Patent Issued for Predictive customer service support system and method (USPTO 11196862): United Services Automobile Association

2021 DEC 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent by the inventors Krebs, Emily Kathleen (San Antonio, TX, US), Krebs, Rachel Ann (San Antonio, TX, US), Kwak, Victor (Frisco, TX, US), filed on October 5, 2020, was published online on December 7, 2021, according to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx correspondents.

Patent number 11196862 is assigned to United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The present disclosure relates generally to customer service support systems and methods, and more specifically to systems and methods that assist customer service representatives (CSRs) based on call-specific data.

“This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to help provide the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.

“Modern businesses may offer CSRs available (e.g., by telephone) to assist a customer with various tasks (e.g., open new accounts, submit complaints, update personal information) or to answer a customer’s inquiries (e.g., questions regarding products offered by the business), for example. However, because modern businesses are often diverse (e.g., having several different business operations, products, or services), it may be difficult for the CSRs to properly address the customer’s request or inquiry. Furthermore, the CSRs may have to interrupt the call or place the customer on hold to locate a particular application or to find relevant information, which may be inconvenient and time consuming.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below.

“In one embodiment, a system includes one or more processors configured to receive call-specific data during a call between a customer and a customer service representative, and the call-specific data includes a verbal input. The one or more processors are configured to determine one or more characteristics of the verbal input and to determine an initial inquiry of the customer based at least in part on the one or more characteristics of the verbal input. The one or more processors are also configured to determine one or more follow-up inquiries based at least in part on the initial inquiry and to provide information related to the one or more follow-up inquiries in a window on a display of a computing system for visualization by the customer service representative.

“In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, at one or more processors, call-specific data during a call between a customer and a customer service representative. The call-specific data comprises a verbal input. The method further includes determining, using the one or more processors, one or more characteristics of the verbal input. Additionally, the method includes determining, using the one or more processors, information to deliver to the customer service representative based at least in part on the one or more characteristics of the verbal input. Moreover, the method involves determining, using the one or more processors, a set of content factors based at least in part the one or more characteristics of the verbal input, the customer, the customer service representative, or a combination thereof. Further, the method involves formatting, using the one or more processors, the information to deliver to the customer service representative based at least in part on the set of content factors and displaying, using the one or more processors, the information in a window on a display of a computing system for visualization by the customer service representative.

“In one embodiment, a system includes one or more processors configured to receive call-specific data during a call between a customer and a customer service representative, and the call-specific data comprises a verbal input. The one or more processors are further configured to determine one or more characteristics of the verbal input and to determine information to deliver to the customer service representative based at least in part on the one or more characteristics of the verbal input. Additionally, the one or more processors are configured to determine a set of content factors based at least in part on the one or more characteristics of the verbal input, the customer, the customer service representative, or a combination thereof. Further, the one or more processors are configured to format the information to deliver to the customer service representative based at least in part on the set of content factors. The one or more processors are also configured to display the information in a window on a display of a computing system for visualization by the customer service representative.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system, comprising: one or more processors configured to: receive call-specific data during a call between a customer and a customer service representative; determine information to deliver to the customer service representative based on the call-specific data; determine a volume of calls received by a call center associated with the customer service representative; format the information to contain a first number of words in response to determining that the volume of calls is above a threshold; format the information to contain a second number of words in response to determining that the volume of calls is below the threshold, wherein the first number is less than the second number; and display the information on a display of a computing system for visualization by the customer service representative.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the call-specific data comprises one or more verbal inputs provided by the customer, the customer service representative, or both.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to format the information as a bulleted list of brief statements in response to determining that the volume of calls is above the threshold.

“4. The system of claim 3, wherein the one or more processors are configured to format the information as a message with complete sentences in response to determining that the volume of calls is below the threshold.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine a sentiment of the customer based on the call-specific data and to format the information to match or to mitigate the sentiment of the customer.

“6. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors are configured to format the information to include a vocabulary, a style, a tone, or a combination thereof to match or to mitigate the sentiment of the customer.

“7. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors are configured to display an indication of the sentiment of the customer on the display of the computing system for visualization by the customer service representative.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein the call-specific data comprises a verbal input from the customer, and the one or more processors are configured to format the information to include a respective vocabulary, a respective style, a respective tone, or a combination thereof to match a respective vocabulary, a respective style, a respective tone, or a combination thereof of the verbal input from the customer.

“9. The system of claim 1, wherein the call-specific data comprises a textual input from the customer service representative, and the one or more processors are configured to format the information to include a respective vocabulary, a respective style, a respective tone, or a combination thereof to match a respective vocabulary, a respective style, a respective tone, or a combination thereof of the textual input from the customer service representative.

“10. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine an experience level of the customer service representative and to format the information based on the experience level of the customer service representative.

“11. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine a desired operation based on the call-specific data; determine the information to deliver to the customer service representative to facilitate the desired operation; determine an experience level of the customer service representative with respect to the desired operation; and format the information to deliver to the customer service representative based on the experience level of the customer service representative.

“12. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: format the information to contain the first number of words in response to determining that the volume of calls is above the threshold and that the customer service representative has a first experience level; and format the information to contain a third number of words in response to determining that the volume of calls is above the threshold and that the customer service representative has a second experience level.

“13. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: format the information to be devoid of an indication of additional products that are relevant to the customer, additional services that are relevant to the customer, or both in response to determining that the volume of calls is above the threshold; and format the information to include the indication of the additional products that are relevant to the customer, the additional services that are relevant to the customer, or both in response to determining that the volume of calls is above the threshold.

“14. A method, comprising: receiving, at one or more processors, call-specific data during a call between a customer and a customer service representative; determining, using the one or more processors, information to deliver to the customer service representative based on the call-specific data; determining, using the one or more processors, a volume of calls received by a call center associated with the customer service representative; formatting, using the one or more processors, a notification that is configured to deliver the information to the customer service representative based on the volume of calls received by the call center; and displaying, using the one or more processors, the notification on a display of a computing system for visualization by the customer service representative.

“15. The method of claim 14, wherein formatting the notification comprises adjusting a number of words in the notification based on the volume of calls received by the call center.

“16. The method of claim 14, comprising: comparing the volume of calls received by the call center to a threshold; wherein formatting the notification comprises reducing a number of words in the notification in response to the volume of calls received by the call center being above the threshold.

“17. A tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: receiving call-specific data during a call between a customer and a customer service representative; determining information to deliver to the customer service representative based on the call-specific data; determining a current wait time for one or more other customers at a call center associated with the customer service representative; adjusting a number of words in a notification that is configured to deliver the information to the customer service representative based on the current wait time; and displaying the notification on a display of a computing system for visualization by the customer service representative.

“18. The tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: adjusting the number of words to a first number of words when the current wait time is above a threshold; and adjusting the number of words to a second number of words when the current wait time is below the threshold, wherein the first number of words is less than the second number of words.

“19. The tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising determining a sentiment of the customer based on the call-specific data and adjusting a vocabulary, a style, a tone, or a combination thereof to match or to mitigate the sentiment of the customer.

“20. The tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising receiving an input indicative of preferences of the customer service representative and adjusting a format of the notification based on the input.”

URL and more information on this patent, see: Krebs, Emily Kathleen. Predictive customer service support system and method. U.S. Patent Number 11196862, filed October 5, 2020, and published online on December 7, 2021. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11196862.PN.&OS=PN/11196862RS=PN/11196862

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