Patent ID: 9742916
Date: 2017-08-22
CPC Classifications: H04M

Claim:
1. A method, comprising: receiving, via one or more computing devices associated with a customer service center computing system, an initial request from a customer device over a computer network to connect with a customer service agent device, the initial request having been submitted via a graphical user interface associated with the customer service center; causing a connection to be created between the customer device and the customer service agent device associated with the customer service center computing system in response to the initial request, the connection being an outbound connection to the customer device originating from at least one of the one or more computing devices associated with the customer service center computing system and facilitating at least an audio communication between the customer device and the customer service agent device; linking, via at least one of the one or more computing devices, customer information for the customer device with agent information for a customer service agent associated with the customer service agent device for a predetermined period of time, the customer information including a customer identifier; receiving, via at least one of the one or more computing devices, a subsequent request from the customer device over the computer network to connect with the customer service agent device, the subsequent request having been submitted via a graphical user interface including a selectable option to enable indication that the subsequent request is related to the initial request; causing the customer device to be connected with the customer service agent device using the linking of the customer information with the agent information when the subsequent request is received within the predetermined period of time and when appropriate based on a context of the subsequent request, the context being indicative of a relationship of the subsequent request to the initial request, wherein the context is weighted such that the context gradually becomes less indicative of the relationship of the subsequent request to the initial request as time passes, and wherein the context comprises: whether there is an intervening request between the initial request and the subsequent request, whether an intervening purchase was made between the initial request and the subsequent request, or an identification of whether the customer device used for the initial request is a same device as used for the subsequent request; and causing the customer to be connected with a different customer service agent when the subsequent request is received within the predetermined period of time and the context is appropriate for the different customer service agent.