Abstract:
A multi-chat monitoring and auditing system and method are disclosed. The system and method may be used to simultaneously monitor, audit, and manage online, text-based chat interactions between a plurality of customer service representatives and a plurality of users. Chat streams are monitored through the use of flags that may be customized based on the preferences of the system operators. The system and method may also audit chat interactions through data collection and through a dashboard that aggregates and analyzes key performance indicators. A supervisor&#39;s dashboard may also be utilized to manage and oversee the chat interactions of a plurality of customer service representatives.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/121,137 filed Feb. 26, 2015 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/078,019 filed Nov. 11, 2014, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    As the Internet has become ubiquitous in daily life, customer interactions increasingly occur as online chats rather than telephone conversations. Proper management of online customer service resources has consequently become paramount to businesses. Negative customer reviews of online interactions can result in a substantial, negative impact on the company&#39;s finances and reputation. However, because customer service is a labor-intensive industry, failure at any stage of management can create a cascade of negative consequences that conventional methods fail to adequately address. 
         [0003]    Online customer service and management is comprised of three primary components: ticket management, call management, and online chat management. The most challenging to supervise of these components is online chat management, in which customer service representatives (“CSRs”) engage in online, text-based chats with users. This form of customer service is challenging to supervise because a limited number of supervisors must monitor real-time customer service interactions between representatives and users. This task is compounded by the fact that each customer service representative is engaged in multiple, simultaneous online chats. No system exists in the prior art that allows for simultaneous, real-time monitoring and auditing of multiple online chat interactions. No system exists in the prior art that allows for simultaneous, real-time monitoring and auditing of multiple online chat interactions for multiple agents. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    In order to overcome these and other disadvantages in the related art, there is provided a multi-chat monitoring and auditing system and method. This system and method solves the foregoing problems through a web-based system that can be used to simultaneously monitor, audit, and manage online, text-based chat interactions between a plurality of customer service representative and users. The system disclosed thus allows a limited number of supervisors to oversee and intervene in multiple online chat interactions between representatives and users through a graphic, dynamically updating dashboard in which the chat streams appear as widgets—dynamically updating applications or software modules that run within the graphic user interface. That functionality offers supervisors the opportunity to passively monitor online chat streams, actively intervene, and also train and audit customer service representatives. As used in this disclosure, the term “supervisor,” broadly encompasses any personnel who have a need to monitor, audit, and/or train customer service representatives in their online chat interactions with users. 
         [0005]    Online chat interactions have quickly become one of the dominant forms of communication between customers and customer service representatives. A number of stand-alone online chat applications are practiced in the art, such as Google Chat, Apple iMessage, and Facebook Messenger. Further, most companies with an online presence rely on proprietary, integrated online chat applications to facilitate communications with customers. Examples of prior art online chat applications include Lent et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,346,576, Weisberg, U.S. Pat. No. 7,861,176 and Singh et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,762,862. In those online chat applications, communications between parties on different networked computers are mediated through a server utilizing standard Internet communication protocols, such as HTTP. However, while methods and apparatuses used to implement basic online chat applications are known in the art, there is a distinct lack of online chat application technology for enabling a single or small number of individuals to efficiently, simultaneously monitor multiple online chat interactions in real-time, while analyzing and auditing such chat interactions for customer service representatives. Those missing functionalities prevent existing online chat applications from operating efficiently as a primary point of communication with customers. As described herein, the present invention incorporates such features and is designed to be integrated into preexisting online chat applications and hardware or to operate as an independent chat application. 
         [0006]    The monitoring of online, text-based chat streams is enabled through the creation of flags: words or terms used in chats, responsiveness time, customer data, or other data of interest appearing in a chat stream. Those flags can be designated by system architects, supervisors, or customer service representatives. Once a flag is created in the system, a graphic representation of the flag will appear on the supervisor&#39;s dashboard and optionally, the customer service representative&#39;s chat screen. Flags may be color-coded or otherwise marked to categorize importance. A customer service representative can also activate a flag at any time to attract the attention of a supervisor. The supervisor&#39;s dashboard, which shows all of the active chat streams of his customer service representatives, will graphically notify the supervisor of the flag or dynamically bring forward the affected chat screen. Once the flagged issue is resolved, the associated flag can be removed from the chat stream and the supervisor dashboard, and the supervisor dashboard will revert to real-time monitoring of customer service representative interactions with users. 
         [0007]    The system is also capable of collecting and tabulating chat interaction data for customer service representatives. The supervisor&#39;s chat dashboard allows a supervisor to coach a representative on any chat, actively participate in the chat stream, or take control of a chat by removing the representative. The chat streams on the supervisor&#39;s dashboard, which appear as widgets, also collect metrics on representatives, such as service level, first contact resolution, customer satisfaction scores, average talk time, and unresponsive/unavailable time. The dashboard also aggregates key performance indicators for representatives, including customer satisfaction scores, handle time, representative utilization, wrap time, times a representative is unavailable, and the average speed of response to a user&#39;s request for chat. These capabilities of the invention provide summarized data at both the micro and macro levels that can be used to audit customer service performance and train low performing customer service representatives. 
         [0008]    The present invention is therefore unique in that it has the ability to simultaneously monitor numerous online chat interactions while also aggregating metrics for training and auditing purposes. This technology has many applications in industries that have intensive customer engagement or at enterprises that require or utilize call centers. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    Aspects of exemplary embodiments may be better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of exemplary embodiments. 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the system of the present invention, illustrating the typical hardware used in its implementation; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2A  is an illustration, as contemplated by an exemplary embodiment of the invention, of an online chat graphic user interface as it appears to a customer service representative or customer; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2B  is an illustration, as contemplated by an exemplary embodiment of the invention, of an online chat graphic user interface displaying a screen available to a customer service representative; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is an illustration, as contemplated by an exemplary embodiment of the invention, of an online chat graphic user interface as it appears to a supervisor and/or a customer service representative; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4A  is an illustrative flow chart of a representative process through which a request to chat with a customer service representative is sent; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4B  is an illustrative flow chart of a process by which the supervisor monitors, comments, and may take control of an ongoing chat between a customer and a customer service representative; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart of an exemplary software pathway utilizing the hardware of  FIG. 1 , through which the method of the claimed invention is implemented. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    Reference to the drawings illustrating various views of exemplary embodiments of the present invention is now made. In the drawings and the description of the drawings herein, certain terminology is used for convenience only and is not to be taken as limiting the embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, in the drawings and the description below, like numerals indicate like elements throughout. 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is an overview of the hardware used to implement the system and process of multi-chat monitoring and auditing. The system  100  is comprised of one or more servers  110  and one or more databases  120  connected to a plurality of remote customer computer systems  140 , such as one or more personal systems  150  and one or more mobile computer systems  160 , via a network  130 . Via that network  130 , a plurality of customer representative computers (“CSR computers”)  170  and supervisor computers  180  are also connected to the servers  110  and databases  120 . 
         [0019]    The servers  110  of  FIG. 1  are further comprised of an internal storage device  112  and a processor  114 . The servers  110  may be any suitable computing device including, for example, an application server and a web server which hosts websites accessible by the remote computer systems  140 . The databases  120  may be internal to any of the servers  110 , in which case they may be stored on the internal storage device  112 , or may be external to the server  110 , in which case it may be stored on an external non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as an external hard disk array or solid-state memory. The databases  120  may be stored on a single device or multiple devices. The servers  110  and the databases  120  of the invention perform such tasks as processing requests to chat, storing relevant customer data, and providing that data as requested. The network  130  may include any combination of the internet, cellular networks, wide area networks (WAN), local area networks (LAN), etc. Communication via the network  130  may be realized by wired and/or wireless connections. A remote computer system  140  may be any suitable electronic device configured to send and/or receive data via the network  130 . A remote computer system  140  may be, for example, a network-connected computing device such as a personal computer, a notebook computer, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a tablet. The remote personal computer systems  150  may further be comprised of an internal storage device  152 , a processor  154 , output devices  156 , and input devices  158 . The remote mobile computer systems  160  may further be comprised of an internal storage device  162 , a processor  164 , output devices  166 , and input devices  168 . 
         [0020]    On the other side of the network, a plurality of CSR computers  170  and supervisor computers  180  are connected through the network  130  to the servers  110  and the databases  120 . It is through that connection that the CSR computers  170  and supervisor computers  180  are able to establish two-way communications with remote computer systems  140 . Similar to remote computer systems  140 , both CSR computers  170  and supervisor computers  180  may be, for example, network-connected computing devices such as a personal computer, a notebook computer, a smartphone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a tablet. The CSR computers  170  may further be comprised of an internal storage device  172 , a processor  174 , output devices  176 , and input devices  178 . The supervisor computers  180  may further be comprised of an internal storage device  182 , a processor  184 , output devices  186 , and input devices  188 . 
         [0021]    An internal storage device  112 ,  152 ,  162 ,  172 , and/or  182  may be non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums, such as hard disks or solid-state memory, for storing software instructions that, when executed by a processor  114 ,  154 ,  164 ,  174 , or  184  carry out relevant portions of the features described herein. A processor  114 ,  154 ,  164 ,  174 , or  184  may include a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), etc. A processor  114 ,  154 ,  164 ,  174 , or  184  may be realized as a single semiconductor chip or more than one chip. An output device  156 ,  166 ,  176  and/or  186  may include a display, speakers, external ports, etc. A display may be any suitable device configured to output visible light, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting polymer displays (LPD), a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), etc. The input devices  158 ,  168 ,  178  and/or  188  may include keyboards, mice, trackballs, still or video cameras, touchpads, etc. A touchpad may be overlaid or integrated with a display to form a touch-sensitive display or touchscreen. 
         [0022]    The system  100  may be used by a single user at the remote computer  140  or by a plurality of users at remote computers  140  simultaneously. The system  100  may be realized by software instructions accessible to and executed by the server  110  and/or downloaded and executed by the remote computing system  140 , the CSR computers  170 , and/or the supervisor computers  180 . As used herein, the term “users” and “customers” are equivalent and may refer to individuals, organizations, or entities in control of remote computer systems  140 . The system  100 , and more particularly the server  110 , operates an online chat application as known in the prior art and discussed above. The present invention may be integrated into that online chat application, but may also run as a separate module, as long as it adds the novel functionalities discussed herein. 
         [0023]    One aspect of the realization of the system  100  is depicted in  FIG. 2A , which depicts an exemplary illustration of the various screens that can be accessed from the general graphic user interface (“GUI”)  200  of the system. This general GUI  200  is accessible to the customer service representative, the supervisor, and/or the customer. The general GUI  200  may be comprised of the Default View  210 , the Search Results View  220 , the Article View  230 , and the Ask for Help Chat Screen  240 . The Side Tab  250  appears as a panel in all views of the general GUI  200 . In the Default View  210 , the customer service representative, the supervisor, and/or the customer is provided with a Text Input Box  212  to initiate topic searches, the Top Issues Tabs  214  that lists common topics that can be selected to provide more information and the Side Tab  250 . The Side Tab may be further comprised of a Knowledge Base button  252 , which acts to return the customer service representative to the Default View  210 , the Submit buttons  254 , which are used to submit feedback or software performance issues, and the Ask For Help buttons  256 , which can be used to request a chat with a customer service representative, either as a real-time chat or by email, by clicking the associated button. The Search Results View  220  is similar to the Default View  210 , with the exception that the Top Issues Tabs  214  are replaced by Search Results List  222 , which shows the results of searches queried through the Text Input Box  212 . Upon clicking on one of the results in the Search Results List  222 , the customer service representative, the supervisor, and/or the customer arrives at the Article View  230 , which displays the Article  232 , comprised of the Article Title  234 , the Article Content  236 , and a Back button  238 , used to return to the Search Results View  220 . The last screen, the Ask for Help Chat Screen  240 , may be reached by clicking on the Ask for Help chat button  256  in any of the previously discussed screens  210 ,  220 , or  230 . The general GUI  200  may also appear within a commercially known web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, or as an embedded or pull-up window running as an integrated part of proprietary software, as long as the general GUI&#39;s  200  screens maintain the functionalities described herein. 
         [0024]      FIG. 2B  is a depiction an additional screen of the general GUI  200 . This screen specifically appears to a customer service representative. It is this CSR GUI  260  screen that appears on the output device  176  of a CSR computer  170  when a request to chat is initiated from a remote computer system  140  using an analogous GUI on the remote computer system  140 . The CSR computer  170  receives multiple chat requests, which may appear one at a time, as shown here, or as separate tabs on the general GUI  200 . The servers  110  route the requests to chat to CSR computers  170  optimally, ensuring that CSR computers  170  receive such requests evenly and no single CSR computer  170  is overwhelmed by requests. The CSR GUI  260  screen is comprised of the Chat Status Display Text  262 , the Ticket Summary Display Text  264 , the Chat Log  266 , and the Text Input Box  268 . The Chat Status Display Text  262  displays the length of an ongoing online chat, the customer&#39;s name, the customer&#39;s account information, such as account number or customer number, and other identifying information, such as a character name alias or username. The Ticket Summary Display Text  264  dynamically updates to display the status of the request and the reason for the chat request, if the customer has chosen to provide one. The Chat Log  266  is a live, dynamically updating, time-stamped chat that displays the conversation between all parties involved in the online chat. The Text Input Box  268  allows the customer service representative to enter text and submit that text to the Chat Log  266 . The customer service representative has access, at all times, to the other screens in the general GUI  200 , as shown in  FIG. 2A , which allow him to search for potential answers to customer chat requests for help. 
         [0025]    In  FIG. 3 , the general GUI  200  is depicted as it appears to a supervisor, in the form of Supervisor GUI  300 . As a single supervisor computer  180  monitors a plurality of CSR computers  170 , the general GUI  200  as it appears to a supervisor differs from the screens visible to a customer service representative. The Supervisor GUI  300  displays multiple, dynamically updating widgets simultaneously as a dashboard, along with metrics and auditing functionality. By contrast, the general GUI  200 , as visible to a customer service representative, may display ongoing chat streams as the plurality of widgets shown in  FIG. 3 , without the metrics and auditing functionality, or as multiple, separate windows. Those widgets on the customer service representative&#39;s general GUI  200  may appear as a plurality of CSR GUI  260  screens. 
         [0026]    Each of the plurality of widgets on the supervisor computer  180  is designed to monitor a plurality of CSR computer  170  online chats with customers. The Supervisor GUI  300  therefore may be comprised of a Statistics Toolbar  310  and a plurality of widgets  320 . A CSR computer  170  in which widgets  320  have been implemented will be substantially similar, but lack the Statistics Toolbar  310  of the supervisor computer  180 . The Statistics Toolbar is further comprised of a plurality of Metrics Buttons  312 . Those Metrics Buttons  312  display data about customer service interactions in tabular and graphical forms, including but not limited to bar graphs, line charts, pie charts. and scatter plots. Those key performance indicators are collected in real time from online chats, compiling such customer service statistics such as response time, unresponsive time, number of issues escalated to supervisors, number of issues successfully resolved, positive comments from customers, customer satisfaction scores, average talk times, and flags (types and quantity). Key performance indicator data is stored on the databases  120  and retrieved by the Supervisor GUI  300  as needed from the server  110 . That key performance indicator data may be associated with specific customers or in relation to each customer service representative. Parameters for the analysis of such metrics data may be predetermined and integrated into the software of the invention or may allow the supervisor computer  180  to select specific parameters to graphically or tabularly display over any time period through the Supervisor GUI  300 . 
         [0027]    Each widget  320  on the supervisor dashboard may be further comprised of Chat Tabs  322 , flags  324 , and a Flag Detail Bar  326 . Chat Tabs  322 , flags  324 , and a Flag Detail Bar  326  may also appear on the general GUI  200  of a CSR computer  170  in certain embodiments of the invention implementing the use of widgets  320  for CSR computers  170 . The Chat Tabs  322  are set to the “All Chats” tab by default. In that setting, a supervisor can monitor all active chats. A supervisor can also click on other Chat Tabs  322  to access specific ongoing chat streams. Additionally, each of the widgets  320  on the supervisor dashboard may automatically bring the Chat Tab  322  corresponding to the current active chat for each of the customer service representatives being monitored. Real-time monitoring of online, text-based chat streams by supervisors is further enabled through the creation of flags  324 : customer identity, words or terms used in chats, responsiveness time, customer data, or other data of interest appearing in a chat stream. The graphical representation of a flag  324  is associated with the Chat Tab  322  to which it is related. Those flags  324  can be designated by system architects, supervisors, customer service representatives, or based on preexisting logic rules. Once a flag is created in the system, a graphic representation of the flag  324  will appear on the supervisor&#39;s dashboard and optionally, the customer service representative&#39;s chat screen. Flags  324  may be color-coded or otherwise marked to categorize importance or significance by users of the system or automatically, based on preexisting logic rules in the software. In that particular embodiment, the flags  324  are shown as color-coded, with yellow signifying an issue and red signifying a high priority issue. A customer service representative can also activate a flag  324  at any time to attract the attention of a supervisor. When a flag  324  is active, the dashboard widget will graphically notify the supervisor of the flag or dynamically bring forward the affected chat screen. Once the flagged issue is resolved, the associated flag  324  can be removed from the chat stream and the supervisor dashboard, and the supervisor dashboard will revert to real-time monitoring of customer service representative interactions with users. Notifications of active flags  324  may also be sent to other customer service representatives within the system, based on their subject matter expertise in resolving certain types of flags  324  or to all customer service representatives, such that any one of them can intervene in the ongoing chat to provide a resolution to the request for help. Other customer service representatives may also intervene in unflagged chats upon invitation from the primary customer service representative. 
         [0028]    The Flag Detail Bar  326  provides additional information about flagged or unflagged online chats between customer service representatives and customers. The Flag Detail Bar  326 , independent of flags  324 , is color-coded or otherwise visibly associated with the chat it is describing. In that particular embodiment, the Flag Detail Bar  326  is color-coded, based on the satisfaction or failure of criteria depending on key performance indicators. The Flag Detail Bar  326  may also include specific information about the selected chat, such as the identity of the customer service representative, the duration of the chat, the responsiveness of the customer service representative, and the average time spent with a customer in a chat. 
         [0029]      FIG. 4A  is illustrative of a representative process through which a request to chat with a customer service representative is sent. That flow chart begins with “Start,”  402  where the customer initiates a request to chat. At “Zenimax call to Reply to Widget for CSR,”  404  the request to chat appears on the CSR computer  170  via the general GUI  200  of the system. That request to chat may take the form of the CSR GUI  260  screen. The customer service representative can then activate the online chat at the CSR computer  170  by typing a response, as shown by “Reply to Chat Widget”  406 . At that time, the chat window between the customer and the customer service representative is active, as shown by “Customer with Active Chat”  408 . The chat ends when the customer logs off, at “End”  410 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 4B  is illustrative of a representative process by which the supervisor monitors, comments, and may take control of an ongoing chat between a customer and a customer service representative. A supervisor&#39;s dashboard is activated at “Start.” At “Zenimax call to Reply to Chat Widget for Supervisor,” a supervisor is notified, preferably by a flag  324 . At that point, a supervisor is monitoring ongoing chats, which appear in the dashboard as widgets  320 . At “Reply to Chat Widget,” a supervisor may choose to (1) participate in the ongoing chat between the customer and the customer service representative, shown as “CSR with Active Chat,” or (2) remove the customer service representative and take control of the chat with the customer, shown as “Customer with Active Chat.” In that representative embodiment, the chat ends when the customer is satisfied and logs off the chat, shown at “End”. 
         [0031]      FIG. 5  is illustrative of the method by which the system implements the invention. At step  501 , a request to chat is sent by a customer in control of a remote computer  140  through the network  130  by which the system is connected. At step  502 , the server  110  receives the request to chat from the user  140  and, at step  503 , queries the plurality of databases  120  to which it is linked, retrieving relevant information about the user  140  that may be passed to the CSR computer  170 . At step  504 , the CSR computer  170  receives the request to chat and relevant user data from the server  110 , and it is displayed to the customer service representative, as illustrated in  FIG. 4A . At step  505 , the customer service representative activates the chat with the user by accepting the request, and the online chat is initiated on the general GUI  200  of the CSR computer  170 . At step  506 , upon the initiation of the chat, the data comprising the ongoing chat stream is sent to the supervisor computer  180  via the server  110 , where it is monitored, as described in  FIG. 4B . A copy of the chat is also stored in the server  110  for metrics and auditing purposes, which may be accessed from the Statistics Toolbar  310  of the supervisor dashboard. At that point, the software may follow one of two alternate paths: at step  507 , the CSR computer  170  and the user  140  may reach a successful conclusion, which results in step  508 , the termination of the online chat. Alternately, the software pathway may proceed to step  509 , in which the supervisor computer  180 , monitoring the online chat, decides to intervene, for any reason, including the presence of a flag  324  or a lack of knowledge or responsiveness from the customer service representative. As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , however, flags  324  or a general request for help from the primary representative may also allow any other CSR computer  170  to intervene in an ongoing chat. 
         [0032]    In cases where the software pathway proceeds to step  509 , the supervisor computer or other CSR computer  170  can participate in the online chat. At any point, the supervisor computer may choose and remove any CSR computer  170  from the online chat, thereby taking control of the interaction with the customer. In step  510 , the supervisor computer  180  or other CSR computer  170 , via the general GUI  200  dashboard, begins interaction with the user  140  and the first CSR computer  170 . As explained in  FIG. 3 , while a supervisor computer  180  is aware of the ongoing chat interaction at all times, another CSR computer  170  becomes aware of the chat and intervenes only through the use of flags  324 . 
         [0033]    In the case of the supervisor computer  180  removing the CSR computer  170  from the chat, the software pathway proceeds to step  511 . Once the CSR computer  170  is removed from the chat by the supervisor computer  180  at step  511 , the supervisor computer  180  and the user  140  complete their online chat via the general GUI  200  running on their respective computers at step  512 . Finally, at step  513 , one or both of the supervisor computer  180  or the user  140  terminate the online chat. Alternately, following step  510 , the supervisor computer  180  and/or another CSR computer  170  may choose to participate in the online chat without removing the CSR computer, as shown in step  514 . In that case, all parties participate in the online chat with the user  140 . The online chat terminates at step  515 , in which any one of the user  140 , the CSR computers  170 , or the supervisor computer  180  ends the online chat via their respective general GUIs  200 . 
         [0034]    While preferred embodiments have been set forth above, those skilled in the art who have reviewed the present disclosure will readily appreciate that other embodiments can be realized within the scope of the invention. For example, disclosures of specific numbers of hardware components, software modules and the like are illustrative rather than limiting. Therefore, the present invention should be construed as limited only by the appended claims.