Patent ID: 8762862

Claim:
A method for responding to a support event on a computer by establishing an online support chat session, the method comprising: storing a plurality of event definitions on the computer, each event definition corresponding to a particular support event, where each event definition comprises, a corresponding combination of trigger conditions on the computer including at least one of a hardware error, a software error or a condition for which a user may need technical support, a corresponding designation of a target support provider based upon a context of the support event that occurs, a corresponding identifier of an online support chat client that will be utilized to establish the online support chat session with support personnel associated with the corresponding designated target support provider, and corresponding alternative content regarding the support event, at least two different event definitions of the plurality of event definitions stored on the computer include respective different corresponding combinations of trigger conditions, different corresponding designations of target support providers, different corresponding identifiers of online support chat clients and different corresponding alternative content; upon the detection of a first combination of trigger conditions satisfying a first of the at least two different event definitions, collecting data regarding the computer and a user of the computer, and attempting to establish a first online support chat session with first support personnel of a first designated target support provider by executing a first online support chat client associated with a first support event; upon the detection of a second combination of trigger conditions satisfying a second of the at least two different event definitions, collecting data regarding the computer and the user of the computer, and attempting to establish a second online support chat session with second support personnel associated of a second designated target support provider by executing a second online support chat client associated with a second support event; determining if the first or second online support chat session was properly established and if properly established, causing event information and the data regarding the computer and the user to be transmitted to the first or second support system respectively for display to the respective first or second support personnel associated with the respective first or second designated target support provider via the respective first or second online support chat client; and determining if the first or second online support chat session was not properly established, and if not properly established, displaying first or second different corresponding alternative content respectively associated with the first and second of the at least two different event definitions regarding the respective first or second support event to the user of the computer.