Configurable framework for processing multi-channel electronic network requests

Embodiments of the present invention provide a system for processing multi-channel electronic requests. The system is typically configured for generating a configurable framework, creating a package of the configurable framework, allowing a resource entity system of an entity to download the configurable framework, identifying initiation of download of the configurable framework, causing the user interface to input one or more configurable parameters associated with an application present in the resource entity system, receiving the one or more configurable parameters, and integrating the configurable framework with the application, wherein the configurable framework processes one or more multi-channel electronic requests associated with the application based on the one or more configurable parameters.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a configurable framework that is capable of integrating with any application of an entity to process incoming electronic requests of the application.

BACKGROUND

Typically, every application within an entity may need associates that manually process incoming electronic resources. However, such manual processing is prone to errors and ultimately results in audit issues that decrease the efficiency of applications. Thus, there is a need for a system that efficiently processes electronic resources received from multiple channels.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention address the above needs and/or achieve other advantages by providing apparatuses (e.g., a system, computer program product and/or other devices) and methods for processing multi-channel electronic requests. The present invention generates a configurable framework, creates a package of the configurable framework, allows a resource entity system of an entity to download the configurable framework, identifies initiation of download of the configurable framework, causes the user interface to input one or more configurable parameters associated with an application present in the resource entity system, receives the one or more configurable parameters, and integrates the configurable framework with the application, wherein the configurable framework processes one or more multi-channel electronic requests associated with the application based on the one or more configurable parameters.

In some embodiments, the present invention processes the one or more multi-channel requests based on: receiving an electronic resource associated with an electronic request from at least one channel, wherein the electronic resource is associated with the application of the entity, in response to receiving the electronic resource, indexing the electronic resource, identifying the one or more configurable parameters associated with the application, processing the electronic resource based on the one or more configurable parameters, identifying that the electronic resource is associated with an existing electronic request based on processing the electronic resource, in response to identifying that the electronic resource is associated with an existing electronic request, routing the electronic resource to an associate processing the existing electronic request, and automatically pushing updates associated with the electronic resource to one or more entity systems of the entity.

In some embodiments, the present invention identifies that processing of the electronic resource is unsuccessful and in response to identifying that the processing of the electronic resource is unsuccessful, generate a data exception and retry processing the electronic resource.

In some embodiments, the one or more configurable parameters comprise a first flag for optical character recognition, a threshold value for confidence level associated with the optical character recognition, and a second flag for manual review of the electronic resource.

In some embodiments, processing the electronic resource comprises identifying that the first flag for the optical character recognition is positive, performing optical character recognition on the electronic resource, calculating the confidence level of the optical character recognition, determining that the confidence level for the optical character recognition is below the threshold value, in response to determining that the confidence level is below the threshold value, identifying that the second flag for the manual review is positive, and routing the electronic resource to the associate for the manual review.

In some embodiments, the one or more configurable parameters are received from an associate associated with the application, wherein the one or more configurable parameters are specific to the application.

In some embodiments, the present invention integrates the configurable framework with any existing applications of the entity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all, embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more embodiments. It may be evident; however, that such embodiment(s) may be practiced without these specific details. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Typically, each application may receive electronic requests from one or more channels and to process the electronic requests there should be enough personnel in place to handle the incoming requests. Such a process may be labor intensive and may be prone to human errors which is not desirable for audit purposes. Moreover, each user processing the electronic request may not maintain the same format or follow the same procedure and in some instances may not process an electronic document using a generic procedure, which makes tracking of the electronic document difficult which will in turn result in discrepancies. As such, there exists a need for a system in place to receive and process incoming requests of one or more applications associated with the entity. However, if a system supporting such process were to be developed for each application individually, it may not be efficient and each such system would consume a lot of memory space of resource entity systems. Therefore, the system of the present invention provides a configurable framework that can be easily integrated with any application within the entity just by changing one or more configurable parameters. The configurable framework of the present invention is generated using an automation platform. An example of supporting creation of such a framework is the Pega® Platform, which is provided by Pegasystems Inc. of Boston, Mass. It provides for an adaptive, cloud-architected software that empowers people to rapidly deploy, and easily extend and change application to meet strategic business needs, providing capabilities in content and resource management and business process management (BPM). The current invention leverages capabilities of the Pega® Platform to generate a framework that processes electronic requests associated with applications of the entity.

The current invention provides a configurable framework for processing electronic requests associated with applications of the entity. The framework may be reused by multiple applications within an entity, without having a user to develop a code for each of the applications separately. The present system processes electronic requests associated with multiple applications within an entity effectively because it enables users (or an entity) to track the processing of the incoming requests. This configuration eliminates the need to (i) perform a different process for each application within an entity and (ii) allocate a resource (e.g., system) specifically for each application within the entity to perform the corresponding process.

In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the terms “resource entity” or “entity” may include any organization that uses, develops, and/or controls application software to perform one or more organizational activities. In an exemplary embodiment, the resource entity may be an organization that processes financial transactions including, but not limited to, banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, card associations, settlement associations, investment companies, stock brokerages, resource management firms, insurance companies and the like. In another exemplary embodiment, the resource entity may be a non-financial institution. Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention use the term “end user” or “customer.” It will be appreciated by someone with ordinary skill in the art that the user may be a customer of the entity or a potential customer of the entity or an employee of the financial institution. Embodiments of the present invention use the term “associate” or “user.” In some embodiments, the end user may be an associate. It will be appreciated by someone with ordinary skill in the art that the associate may be an employee of the entity.

Many of the example embodiments and implementations described herein contemplate interactions engaged in by a user with a computing device and/or one or more communication devices and/or secondary communication devices. Furthermore, as used herein, the term “user computing device” or “mobile device” may refer to mobile phones, computing devices, tablet computers, wearable devices, smart devices and/or any portable electronic device capable of receiving and/or storing data therein.

A “system environment”, as used herein, may refer to any information technology platform of an enterprise (e.g., a national or multi-national corporation) and may include a multitude of servers, machines, mainframes, personal computers, network devices, front and back end systems, database system and/or the like.

FIG. 1illustrates a system environment100for processing multi-channel electronic requests, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. As illustrated inFIG. 1, one or more resource entity systems10are operatively coupled, via a network2, to user computer systems20, an interactive voice response system30, an email system40, a fax system50, a text system60, and/or one or more other systems (not illustrated). The interactive voice response system30, the email system40, the fax system50, and the text system60are channels that allow customers of the entity associated with the resource entity systems10to submit one or more electronic resources or electronic requests to an application present in the resource entity systems10. In some embodiments, the system environment100may comprise any other systems that allow customers to submit electronic resources or electronic requests to an application existing in the resource entity systems10. In this way, the user4(e.g., one or more associates, employees, agents, contractors, sub-contractors, third-party representatives, or the like), through a user application27(e.g., web browser, resource processing portal, or the like), may access resource entity applications17(e.g., web application, configurable framework, customer record maintenance application, transaction processing application, or the like). The resource entity applications17may be any application developed, utilized, or controlled by the resource entity to perform one or more organizational activities. In some embodiments, the resource entity system10is the system of the present invention that provides the configurable framework. Specifically, the configurable framework provided by the present invention is capable of integrating with any of the other resource entity applications17. The configurable framework provided by the present invention as explained above processes multi-channel electronic requests and incoming electronic resources. In some embodiments, the system of the present invention may be an independent system that provides the configurable framework to the resource entity system10. In such embodiments, the system of the present invention may comprise one or more processing devices operatively coupled to the one or more memory devices and configured to execute computer readable code stored in the one or more memory devices.

In some embodiments, the interactive voice response system30, the email system40, the fax system50, the text system60may be a part of the resource entity systems10. In some embodiments, the interactive voice response system30, the email system40, the fax system50, the text system60may be independent systems as shown inFIG. 1. In such embodiments, the resource entity systems10maintain or control the interactive voice response system30, the email system40, the fax system50, and the text system60. The interactive voice response system30, the email system40, the fax system50, the text system60may comprise one or more processing devices operatively coupled to the one or more memory devices and configured to execute computer readable code stored in the one or more memory devices.

The network2may be a global area network (GAN), such as the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or any other type of network or combination of networks. The network2may provide for wireline, wireless, or a combination of wireline and wireless communication between systems, services, components, and/or devices on the network2.

As illustrated inFIG. 1, the resource entity systems10generally comprise one or more communication components12, one or more processing components14, and one or more memory components16. The one or more processing components14are operatively coupled to the one or more communication components12and the one or more memory components16. As used herein, the term “processing component” generally includes circuitry used for implementing the communication and/or logic functions of a particular system. For example, a processing component14may include a digital signal processor component, a microprocessor component, and various analog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters, and other support circuits and/or combinations of the foregoing. Control and signal processing functions of the system are allocated between these processing components according to their respective capabilities. The one or more processing components14may include functionality to operate one or more software programs based on computer-readable instructions18thereof, which may be stored in the one or more memory components16.

The one or more processing components14use the one or more communication components12to communicate with the network2and other components on the network2, such as, but not limited to, the components of the user computer systems20, the interactive voice response system30, the email system40, the fax system50, the text system60and/or other systems. As such, the one or more communication components12generally comprise a wireless transceiver, modem, server, electrical connection, electrical circuit, or other component for communicating with other components on the network2. The one or more communication components12may further include an interface that accepts one or more network interface cards, ports for connection of network components, Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors and the like.

As further illustrated inFIG. 1, the resource entity systems10comprise computer-readable instructions18stored in the memory component16, which in one embodiment includes the computer-readable instructions18of the resource entity application17(e.g., web application, configurable framework, customer record maintenance application, transaction processing application, or the like). In some embodiments, the one or more memory components16include one or more data stores19for storing data related to the resource entity systems10, including, but not limited to, data created, accessed, and/or used by the resource entity applications17. The independent interactive voice response system30, the email system40, the fax system50, the text system60may include one or more memory components, wherein the one or more memory components may include instructions associated with the system of the present invention.

As illustrated inFIG. 1, plurality of users4may access the resource entity application17, or other applications, through a user computer system20. The user computer system20may be a desktop, mobile device (e.g., laptop, smartphone device, PDA, tablet, or other mobile device), or any other type of computer that generally comprises one or more communication components22, one or more processing components24, and one or more memory components26. The plurality of users may be any employees of the resource entity system. For example, the plurality of users may be application program developers, business analysts, and/or the like. In addition, the system environment100may also include user computer systems of one or more end users (e.g., customers of the entity, or internal employees of the entity), wherein the one or more end users access the application software deployed by the resource entity system10and/or the system of the present invention on the user computer systems.

The one or more processing components24are operatively coupled to the one or more communication components22and the one or more memory components26. The one or more processing components24use the one or more communication components22to communicate with the network2and other components on the network2, such as, but not limited to, the other user computer systems, the interactive voice response system30, the email system40, the fax system50, the text system60, and/or other systems. As such, the one or more communication components22generally comprise a wireless transceiver, modem, server, electrical connection, or other component for communicating with other components on the network2. The one or more communication components22may further include an interface that accepts one or more network interface cards, ports for connection of network components, Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors and the like. Moreover, the one or more communication components22may include a keypad, keyboard, touch-screen, touchpad, microphone, mouse, joystick, other pointer component, button, soft key, and/or other input/output component(s) for communicating with a user of the plurality of users4. In one embodiment of the present invention, the configurable framework in resource entity system10may provide a resource processing portal in the user computer systems20to allow the plurality of users4to access information associated with processing of electronic requests.

As illustrated inFIG. 1, the user computer systems20may have computer-readable instructions28stored in the one or more memory components26, which in one embodiment includes the computer-readable instructions28for user applications27, such as resource processing portal, a web browser or other apps that allow the user to take various actions, including allowing the user to access applications located on other systems, or the like. In some embodiments, the user utilizes the user applications27, through the user computer systems20, to access the resource entity applications17to access information associated with processing of electronic requests and/or to provide minimal amount of input to the system.

Referring now toFIG. 2, a general process flow200is provided for allowing the configurable framework to be integrated with an application in the resource entity system10ofFIG. 1. Referring to block202through210ofFIG. 2, as shown in block202, the system creates a package of configurable framework, where the configurable framework is exclusively designed to process incoming resource requests associated with one or more applications. The configurable framework comprises one or more executable program codes that are configured to process incoming resource requests associated with the one or more applications.

As shown in block204, the system allows download of the configurable framework. As shown in block206, the identifies initiation of download of the configurable framework by a resource entity system and causes the user interface of the resource entity system to input one or more configurable parameters associated with an application present in the resource entity system.

As shown in block208, the system receives the one or more configurable parameters. The one or more configurable parameters are associated with processing of the electronic requests. The one or more configurable parameters may comprise first flag for optical character recognition, a threshold value for confidence level associated with the optical character recognition, and a second flag for manual review of the electronic resource. Each of these configurable parameters are explained in detail inFIG. 3. In some embodiments, the one or more configurable parameters are received from the resource entity system. In some embodiments the one or more configurable parameters are presented by a user4(e.g., an associate, application owner, or the like) via the user computing system20.

As shown in block210, the system integrates the configurable framework with the application, where the configurable framework processes one or more multi-channel electronic requests. The system may integrate the configurable framework with the application by importing the one or more codes present in the package of the configurable framework into the executable codes of the application.

Referring now toFIG. 3, a general process flow300is provided processing multi-channel electronic requests associated with the application. Referring to block302through314ofFIG. 3, as shown in block302, the configurable framework receives an electronic resource associated an electronic request from at least one channel. The at least channel may include, but is not limited to, interactive voice response system30, email system40, fax system50, text system60, mailing system (not shown), or the like. In some embodiments, the at least one channel may be a mailing system which intakes paper mails. Electronic request may be any application specific request. For example, the electronic request may be associated with online banking application, where the electronic request may be associated with change of customer address. In such a case, the customer may submit an electronic document that may be a supporting document for the change of address. In some embodiments, the electronic resource accompanies the electronic request. In some embodiments, the electronic resource may not accompany the electronic request. The electronic resources may include, but are not limited to, photos, documents, files, or the like.

As shown in block304, the configurable framework indexes the electronic resource. The configurable framework may create an index or a unique identifier for the electronic resource so that the electronic resource may be tracked as it progresses or propagates into multiple resource entity systems10. In some embodiments, the configurable framework may create an index and may insert the index into metadata of the electronic resource, where the metadata moves along with the electronic resource. The index allows the system of the present invention and the resource entity systems10to track the movement of the electronic resource within the entity. For example, the electronic resource may be transferred to multiples users (e.g., application analysts, application owners, or the like) or multiple applications/resource entity systems within the entity. In such instances, the index that is associated with the electronic resource allows the system to track the movement and in some instances, track the modifications performed on the electronic resource. The index may be an application specific index that allows the configurable framework of the present invention and the resource entity systems10to identify that the electronic resource belongs to a particular application.

As shown in block306, the configurable framework identifies one or more configurable parameters associated with the application. The one or more configurable parameters as explained above may comprise first flag for optical character recognition, a threshold value for confidence level associated with the optical character recognition, and a second flag for manual review of the electronic resource. The first flag may be positive if the application needs optical character recognition on the incoming electronic resource. The package of the configurable framework comprises one or more codes for performing optical character recognition and providing a confidence score associated with the optical character recognition. In the case where the confidence level associated with the optical character recognition needs to be considered by the application, the threshold value for the confidence level is received from the resource entity system10or the user4as explained in block208ofFIG. 2. The second flag may be positive if the application needs a user to perform a manual review of the electronic resource, should the confidence level of the optical character recognition fall under the threshold value.

As shown in block308, the configurable framework processes the electronic resource based on the one or more configurable parameters. Processing of the electronic resources depends on whether flags associated with the application are positive or not. In one embodiment, the configurable framework identifies that the first flag for the optical character recognition is negative and may automatically redirect the electronic resource to a resource entity system and/or an associate (e.g., application analyst) via the user computing system20and the resource processing portal provided by the configurable framework of the present invention. In one embodiment, the configurable framework identifies identifying that the first flag for the optical character recognition is positive and performs optical character recognition on the electronic resource. In such an embodiment, the configurable framework calculates the confidence level of the optical character recognition. For example, when the incoming electronic resource is associated with change of address, the system optical character recognition to identify one or more details in the electronic resource with 98% confidence. The configurable framework after performing optical character recognition, determines whether the confidence level is higher than the threshold value. In the case, where the confidence level is higher than the threshold value, the process flow proceeds to block310. In the case where the confidence level for the optical character recognition is below the threshold value, the configurable framework determines whether the second flag for the manual review is positive or not. If the second flag is negative, the process flow proceeds to block310. If the second flag is positive, the configurable framework routes the electronic resource to the associate for the manual review. In some embodiments, some applications may not require exact details with 100% confidence in the electronic resources, in such cases, the second flag is negative. In some embodiments, where applications require exact details (e.g., check processing applications), the second flag is positive. In some embodiments, the configurable framework automatically identifies flags based on the type of application. For example, if the application is a check processing application, the system may automatically determine that the second flag should be positive. In some embodiments, where the configurable framework is unable to process the electronic resource, the configurable framework generates a data exception and retries processing the electronic resource instead of ending the process flow. For example, if an unexpected error (e.g., because of network issues, hardware issues, or the like) has occurred while processing the electronic resource, the system generates a data exception and tries processing the electronic resource.

As shown in block310, the configurable framework identifies that the electronic resource is associated with an existing electronic request based on processing the electronic resource. Based on processing the electronic resource, the configurable framework may determine that the one or more details in the electronic resource correspond to an existing electronic request. For example, the configurable framework receives supporting documentation for address change for a customer, where the documentation may comprise first name, last name, and date of birth of the customer, the configurable framework may determine that the documentation is associated with an existing customer and may move the documentation to the personal file of the customer. In another example, the configurable framework receives a snapshot of an error log encountered by a end user, where the snapshot may comprise details about type of error. The configurable framework may determine that an existing ticket to resolve the same error exists and may determine that the incoming electronic resource is associated with the existing ticket.

As shown in block312, the configurable framework routes the electronic resource to an associate processing the existing electronic request. Continuing with the previous example, the system may determine that the incoming electronic resource is associated with the existing ticket and may route the electronic resource to a technical support representative. In some embodiments, the configurable framework may route the electronic resource to another system that is configured to handle the processing of the electronic requests.

As shown in block314, the configurable framework automatically pushes updates associated with the electronic resource to one or more entity systems of the entity. The system may automatically update one or more entity system with the details in the electronic resource and may store a copy of the electronic resource.

It will be understood that any suitable computer-readable medium may be utilized. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as a tangible electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, and/or semiconductor system, device, and/or other apparatus. For example, in some embodiments, the non-transitory computer-readable medium includes a tangible medium such as a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), and/or some other tangible optical and/or magnetic storage device. In other embodiments of the present invention, however, the computer-readable medium may be transitory, such as, for example, a propagation signal including computer-executable program code portions embodied therein. In some embodiments, memory may include volatile memory, such as volatile random access memory (RAM) having a cache area for the temporary storage of information. Memory may also include non-volatile memory, which may be embedded and/or may be removable. The non-volatile memory may additionally or alternatively include an EEPROM, flash memory, and/or the like. The memory may store any one or more of pieces of information and data used by the system in which it resides to implement the functions of that system.