Abstract:
Each instance of communication (a contact) between a contact center and a customer of the contact center has its own contact record. Contact records of a customer that deal with the same matter are linked to a communication record that corresponds to that customer and matter.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0001]    This invention relates to customer contact management and customer relationship management arrangements.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Call centers, also referred to as contact centers when they handle communications media other than phone calls, for distributing customer communications for servicing among a plurality of resources, e.g., agents, are well-known in the art. Also known are customer relationship management arrangements that conglomerate and abstract information about all of the contacts between a customer and a contact center in order to provide better and more efficient service to the customer and to provide a better understanding of the customer&#39;s needs and value to a business which is represented by the contact center.  
           [0003]    Based upon call tags indicative of the identity of the customer, e.g., the calling telephone number, an e-mail address, or an account number, the customer relationship management arrangement is able to identify and link various individual contacts of an individual customer. However, a customer may contact a contact center regarding numerous matters; likewise, numerous entities, e.g., individuals, may contact the contact center regarding a matter on behalf of a single customer. It would be advantageous to separate the customer&#39;s contacts by subject matter and to link different individuals&#39; contacts regarding an individual customer&#39;s single subject matter. It may also be advantageous to associate some information with a customer&#39;s matter as a whole, without associating that information with any individual contact concerning that matter. Unfortunately, known contact centers and customer relationship management arrangements generally lack such capability.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    This invention is directed to meeting these and other needs of the art according to the invention. Generally according to the invention, each instance of communication (a contact) between a contact center and a customer of the contact center (e.g., a calling or a called party) has its own contact record containing information about the contact. Contact records of a customer that deal with the same matter are linked to a communication record that corresponds to that customer and matter and contains information about that matter. The communication record thus provides a context for the contacts.  
           [0005]    One aspect of the invention comprises the following steps: Responding to each instance of communication between a contact center and a customer of the contact center regarding at least one matter by creating for that instance in a storage medium a contact record that includes information about that at least one matter. Responding to each said instance by determining whether an individual said matter is a matter of an existing communication of the customer comprising at least one prior communication instance between the customer and the contact center. Responding to a determination that the individual matter of the instance is not a matter of any said existing communication by creating for that communication of the customer in the storage medium a communication record corresponding to the individual matter and including information about that individual matter, and linking the contact record with the communication record. And responding to a determination that the individual matter of the instance is a matter of an existing communication of the customer by linking the contact record with the communication record.  
           [0006]    Another aspect of the invention comprises the following: A storage medium for storing contact records and communication records. A plurality of the contact records, each representing a different instance of communication between a contact center and a customer of the contact center regarding at least one matter and including information about that at least one matter. A plurality of the communication records, each corresponding to a different one of a plurality of matters of the customer, including the at least one matter, each communication record being linked to each contact record of the plurality of contact records that corresponds to the same matter as the communication record and including information about the matter. And an arrangement connected to the data storage and responsive to instances of communication between the customer and the call center, for generating and linking corresponding contact records and communication records.  
           [0007]    Where the invention has been characterized in terms of a method, it also encompasses apparatus that performs the method. The apparatus preferably includes an effector-any entity that effects the corresponding step, unlike a means-for each step. The invention further encompasses any computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed in a computer, causes the computer to perform the method steps.  
           [0008]    The invention enables multiple contacts of a customer regarding a common matter to be linked together and treated as one entity, referred to herein as a communication. Those contacts may occur over several distinct types of communication media, such as e-mail, web request, fax, telephone call, voice-mail, etc. A single contact that relates to several matters may be linked to several communications. A communication also serves as an entity for associating information about the matter with the matter in general, without having to associate the information with an individual, or each, contact that pertains to the matter.  
           [0009]    These and other features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention considered together with the drawing.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a customer contact center that includes an illustrative embodiment of the invention;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of relationships between contact records and communication records of a database of a customer relationship management system of the customer contact center of FIG. 1;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the data structures that implement the records and relationships of FIG. 2; and  
         [0013]    [0013]FIGS. 4 and 5 are a functional flow diagram of creation and use of the data structures of FIG. 3. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 shows a substantially conventional customer contact center  100 . Contact center  100  is connected to one or more communications networks  102 , such as the telephony network and/or the Internet, through which it receives and/or makes contacts with customers  104 - 106 . A contact is an individual instance of a communication, such as a telephone call, a fax, an e-mail, a web request, a voice-mail, etc. Contacts are distributed for servicing (handling) in contact center  100  among a plurality of resources  112 - 114  by a conventional automatic call distribution (ACD) system  110 . Resources  112 - 114  may include electronic resources, e.g., interactive voice response systems, but typically comprise human resources, i.e., agents equipped with telephones and workstations. Resources  112 - 114  are in data communication with a customer relationship management (CRM) system  116 . CRM system  116  is an intelligent system comprising an appropriately-programmed computer, and a relational database (DB)  118  for storing contact-related information.  
         [0015]    According to the invention and as shown in FIG. 2, DB  118  not only stores contact records  202  containing information about individual contacts, but also stores communication records  204  containing information about individual matters of a customer. A matter is a subject or object of communication, e.g., product repair, a loan application, an account balance, a change of address, etc. A communications record usually pertains to a single matter, and its record is linked  200  together with all contact records  202  of all contacts that relate to that matter. A communication thus provides a context for one or more contacts and links those contacts within that context.  
         [0016]    As shown in FIG. 3, records  202  and  204  and links  200  are illustratively implemented as table entries in DB  118 . A contact table  302  has entries each one of which comprises a contact record  202 . Each contact record  202  has a contact ID  302  that uniquely identifies the contact, and a plurality of data fields  322  that contain any desired information about the contact, e.g., medium of communication, source or destination or customer identifier, start and stop times, identifier of the resource or resources that handled the contact, an indication of a purpose of the contact, etc.  
         [0017]    A communication table  304  has entries each one of which comprises a communication record  204 . Each communication record  204  has a communication ID  340  that uniquely identifies the communication, and a plurality of data fields  342  that contain any desired information about the communication, e.g., type of matter to which it pertains, the result of the communication (of its constituent contacts), the value and cost of the communication to the business, etc.  
         [0018]    A communication-contact relationship table  300  has entries each one of which comprises a link  200 . Each link  200  has a communication identifier  340  and a contact identifier  320 , thereby linking the identified contact and its record with the identified communication and its record, and vice versa.  
         [0019]    Generation and use of records  202  and  204  and links  200  is illustratively shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Upon a new customer contact being either received or initiated by contact center  100 , at step  400 , ACD system  100  or CRM system  116 , respectively, generates a new contact record  202  with a unique contact ID  320  for this contact, at step  402 , and populates data fields  322  of the new contact record  202  with whatever information it presently has about that contact, at step  404 . For example, if the contact is a received call, ACD system  110  may know the ANI and the DNIS of the call, and its IVR system may have collected a customer identifier, an account number, a matter description, and/or a communication identifier from the caller, and this information is entered by ACD system  110  into the contact record. CRM system  116  then tries to correlate the information in the contact record  202  with the information in existing communication records  204  in order to determine if the contact relates to any existing communication, at step  406 .  
         [0020]    If a relationship is found to exist at step  406 , CRM system  116  creates a new link  200  in table  300  linking the contact record  202  to the communication record  204  of the related communication, at step  408 . ACD system  110  may then use data  342  of the linked communication record  204  to select a resource  112 - 114  to service the contact, at step  410 , and assigns the contact to the selected resource for servicing, at step  412 .  
         [0021]    Returning to step  406 , if no relationship is found there between the contact and an existing communication, a resource  112 - 114  is selected to service the contact and the contact is assigned thereto, in a conventional manner, at step  420 . The selected resource enters any data that it obtains regarding the contact into data field  322  of the contact record  202 , at step  422 , and CRM system  116  again tries to correlate the information in the contact record  202  with the information in existing communication records  204  in order to determine if the contact relates to any existing communication, at step  424 . Steps  422  and  424  may be repeated as often as necessary.  
         [0022]    If no relationship is found to exist at step  424 , CRM system  116  creates in table  300  a new communication record  204  with a unique communication ID  340  for this communication, at step  426 . Following step  426 , or if a relationship between the contact and an existing communication is found to exist at step  424 , CRM system  116  creates a new link  200  in table  300  linking the contact record  202  to the communication record  204  of the new or related communication, at step  428 . Following step  412  or  428 , the serving resource may use data  342  of the communication record  204  to service the contact—for example, the resource need not ask the customer questions that are answered by the data  342  of the communication record  204 —at step  430  of FIG. 5. The selected resource also enters any new data regarding the contact into data fields  322  of the contact record  202 , at step  432 . Optionally, the serving resource may also enter data regarding the communication into data fields  342  of the corresponding communication&#39;s record, at step  434 .  
         [0023]    When servicing of the contact ends, at step  440 , data  322  of the contact record  202  is supplemented with any final data regarding the contact—e.g., disposition of the contact and the time when servicing of the contact ended, at step  442 . CRM system  116  then uses data  322  of the contact record  202  to update data  342  of the linked communication record  204 , at step  444 . Creation of records  202  and  204  and links  200  then ends, at step  446 .  
         [0024]    Subsequently, CRM system  116  analyzes contents of communication records  204 , at step  450 , to generate reports to managers of contact center  100  and the business that that contact center represents, at step  452 . These reports may be used, inter alia, to gain a better understanding of the customers of the business and their needs, to gain a better understanding of the operation of contact center  100 , to improve the operation of contact center  106 , etc.  
         [0025]    Of course, various changes and modifications to the illustrative embodiment described above will be apparent to those skilled in the art These changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the following claims except insofar as limited by the prior art.