Patent ID: 7730204

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving an incoming customer support request at a channel driver, wherein said channel driver is in communication with a communication channel, a media type of said communication channel is one of a plurality of media types, and said channel driver is configured to communicate with said communication channel using said media type; in response to said receiving said incoming customer support request, forming a message, wherein said forming comprises inserting customer relations management system information into said message, and configuring said message to be communicated to a communication server by encoding at least a portion of said message in a standard format, wherein said standard format is independent of said media type of said communication channel, said standard format conforms to a data format specification, said communication server and said channel driver are configured to recognize said standard format, and said data format specification defines a plurality of interactions between said communication server and said channel driver; communicating said message between said communication server and said channel driver, wherein said message is configured to transport said customer relations management system information between said communication server and said channel driver, and said communicating is performed according to said data format specification; receiving said message at said communication server, wherein said communication server receives said message from said channel driver, said receiving is performed in a media-independent manner by virtue of said communication server and said channel driver being configured to communicate according to said data format specification, and said communication server and said channel driver being configured to communicate according to said data format specification allows said communication server and said channel driver to be configured separately; and causing said communication server to route said incoming customer support request to an agent, wherein said communication server is configured to route said incoming customer support request to said agent by virtue of being configured to route said customer relations management system information to a browser coupled to said agent, said causing routes said incoming customer support request to said agent as a work item, said causing comprises pushing said customer relations management system information from said communication server in response to said receiving said message, said customer relations management system information comprises at least one of agent information and work item information, said agent information comprises information regarding a skill set of an agent, and said work item information comprises information regarding a task to be performed by said agent.