Patent ID: 7657600

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of replying to an incoming e-mail request, the method comprising: receiving, in an e-mail response system, an e-mail request for a solution that includes a description of a problem being experienced by a customer; processing the e-mail request using the e-mail response system, wherein processing the e-mail request comprises performing a computer content analysis of the received e-mail request, generating an auto-response, wherein the auto-response includes a proposed solution to the problem and a monitoring mechanism that causes a response-opened indicator to be sent to the e-mail response system when the auto-response is opened by the customer, and delivering the auto-response to the customer with a request for feedback about the efficacy of the proposed solution, the request for feedback including a selectable feedback option indicating that the proposed solution solved the problem being experienced by the customer; initiating a process within the e-mail response system wherein a user reviews the e-mail request to formulate a manual response with a second proposed solution upon determining that the response-opened indicator was received by the e-mail response system and that a predefined period of time has lapsed during which feedback indicating that the proposed solution solved the problem has not been received; and sending the manual response to the customer using the e-mail response system.