Patent Description:
In order to remain competitive in the modern commerce system, many businesses remain constantly vigilant of evolving consumer demands, and strive to provide customers with the high quality products and services that they desire. To that end, many businesses employ contact centers that include automated systems and representatives of the business to process transactions and/or service the needs of their customers.

Such contact centers may utilize a number of communication channels to engage with customers, such as telephone, email, live web chat, and the like. For example, in many instances, an end user or customer may be routed to a live human agent to assist the end user with his or her needs.

<CIT> discloses: In a system for managing chat automation, the system includes a processor; and a memory couple to the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: receive a signal indicating a communication is being initiated by an end user operating an end user devices; receive information from the end user device regarding the communication; select a conversation path based on the information regarding the communication; invoke an automated chat resource for engaging in a chat communication session with the end user device wherein the automated chat resource is configured to follow the conversation path during the chat communication session; monitor confidence levels of automated chat responses during the chat communication session; and redirect the chat communication session to a second conversation path in response to at least one of the confidence levels falling below a threshold level.

<CIT> discloses a system and method for controlling a connection to an application server. The method comprises storing a chat state indicative of interactivity with a chat feature in a social networking application; detecting resumption of the social networking application subsequent to an interruption thereto; determining the chat state; and restoring the chat feature for the social networking application to the determined chat state. The method may also, upon detecting inactivity with respect to the chat feature, comprise executing one or more operations to maintain a connection with a server for the social networking application according to a first communications protocol. The method may also, upon detecting that a second period of time has elapsed subsequent to detecting inactivity, comprise receiving data associated with the chat feature according to a second communications protocol.

The present invention sets out a method performed by a contact center management system according to claim <NUM> and a contact center management system according to claim <NUM>.

A more complete appreciation of the present invention, and many of the attendant features and aspects thereof, will become more readily apparent as the invention becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference symbols indicate like components, wherein:.

The present invention is described in one or more embodiments in the following description with reference to the figures, in which like numerals represent the same or similar elements. While the invention is described in terms of the best mode for achieving the invention's objectives, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that it is intended to cover alternatives, and modifications may be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Generally, modern contact centers are staffed with agents or employees who serve as an interface between an organization, such as a company, and outside entities, such as customers. For example, human sales agents at contact centers may assist customers in making purchasing decisions and may receive purchase orders from those customers. Similarly, human support agents at contact centers may assist customers in solving problems with products or services provided by the organization. Interactions between contact center agents and outside entities (customers) may be conducted by speech voice (e.g., telephone calls or voice over IP or VoIP calls), video (e.g., video conferencing), text (e.g., emails and text chat), or through other media.

In order to remain competitive, however, businesses constantly strive to provide high quality service to customers while keeping overhead costs low and maintaining or growing revenue and profitability. To that end, sophisticated businesses strive to monitor and maintain data regarding a wide variety of performance metrics of the business overall as well as the operations of individual aspects of the business. For example, in the context of contact center systems, businesses may monitor and collect data regarding wait and hold time for customers, idle time for agents, technical support quality, sales and marketing activities, and the like. Managers and supervising agents may access such data periodically in order to stay informed about the business goals of the contact center, to correct problems as they occur, and to generally ensure the contact center is performing at a high level. In many instances, various agents of the contact center system may wish to collaborate with one another to correct, improve, or maintain one or more performance metrics monitored by the contact center system.

Additionally, modern contact center communication systems may enable or support communication between customers and agents through a variety of communication channels, including telephony, VoIP, video, SMS text messaging, chat dialog communication, and a variety of other communication channels. In the context of chat communication sessions, in certain instances, it may be helpful for customers and agents to resume a communication session after it is disconnected, without losing the previous chat communications. For example, a customer's electronic communication device may lose connectivity to a communication network connected to the contact center communication system, but it may be desirable for the customer to be able to resume the chat communication session where it left off once the customer's electronic communication device is able to re-establish communication with the communication network. Embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method to enable agents to interact with customers in a text-based or chat communication channel and resume the chat communication session after a disconnection during the communication session.

In the various embodiments, the terms interaction and communication are used generally to refer to any real-time and non-real time interaction that uses any communication channel including, without limitation telephony calls (PSTN or VoIP calls), emails, vmails (voice mail through email), video, chat, screen-sharing, text messages, social media messages, web real-time communication (e.g. WebRTC calls), and the like.

<FIG> is a block diagram of a system for engaging and managing conversations between an automated chat robot and human users (hereinafter referred to as a contact center management system <NUM>), according to some embodiments of the present invention. In some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM> may operate as part of a contact center system <NUM>. The contact center system may be an in- house facility to a business or enterprise <NUM> for serving the enterprise in performing the functions of sales and service relative to the products and services available through the enterprise. In another aspect, the contact center system <NUM> may be operated by a third- party service provider. According to another embodiment, the contact center system <NUM> may operate as a hybrid system in which some components of the contact center system <NUM> are hosted at the contact center premise and other components are hosted remotely (e.g., in a cloud-based environment).

The contact center system <NUM> may be deployed in equipment dedicated to the enterprise or third-party service provider, and/or deployed in a remote computing environment such as, for example, a private or public cloud environment with infrastructure for supporting multiple contact centers for multiple enterprises. The various components of the contact center may also be distributed across various geographic locations and computing environments and not necessarily contained in a single location, computing environment, or even computing device.

According to one example embodiment, the contact center system <NUM> includes resources (e.g. personnel, computers, and telecommunication equipment) to enable delivery of services via telephone or other communication mechanisms. Such services may vary depending on the type of contact center, and may range from customer service to help desk, emergency response, telemarketing, order taking, and the like.

Customers, potential customers, or other end users (collectively referred to as customers or end users, e.g., end user <NUM>) desiring to receive services from the contact center system <NUM> or the business <NUM> may initiate an inbound communication to the contact center system <NUM> via their end user devices 108a-108c (collectively referenced as electronic device <NUM>).

Each of the electronic devices <NUM> may be a communication device conventional in the art, such as, for example, a telephone, wireless phone, smart phone, personal computer, electronic tablet, and/or the like, that is configured to engage in text- based (e.g., chat) communications with other electronic devices. According to some embodiments, users operating the electronic devices <NUM> may communicate with the contact center system <NUM> by way of a voice channel, and the communication may be converted into text either at the end user or contact center side. The text may then be transmitted to an automated chat resource (also referred to herein as a"chat bot," described in more detail below), and the response from the chat bot may be converted back into speech or delivered to the end user's device as text. Users operating the electronic devices <NUM> may initiate, manage, and respond to telephone calls, emails, chats, text messaging, web-browsing sessions, and other multi-media transactions.

Inbound and outbound communications from and to the electronic devices <NUM> may traverse the telephone, cellular, and/or data communication network <NUM> depending on the type of device that is being used. For example, the communications network <NUM> may include a private or public switched telephone network (PSTN), local area network (LAN), private wide area network (WAN), and/or public wide area network such as, for example, the Internet. The communications network <NUM> may also include a wireless carrier network including a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, and/or any <NUM> or <NUM> network conventional in the art.

According to one example embodiment, the contact center system <NUM> includes a switch/media gateway <NUM> coupled to the communications network <NUM> for receiving and transmitting telephony interactions between end users and the contact center system <NUM>. The switch/media gateway <NUM> may include a telephony switch or communication switch configured to function as a central switch for agent level routing within the center. The switch may be a hardware switching system or a soft switch implemented via software. In this regard, the switch <NUM> may include an automatic call distributor, a private branch exchange (PBX), an IP-based software switch, and/or any other switch with specialized hardware and software configured to receive Internet-sourced interactions and/or telephone network-sourced interactions from a customer, and route those interactions to, for example, an agent telephony device. In this example, the switch/media gateway establishes a voice path/connection (not shown) between the calling customer and the agent telephony device, by establishing, for example, a connection between the customer's telephony device and the agent telephony device.

According to one example embodiment of the invention, the switch is coupled to a call controller <NUM> which may, for example, serve as an adapter or interface between the switch and the remainder of the routing, monitoring, and other communication-handling components of the contact center.

The call controller <NUM> may be configured to process PSTN calls, VoIP calls, and the like. For example, the call controller <NUM> may be configured with computer-telephony integration (CTI) software for interfacing with the switch/media gateway and contact center equipment. In one embodiment, the call controller <NUM> may include a session initiation protocol (SIP) server for processing SIP calls. According to some example embodiments, the call controller <NUM> may, for example, extract data about the customer interaction such as the caller's telephone number, often known as the automatic number identification (ANI) number, or the customer's internet protocol (IP) address, or email address, and communicate with other CC components in processing the interaction.

According to one example embodiment of the invention, the system further includes an interactive media response (IMR) server <NUM>, which may also be referred to as a self-help system, virtual assistant, or the like. The IMR server <NUM> may be similar to an interactive voice response (IVR) server, except that the IMR server <NUM> is not restricted to voice, but may cover a variety of media channels including voice. Taking voice as an example, however, the IMR server may be configured with an IMR script for querying customers on their needs. For example, a contact center for a bank may tell customers, via the IMR script, to "press <NUM>" if they wish to get an account balance. If this is the case, through continued interaction with the IMR server <NUM>, customers may complete service without needing to speak with an agent. The IMR server <NUM> may also ask an open ended question such as, for example, "How can I help you?" and the customer may speak or otherwise enter a reason for contacting the contact center. The customer's response may then be used by the routing server <NUM> to route the call or communication to an appropriate contact center system <NUM> resource.

If the communication is to be routed to an agent, the call controller <NUM> interacts with a routing server <NUM> to find an appropriate agent for processing the interaction. The selection of an appropriate agent for routing an inbound interaction may be based, for example, on a routing strategy employed by the routing server <NUM>, and further based on information about agent availability, skills, and other routing parameters provided, for example, by a statistics server <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the routing server <NUM> may query a customer database, which stores information about existing clients, such as contact information, service level agreement (SLA) requirements, nature of previous customer contacts and actions taken by contact center to resolve any customer issues, and the like. The database may be managed by any database management system conventional in the art, such as Oracle, IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL server, Microsoft Access, PostgreSQL, MySQL, FoxPro, NoSQL, SQLite, and the like, and may be stored in a mass storage device <NUM>. The routing server <NUM> may query the customer information from the customer database via an AN I or any other information collected by the IMR <NUM>.

Once an appropriate agent is identified as being available to handle a communication, a connection may be made between the customer and an agent device 130a-130d (collectively referenced as <NUM>) of the identified agent. Collected information about the customer and/or the customer's historical information may also be provided to the agent device for aiding the agent in better servicing the communication. In this regard, each agent device <NUM> may include a telephone adapted for regular telephone calls, VoIP calls, and the like. The agent device <NUM> may also include a computer for communicating with one or more servers of the contact center and performing data processing associated with contact center operations, and for interfacing with customers via voice and other multimedia communication mechanisms. According to some embodiments, one or more agents or supervising agents <NUM> may operate one or more agent devices 130d in communication with the components of the contact center.

The contact center system may also include a multimedia/social media server <NUM> for engaging in media interactions other than voice interactions with the end user devices <NUM>. The media interactions may be related, for example, to email, vmail (voice mail through email), chat, video, text-messaging, web, social media, co-browsing, and the like. In this regard, the multimedia/social media server <NUM> may take the form of any IP router conventional in the art with specialized hardware and software for receiving, processing, and forwarding multi-media events. According to some embodiments, the multimedia/social media server <NUM> may be configured to maintain chat conversations, generate chat transcripts, and determine whether or not a chat communication is completed (e.g., based on timeout or by a customer closing a chat window). Additionally, the multimedia/social media server <NUM> may be configured to keep a chat session alive even when a particular chat server instance crashes, and also process or facilitate chat transfers and conference sessions.

The web servers <NUM> may include, for example, social interaction site hosts for a variety of known social interaction sites to which an end user may subscribe, such as, for example, Facebook, Twitter, and the like. In this regard, although in the embodiment of <FIG> the web servers <NUM> are depicted as being part of the contact center system <NUM>, the web servers may also be provided by third parties and/or be maintained outside of the contact center. The web servers may also provide web pages for the enterprise that is being supported by the contact center. End users may browse the web pages and get information about the enterprise's products and services. The web pages may also provide a mechanism for contacting the contact center, via, for example, web chat, voice call, email, web real time communication (WebRTC), or the like.

According to one example embodiment of the invention, in addition to real-time interactions, deferrable (also referred to as back-office or offline) interactions/activities may also be routed to the contact center agents. Such deferrable activities may include, for example, responding to emails, responding to letters, attending training seminars, or any other activity that does not entail real time communication with a customer. In this regard, an interaction (iXn) server <NUM> interacts with the routing server <NUM> for selecting an appropriate agent to handle the activity. Once assigned to an agent, an activity may be pushed to the agent, or may appear in the agent's workbin 136a-136c (collectively referenced as <NUM>) as a task to be completed by the agent. The agent's workbin may be implemented via any data structure conventional in the art, such as, for example, a linked list, array, and/or the like. The workbin <NUM> may be maintained, for example, in buffer memory of each agent device <NUM>.

According to one example embodiment of the invention, the mass storage device(s) <NUM> may store one or more databases relating to agent data (e.g. agent profiles, schedules, etc.), customer data (e.g. customer profiles), interaction data (e.g. details of each interaction with a customer, including reason for the interaction, disposition data, time on hold, handle time, etc.), and the like.

According to one embodiment, some of the data (e.g. customer profile data) may be maintained in a customer relations management (CRM) database hosted in the mass storage device <NUM> or elsewhere. The mass storage device may take form of a hard disk or disk array, flash memory, magnetic table, or other suitable mass storage device as is conventional in the art, for storing information used as part of the contact center management system <NUM> and the contact center system <NUM>.

According to some embodiments, the contact center system <NUM> may include a universal contact server (UCS) <NUM>, configured to retrieve information stored in the CRM database and direct information to be stored in the CRM database. For example, the UCS <NUM> may be utilized as part of the contact center management system <NUM> to facilitate maintaining a history on how well a particular chat bot (described in more detail below) functions for a given customer as a reference for future chat communications. The UCS <NUM> may also be configured to facilitate maintaining a history of customers' preferences regarding media channels, such as instances in which chat communications are acceptable and instances in which customers prefer alternate media channels.

Additionally, the UCS <NUM> may be configured to capture and store data regarding comments from agents, customer communication history, and the like. ontact center system <NUM> may additionally include a knowledge management server <NUM> for facilitating interactions between customers operating the end user devices 108a-108c and a knowledge system <NUM> (which may be included as part of the contact center system <NUM>, or may be operated remotely by a third party). The knowledge management server <NUM> is a computer system capable of receiving questions and providing answers as output. According to some example embodiments, the knowledge system may be embodied as IBM Watson®. Of course, any other knowledge system may be used as will be appreciated by a person having ordinary skill in the art. In some embodiments, the knowledge system <NUM> is an artificially intelligent computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language by retrieving information from information sources such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, newswire articles, literary works, or other documents submitted to the knowledge system <NUM> as reference materials, as is well known in the art. Additional details of the knowledge management server is provided in <CIT>, entitled "System and Method for Controlled Knowledge System Management," the content of which is incorporated herein by reference. The contact center system <NUM> may additionally include a chat server <NUM> for conducting automated/electronic chat communications with agents operating agent devices <NUM>. According to some embodiments, the chat server <NUM> may operate as a chat orchestration server, dispatching actual chat conversations to various chat bots or agent chats. The processing logic of the chat server <NUM> may be rules driven, and may leverage, for example, intelligent workload distribution protocols and various business rules for routing communications.

According to some embodiments, the chat server <NUM> is coupled to (directly or indirectly) and in communication with the interaction server <NUM>, statistics server <NUM>, a data collection server <NUM>, the call controller <NUM>, and/or the like, for retrieving data regarding ongoing contact center operations and performance metrics in real time. Although the chat server <NUM> is depicted in the embodiment of <FIG> as being a separate server component, a person of skill in the art should recognize that functionalities of the chat automation server may be incorporated into the multimedia/social media server <NUM>, the knowledge management server <NUM>, the IMR server <NUM>, or the like.

The contact center system <NUM> may also include the data collection server <NUM> configured to retrieve data from various components of the contact center system such as, for example, the statistics server <NUM>, and to generate reports from the aggregated data. Such reports may include near real-time reports or historical reports concerning the state of resources, such as, for example, average waiting time, abandonment rate, agent occupancy, and the like. The reports may be generated automatically or in response to specific requests from a requestor (e.g. agent/administrator, contact center application, and/or the like). According to some example embodiments, the data collection server <NUM> may collect data from the components in the contact center system such as the statistics server <NUM> and the call controller <NUM> on a regular or pre-configured periodic schedule. The data collection server <NUM> may then operate to aggregate the data and generate graphical or text-based representations of performance metrics based on the retrieved data.

The various servers of <FIG> may each include one or more processors executing computer program instructions and interacting with other system components for performing the various functionalities described herein. The computer program instructions are stored in a memory implemented using a standard memory device, such as, for example, a random access memory (RAM). The computer program instructions may also be stored in other non-transitory computer readable media such as, for example, a CD-ROM, flash drive, or the like. Also, although the functionality of each of the servers is described as being provided by the particular server, a person of skill in the art should recognize that the functionality of various servers may be combined or integrated into a single server, or the functionality of a particular server may be distributed across one or more other servers without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present invention.

<FIG> is a more detailed block diagram of some components of the contact center management system, according to some example embodiments of the present invention. The chat server <NUM> is coupled to or in electronic communication with one or more agent devices <NUM> (e.g., agent devices 130a and 130b) operated by one or more agents <NUM> (e.g., agents 200a and 200b, respectively) over the data communications network <NUM> and/or operating locally within the contact center system <NUM>.

Each agent device <NUM> may have a communication or chat client or module <NUM> (e.g., modules 202a and 202b) operating locally on the agent device as a user interface for exchanging communications with other agent devices and the chat server <NUM> by way of a chat platform module <NUM>. According to some embodiments, the chat client or module <NUM> may be configured to provide a graphical user interface for exchanging graphical and/or text-based communications with the chat server <NUM>. The chat platform module <NUM> operates as an intermediary for receiving and transmitting information received from and to agent devices, a chat automation module (or chat bot) <NUM>, and other components of the contact center system <NUM> (e.g., the data collection server <NUM>, the statistics server <NUM>, and the call controller <NUM>).

According to some embodiments, the chat bot <NUM> is a party to the chat communication session and is configured to listen to the chat dialog (e.g., receive and analyze chat communication messages exchanged between other participants) and monitor the state of other chat participants (e.g., joining, leaving, disconnecting, etc.). The chat bot <NUM> operates to provide automated messages for display in response to the input from agent devices and user devices based on the content of the messages exchanged between the agent devices and user devices. According to one embodiment, the chat bot <NUM> is agnostic, and utilizes an analytical platform for analyzing inbound text and generating output text based on the chat dialog. In one example, the chat bot <NUM> serves as a proxy for converting user requests to analytical systems and returning notifications and responses back to the chat dialog. Further detail of the chat bot <NUM> is described below with respect to <FIG>.

According to some embodiments, the chat bot <NUM> and the chat platform <NUM> may operate as part of the chat server <NUM>, or may operate on independent servers, depending on the design of the contact center system <NUM>.

The chat server <NUM> is further coupled to or in electronic communication with the data collection server <NUM>. The data collection server <NUM> collects/retrieves data related to various performance metrics from various components of the contact center system <NUM>, for example, the statistics server <NUM> and the call controller <NUM>. As discussed above, according to some embodiments, the data collection server <NUM> may retrieve analytics and performance metric data from the statistics server <NUM> and/or the call controller <NUM> on a regular or pre-configured periodic schedule. Utilizing the data retrieved from the statistics server <NUM> and/or the call controller <NUM>, the data collection server <NUM> may generate aggregated data and numerical data points representing one or more key performance indicators (KPIs) that are relevant to the business operations of the contact center.

As will be described in further detail below, the chat bot <NUM> may be configured to receive, as input data, messages transmitted from the agent devices <NUM>, and use text analytics to identify keywords or phrases (e.g., predefined chat commands), or selection of one or more prompts.

According to some example embodiments, the chat bot <NUM> is a participant of each chat session conducted between the agent devices <NUM> and customer devices <NUM>. The chat bot <NUM> may operate as an active participant, for example, by automatically transmitting chat communication messages to the chat communication session in response to a text analytics analysis on messages received from the customer device <NUM> and/or the agent device <NUM>.

Additionally, when one or both of the agent devices <NUM> and customer devices <NUM> disconnects from a chat communication session, the chat bot <NUM> may remain an active participant with the chat communication session, thereby keeping the chat communication session open and enabling either or both of the agent device <NUM> and the customer device <NUM> to return or disconnect repeatedly until the communication session is affirmatively ended, at which point all parties, including the chat bot <NUM> are disconnected from the chat communication session. The chat communication session is then closed, and the corresponding data associated with the chat communication session, such as the chat dialog transcript, the participants of the chat communication session, and/or various other data about the nature and substance (e.g., topics of communication, outcomes, etc.) may be stored in memory (e.g., memory <NUM>) as contextual information associated with the customer or user profile of the customer.

Thus, according to example embodiments of the present invention, when a user device <NUM> and an agent device <NUM> are disconnected or drop from a chat communication session, the chat communication session is kept active by virtue of the chat bot <NUM> remaining connected to the chat communication session. A user device <NUM> or agent device <NUM> may be determined by the contact center management system <NUM> to be disconnected from a chat communication session if the user device <NUM> and/or the agent device <NUM> by any suitable mechanism. According to some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM> may determine a user device <NUM> or agent device <NUM> is disconnected from the chat communication session in response to failing to receive any chat communication messages from the user device <NUM> or the agent device <NUM> for a period of time that exceeds a predetermined timeout period. In some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM> may determine a user device <NUM> or agent device <NUM> is disconnected from the chat communication session in response to the user device <NUM> or agent device <NUM> failing to request updates to the chat communication session (e.g., for longer than a predetermined timeout period). In some embodiments, the disconnection determination may be based on the contact center management system <NUM> determining or detecting a communication failure or communication disconnection between the user device <NUM> or agent device <NUM> and the communication network <NUM>.

In response to detecting the agent device <NUM> is disconnected from a chat communication session, the contact center management system <NUM>, through the chat bot <NUM> may automatically route the communication session to a different agent device <NUM> to enable the user to continue the chat communication session with a different agent. Alternatively, the contact center management system <NUM>, through the chat bot <NUM> may transmit a message to the chat communication session asking the user to patiently wait until the agent reconnects or asking whether the user is willing to have the communication session routed to another agent device operated by a different agent. In the case where the communication session is routed to a different agent, the transcript of the chat communication session may be transmitted to the new agent's electronic device and appear in a chat dialog graphical user interface operating on the new agent's device.

In response to detecting the user device <NUM> is disconnected from a chat communication session, the contact center management system <NUM> may transmit an alert or notification to the agent device <NUM> that the user device <NUM> is disconnected. In some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM> may prompt the agent to remain engaged with the chat communication session for a predetermined period of time to allow the user device <NUM> to reconnect with the chat communication session.

According to embodiments of the present invention, if both the user device <NUM> and the agent device 130a disconnect from the chat communication session, the chat bot <NUM> will maintain an active connection with the chat communication session for a predetermined period of time (e.g., a waiting period) before leaving the chat communication session thereby ending or closing the chat communication session. If, during the waiting period, the contact center management system <NUM> receives a new communication from the user device <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> may end the countdown of the waiting period. Additionally, once the user device <NUM> reengages with the communication session, for example, by asking a question or providing a new comment to the chat dialog, the contact center management system <NUM> may transmit an alert to the agent device <NUM> indicating the user device <NUM> has reconnected with the chat communication session and/or route the communication session to the agent device 130a of the agent who previously was engaging in the chat communication session with the user device <NUM>.

In some embodiments, if the agent operating the agent device 130a is unavailable after the user device <NUM> reconnects to the chat communication session (after having previously disconnected), the contact center management system <NUM> may cause the chat bot <NUM> to engage in automated communications with the user device <NUM>. For example, the chat bot <NUM> may transmit a message to the chat communication session to alert the user that the previous agent operating the agent device 130a is unavailable, and prompting the user to wait until the agent becomes available. Additionally or alternatively, the chat bot <NUM> may engage in automatically providing automated messages to the chatcommunication session in response to inquiries or messages received from the user device <NUM>. For example, the chat bot <NUM> may initiate inquiries regarding the needs or desires of the user operating the user device <NUM> and, after performing a text analytics operation on the user response, may identify one or more keywords or phrases and automatically generate a response. In some embodiments, such automated responses may be generated in coordination with the knowledge system <NUM>, for example, by submitting an inquiry to the knowledge system <NUM> and generating an automated response based on the output of the knowledge system <NUM>. In some embodiments, the chat bot <NUM> may identify a message received from the user device <NUM> as corresponding to one or more predetermined keywords or phrases, and provide a predetermined automated response.

Additionally, according to some embodiments, when a user device <NUM> reconnects to a chat communication session after previously disconnecting from the chat communication session (e.g., as discussed above), the contact center management system <NUM> may, through the chat bot <NUM>, transmit a message to the communication session prompting the user operating the user device <NUM> to initiate a communication with a contact center resource and/or the agent operating the agent device 130a via an alternative communication channel, such as telephony, email, SMS text message, and the like.

In some embodiments, in response to the user device <NUM> reconnecting to a chat communication session after previously disconnecting from the chat communication session, and the agent operating the agent device 130a is unavailable, the contact center management system <NUM> may route the communication session to a different agent operating an agent device 130b, instead of the agent operating the agent device 130a. The chat communication session text dialog may be transmitted to the agent device 130b, or displayed by the agent device 130b, and the agent operating the agent device 130b can continue the communication session with the user operating the user device <NUM> and the chat bot <NUM>. According to some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM>, through the chat bot <NUM>, may transmit a message to the user device <NUM> requesting permission from the user to route the communication session to a different agent prior to doing so. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM> may automatically route the communication session to the different agent without first informing the user.

<FIG> is a more detailed block diagram of the chat bot <NUM> operating as part of the contact center management system, according to some example embodiments of the present invention. According to some example embodiments, the chat bot <NUM> may include a text analytics module <NUM>, a dialog manager <NUM>, and an output generator <NUM>. The text analytics module is configured to analyze and understand natural language. In this regard, the text analytics module may be configured with a lexicon of the language, a syntactic/semantic parser, and grammar rules for breaking a phrase provided by the agent device <NUM>, into an internal syntactic and semantic representation.

The dialog manager <NUM> receives the syntactic and semantic representation from the text analytics module, and manages the general flow of the conversation based on a set of decision rules. In this regard, the dialog manager maintains history and state of the conversation, and generates an outbound communication based on the history and state.

The dialog manager <NUM> selects a response deemed to be appropriate at the particular point of the conversation in response to the inbound text and data received or retrieved from the data collection server <NUM>, and outputs the response to the output generator <NUM>. For example, according to some embodiments, the text analytics module <NUM> and/or the dialog manager <NUM> may detect, based on text analytics of the chat communication session between agents, that a particular phrase has been used or topic of conversation has come up. Alternatively, the text analytics module <NUM> and/or the dialog manager <NUM> may detect an agent inputting a predetermined command or phrase to the chat interface. The output generator <NUM> takes the semantic representation of the response provided by the dialog manager <NUM> and outputs an outbound text to be displayed in the communication session.

<FIG> is a flow chart illustrating interactions between various components operating as part of a method for managing a contact center system, according to some example embodiments of the present invention. Although various operations are illustrated in <FIG>, the number and order of operations according to some embodiments may vary. For example, according to some embodiments, there may be fewer or additional operations and/or the order of the operations may vary.

As illustrated in <FIG>, at <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> receives or identifies a signal or message from a user device indicating a communication session is being initiated. For example, according to some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM> may receive a signal or message from a user device (e.g., user device <NUM>) indicating the corresponding user has input a text-based or chat communication message into a chat dialog module operating on or accessible through the user device. The contact center management system <NUM> may then initiate or open a chat communication session. The contact center management system <NUM> may store a transcript of the chat communication session in memory, and update the transcript as additional chat communication messages are exchanged between parties to the chat communication session.

At <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> connects an automated chat communication resource or chat bot (e.g., a chat bot <NUM>) to the chat communication session. As discussed above, the chat bot may be an active participant in the chat communication session, and the chat bot is configured to monitor chat communications exchanged between participants to the chat communication session. In some embodiments, the chat bot may engage in or provide automated chat communication messages to participants of the chat communication session. For example, prior to the chat communication session being routed to an agent device, the chat bot may provide messages to the chat communication session to prompt the user to provide information about the user and/or the purpose of the user initiating the chat communication session.

At <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> routes the chat communication session to an agent device (e.g., agent device 130a) operated by an agent of the contact center. For example, in some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM> may route the chat communication session to an agent qualified to handle the communication session based on the user chat communication messages and/or user profile information. In some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM> may route the chat communication session to a first available agent, or using any other suitable routing scheme.

At <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> monitors the communication session. As discussed above, in some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM>, by way of the chat bot (e.g., a chat bot <NUM>) connected to the contact center management system, may provide automated chat communication messages during the chat communication session. Additionally, the contact center management system <NUM> monitors the communication session to determine whether or not the communication session is still ongoing and/or whether either the user device or the agent device have disconnected from the communications session.

At <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> determines whether or not either the user device or the agent device have disconnected from the communication session, and if not, the contact center management system <NUM> continues looping through <NUM> and <NUM> to monitor the communication session and determine whether or not there is a disconnection. For example, as discussed above, the contact center management system <NUM> may determine a user device or agent device is disconnected from the communication session if a new message is not received during a first timeout duration (e.g., a first predetermined period of time). Each time a new message is received from the user device and/or the agent device, a clock measuring the first timeout duration may be reset. As another example, the contact center management system <NUM> may determine a user device or agent device is disconnected from the communication session if the device is no longer requesting updates to the chat communication session from the contact center management system <NUM>. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the example techniques for determining a disconnection described herein, and any other suitable mechanism or algorithm for determining a disconnection may be utilized according to various embodiments.

If, at <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> determines there is a disconnection, at <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> continues to monitor the communication session for a second timeout duration (e.g., a second predetermined period of time). While monitoring the communication session at <NUM>, the chat bot remains actively connected to the chat communication session, thereby keeping the chat communication session active such that if the disconnected parties return to the communication session, the parties can resume the communication session without the previously exchanged communications being lost or having to be retrieved from a storage device.

At <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> determines whether or not the communication session is reconnected within the second timeout duration.

If, at <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> determines a reconnection has occurred, for example, because the contact center management system <NUM> receives a new message from the user device, the contact center management system may proceed, at <NUM>, to connect the contact center management system to a contact center resource such as the agent device associated with the original agent (e.g., the agent device 130a). According to some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM> may transmit an alert or signal to the agent device associated with the original agent, prompting the agent to reconnect to the communication session. For example, the contact center management system <NUM> may cause a graphical window or button to appear on the agent device, and the agent will be reconnected to the chat communication session if the agent selects a graphical button.

If, however, the original agent is no longer available or chooses not to reconnect to the chat communication session, according to some embodiments, the contact center management system <NUM> may route the communication session to a different agent device associated with a different agent (e.g., the agent device 130b). After the communication session is routed or connected to a contact center resource at <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> resumes monitoring the communication session and determining whether or not there is a disconnection, at <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively.

If, at <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> determines a reconnection has not occurred within the second timeout duration, the communication session <NUM> may proceed, at <NUM>, to determine the communication session has ended and, at <NUM>, the contact center management system <NUM> may disconnect the chat bot from the communication session, close the communication session, and store contextual information associated with the communication session (e.g., user profile information, communication session transcript, outcomes of the communication session, etc.) in memory.

Thus, embodiments of the present invention provide a system and method for facilitating chat communication sessions such that various parties to the chat communication session may come and go (e.g., connect and disconnect) multiple times, without the chat communication session ending. A chat bot is instantiated and connected as an active participant to each chat communication session. If a user and/or agent is disconnected from or drops from a chat communication session, the chat communication session is kept active in order to be able to resume the chat.

In the case that one party returns back to the chat, for example, an agent or customer enters a message into the chat dialog, the chat bot will enable the chat communication session to be maintained without ending, and the contact center management system can connect the chat communication session to available contact center resources. According to some embodiments, the chat communication session may eventually be closed by explicit request (e.g., by the customer or an agent).

Embodiments of the present invention therefore present an improvement to alternative systems in the contact center environment where, if all participants leave or disconnect from the chat communication session, the chat session will be closed, and cannot be resumed. Instead, according to embodiments of the present invention, if there is an expectation or potential that the chat communication session will resume after one or more of the parties leaves or disconnects, the cat bot will keep the chat session alive by remaining an active participant to the chat communication session.

Additionally, according to some embodiments, the chat bot may engage in automated interactions with the participants of the chat communication session. For example, the chat bot may provide automated responses or messages during the communication session. Additionally, in some embodiments, depending on the customer status level (e.g., bronze, silver, gold, platinum, etc.), the contact center management system may control the chat bot to remain connected to a chat communication session after a disconnection event by the user or agent for different timeout periods, in which the timeout period is longer more important users and shorter for less important users, thereby preserving contact center resources for more important users.

If a user and agent both disconnect from a chat session, and later the user returns and asks a question, but no agent is available, the chat bot can provide or engage in an automated response. For example, the chat bot may be configured to access a knowledge system to provide an automated response, tell the customer to wait, suggest an alternative communication channel, ask the customer if they would be willing to be routed to another agent, or automatically coordinate routing to an alternative available agent.

According to some embodiments, when a chat communication session is initiated, for example, by a customer entering a chat communication message into a chat dialog of a chat interface running on or accessible by the user device, the contact center management system instantiates a chat bot and the chat bot is connected to the chat communication session. Additionally, the chat communication session is routed to an agent device operated by an agent of the contact center operating the contact center management system.

At some point, a disconnection may occur, for example, because the user stops responding or leaves the communication session. After the disconnection, the chat bot remains an active participant in the chat communication session for a first predetermined period of time, thereby maintaining the chat communication session in an active state even if all other participants disconnect from the chat communication session. If the user returns to the communication session prior to the expiration of the first predetermined period of time, then the chat bot may engage in some form of automated communication with the user (e.g., utilizing text analytics to determine what the user is saying, and generating automated responses), and the contact center management system may then route the communication session to an agent device operated by the original agent, or an agent device operated by a different agent if the original agent is unavailable or chooses not to reconnect to the communication session. Additionally, according to some embodiments, during a communication session with an agent, the chat bot can also monitor the conversation and escalate or alert a supervisor if the chat bot determines it would be helpful. The chat bot may also highlight certain terms or provide suggested or automated dialog for the agent to utilize to facilitate progress in the conversation.

For ending the communication altogether, customer or agent may have a button to end the conversation or otherwise provide some explicit indicator. If the connection with a user device is lost during a communication session (e.g., the contact center management system stops receiving communications from the customer), the contact center management system may consider that a disconnection, and the chat bot will keep the session open for a predetermined period of time, and end the session after the predetermined period of time has lapsed if there are no further communications received from the customer. Once a communication session is ended, the chat bot will be disconnected, and a transcript of the chat may be saved in a database associated with the customer profile as contextual information.

In one embodiment, each of the various servers, controllers, switches, gateways, engines, and/or modules (collectively referred to as servers) in the aforedescribed figures are implemented via hardware or firmware (e.g. ASIC) as will be appreciated by a person of skill in the art.

In one embodiment, each of the various servers, controllers, switches, gateways, engines, and/or modules (collectively referred to as servers) in the aforedescribed figures is a process or thread, running on one or more processors, in one or more computing devices <NUM> (e.g., <FIG>, <FIG>), executing computer program instructions and interacting with other system components for performing the various functionalities described herein. The computer program instructions are stored in a memory which may be implemented in a computing device using a standard memory device, such as, for example, a random access memory (RAM). The computer program instructions may also be stored in other non-transitory computer readable media such as, for example, a CD-ROM, flash drive, or the like. Also, a person of skill in the art should recognize that a computing device may be implemented via firmware (e.g. an application- specific integrated circuit), hardware, or a combination of software, firmware, and hardware. A person of skill in the art should also recognize that the functionality of various computing devices may be combined or integrated into a single computing device, or the functionality of a particular computing device may be distributed across one or more other computing devices without departing from the scope of the example embodiments of the present invention. A server may be a software module, which may also simply be referred to as a module. The set of modules in the contact center may include servers, and other modules.

The various servers may be located on a computing device on-site at the same physical location as the agents of the contact center or may be located off-site (or in the cloud) in a geographically different location, e.g., in a remote data center, connected to the contact center via a network such as the Internet. In addition, some of the servers may be located in a computing device on-site at the contact center while others may be located in a computing device off-site, or servers providing redundant functionality may be provided both via on-site and off-site computing devices to provide greater fault tolerance. In some embodiments of the present invention, functionality provided by servers located on computing devices off-site may be accessed and provided over a virtual private network (VPN) as if such servers were on-site, or the functionality may be provided using a software as a service (SaaS) to provide functionality over the internet using various protocols, such as by exchanging data using encoded in extensible markup language (XML) or JavaScript Object notation (JSON).

<FIG> and <FIG> depict block diagrams of a computing device <NUM> as may be employed in example embodiments of the present invention. Each computing device <NUM> includes a central processing unit <NUM> and a main memory unit <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the computing device <NUM> may also include a storage device <NUM>, a removable media interface <NUM>, a network interface <NUM>, an input/output (I/O) controller <NUM>, one or more display devices 1530c, a keyboard 1530a and a pointing device 1530b, such as a mouse. The storage device <NUM> may include, without limitation, storage for an operating system and software. As shown in <FIG>, each computing device <NUM> may also include additional optional elements, such as a memory port <NUM>, a bridge <NUM>, one or more additional input/output devices 1530d, 1530e and a cache memory <NUM> in communication with the central processing unit <NUM>. The input/output devices 1530a, 1530b, 1530d, and 1530e may collectively be referred to herein using reference numeral <NUM>.

The central processing unit <NUM> is any logic circuitry that responds to and processes instructions fetched from the main memory unit <NUM>. It may be implemented, for example, in an integrated circuit, in the form of a microprocessor, microcontroller, or graphics processing unit (GPU), or in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The main memory unit <NUM> may be one or more memory chips capable of storing data and allowing any storage location to be directly accessed by the central processing unit <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the central processing unit <NUM> communicates with the main memory <NUM> via a system bus <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the central processing unit <NUM> may also communicate directly with the main memory <NUM> via a memory port <NUM>.

<FIG> depicts an embodiment in which the central processing unit <NUM> communicates directly with cache memory <NUM> via a secondary bus, sometimes referred to as a backside bus. In other embodiments, the central processing unit <NUM> communicates with the cache memory <NUM> using the system bus <NUM>. The cache memory <NUM> typically has a faster response time than main memory <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the central processing unit <NUM> communicates with various I/O devices <NUM> via the local system bus <NUM>. Various buses may be used as the local system bus <NUM>, including a Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) Local bus (VLB), an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, a MicroChannel Architecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI Extended (PCI-X) bus, a PCI-Express bus, or a NuBus. For embodiments in which an I/O device is a display device 1530c, the central processing unit <NUM> may communicate with the display device 1530c through an Advanced Graphics Port (AGP). <FIG> depicts an embodiment of a computer <NUM> in which the central processing unit <NUM> communicates directly with I/O device 1530e. <FIG> also depicts an embodiment in which local busses and direct communication are mixed: the central processing unit <NUM> communicates with I/O device 1530d using a local system bus <NUM> while communicating with I/O device 1530e directly.

A wide variety of I/O devices <NUM> may be present in the computing device <NUM>. Input devices include one or more keyboards 1530a, mice, trackpads, trackballs, microphones, and drawing tablets. Output devices include video display devices 1530c, speakers, and printers. An I/O controller <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>, may control the I/O devices. The I/O controller may control one or more I/O devices such as a keyboard 1530a and a pointing device 1530b, e.g., a mouse or optical pen.

Referring again to <FIG>, the computing device <NUM> may support one or more removable media interfaces <NUM>, such as a floppy disk drive, a CD-ROM drive, a DVD-ROM drive, tape drives of various formats, a USB port, a Secure Digital or COMPACT FLASH™ memory card port, or any other device suitable for reading data from read-only media, or for reading data from, or writing data to, read-write media. An I/O device <NUM> may be a bridge between the system bus <NUM> and a removable media interface <NUM>.

The removable media interface <NUM> may for example be used for installing software and programs. The computing device <NUM> may further comprise a storage device <NUM>, such as one or more hard disk drives or hard disk drive arrays, for storing an operating system and other related software, and for storing application software programs. Optionally, a removable media interface <NUM> may also be used as the storage device. For example, the operating system and the software may be run from a bootable medium, for example, a bootable CD.

In some embodiments, the computing device <NUM> may comprise or be connected to multiple display devices 1530c, which each may be of the same or different type and/or form. As such, any of the I/O devices <NUM> and/or the I/O controller <NUM> may comprise any type and/or form of suitable hardware, software, or combination of hardware and software to support, enable or provide for the connection to, and use of, multiple display devices 1530c by the computing device <NUM>. For example, the computing device <NUM> may include any type and/or form of video adapter, video card, driver, and/or library to interface, communicate, connect or otherwise use the display devices 1530c. In one embodiment, a video adapter may comprise multiple connectors to interface to multiple display devices 1530c. In other embodiments, the computing device <NUM> may include multiple video adapters, with each video adapter connected to one or more of the display devices 1530c. In some embodiments, any portion of the operating system of the computing device <NUM> may be configured for using multiple display devices 1530c. In other embodiments, one or more of the display devices 1530c may be provided by one or more other computing devices, connected, for example, to the computing device <NUM> via a network. These embodiments may include any type of software designed and constructed to use the display device of another computing device as a second display device 1530c for the computing device <NUM>. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize and appreciate the various ways and embodiments that a computing device <NUM> may be configured to have multiple display devices 1530c.

A computing device <NUM> of the sort depicted in <FIG> and <FIG> may operate under the control of an operating system, which controls scheduling of tasks and access to system resources. The computing device <NUM> may be running any operating system, any embedded operating system, any real-time operating system, any open source operating system, any proprietary operating system, any operating systems for mobile computing devices, or any other operating system capable of running on the computing device and performing the operations described herein.

The computing device <NUM> may be any workstation, desktop computer, laptop or notebook computer, server machine, handheld computer, mobile telephone or other portable telecommunication device, media playing device, gaming system, mobile computing device, or any other type and/or form of computing, telecommunications or media device that is capable of communication and that has sufficient processor power and memory capacity to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the computing device <NUM> may have different processors, operating systems, and input devices consistent with the device.

In other embodiments the computing device <NUM> is a mobile device, such as a Java-enabled cellular telephone or personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a digital audio player, or a portable media player. In some embodiments, the computing device <NUM> comprises a combination of devices, such as a mobile phone combined with a digital audio player or portable media player.

As shown in <FIG>, the central processing unit <NUM> may comprise multiple processors P1, P2, P3, P4, and may provide functionality for simultaneous execution of instructions or for simultaneous execution of one instruction on more than one piece of data. In some embodiments, the computing device <NUM> may comprise a parallel processor with one or more cores. In one of these embodiments, the computing device <NUM> is a shared memory parallel device, with multiple processors and/or multiple processor cores, accessing all available memory as a single global address space. In another of these embodiments, the computing device <NUM> is a distributed memory parallel device with multiple processors each accessing local memory only. In still another of these embodiments, the computing device <NUM> has both some memory which is shared and some memory which may only be accessed by particular processors or subsets of processors. In still even another of these embodiments, the central processing unit <NUM> comprises a multicore microprocessor, which combines two or more independent processors into a single package, e.g., into a single integrated circuit (IC). In one example embodiment, depicted in <FIG>, the computing device <NUM> includes at least one central processing unit <NUM> and at least one graphics processing unit <NUM>'.

In some embodiments, a central processing unit <NUM> provides single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) functionality, e.g., execution of a single instruction simultaneously on multiple pieces of data. In other embodiments, several processors in the central processing unit <NUM> may provide functionality for execution of multiple instructions simultaneously on multiple pieces of data (MIMD). In still other embodiments, the central processing unit <NUM> may use any combination of SIMD and MIMD cores in a single device.

A computing device may be one of a plurality of machines connected by a network, or it may comprise a plurality of machines so connected. <FIG> shows an example network environment. The network environment comprises one or more local machines 1502a, 1502b (also generally referred to as local machine(s) <NUM>, client(s) <NUM>, client node(s) <NUM>, client machine(s) <NUM>, client computer(s) <NUM>, client device(s) <NUM>, endpoint(s) <NUM>, or endpoint node(s) <NUM>) in communication with one or more remote machines 1506a, 1506b, 1506c (also generally referred to as server machine(s) <NUM> or remote machine(s) <NUM>) via one or more networks <NUM>. In some embodiments, a local machine <NUM> has the capacity to function as both a client node seeking access to resources provided by a server machine and as a server machine providing access to hosted resources for other clients 1502a, 1502b. Although only two clients <NUM> and three server machines <NUM> are illustrated in <FIG>, there may, in general, be an arbitrary number of each. The network <NUM> may be a local-area network (LAN), e.g., a private network such as a company Intranet, a metropolitan area network (MAN), or a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, or another public network, or a combination thereof.

The computing device <NUM> may include a network interface <NUM> to interface to the network <NUM> through a variety of connections including, but not limited to, standard telephone lines, local-area network (LAN), or wide area network (WAN) links, broadband connections, wireless connections, or a combination of any or all of the above. Connections may be established using a variety of communication protocols. In one embodiment, the computing device <NUM> communicates with other computing devices <NUM> via any type and/or form of gateway or tunneling protocol such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS). The network interface <NUM> may comprise a built-in network adapter, such as a network interface card, suitable for interfacing the computing device <NUM> to any type of network capable of communication and performing the operations described herein. An I/O device <NUM> may be a bridge between the system bus <NUM> and an external communication bus.

According to one embodiment, the network environment of <FIG> may be a virtual network environment where the various components of the network are virtualized. For example, the various machines <NUM> may be virtual machines implemented as a software-based computer running on a physical machine. The virtual machines may share the same operating system. In other embodiments, different operating system may be run on each virtual machine instance. According to one embodiment, a "hypervisor" type of virtualization is implemented where multiple virtual machines run on the same host physical machine, each acting as if it has its own dedicated box. Of course, the virtual machines may also run on different host physical machines.

Other types of virtualization is also contemplated, such as, for example, the network (e.g. via Software Defined Networking (SDN)). Functions, such as functions of the session border controller and other types of functions, may also be virtualized, such as, for example, via Network Functions Virtualization (NFV).

Claim 1:
A method performed by a contact center management system (<NUM>), the method comprising:
identifying (<NUM>) initiation of a chat communication session with a user device (<NUM>) operated by a user;
connecting (<NUM>) an automated chat resource (<NUM>) to the chat communication session;
routing (<NUM>) the chat communication session to a first agent device (130a) operated by a first agent;
monitoring (<NUM>) the communication session to provide automated chat
communication messages during the chat communication session;
detecting (<NUM>) a disconnection of the user device (<NUM>) from the chat communication session;
maintaining the connection to the chat communication session by the automated chat resource during a timeout period after the disconnection of the user device is detected thereby enabling the user device to return or disconnect repeatedly until an affirmative end to the chat communication session is detected;
detecting (<NUM>) the user device reconnecting to the chat communication session; and
routing (<NUM>) the chat communication session to a contact center resource.