Abstract:
Customer assistance is provided by leveraging certain contact center infrastructure components to a retail setting. Often contact centers have a wealth of information regarding individual products and services a retail setting may offer. The information, as provided herein, may then be delivered to the customer in the form of a dialogue. The dialogue may be based, in part, on a contact center dialogue for the same or similar item. The customer may then be instructed to perform an act, such as retrieving another item at a certain location. Unlike a contact center, the physical presence of the customer provides an opportunity to receive feedback in the form of monitor the customer&#39;s actions to determine if the customer complied with instructions. Optionally, a follow up activity may be imitated based on the customer&#39;s compliance.

Description:
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0001]    The present disclosure is generally directed toward systems for providing customer assistance. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Retail establishments constantly endeavor to improve the customer experience and maximize sales. Oftentimes opportunities are lost to improve customer relations at the final point of contact, the check-out. When the customer is checking out and paying for his or her items, the experience can be impersonal and uninformative. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    It is with respect to the above issues and other problems that the embodiments presented herein were contemplated. 
         [0004]    With respect to certain embodiments herein, a real-time tool is provided to assist customer-service employees in a retail environment to help maximize the customer experience which may help to increase sales or improve customer satisfaction. In certain embodiments disclosed herein, real-time training and instruction are provided to customer-service representatives that may be useful during customer interactions in the retail environment. 
         [0005]    In one embodiment, a system and method is disclosed to provide a real-time communication session between a customer-service representative and a repository having information that may be useful to the customer-service representative. The channel of communication may include one or more of: audio (PSTN, VoIP, Ethernet, wireless, Bluetooth, etc.), Instant Messaging (IM), Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC), and other communication channels. The communications channels may be further embodied as web-based (e.g., TCP/IP) communications. 
         [0006]    In another embodiment, the communication session is initiated based on audio signals. Voice signals originating from the customer or customer-service representative may be used to trigger an instruction/assistance dialogue. Different dialogues, or scripts, may then be delivered based on the triggering audio signal. For example, if the customer states, “where is [a particular product] located in the store,” an appropriate dialogue will be sent to the customer-service representative providing the appropriate script to the customer-service representative such that the customer-service representative can provide the customer with the requested information. 
         [0007]    In another embodiment, generation and/or delivery of the dialogue or script may be initiated by the customer-service representative. The representative may be working at a check-out register/point-of-sale terminal and initiate the dialogue/script based on a particular item being purchased by the customer. For example, if the customer is in a department store and purchasing slacks, the representative may initiate a dialogue by scanning the particular bar code associated with the slacks. Scanning of the bar code may trigger the generation of a dialogue that directs the representative to inquire if the customer had seen the shirt, shoes, or belt that match the slacks being purchased. As a benefit, improved customer experience and added sales may be realized. 
         [0008]    In another embodiment, the representative may interact with the customer over one or more channels and/or devices, such as, tablet computers, audio ear-pieces/headsets, mobile telephones, in store terminals, kiosks, and other existing communication modes and/or devices. Analysis associated with triggering a dialogue and/or feedback of the dialogues success, may be based on agent monitoring (voice/video), customer monitoring (voice/video), location in store, purchased/examined items, customer profile, and current store conditions (empty/crowded). 
         [0009]    The embodiments disclosed may further permit the system to monitor the performance of the instructions in a dialogue. For example, determining if the customer actually went to the location of the belts may help determine if the instructions in the dialogue were useful, properly delivered to the customer, and understood by the customer. In yet another embodiment, the physical environment of the store may be monitored and used as an input, for example, instructing a representative to walk a customer to a location versus instructing the agent to tell the customer of the location, as a response to the level of activity with the store, complexity associated with reaching the location, or other attribute. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment, a method is disclosed, comprising: receiving information regarding a customer action of a customer at a first location; conveying indicia of the customer action to a microprocessor; selecting, by the microprocessor, a dialogue from a set of dialogues in response to the customer action, the dialogue having a first action requesting the customer to move to a second location; transmitting the dialogue to a device for delivery to the customer; and monitoring, by the microprocessor, the customer for compliance with the first action by the customer. 
         [0011]    In another embodiment, a system is disclosed, comprising: a microprocessor with a logical connection to a network; a database accessible by the microprocessor; an input device operable to receive indicia of a customer action and report the indicia to the microprocessor; and wherein the microprocessor is operable to access the database and select a dialogue from the database associated with the indicia, the dialogue having a first action requesting the customer to move to a second location, transmit the dialogue via the network for delivery to the customer, and monitor the customer for compliance with the first action by the customer. 
         [0012]    In yet another embodiment, a non-transitory medium is disclosed with instructions thereon that when read by a machine cause the machine to perform: receiving information regarding a customer action of a customer at a first location; conveying indicia of the customer action to a microprocessor; selecting, by the microprocessor, a dialogue from a set of dialogues in response to the customer action, the dialogue having a first action requesting the customer to move to a second location; transmitting the dialogue to a device for delivery to the customer; and monitoring, by the microprocessor, the customer for compliance with the first action by the customer. 
         [0013]    The phrases “at least one,” “one or more,” and “and/or” are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C,” “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” “one or more of A, B, or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together. 
         [0014]    The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. As such, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” can be used interchangeably. 
         [0015]    The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers to any process or operation done without material human input when the process or operation is performed. However, a process or operation can be automatic, even though performance of the process or operation uses material or immaterial human input, if the input is received before performance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to be material if such input influences how the process or operation will be performed. Human input that consents to the performance of the process or operation is not deemed to be “material.” 
         [0016]    The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any tangible storage that participates in providing instructions to a processor for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, NVRAM, or magnetic or optical disks. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, magneto-optical medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, a solid state medium like a memory card, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read. When the computer-readable media is configured as a database, it is to be understood that the database may be any type of database, such as relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include a tangible storage medium and prior art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which the software implementations of the present disclosure are stored. 
         [0017]    The terms “determine,” “calculate,” and “compute,” and variations thereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any type of methodology, process, mathematical operation or technique. 
         [0018]    The term “module” as used herein refers to any known or later developed hardware, software, firmware, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, or combination of hardware and software that is capable of performing the functionality associated with that element. Also, while the disclosure is described in terms of exemplary embodiments, it should be appreciated that other aspects of the disclosure can be separately claimed. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0019]    The present disclosure is described in conjunction with the appended figures: 
           [0020]      FIG. 1  depicts a customer service system in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0021]      FIG. 2  depicts a retail setting in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0022]      FIG. 3  depicts a dialogue on a display in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and 
           [0023]      FIG. 4  depicts a process in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0024]    The ensuing description provides embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. Rather, the ensuing description will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing the embodiments. It being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 
         [0025]    The identification in the description of element numbers without a subelement identifier, when a subelement identifiers exist in the figures, when used in the plural, is intended to reference any two or more elements with a like element number. A similar usage in the singular, is intended to reference any one of the elements with the like element number. Any explicit usage to the contrary or further qualification shall take precedent. 
         [0026]    The exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure will also be described in relation to analysis software, modules, and associated analysis hardware. However, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, the following description omits well-known structures, components and devices that may be shown in block diagram form, and are well known, or are otherwise summarized. 
         [0027]    For purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It should be appreciated, however, that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the specific details set forth herein. 
         [0028]    With reference now to  FIG. 1 , a customer service system will be described in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, customer  104  may utilize communication device  105  (e.g., telephone, cellular phone, voice and/or data portion of a smartphone, computer, etc.) to accesses contact center  108  via network  106 . Contact center  108  receives and assigns the contact—the call, message, or other form of communication to and/or from customer  104 —to/from remote agent  102 . Remote agent  102  then processes the contact. Remote agent  102  may utilize database  110  to retrieve and/or be presented with, a dialogue to deliver to customer  104 . Database  110  may contain dialogues, which may further comprise instructions to be performed by remote agent  102  and/or customer  104 . Dialogues may alone or in concert with other systems and processes, instruct the recipient to perform an action, answer a question, resolve an issue, and/or to suggest other actions. For example, remote agent  102  may receive a purchase order for a product from customer  104  and be presented with a dialogue from database  110  to recommend a complementary item for purchase by customer  104 . The recommendation may be in, or put in, the form of a script or dialogue. The recommendation may be for a complementary item (e.g., a belt to match the shoes purchased, cables to enable connectivity of a selected television, etc.) or items based on an analysis of database  110 . For example, if a significant number of prior customers have bought two items, even though the relationship between the items has not been established, customer  104  who purchases one of the items may be presented with a dialogue offering the second item for purchase. The delivery of the dialogue may be directly to customer  104 , such as via device  105 , or presented to remote agent  102  for delivery to customer  102 . 
         [0029]    Contact center  108  is illustrated without the well known components of contact centers for the avoidance of unnecessarily complicating  FIG. 1 . It should be appreciated that contact center  108  is embodied with the customary systems, personnel, and connectivity to operate as a contact center. Contact center  108  may also incorporate some or all components generally associated with a contact center operable to connect to network  106  and a customer phone or other communication device. 
         [0030]    Network  106  is operable to facilitate communication between nodes. Examples of network  106  include, without limitation, a standard Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) network, a Voice over IP (VoIP) network, a cellular network, and any other type of packet-switched or circuit-switched network known in the art. In addition, it can be appreciated that network  106  need not be limited to any one network type, and instead may be comprised of a number of different networks and/or network types. As one example, embodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized to increase the efficiency of a grid-based contact center. Examples of a grid-based contact center are more fully described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/469,523 to Steiner, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Moreover, network  106  may comprise a number of different communication media such as coaxial cable, copper cable/wire, fiber-optic cable, antennas for transmitting/receiving wireless messages, and combinations thereof. Similarly, customer  104  may utilize a communication device operable to connect to network  106 , including a POTS connected telephone, cellular telephone, VoIP phone, or other device operable to facilitate voice communications via network  106 . 
         [0031]    In another embodiment, first location  112  is at least a portion of a retail setting, such as a store, portion of a store, customer service desk, kiosk, etc. Customer  116  is within first location  112  which may contain on-premises agent  114 . At least one of agent device  118  and customer device  120  is operable to connect to network  106  and, in turn, contact center  108 . In one embodiment, at least one of agent device  118  and customer device  120  is a smart phone, tablet, laptop, radio and base station, pager, wearable computer, or other means by which on-premises agent  114  and/or customer  116  may connect to network  106  and contact center  108 . In a further embodiment, agent device  118  may be placed in communication with customer device  120  via near field radio, Bluetooth, infrared, email, SMS, or other communication connectivity means. In still a further embodiment, one of agent device  118  and customer device  120 , when in communication with each other, may utilize the other&#39;s connection to network  106  to communicate with contact center  108 . 
         [0032]    It should be noted that agent device  118  is generally associated with on-premises agent  114  and customer device  120  is generally associated with customer  116 . The association may be one of ownership, assignment, and/or control. However, such an association does not preclude agent device  118  and/or customer device  120  being made available to another party for utilization thereof. For example, on-premises agent  114  may have a dialogue or portion of a dialogue displayed on agent device  118  which is then presented to customer  116 . 
         [0033]    In another embodiment, contact center  108  may be made aware of a customer action, of customer  116 , such as by on-premises agent  114  inputting indicia of the customer action into agent device  118  and/or customer  116  inputting indicia of the customer action into customer device  120 . Additionally, customer actions may be reported by sensing devices, such as cameras, sensors, terminals (e.g., point-of-sale, kiosk, etc.), or other devices (such as those illustrated with respect to  FIG. 2 ). In another embodiment, at least one of agent device  118  and customer device  120  receives a dialogue selected by a microprocessor of contact center  108  from a set of dialogues stored in database  110  in response to the indicia. 
         [0034]    With reference now to  FIG. 2 , a retail setting will be described in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, customer  116  receives a dialogue. The dialogue may be delivered to customer  116  via customer device  120 , agent device  118 , on-premises agent  114  via agent device  118 , or by another communications terminal. The dialogue delivered to customer  112  comprises at least one instruction and compliance with the at least one instruction may be determined by an electronic system including a microprocessor. In one embodiment, a dialogue delivered to customer  116  requires the customer to move to second location  202 . 
         [0035]    The presence of customer  116  may be detected by one or more sensing devices. Sensing devices may include camera  204  with associated presence recognition software, radio receiver  206  operable to detect the presence of a radio transmitter associated with the customer (e.g., a signal from customer device  120 ), microphone  208 , pressure mat  210 , or other sensing device. In one embodiment, the sensing device is operable to determine the presence of customer  116 . In another embodiment, the sensing device is operable to determine the presence of a non-specific person and conclude, with a reasonable degree of certainty, that the non-specific person is customer  116 . In a further embodiment, the determination of customer  116  as being the identified non-specific person considers, and excludes all others persons who are known not to be customer  116  and their location. For example, on-premises agent  114  may be tracked with associated locating systems and if on-premises agent  114  location is known to be not within second area  202 , then the probability of a non-specific person within second location  202  being that of customer  116 , is therefore more likely. 
         [0036]    In another embodiment, item  212  contains an interaction indicator, such as a radio-frequency identifier (“RFID”) operable to report the location of item  212  and/or a sensor (e.g., accelerometer) and sensor reporting means (e.g., a transmitter). In another embodiment, the dialogue delivered to customer  116  includes instructions to retrieve, examine, pick-up, or otherwise interact with item  212 . For example, the dialogue may instruct customer  116  to retrieve item  212 . Item  212 , which may incorporate radio transmitter interfacing with transmitter/receiver  206  and determine that item  212  has been touched and/or moved. If customer  116  is known to be in second location  202  and/or not in a third location, then the motion of item  212  may then be associated with customer  116  and further determined that customer  116  is complying with the instructions to retrieve item  212 . 
         [0037]    In another embodiment, customer&#39;s  116  lack of compliance with dialogue may be determined upon detecting customer&#39;s  116  performance of a different action. For example, a dialogue instructs customer  116  to move to a third location (not shown). However, sensors, such as camera  204 , microphone  208 , pressure mat  210 , and/or item  212  report the presence and/or interaction of customer  116 . Accordingly, customer  116  may be determined to not to have complied with the instructions within the dialogue. Contact center  108  may then be notified of the non-compliance and a new dialogue may be delivered to customer device  120  and/or agent device  118 . 
         [0038]    With reference now to  FIG. 3 , a dialogue on a display will be described in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, customer device  120  has display  304  for the display of text and/or graphical content. Customer device  120  utilizes antenna  304 , which may be embodied as internal or external to the form factor of customer device  120 , to connect to contact center  108  via network  106 . In other embodiments, customer device  120  may utilize infrared or other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum for communications via network  106 , such as by interfacing with one or more base or satellite receiver-transmitters, for example, radio receiver/transmitter  206  or other component operable to connect customer device  120  to network  106 . 
         [0039]    Contact center  108  receives indicia of a customer action, such as by customer  116  interacting with customer device  120 , agent device  118 , or other device (e.g., kiosk, sensor, etc). At least one microprocessor of contact center  108  then selects dialogue  306  from database  110 . Dialogue  306  is then presented to customer device  120 , agent device  118 , and/or another device, such as the screen of a computer at a kiosk. 
         [0040]    Dialogue  306  may include text, audio, video, and/or graphical elements. In one embodiment, dialogue  306  includes an instruction for customer  116  to move to another location, such as to locate an item. Dialogue  306  may incorporate map  308  and image  310  showing the subject item. Dialogue  306  may incorporate turn-by-turn instructions, audio cues, tactile cues, or other means to assist customer  116  in proceeding to the new location. 
         [0041]    In another embodiment, if customer  116  performs an action inconsistent with the instructions, such as picking up the wrong item, making a wrong turn, etc., then an agent, such as on-premises agent  114 , may be notified via their agent device  118  with a second dialogue instructing on-premises agent  114  to locate customer  116  and offer additional assistance. In another embodiment, customer device  120  may notify customer  116  that they did not comply with the dialogue. For example, if customer  116  was instructed to retrieve a black belt that matched a pair of black shoes, but customer  116  then interacted with a brown belt, a new dialogue may be presented to notify customer  116  of the incorrect item, where to find the correct item, offer to call on-premises agent  114  to assist customer  116 , and/or notify the customer where to return the black shoes and/or retrieve the brown shoes that match the brown belt. 
         [0042]    In a further embodiment, remote agent  102  and/or on-premises agent  114  may assist customer  102 , such as by providing dialogue  306 , and then proceed to assisting another customer. Remote agent  102  and/or on-premises agent  114  may be notified via a message, display, pop-up message, or other means once customer&#39;s  102  non-compliance with dialogue  306  has been determined. Optionally, notification of customer&#39;s  102  compliance with dialogue  306  may also be provided to agent  102  and/or on-premises agent  114 . Agent device  118  may be further configured to show progress, compliance, suspected compliance, non-compliance, and/or suspected non-compliance of any one or more customers  116 . Suspected compliance may include customer  116  performing at least one intermediate step in accord with dialogue  306 , such as when customer  116  is approaching a waypoint to a destination. A suspected non-compliance may include customer  116  failing to perform at least one intermediate step, such as when customer  116  is diverts their movement away from a waypoint assigned by dialogue  306 . As a benefit, agent  102  and/or on-premises agent  114  may be made aware of one or more customers  116  and respond to any non-compliance issues or even anticipate suspected non-compliance. 
         [0043]    With reference now to  FIG. 4 , a process will be described in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, step  402  retrieves information regarding a customer action at a first location. The first action may be one or more of purchasing an item, indicating the desire to purchase an item, requesting information on an item, performing an operation associated with customer  116  (e.g., pay a bill, make an account inquiry, change address or other personal information, etc.), returned an item, demonstrated an interest in one or more items or category of items (e.g., moved to a location with televisions and video equipment), or other action customer  116  may perform in a retail setting. For example, customer  116  may express an interest in a particular item and a barcode on the item is scanned, such as by customer device  120 , agent device  118 , and/or other terminal. Item identifiers may also be input manual, such as by entry of a stock keeping unit (“SKU”) or other item identifier. In another embodiment, customer  116  utilizes customer device  120  and a web browser thereon. The web browser then being operable to go to a web page associated with the retail environment whereby the item identifier may be entered. 
         [0044]    Following the receipt of information regarding the customer action at the first location, a microprocessor executing instructions selects a dialogue in response to the indicia at step  404 . In one embodiment, a microprocessor associated with contact center  108  may perform step  404 , such as by selecting a dialogue from database  110 . Database  110  may incorporate dialogues developed for the benefit of remote agent  102 . As one advantage thereof, retail environment  112  may then leverage the resources and expertise of contact center  108 . In another embodiment, microprocessor is within at least one of client device  120  and agent device  118  and the dialogue selected from database  110 . Step  406  then transmits the selected dialogue for delivery to the customer, such as via agent device  118  and/or customer device  120 . Step  408  then causes the microprocessor to monitor the customer&#39;s compliance with the dialogue. For example, a dialogue that instructs a customer to go to a second location may then monitor the second location to detect the presence of the customer, or the likely presence of the customer, and/or the absence of the customer at a third location. 
         [0045]    In response to the customer&#39;s compliance and/or non-compliance with the dialogue, additional actions may be taken. For example, if a customer made a wrong turn, the dialogue, if presented on customer device  120 , may signal the customer (e.g., message, sound, vibration, etc.). In another example, on-premises agent  114  may be notified that the customer may require assistance and deliver an update message on agent device  118 . Process  400  may then end upon the customer&#39;s compliance with the instructions. 
         [0046]    In the foregoing description, for the purposes of illustration, methods were described in a particular order. It should be appreciated that in alternate embodiments, the methods may be performed in a different order than that described. It should also be appreciated that the methods described above may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in sequences of machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a machine, such as a general-purpose or special-purpose processor (GPU or CPU) or logic circuits programmed with the instructions to perform the methods (FPGA). These machine-executable instructions may be stored on one or more machine readable mediums, such as CD-ROMs or other type of optical disks, floppy diskettes, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other types of machine-readable mediums suitable for storing electronic instructions. Alternatively, the methods may be performed by a combination of hardware and software. 
         [0047]    Specific details were given in the description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits may be shown in block diagrams in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments. 
         [0048]    Also, it is noted that the embodiments were described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but could have additional steps not included in the figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function. 
         [0049]    Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine readable medium such as storage medium. A processor(s) may perform the necessary tasks. A code segment may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc. 
         [0050]    While illustrative embodiments of the disclosure have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed, and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations, except as limited by the prior art.