Abstract:
A Social Network Application enables institutions (such as colleges and universities or institutions in other business verticals) to communicate and engage with their constituents (prospects, applicants, students, faculty, alumni, etc) on Social Networks (e.g.: Facebook.com, MySpace.com. Orkut.com, etc) by providing a platform through which constituents may find and connect with each institutions and friends on these networks, and through which institutions may answer questions from constituents, push or allow constituents to pull personalized content within the Social Network, register constituents for online and in-person events and interviews, and otherwise communicate through various channels (e.g.: RSS, SMS/text messaging, phone, etc.). The invention provides an interface that enables the aforementioned to be managed from within a CRM system at the institution that is not otherwise related to the Social Network.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present invention claims priority to U.S. Ser. No. 61/334,209 filed May 13, 2010, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This solution pertains to “Constituent Relationship Management on Social Networks” in the field of CRM (‘Customer Relationship Management’ or ‘Constituent Relationship Management’) in general and CRM for Higher Education in particular. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Institutions understand that they need a presence on social networks, but have no time or resources to monitor, publish content, and promote themselves on the social networks. Even though these social networks provide a platform for creating a page dedicated to the institution, there is no easy way to capture leads from social networks and bring these into an institutional CRM system for further engagement. Some social networks also provide an application (App) platform that can be leveraged to create interactions with social network users, and some organizations have undertaken to create custom Apps for those persons interested in their organization. However, a typical user cannot be expected to add and monitor dozens of apps from numerous institutions that may be of interest to the user. In this context, the term “user” refers to a constituent or customer of a CRM system. A good example would be a student planning to apply to colleges for admissions; expecting such a prospect to interact with, e.g., 10 institutes using 10 individual Apps is a clear obstacle in efficient CRM interactions between those institutes and the prospect. 
         [0004]    The Inigral service, which is publicly available, can be used to build an application for a school, but this can result in the unwieldy result for prospects described above. The Inigral service does not allow a user to have one Application for all of their alumni relationships (multiple institutions) and does not account for the possibility of different relationships to different schools (applicant vs. alumnus, etc.) 
         [0005]    The assignee of the present application, Hobsons Inc., previously developed a FACEBOOK Application that would allow students to find college information for various colleges, and add colleges of interest to a personal list. However, this system provided no interactivity, and was not generally successful. 
         [0006]    USNews has released a FACEBOOK Application with similar features to that provided by Hobsons Inc. 
         [0007]    Explore U (aka Education Connection) provides a service that helps users to evaluate schools to match a user&#39;s needs, and includes search functions to identify schools based on educational background and area of interest. A user can also submit profile information to view schools matching search criteria, and then submit a request for information from a specific school, which would then make contact via e-mail, telephone or a mailer. 
         [0008]    CampusBuddy.com provides an application that connects FACEBOOK users with a campus, classes and classmates, and provides professor and grading records, and provides a calendar view for coursework. However, no linkage is provided outside of the FACEBOOK system. 
         [0009]    Cramster.com provides a scheduling-sharing application on FACEBOOK that allows users to view school activities of friends, form study groups and share notes, but has similar limitations. 
         [0010]    Coursehero.com provides an Application with similar functions, as does Blackboard.com. 
         [0011]    Another Application is provided by Podclass.com; this Application permits course management information from the open source Moodle software to be interfaced into FACEBOOK. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    One aspect of the present invention provides an Application for a Social Network, allowing an interface to the Social Network by participant institutions in a given vertical market. Examplary vertical markets include Higher Education, Banking, Investment, Airlines, and the like. The interface is built to contain public domain facts regarding the institutions in the vertical market, for review by market participants, and the interface also provides an electronic connection to a constituent relationship management system of at least one institution, where the relationship management system is unrelated to the Social Network. The Application thus frees an institution of the burden of forming a customized Social Network Application and leverages the existing relationship management (CRM) system of the institution in communicating with market constituents having interest in the institution. 
         [0013]    In the described detailed embodiment, utilizing the Application, constituents can search for the institutions that they are interested in and add to those institutions to their customized version of the Application. 
         [0014]    In this embodiment, while adding the institution, constituents can specify their current or intended relationship with the institution, their preferences on how they can be contacted and other domain specific information. For example: In case of a University, a constituent may be identified as Applicant, Alumni, Faculty, and may identify details such as the departments and/or programs of interest. In the case of an Airline, a constituent may be identified as a Traveler, Pilot, Ground Staff, etc., and may provide details location, frequent destinations, etc. Based on the above data, through the Application, Social Network users can find similar users (e.g.: other users applying to undergraduate program of a college). 
         [0015]    In the detailed embodiment described below, through the interface to the relationship management system of one participant institution, when a user adds an institution, a corresponding record is created in the institution&#39;s CRM system or is matched up to an existing record already in the system. Thereafter, based on a user&#39;s profile and stated relationship to an institution, etc., using their CRM system, the institution can deliver custom content (text, audio, video etc) to the user in the Social Network using Push or Pull channels. For this purpose the Application may provide a content page in the Application within the context of Institution, RSS subscription feeds, SMS/Text Messages, connections to the Social Network&#39;s messaging, or facilitate the use of Social Network contact information for emails or a phone call. 
         [0016]    In the detailed embodiment described below, within the Social Network Application, a user can ask questions to an institution within the network and receive an immediate answer. These answers are obtained and managed using the CRM system of the institution. Also using its CRM system, an institution can promote and/or invite the user to in-person or on-line events and or interviews. Users can search for upcoming events, accept invitations, RSVP to events or interviews, or even attend online events or online chats by simply clicking on link provided within the Social Network Application. 
         [0017]    In the embodiment described, at an institution&#39;s discretion, a social network user can start a transaction from within the social network. (Examples: for a University—a user may start an on-line application for admission, for an Airline—a user may start an air ticket purchase, for a Bank—a user may request a service such as statement, new check books). The institution can poll social network users for feedback on any topic within or outside the domain of the institution. The institution may also push segmented information to the users of social network, such as information may be pushed only to constituents interested in a particular department of a university or a particular region of an airline&#39;s route map. There can be interaction between segmented departments and the users of social networks independent of the institution. 
         [0018]    In accord with principles of the present invention, the application for any Social Network will be accessible through any device or platform, whether stationary or mobile, including, for example, cell phones, PDAs, desktop computers, pad computers, laptop computers, etc. 
         [0019]    These and other aspects and attributes of the present invention will become increasingly clear upon reference to the following drawings and accompanying specification. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    Referring particularly to the drawings for the purpose of illustration only and not to limit the scope of the invention in any way, these illustrations follow: 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  is an overview block diagram of an implementation of principles of the present invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating the process of adding the Application embodying principles of the present invention, to a constituent&#39;s Social Networking identity, and  FIG. 2A  illustrates an exemplary FACEBOOK Application screen generated during this process. 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating the process for searching for a school in one embodiment illustrating principles of the present invention, and  FIGS. 3A ,  3 B,  3 C,  3 D and  3 E are illustrations of exemplary FACEBOOK Application screens, generated during the process of finding and considering facts regarding a school, and connecting with other constituents. 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating the process for obtaining answers to questions regarding an institution and following up on queries regarding an institution using an exemplary FACEBOOK Application, and  FIGS. 4A and 4B  illustrate exemplary FACEBOOK Application screens generated during this process. 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating the process for viewing and joining current and upcoming events using an exemplary FACEBOOK Application, and  FIG. 5A  is an illustration of an exemplary FACEBOOK Application screen, generated during the process of viewing events. 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating the process for viewing personalized content and sharing information using an exemplary FACEBOOK Application, and  FIG. 6A  is an illustration of a personalized FACEBOOK screen generated during this process. 
       
    
    
       [0027]    The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for the carrying out of the invention. This description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, and is not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0028]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there are illustrated four major components to an exemplary Social Network Application  10  in accordance with principles of the present invention. They are the Social Networks  12  (e.g.: FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, ORKUT, etc.), the Application  14  (different application for each vertical market, such as Education, Finance, Airline, etc.), the institutional CRM  26  (the institution will have its own version of the CRM) and the publicly available Information for institutions of the vertical, available from various third parties  18 , whether they use CRM or not. All these entities integrate with each other through a network of servers and databases to deliver the interaction as described herein. 
         [0029]    The four primary data components needed for the application to integrate institutions with Social networks are as follows: 
         [0030]    A database  20  of Public Information on Institutions containing the publicly available information for domestic and international institutions. This information is updated regularly by the institutions. This database will be integrated and queried to retrieve information. 
         [0031]    The CRM  16 , which is unique for each of the institutions, and in which the institution manages contact and follow-up information. The institutions may push targeted content to users on social networks based on their available profile information, such as answers to questions and similar data in a CRM Database  22 , and the institution will accumulate input from Social Network constituents in a Suggestion Database  24 . An Import function  26  will pull data from the Application, such as User information and relationships  30 , and Preferences or Domain specific information  28 , and push that data to the CRM database  22 . 
         [0032]    The Application Database  32  will store and manage the application data required to run the application in a social network. 
         [0033]    The Social Network&#39;s Database  34 , which contains all user information and is the property of the social network. The Social Network will manage and maintain the data residing in these databases. 
         [0034]      FIG. 2  illustrates that the application will integrate with inherent functionality of a Social Network to allow Social Network users to share/manage the application on their profile (e.g. Share the application with FACEBOOK friends, Add application as a badge on the profile page, etc.). Moreover, the application can be shared by any of the participating institutions within the vertical market that is interested in connecting with users of the Social Network. 
         [0035]    After enrollment of institutions, the application can be shared/publicized in the following methods:
       An institution  40  can publicize  42  the application, e.g. by sharing a link or reference of the application through mass communication (e.g. mass email, hand-outs, letters, etc.), or institution can share a link or reference of the application through public facing web pages.   The Social Network users  44  can share the application with their friends.       
 
         [0038]    A user  44  adds  46  the application to their profile, thus establishing status as a constituent of the vertical market for the application. See the related screen display in  FIG. 2A . This process may involve confirming or potentially extending the user&#39;s personal information as needed for proper operation of the Application  14 . After a user adds the application, then an institution user  48  may access and manage  50  user information of users that have associated with the institution, via the institutions CRM database and CRM system. 
         [0039]      FIG. 3  illustrates the process by which a user  44 , through the Application, associates with a given institution. This process begins with the user searching  52  for institutions, by providing a name or a desired attribute (e.g., area of study for an educational market), as illustrated in  FIG. 3A . The Application searches the Application Database  32  and provides results. The user obtains a results display, such as seen in  FIG. 3B . The user  44  then adds  54  the desired institution(s) to their personal list so that these particular institutions are available within the user&#39;s interface to the Social Network Application. In this process, the Application displays an interface  56  to allow the user to determine their relationship  58  with the selected institution, and any other relevant information  60 . (For example, in the vertical of Higher Education The interface allows the user to make a selection for Undergraduate and/or Graduate programs). The user can choose to keep this selection private if they would not like their choices to be searchable by other users of the Social Network. The user can edit their relationship with the institution at any given point in time. 
         [0040]    Information about institutions added by the user  44  will be displayed together at a home page of the Application, as seen in  FIG. 3C . The user  44  can add comments on their list of favorite institutions. The comments entered may be pushed to the users Profile page, Newsfeed and Notifications within the social Network. For example, the user may rank academic institutions by preference as part of a college search. 
         [0041]    After associating with an institution, the user can then undertake various activities specific to that institution by changing context from the home page of the Application to the context of a specific institution, as illustrated in  FIG. 3D . The user has the option to switch to different divisions of the institution if the divisions are using separate instances of CRMs. If enabled, the following functionality can be available in context of an institution 
         [0042]    A Similar People function, illustrated in  FIG. 3E , may be used to find other users  44  of the Social Network with the same matching criteria and/or stated relationships for a particular institutions. 
         [0043]    Other functions may be available within the context of a specific institution. For example, a Facts function may be available for the institution, as seen in  FIG. 3F , in which the user can view key facts about the institution. These may be provided from the Public Information database  20  shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0044]    Additional features that may be available within an institution are seen in the tabs  62  on the FACEBOOK page shown in  FIG. 3F . These include a Get Answers, Events, and myPage functions, which will now be discussed. 
         [0045]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the “Get Answers” feature allows the user to ask questions  64  of the institution, via the Application within the Social Network. This is seen in  FIG. 4A . The application will return all matching answers found in the CRM database, as shown in  FIG. 4B . If these answers are not on point, or if further information is desired, the user  44  can also ask  66  a follow-up question. As noted above, a knowledgebase of questions and answers is managed within the institution&#39;s CRM, and suggestions and followup from the Social Networking application are forwarded by the Application to a queue  68 , and then to the institution&#39;s CRM database  22 , to permit direct interaction between the institution  40  and particularly an institution user  48 , who will prepare a response  70  (typically via email) and forward it to the constituent user  44 . 
         [0046]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , the “Events” feature allows the user  44  to search for and view  72  events in the current or upcoming date. The display of events is seen in  FIG. 5A . The user can search within the events or interviews applicable to him/her. The user  44  may also register/join an event  74 , choosing a date and time  76  from a calendar, which causes personal information  78  from the Social Network user to be delivered to the institution&#39;s CRM database  22  so that the event participation is noted and scheduled at the institution. 
         [0047]    Referring now to  FIG. 6 , personalization features, aka “myPage”, for an institution allows the user  44  to view personalized content  80  based on the user&#39;s Social Network profile, as seen in  FIG. 6A . Based on user&#39;s profile and stated relationship, etc., using the institution&#39;s CRM system, the institution may deliver custom content to the user in the Social Network myPage, using a Variety of Push or Pull channels—for example, the institution may provide a content page in the Application within the context of the institution, RSS subscription feeds, SMS/Text Messages, make contact via the Social Network&#39;s messaging, or initiate emails or telephone calls. 
         [0048]    At all times, a user has the option to view and update  82  the profile information residing in the Social Network Application. This information is synced with each joined institution&#39;s CRM and therefore is updated in their CRM as well, by the delivery  84  of an update of the personal information to the Application database  32 , followed by the synchronization  86  of the user information between the Application Data  32  and the CRM Database  22  at the Institution. 
         [0049]    In accordance with the preceding explanation, it can be seen that a Social Network application accomplishes numerous features not previously implemented, through integration with the CRM systems of individual institutions. This has been shown through a specific embodiment, but variations and adaptations of the Social Network application in accordance with the present invention, and for particular vertical markets, will suggest themselves to a practitioner of the programming arts. 
         [0050]    In accordance with these and other possible variations and adaptations of the present invention, the scope of the invention should be determined in accordance with the following claims, only, and not solely in accordance with that embodiment within which the invention has been taught.