Patent Publication Number: US-2023161968-A1

Title: System and Method for Monitoring a Sentiment Score

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. Application No. 16/874,354, filed on May 14, 2020, entitled “ System and Method for Monitoring a Sentiment Score ”, which is a continuation of 15/615,534, filed on Jun. 6, 2017, entitled “ System and Method for Monitoring a Sentiment Score ” now U.S. Patent No. 10,664,661, which is a continuation in part of U.S. Pat. Application No. 14/485,626, filed on Sep. 12, 2014, entitled  “Customer Management System ”, now U.S. Patent No. 9,710,814. The subject matter disclosed in U.S. Patent Application No. 16,874,354 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 10,644,661 and 9,710,814 are hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure as if fully set forth herein. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates generally to a customer management system and specifically to monitoring relationships and communication activity based on sentiments. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In most company environments, a customer experience is not an isolated conversation but a series of experiences as a relationship evolves over time. The demand of customers to utilize multiple means of communication has led to disjointed conversations between the customer and the company. The fragmentation across systems to manage these interactions has proven challenging in understanding a customer’s sentiment towards a company or if they are likely to recommend a company to other potential customers. 
     The medium in which customers communicate with companies has grown exponentially in a short period of time. Traditionally, companies communicate with their customers verbally (in person, telephone, etc.) or in written communications (mail, email, etc.). Modem communications have added even more channels (internet chat, sms, social media, apps, etc.). This has led to disjointed exchanges adding to both the length of the conversation and the volume of the content. In many cases, multiple employees and/or different groups within a company will interact with an individual customer throughout the same conversation. This complexity has resulted in companies having no effective way to understand the emotional state (customer sentiment) of a customer in real-time or as the relationship evolves with the company through its various interactions. Therefore, previous methods of measuring customer satisfaction have proven inadequate in measuring and monitoring real-time sentiment towards a company. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A more complete understanding of the present invention may be derived by referring to the detailed description when considered in connection with the following illustrative figures. In the figures, like reference numbers refer to like elements or acts throughout the figures. 
         FIG.  1    illustrates a customer management system according to a first embodiment; 
         FIG.  2    illustrates the system administrator of  FIG.  1    according to an embodiment; 
         FIG.  3    illustrates the communication system of  FIG.  1    according to an embodiment; 
         FIG.  4    illustrates an exemplary method of monitoring and scoring the sentiment of a customer and a representative of a service center; and 
         FIG.  5    illustrates the communication channels of  FIG.  1    in greater detail according to an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Aspects and applications of the invention presented herein are described below in the drawings and detailed description of the invention. Unless specifically noted, it is intended that the words and phrases in the specification and the claims be given their plain, ordinary, and accustomed meaning to those of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. 
     In the following description, and for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of the invention. It will be understood, however, by those skilled in the relevant arts, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, known structures and devices are shown or discussed more generally in order to avoid obscuring the invention. In many cases, a description of the operation is sufficient to enable one to implement the various forms of the invention, particularly when the operation is to be implemented in software. It should be noted that there are many different and alternative configurations, devices and technologies to which the disclosed inventions may be applied. The full scope of the inventions is not limited to the examples that are described below. 
     As described more fully below, aspects of the following disclosure relate to monitoring relationships and communication activity between customers and representatives of a company, such as for example, a service center. In addition to monitoring relationships and communication activity, identifying the customer’s emotional state of mind in real-time can be very valuable to the company. According to one aspect, embodiments provide for monitoring purposes, customer and employee performance, and reviews which can be used in real-time to increase customer satisfaction levels and build better customer relationships while addressing the customer’s emotional needs. This further provides opportunities for the company to address operational inefficiencies, reduce customers churn, increase repurchase and increase the value of the customer through product and service upsell. In addition, or as an alternative, it allows a company to measure not only customer sentiment but also the employee sentiment towards an individual customer or all customers. 
     According to a second aspect, embodiments bring visibility to a company that it did not have before, such as, for example, measuring the feelings of customers in real-time and identifying opportunities internal to the company, such as, relating to the companies staff and/or processes. According to a third aspect, a company may simulate the communication activity between customers and the company by being aware of the customer’s emotional state. That is, a company and its employees has the visibility to appropriately respond to the customer desires and concerns, based on the customer’s emotional state of mind in real-time. In addition, as the customer’s sentiment is captured with every interaction, the company can view the information at an interaction or conversion level and aggregate the information for the individual or any group of customers across the entire customer base. According to a third aspect, embodiments provide for a company to also benchmark themselves anonymously with other companies that participate in data sharing programs. By combining customer interactions over time, a company may understand the complete customer journey and state of mind and use this information to identify opportunities, such as, for example, to retain more customers, increase repeated purchases and create more value from the customers. 
     According to fourth aspect, embodiments provide for measuring the sentiment of a customer and a representative throughout the interaction of their communication activity and provides a company, such as, a service center with a real-time response, based on the customer’s and/or the representative’s sentiments. For example, when a customer communicates an angry email, embodiments identify the sentiment of the email communication and automate an appropriate response or another action. That is, measuring the customer’s sentiment provides an ideal guide for the representative in real-time to be able to get the customer back on track or provide opportunities for a possible upsell. 
     According to a fifth aspect, measuring the sentiment provides a real-time indicator of the feeling, behavior, viewpoint and/or mindset of the customer and the representative based on, among other things, the communication and language used by the customer and the representative. As an example only and not by way of limitation, a subjective emotional analysis of the language used, may be scored and represented by a numerical value. In addition, or as an alternative, the subjective emotional analysis is a component of the sentiment which may be indicated by a numerical value, a color code and/or a series of phrases, such as, “Happy,” “Satisfied,” “Content,” “Not Satisfied,” and “Not Happy.” Based on the sentiment score, and as discussed in more detail below, embodiments trigger automated processes, responses, suggestions for the representatives, and the like. In addition, embodiments track the communication activity to determine whether the sentiment score is escalating or deescalating. 
     According to a sixth aspect, the customer sentiment of each communication activity between a customer and a company may be broken down into each exchange between the customer and the employees of the company, such that the company is able to view the progress of the entire communication activity. At the same time, all information can be viewed at an aggregated level in real-time and for future reference. This allows a company to track the starting point of the interactions between a customer and a company and measure the progress of the communication activity. This provides for, among other things, data that can be viewed over time to see the customer’s journey at the aggregate and detail level. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates an exemplary customer management system  100 , according to a first embodiment. Customer management system  100  comprises one or more system administrators  110 , one or more customers  120 , one or more cloud datastores  130 , one or more service centers  140 , a network  150 , and communication links  152 ,  154   a - n ,  156 , and  158 . Although one or more system administrators  110 , one or more customers  120 , one or more cloud datastores  130 , one or more service centers  140 , a single network  150 , and communication links  152 ,  154   an ,  156 , and  158  are shown and described, embodiments contemplate any number of system administrators, customers, service centers, cloud datastores, networks, or communication links, according to particular needs. 
     In one embodiment, one or more system administrators  110  comprises server  112  and database  114 . Server  112  is programmed to monitor and analyze communication activity, such as, for example, telephone calls, emails, instant, chat or text messaging, posting to social media, blogs, or newsgroups, and any other communications between one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140 . Database  114  comprises one or more databases or other data storage arrangements at one or more locations, local to, or remote from, one or more system administrators  110 . In one embodiment, one or more databases  114  is coupled with one or more servers  112  using one or more local area networks (LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs), network  150 , such as, for example, the Internet, or any other appropriate wire line, wireless, or any other communication links. One or more databases  114  stores data that is made available and may be used by one or more servers  112  according to the operation of customer management system  100 . 
     In one embodiment, one or more customers  120  comprises customers such as, for example, a buyer, customer, retailer, or any other individual, business or enterprise which communicates with service centers  140 . One or more customers  120  comprise one or more communication systems  122   a - 122   n  that send or receive communications to and from one or more service centers  140 . Communication systems  122   a - 122   n  may comprise communication devices  124  and server  126 , and include any system located at one or more customers  120  that is configured to send and receive communications. Each communication device  124  may provide one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers a communication channel between the one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140 . One or more customers  120  may be coupled with one or more service centers  140  by network  150  via communication links  154   a - 154   n  and  158 . Customer management system  100  may monitor relationships of one or more customers  120  based on sentiments of interactions and communications among communication systems  122   a - 122   n  at a single customer  120 , among communication systems  122   a - 122   n  located at multiple customers  120 , and between multiple communication systems  122   a - 122   n  and one or more service centers  140 . 
     In another embodiment, one or more cloud datastores  130  comprises server  132  and database  134 . Cloud datastores  130  provide for the storage of data and hosting of programs or applications. According to embodiments, server  132  of cloud datastores  140  may host and run one or more runtime processes associated with system administrator  110 . Server  132  comprises any server configured to access, update and provide data associated with one or more system administrators  110 , one or more customers  120  or one or more service centers  140 . Database  134  comprises one or more databases or other data storage arrangements at one or more locations, local to, or remote from, one or more system administrators  110 . In one embodiment, one or more databases  134  is coupled with one or more servers  132  using one or more LANs, WANs, MANs, network  150 , such as, for example, the Internet, or any other appropriate wire line, wireless, or any other communication links. One or more databases  134  stores data that is made available and may be used by one or more customers  120 , one or more service centers  140 , and one or more servers  132  according to the operation of customer management system  100 . 
     According to embodiments, one or more service centers  140  may be any entity, such as, for example, a business, company, enterprise, distributor, retailer, call-center, CRM specialist system, customer service system, help desk system, telephone or media service, social media service (such as FACEBOOK, TWITTER, or the like) or any entity which communicates with customers  120 , either its own customers  120  or the customers  120  of another entity. One or more service centers  140  may operate on one or more computers comprising one or more servers  142  and one or more databases  144  or other data storage arrangements at one or more locations which are integral to or separate from the hardware and/or software that supports customer management system  100 . 
     In addition, or as an alternative, one or more service centers  140  may comprise one or more communication systems  146  that send or receive communications to and from one or more customers  120 . Communication systems  146  may comprise communication devices  148 , and include any system located at one or more service centers  140  that is configured to send and receive communications. Each communication device  148  may provide one or more service centers  140  and one or more customers  120  a communication channel between one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140 . One or more service centers  140  may utilize customer management system  100  to monitor relationships based on sentiments of interactions and communications among communication systems  146  within a single service center  140 , among multiple communication systems  146  located at one or more service centers  140 , and between multiple service centers  140  and multiple customers  120 . In addition, and as discussed in more detail below communications systems  146  may each operate on separate computer systems or may operate on one or more shared computer systems. Each of these one or more computer systems may be a work station, personal computer, network computer, laptop computer, notebook computer, tablet-type device, smartphone, terminal, or any other suitable communication device. In addition, communication devices  146  may comprises a land-line or VoIP telephone. 
     One or more system administrators  110  including server  112  and database  114  is coupled with network  150  using communications link  152 , which may be any wireline, wireless, or other link suitable to support data communications between one or more system administrators  110  and network  150 . One or more customers  120  is coupled with network  150  using communications links  154   a - n , which may be any wireline, wireless, or other link suitable to support data communications between one or more customers  120  and network  150 . One or more cloud datastores  130  including server  132  and database  134  is coupled with network  150  using communications link  156 , which may be any wireline, wireless, or other link suitable to support data communications between one or more cloud datastores  130  and network  150 . One or more service centers  140  including server  142  and database  144  is coupled with network  150  using communications link  158 , which may be any wireless or other link suitable to support data communications between one or more service centers  140  and network  150 . 
     Although communication links  152 ,  154   a - n ,  156 , and  158  are shown as generally coupling one or more system administrators  110 , one or more customers  120 , one or more cloud datastores  130 , and one or more service centers  140  with network  150 , one or more system administrators  110 , one or more customers  120 , one or more cloud datastores  130 , and one or more service centers  140  may communicate directly with each other according to particular needs. 
     In an embodiment, network  150  includes the Internet, telephone lines, any appropriate local area networks LANs, MANs, or WANs, and any other communication network coupling one or more system administrators  110 , one or more customers  120 , one or more cloud datastores  130 , and one or more service centers  140 . For example, data may be maintained by one or more system administrators  110  or one or more cloud datastores  130  at one or more locations external to one or more system administrators  110  and/or one or more cloud datastores  130  and made available to one or more system administrators  110 , one or more customers  120 , one or more cloud datastores  130 , one or more service centers  140  using network  150  or in any other appropriate manner. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the complete structure and operation of communication network  150  and other components within customer management system  100  are not depicted or described. Embodiments may be employed in conjunction with known communications networks and other components. 
     In one embodiment, one or more system administrators  110 , one or more customers  120 , one or more cloud datastores  130 , and/or one or more service centers  140  may each operate on one or more computers or computer systems that are integral to or separate from the hardware and/or software that support customer management system  100 . In addition or as an alternative, one or more users or representatives, may be associated with customer management system  100  including one or more system administrators  110 , one or more customers  120 , one or more cloud datastores  130 , and/or one or more service centers  140 . These one or more users may include, for example, one or more computers programmed to autonomously handle monitoring relationships based on sentiments of one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140  and/or one or more related tasks within customer management system  100 . As used herein, the term “computer” or “computer system” includes any suitable input device, such as a keypad, mouse, touch screen, microphone, or other device to input information. Any suitable output device that may convey information associated with the operation of customer management system  100 , including digital or analog data, visual information, or audio information. Furthermore, the computer includes any suitable fixed or removable non-transitory computer-readable storage media, such as magnetic computer disks, CD-ROM, or other suitable media to receive output from and provide input to customer management system  100 . The computer also includes one or more processors and associated memory to execute instructions and manipulate information according to the operation of customer management system  100 . 
     In one embodiment and as discussed in more detail below, customer management system  100  comprises one or more system administrators  110  and/or service centers  140 , which monitors and scores the sentiment of a user associated with one or more customers  120  and/or one or more service centers  140  and provides the sentiment score to service centers  140 . In addition, or as an alternative, customer management system  100  stores and organizes sentiment scores based on topics related to a user interaction between customers  120  and service centers  140  over one or more communication channels such as, for example, telephone, text-based chat, email, or the like. Accordingly, customer management system  100  provides a system and method for monitoring and scoring user sentiments based on topics, channels, response times, and other sentiment criteria as described in more detail below. 
     By way of example only and not by limitations, embodiments contemplate a service center  140  being a customer service center (such as, for example, a call center or a retail service desk) and customers  120  being a customer of one or more service centers  140  which sold, serviced, or otherwise provides subscription services to one or more customers  120 . Such subscription services may include, for example, a cloud-based email or voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) service. Although a particular service is described; embodiments contemplate any service or relationship between one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140 . 
     Continuing with the above example, a customer associated with customers  120  may call a service center  140  and speak with a representative to inquire about a password reset of a web-based email program. When customer service center  140  receives a communication, over a communication channel, such as, for example, a telephone call, customer management system  100  identifies the communication channel as being a voice channel initiated by the telephone call, categorizes the telephone call as a password reset request, and generates a sentiment score of the interaction between the user associated with customer  120  and the representative of the service center  140 . 
     As will be explained in more detail below, the sentiment score takes into account any interaction with the customer of customers  120  and the representative of service centers  140 , service center  140  as a whole, the individual or combined cases associated with service center  140  and the overall customer base of other customers having the same overall cases. System administrators  110  determines the sentiment score based on, for example, the severity of the problem the customer is calling about, how frequent the customer has called, the tone or words used by the customer and various other factors described in more detail below. Based on these factors, system administrators  110  determines the sentiment score, based on, for example, whether the customer is “happy,” “satisfied,” “content,” “not satisfied,” “not happy” and may have a numerical range associated with it, for example, 1-10 or a color range associated with it, for example, green to red. 
     According to embodiments, the sentiment score provides service center  140  with an indication on whether the customer has a positive, neutral, or negative opinion of the representatives of service center  140 , the service center  140  or the associated products or services of service center  140 . In one embodiment, this indication is used in prioritizing responses to customers  120 , generating metrics for an indication of how well customer service center  140  is operating, offering concessions to customers  120  based on the customers sentiment score, initiating campaigns to resolve frequent or disruptive problems, and the like. In addition, or as an alternative, system administrators  110  monitors which customers  120  are likely to, for example, cancel services, subscribe to more services, recommend the services to other customers, or the like. 
     Although, only a single customer associated with customers  120  is described above; embodiments contemplate more than one customer associated with customers  120 . For example, if customers  120  represents an organization or entity, there may be more than one individual associated with the organization or entity that contacts service centers  140 . Likewise, although only a single point of contact, i.e., a representative is described as being associated with one or more service centers  140 ; embodiments contemplate more than one point of contact, i.e., multiple representatives at one or more service centers  140 . For example, and as discussed above, if service centers  140  provides subscription services to customers  120 , customers  120  may speak with different representatives of service centers  140  to inquire about various subscription services, various issues and at various times. 
       FIG.  2    illustrates system administrator  110  of  FIG.  1    in greater detail, according to an embodiment. As discussed above, system administrator  110  comprises one or more computers at one or more locations including associated input devices, output devices, non-transitory computer-readable storage media, processors, memory, or other components for capturing the sentiment of one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140  according to the operation of customer management system  100 . In addition, and as discussed in more detail below, system administrator  110  comprises server  112  and database  114 . Although system administrator  110  is shown and described as comprising a single computer, server  112  and database  114 ; embodiments contemplate any suitable number of computers, servers or databases internal to or externally coupled with system administrator  110 . In addition, or as an alternative, system administrator  110  may be located internal to one or more service centers  140 . In other embodiments, system administrator  110  may be located external to one or more service centers  140  and may be located in, for example, a corporate or regional entity of the one or more service centers  140 , according to particular needs. 
     Server  112  comprises system administration module  222 , graphical user interface module  224 , database management module  226  and channel interface module  228 . Although a particular configuration of server  112  is shown and described; embodiments contemplate any suitable number or combination of these, located at one or more locations, local to, or remote from, system administrator  110 , according to particular needs. In addition, or as an alternative, administration  222 , graphical user interface module  224 , database management module  226  and channel interface module  228  may be located on multiple servers or computers at any location in customer management system  100 . 
     Database  114  comprises service center data  202 , configuration data  204 , communication data  206  and case data  208 . Although, database  114  is shown and described as comprising service center data  202 , configuration data  204 , communication data  206  and case data  208 ; embodiments contemplate any suitable number or combination of these, located at one or more locations, local to, or remote from, system administrator  110 , according to particular needs. 
     Service center data  202  of database  114  describes the identification information of one or more service centers  140  of customer management system  100 . Service center data  202  comprises identification information, such as, for example, names, addresses, company, telephone numbers, email, IP addresses, and the like. In one embodiment, service center data  202  is used by system administration module  222  to identify one or more service centers  140  in customer management system  100  to generate particular configurations of customer management system  100  specific to each of the one or more service centers  140 . As an example only and not by way of limitation, where one or more service centers  140  is a customer service center, the identification information stored in service center data  202  permits system administrator  110  to generate a particularized user interface specific to the customer service center. Specifically, system administration module  222  provides a particularized user interface specific to the industry of service center  140 , the types of customers served by one or more service centers  140 , and/or the types of products sold by one or more service centers  140 . In addition, or as an alternative, the particularized user interfaces are stored in, for example, configuration data  204 . 
     Configuration data  204  of database  114  comprises data which describes the various functionalities of customer management system  100  useful to each of one or more service centers  140  and one or more customers  120 . In one embodiment, configuration data  204  comprises, for example, location data that describes where the data is generated or received by system administrator  110 , customers  120 , cloud datastores  130  and/or service centers  140 . In another embodiment, configuration data  204  comprises settings and parameters that describe the system-level functioning of customer management system  100 . In addition, or as an alternative, configuration data  204  comprises data representing topics, channels, response times, and other sentiment criteria related to the interaction between users of customers  120  and representatives of service centers  140  and the type of communication channel. 
     Communication data  206  of database  114  comprises the communication activity of communication devices  124  and any organization and setup of channel interface module  228 . According to some embodiments, communication data  206  comprises the particular communication channels which are open to a particular customer  120  or service centers  140 , the times which the communication channels are open, the protocols or metadata which describe the communication, and/or any other configuration data and setup data necessary to configure channel interface module  228 . 
     Case data  208  of database  114  comprises data generated by one or more service centers  140  relating to a case or a ticket associated with one or more customers  120 . In one embodiment, case data  208  includes, but is not limited to: an identity of the user of one or more customers  120  which created the case or ticket, communication system  122   a - 122   n  or a company of the one or more customers  120  to which the case or ticket relates, the communication channel by which one or more customers  120  contacted the one or more service centers  140 , the number of contacts between one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140  (historically or for a given time period), the total time spent on each communication channel, the cost associated with each communication activity, the time and date of the case or ticket creation, and a log of the information shared during the communication activity between one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140 . In addition, or as an alternative, case data  208  additionally comprises purchases, sales, subscriptions, purchase history, sales history, and/or other historical data describing the relationship of the one or more customers  120  to one or more service centers  140  or any other goods or services provided. In this way, case data  208  provides customer management system  100  with information about the history of the customer base that each of customers  120  represents or that each of the representatives of service centers  140  represents for any given time period. 
     System administration module  222  of server  112  may configure, update, and/or administer customer management system  100 . That is, system administration module  222  may provide services to configure the operation of customer management system  100  and change which data is executed and/or stored on system administrator  110 , one or more customers  120 , and/or one or more service centers  140 . Embodiments contemplate a user-configurable customer management system  100 , such that the data may be stored either singularly or redundantly on system administrator  110 , one or more customers  120 , and/or one or more service centers  140 , according to particular needs. In addition, or as an alternative, system administration module  222  receives, processes, updates, creates, and stores service center data  202  and configuration data  204 . 
     Graphical user interface module  224  of server  112  generates a graphical user interface comprising various features of sentiment scores, such as, for example: generating charts, storing and retrieving historical data of customer relationship management, and displaying notifications. Graphical user interface module  224  stores and retrieves data from database  114  including service center data  202 , configuration data  204 , communication data  206 , and case data  208 . According to embodiments, and as discussed in more detail below, graphical user interface module  224  displays a representation of a sentiment score to the representative of one or more service centers  140  represented by a numerical value, color code, and/or a series of phrases. In addition, or as an alternative, the representation of the sentiment score may be displayed each time a user of one or more customers  120  initiates communication activity, each time the representative responds and/or for the entire communication activity. 
     Database management module  226  of server  112  provides a data sorting, retrieval, duplication, backup, creation and/or interface manager for data stored in database  114  to efficiently provide data to one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140  and manage the data generated from various components of customer management system  100  that are stored in database  114 . According to some embodiments, database management module  226  organizes and stores the various types of data generated from customer management system  100  to provide real-time access of the data on database  114  to operate customer management system  100 . 
     Channel interface module  228  of server  112  generates, receives, and monitors communication activity between one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140 . For example, channel interface module  228  comprises one or more of VOIP, email, internet or web-based chat, and/or other types of communication systems useful for allowing customers  120  to contact one or more service centers  140  or one or more service centers  140  to contact one or more customers  120  or other service centers  140 . For example, channel interface module  228  initiates or receives communication to communication devices  124  of one or more communication systems  122   a - 122   n . In addition, channel interface module  228  records the time, duration, date, voice, text, and other information transmitted. 
     In addition, and as discussed in more detail below, system administrator  110  monitors the communication activity between customers  120  and service centers  140  and stores the monitored communication activity as communication data  206  in database  114 . Communication data  206  may be collected by system administrator  110  and may comprise, for example, the time of a communication, the person that initiated the communication, the communication channel used for the communication, and other data associated with the communication activity. By collecting communication data  206 , system administrator  110  improves and automates monitoring relationships and communication activity based on sentiments. According to embodiments, system administrator  110  automates tasks such as determining and monitoring a sentiment score based on an interaction between a customer and one or more service centers  140 . Embodiments of system administrator  110  may be tailored to call center environments, professional office organizations, or any other type of business environments, in which, a customer is communicating with one or more service centers  140 . 
     In one embodiment, system administrator  110  comprises a centralized computer system which operates the system-level architecture of customer management system  100 . In this manner, system administrator  110  through one or more modules provides customer management system  100  the ability to rapidly update and/or reconfigure communication activity between one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140  from a single or central location. 
       FIG.  3    illustrates communication systems  122   a - 122   n  of  FIG.  1    in greater detail according to an embodiment. Communication systems  122   a - 122   n  may comprise communication devices  124 , server  126 , and/or communication channels 310-314 which may be configured to communicate with network  150 , system administrator  110 , one or more cloud datastores  130 , and communication devices  148  of one or more service centers  140 . In one embodiment, one or more communication systems  122   a - 122   n  may each operate on separate computer systems or may operate on one or more shared computer systems. Each of these one or more computer systems may be a computer system  302 , such as a work station, personal computer, network computer, laptop computer, notebook computer, tablet-type device  304 , smartphone  306 , terminal, or any other suitable communication device  124 . In addition, communication devices  124  may comprise a land-line or VoIP telephone  308 . According to embodiments each of the communication devices  124  are configured to communicate with communication devices  148  over a communication channel. 
     Computer system  302 , one or more tablet-type devices  304 , smartphones  306 , and land-line or VoIP telephone  308  may comprise a processor, memory and data storage. The processor may execute an operating system program stored in memory to control the overall operation of computer system  302 , one or more tablet-type devices  304  and/or smartphones  306 . For example, the processor may control the reception of signals and the transmission of signals within customer management system  100 . The processor may execute other processes and programs resident in memory, such as, for example, registration, identification or communication over the communication channels and move data into or out of the memory, as required by an executing process. 
     Those skilled in the art will recognize that one or more specific examples of communication systems  122   a - 122   n  are given by way of example and that for simplicity and clarity, only so much of the construction and operation of one or more communication systems  122   a - 122   n  as is necessary for an understanding of the present invention is shown and described. Moreover, it is understood that one or more communication systems  122   a - 122   n  should not be construed to limit the types of devices in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. For example, one or more communication systems  122   a - 122   n  may be any device, including, but not limited to, conventional cellular or mobile telephones, smart mobile phones, an IPHONE ®M, an IPAD ®M, wireless tablet devices, paging devices, personal digital assistant devices, short message service (SMS) wireless devices, portable computers, or any other device capable of wireless or network communication. 
     According to embodiments, each of the one or more communication devices  124  and  148  (see  FIG.  1   ) may be assigned one or more identification numbers, such as IP addresses, serial numbers, or telephone numbers that may be used to identify communication devices  124  and  148 . According to some embodiments, each communication device  124  and  148  is associated with an identification number, such as an IP or MAC address. In addition, or as an alternative, communication systems  122   a - 122   n  may be local to or remote from one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140 . That is, communication devices  124  of one or more customers  120  may communicate with communication devices  146  of one or more service centers  140 . For example, system administrator  110  is programmed to monitor and analyze communication activity via communication channels, such as, for example, telephone calls, emails, instant, chat or text messaging, posting to social media, blogs, or newsgroups, and any other communication activity between communication devices  124  of one or more customers  120  and communication devices  148  of one or more service centers  140 . 
     Customer management system  100  may then leverage the identity of communication devices  124  and  148  and communication activity over a communication channel for each communication device  124  and  148  to collect information about, for example, a telephone call or other communication activity between one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140 , as described herein. Such information may then be used to determine a sentiment score as an indicator of behavior, viewpoint and/or mindset of the communication activity between the two users or entities. For example and as discussed above, according to some embodiments, customer management system  100  monitors communication activities between communication devices  124  of one or more customers  120  and communication devices  148  of one or more service centers  140 , such as the telephone call using land line  308 . 
     In this example, when a telephone call is received, customer management system  100  may identify the caller and the representative (based on a telephone number stored in service center data  202 ) as a customer having a subscription services and route the call directly to a representative assigned to the customer. Customer management system  100  may then record the telephone call and generate a sentiment score of the communication activity based on each time the customer talks, each time the representative responds and/or based on the entire telephone call. For example, and as discussed in more detail below, a sentiment score may be generated during the communication activity, in this case, the telephone call, for both the customer and the representative assigned to the customer. In this way, customer management system  100  tracks the sentiment of the customer and the representative in a real-time manner and provides the sentiment of the customer to the representative during the telephone call. The representative, may then respond to the customer based on the ongoing sentiment score appropriately and/or trigger automated processes, responses or suggestions for the representative. Likewise, the communication activity is tracked by customer management system  100  to determine whether the sentiment of the communication activity is escalating or deescalating. 
       FIG.  4    illustrates an exemplary method  400  of monitoring and scoring the sentiment of one or more customers  120  and/or one or more service centers  140 . The process of monitoring and scoring proceeds by one or more activities, which although described in a particular order may be performed in one or more permutations, according to particular needs. 
     Method  400  begins at activity  402  where system administrator  110  monitors one or more communication devices  124  and  148  and records communication activity via a communication channel between one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140 . According to embodiments and as discussed above, channel interface module  228  of system administrator  110  monitors communication activity to determine whether a communication channel has been opened between one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140 . For example, when a communication channel is opened, system administrator  110  monitors the communication activity for: the time of the communication; who placed the communication; who received the communication; the communication duration; the contents of the communication; and/or other like communication activity information. 
     In addition, or as an alternative, each communication activity is associated with one or more cases or tickets of one or more service centers  140 , and logged in connection with case data  208 . As discussed above, case data  208  comprises data relating to a case or a ticket associated with one or more customers  120  and may include, for example, data describing the relationship of one or more customers  120  to one or more service centers  140 . In addition, system administrator  110  may work in connection with other systems and devices to automatically detect and monitor when a communication activity is initiated on a communication device  124  and/or  148  and log the communication activity in communication data  206  of system administrator  110 . 
     At activity  404 , system administrator  110  records and stores communication activity as communication data  206  in database  114 . As discussed above, recording and storing the communication activity may be done each time one or more customers  120  communicates with a representative of one or more service centers  140 , each time the representative of one or more service centers  140  communicates with one or more customers  120  and/or based on the entire communication activity between one or more customers  120  and a representative of one or more service centers  140 . Such storage may require large amounts of on-site or off-site data storage solutions owing to the enormous amount of data that may be collected for even a small business. Embodiments contemplate any suitable number or structure of local or remote data storage solutions to store communication data  206 , such as for example, database  134  of cloud datastore  130 . Like communication data  206 , configuration data  204  may require large amounts of on-site or off-site data storage solutions and may be stored on database  134  of cloud datastore  130 . 
     At activity  406 , system administrator  110  analyzes communication data  206  to determine a sentiment score of users associated with customers  120  and/or representatives associated with service centers  140  and provides the sentiment score to service centers  140 . In one embodiment, a sentiment of the language used in the communication activity between one or more customers  120  and a representative of one or more service centers  140 , is scored based on a continuous sequence of n items for a given sequence of the communication activity. As an example only and not by way of limitation, a user associated with customers  120  opens a communication channel using, for example, chat as a communication activity with one or more service centers  140  and is assigned a particular representative. In this example, the user types into the chat window “I am getting choppy audio on my VOIP phone.” Based on this, system administrator  110  breaks the sequence of words into a trigram i.e., three adjacent elements from the sequence of words and compares the three adjacent elements to determine if any of those elements are negative or positive. Continuing with this example, the sequence of words is shown in TABLE 1: 
     
       
         
          TABLE 1
           
               
            
               
                 I am getting 
               
               
                 am getting choppy 
               
               
                 getting choppy audio 
               
               
                 choppy audio on 
               
               
                 audio on my 
               
               
                 on my VOIP 
               
               
                 my VOIP phone 
               
            
           
         
       
     
     System administrator  110  then determines whether each of the three adjacent elements from the sequence is positive, neutral or negative, based on a comparison of predetermined key words, as discussed in more detail below. Continuing with this example, the adjacent words “getting choppy audio” are determined to be negative and a negative score is associated with the sequence of words. Although a particular number for n items is shown and described as a trigram i.e., three elements, embodiments contemplate any number of n items or adjacent elements, according to particular needs. 
     According to another embodiment, a sentiment of the language used in the communication activity between one or more customers  120  and a representative of one or more service centers  140 , is scored based on a mapping of word vectors. As an example only and not by way of limitation, predetermined words are given negative or positive weighting and then related words in context are deemed positive, neutral or negative based on their proximity to the predetermined words in word vectors. Proximity is based on syntactic and/or semantic similarity, depending on the model in use. Continuing with the above example, if a given negative word was “intermittent”, and the system administrator  110  finds that “choppy” is in close proximity in the vector model, the score for “intermittent” would be used, scaled to its proximity. 
     According to other embodiments, a sentiment of the language used in the communication activity between one or more customers  120  and a representative of one or more service centers  140 , is scored based on a predetermined message rating of communication activity. As an example only and not by way of limitation, predetermined ratings may be determined for each service centers  140 . Continuing with the above example, system administrator  110  compares the “I am getting choppy audio on my VOIP phone” communication activity from the user associated with customers  120  to determine if that message is associated with any of the predetermined messages and, if so, a score is associated with the communication activity, based on a predetermined message rating. 
     In addition, and as discussed above, customer management system  100  stores and organizes sentiment scores based on topics related to the interaction between users of customers  120  and representatives of service centers  140  over one or more communication channels. For example, system administrator  110  may receive communication data  206 , such as a log file or otherwise recorded conversations of the communication activity between one or more customers  120  and one or more service centers  140  and transcribe, sort, and/or organize communication data  206  based on a communication metric, factor, time aggregation or granularity, communication channel type (voice, video, email, text, chat or the like), communication type (telephone, fax, text message, instant messaging, or the like), entity identification information, user identification information, telephone number, representatives, location, or other like factors. 
     At activity  408 , system administrator  110  compares configuration data  204 , communication data  206  and case data  208 . System administrator  110  may compare communication data  206  by various user-selected or automatic comparisons. For example, and as discussed above, system administrator  110  may compare the log files, recorded or transcribed conversations of the communication activity with a continuous sequence of n items of configuration data  204  to determine if any of the adjacent elements from the sequence of n items are present in the communication activity. As another example and as discussed above, system administrator  110  may compare the log files, recorded or transcribed conversations of the communication activity with a mapping of word vectors of configuration data  204  to determine if any of those elements are present in the communication activity. 
     In addition, or as an alternative, system administrator  110  may permit service centers  140  to select customizations or may automatically identify user-specified predetermined key words or message ratings of communication data  206 , and identify the predetermined key words or messages from the communication data  206 . If any of the adjacent elements from the sequence of n items, elements of the word vectors or predetermined key words or messages are present, system administrator  110  determines a sentiment score and triggers one or more current or predictive actions. An advanced user may also rate their own communication data  206  as, for example, ‘very positive’, ‘positive’, ‘negative’ or ‘very negative’ and, given enough ratings, a predictive model of future communications will be custom built for that specific customer. For example, for a particular case identified by case data  208 , system administrator  110  may determine a sentiment score for the user sentiment (i.e., 0.62), a contact associated with the sentiment (i.e., identity of the user of one or more customers  120 ), a company’s base sentiment (i.e., “satisfied”) and/or the representative’s sentiment (i.e., 0.77). Based on the sentiment, system administrator  110  may trigger a predetermined process for the representative to deescalate the sentiment of the user of one or more customers  120 , to a satisfactory level. 
     At activity  410 , system administrator  110  displays a sentiment score of communication data  206  according to one or more charts, graphs, score cards, spreadsheets, alerts and/or reports. Such charts, graphs, score cards, spreadsheets, alerts and/or reports may be scheduled to be run according to user-selected criteria, such as customizations or correlations, at any suitable time period or upon a specified system administrator  110  action. According to embodiments, a sentiment may be represented by a numerical value, such as -1 to 1, 1-10, 1-100 or the like, a color code, such as green is very positive, red is very negative or the like, or a series of phrases, such as, “Happy,” “Satisfied,” “Content,” “Not Satisfied,” and “Not Happy.” Although particular examples of representations of the sentiment score are described as particular ranges of numbers, colors and/or phrases, embodiments contemplate any ranges of numbers, colors or phrases, according to particular needs. 
     In addition, or as an alternative, and based on the sentiment score associated with the communication activity, system administrator  110  triggers the representation of the sentiment on one or more communication devices  148  of one or more service centers  140 . For example and continuing with the above example, in which a user associated with customers  120  opens a communication channel and types into the chat window “I am getting choppy audio on my VOIP phone,” system administrator  110  represents the sentiment of the user by a numerical value, a color code and/or a series of phrases. In one embodiment, and based on the adjacent words “choppy audio,” system administrator  110  displays a numerical value of, for example, a score of 1 out of a score of 1-10 on one or more communication devices  148  of the representative of the one or more service centers  140 . 
     In other embodiments, and based on the adjacent words “choppy audio,” system administrator  110  displays a color code of, for example, red on one or more communication devices  148  of the representative of the one or more service centers  140 . In addition, or as an alternative, system administrator  110  may use red font to color code the words “choppy audio” on one or more communication devices  148  of the representative of the one or more service centers  140 . According to yet other embodiments, and based on the adjacent words “choppy audio,” system administrator  110  displays a phrase, for example, “Not Satisfied,” on one or more communication devices  148  of the representative of the one or more service centers  140 . Based on the sentiment score, and as discussed below, embodiments trigger automated processes, responses, suggestions for the representatives, and the like. 
     In addition, embodiments track the communication activity to determine whether the sentiment score is escalating or deescalating. According to embodiments, system administrator  110  may use a time-based evaporation period to track the psychological mean reversion of the sentiment score. For example, if a customer communication activity escalates a sentiment score, over time the sentiment score will deescalate based on a uniform evaporation of the escalated score, until it reaches the pre-escalated mean. According to other embodiments, system administrator  110  may permit service centers  140  to customize the sentiment score over time based on the interaction between users of customers  120  and representatives of service centers  140  including case data  208 . For example, and as discussed above, each communication activity is associated with one or more cases or tickets of one or more service centers  140 , and logged in connection with case data  208 . System administrator  110  allows service centers  140  to determine the sentiment score based on the average of all of the cases or tickets of case data  208 , a first case or ticket of case data  208 , the last case or ticket of case data  208 , or a particular case or ticket or some combination of case or ticket of case date  208 , according to particular needs. In addition, or as an alternative, system administrator  110  updates the display of the numerical value, the color code and/or the series of phrases throughout the communication activity and provides a real-time, averaged, or other updated representation of the sentiment score to one or more service centers  140 . 
     According to other embodiments, system administrator  110  may block a representative associated with one or more service centers  140  from communicating via the communication channel to a user of one or more customers  120 , if the sentiment score is below a predetermined threshold. For example, and continuing with the above example, if the sentiment of the user associated with customers  120  who typed into the chat window “I am getting choppy audio on my VOIP phone,” began escalating and the representative typed a chat message that would move the sentiment score above a predetermined threshold. System administrator  110  would cause the chat message from the representative to not be communicated to the user associated with customers  120 . In addition, or as an alternative, system administrator  110  may automatically reword the chat message, provide a message to the representative to correct the chat message and/or escalate the chat message to a manager. According to embodiments, system administrator  110  would trigger automated processes, responses, suggestions for the representative or transfer the communication activity to another representative or manager. In addition, such charts, graphs, score cards, spreadsheets, alerts, reports, and/or blocking may be customized by a user, customer, representative, or service center  140 , according to particular needs. 
       FIG.  5    illustrates the communication channels of  FIG.  1    in greater detail according to an embodiment. As discussed above, each of the communication devices  124   a - 124   n  of the one or more customers  120  may communicate with each of the communication devices  148   a - 148   n  of the one or more service centers  140  via communication channels. As discussed above, if service centers  140  provides subscription services to customers  120 , one or more users associated with customers  120  may communicate with one or more representatives associated with service centers  140  over various communication channels. As an example only and not by way of limitation, a user of communication device 124a may use cell phone  306  or land line  308  to communicate with a representative of communication device 148a using a voice communication channel to inquire about various subscription service issues. On another occasion, the same user of communication device 124a may use another communication device  124  or the same communication device  124  to communicate with a different representative 148b using another communication channel to inquire about other subscription service issues. Although, particular communication devices and associated communication channels are shown and described; embodiments contemplate any number of users associated with communication devices  124 , any number of representatives associated with communication devices  148  and any communication channel, according to particular needs. 
     At activity  412 , system administrator  110  may monitor the communication channels to determine whether there is a change in the communication metric, factor, time aggregation or granularity, communication channel type, communication type, entity identification information, user identification information, telephone number, representatives, or location on a case by case basis. System administrator  110  may automatically choose which communication metrics are analyzed according to comparisons identified by system administrator  110  at activity  408 . 
     At activity  414 , system administrator  110  may identify trends within the communication channels by monitoring changes in communication data  206  according to customizations or correlations selected in activity  412 . For example, if system administrator  110  identifies that an representative’s sentiment score is lower than average, it may monitor that representative’s future sentiment score to determine whether the representative’s sentiment scores are increasing or decreasing with respect to a particular, customer or topic. As another example, if system administrator  110  identifies that a customer’s sentiment score is lower than the rest of the customer base, it may monitor that customer’s future sentiment score to determine whether the customer’s sentiment scores are increasing or decreasing with respect to a particular representative or topic. In this way, communication system  110  may generate alerts or reports with regard to the performance of users associated with customers  120  and/or representatives associated with service centers  140 . 
     According to embodiments, system administrator  110  may permit one or more service centers  140  to compare communication data  206  with configuration data  204  and case data  208 , and analyze the comparison over a specified time period, such as, for example, per year, quarter, month, and compare information by users of one or more customers  120  and representatives of one or more service centers  140 , in an intuitive way. Furthermore, embodiments contemplate permitting one or more service centers  140  to schedule alerts or reports and generate sentiment scores that are configured to assist a representative to predict whether a customer is more likely to respond in a certain way, based on the overall customer sentiment and the historical data. According to other embodiments, system administrator  110  provides a next issue resolution such that, system administrator  110  provides a real-time feedback to the representative of service centers  140  based on the determined sentiment score as an indicator of behavior of the communication activity. 
     Reference in the foregoing specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “some embodiments” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. 
     While the exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it will be understood that various changes and modifications to the foregoing embodiments may become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.