification of the customer and the classification of the selected customer service representative include an archetype classification using the four-way Myers-Briggs classification scheme.

“15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the match between the classification of the customer and the classification of the selected customer service representative based on compatibilities of different Myers-Briggs classification types.

“16. The system according to claim 11, wherein the tiered profile matching hierarchy further includes a third tier of customer service representatives that are determined to be less compatible than the first tier and the second tier, the third tier of customer service representatives including a larger number of representatives than both the first tier and the second tier; and wherein, upon determining that a customer service representative in the first tier or the second tier is not available, the customer is matched to a selected customer service representative in the third tier.

“17. The system according to claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine, based on the classification of the customer, whether to provide optional marketing information to the customer at the end of the call.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Hartshorn, Joel S. Augmented intelligence for profile-matched call center routing. U.S. Patent Number 11870936, filed June 24, 2021, and published online on January 9, 2024. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11870936)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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