Service request support system and service request support method

Abstract

To provide a system and method for service request assistance which can assist customers.SOLUTION: An in-store request assistance system 100 including a service request server comprising a processor facilitates wireless data communication with a plurality of customer handheld data devices 104 and a plurality of employee handheld data devices 106. The processor receives a plurality of customer requests and distributes the plurality of customer requests to the plurality of employee handheld data devices 106. Each of the plurality of employee handheld data devices 106 displays a request queue. The request queue is a visual representation of the plurality of customer requests.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] TECHNICAL FIELD This application relates generally to systems and methods for customer service in retail stores. [Background technology]

[0002] Customers in a retail store often have questions about the store, its products, and its services. Often, store sales personnel are not immediately available to assist the customer. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] The problem that the invention aims to solve is to provide a technology that can support customers. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] An embodiment of the service request assistance system includes a service request server having a processor capable of communicating with a plurality of customer portable data devices and a plurality of employee portable data devices, wherein the processor receives a plurality of customer requests, including a first customer request from a first customer portable data device at a first time and a second customer request from a second customer portable data device at a second time after the first time, and distributes the plurality of customer requests, including the first customer request and the second customer request, to the plurality of employee portable data devices in the order received, each of the plurality of employee portable data devices displays a request queue, which is a visual representation including the plurality of customer requests, and the processor receives a first employee response to either the first customer request or the second customer request, and a second employee response to the other of the first customer request or the second customer request. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0005] The various embodiments will be better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. [Figure 1] 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a system for an in-store request assistance system. [Figure 2] 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a screen display on a portable data device. [Figure 3] 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a screen display on a portable data device. [Figure 4] 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a screen display on a portable data device. [Figure 5] 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a screen display on a portable data device. [Figure 6] 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a screen display on a portable data device. [Figure 7] 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a screen display on a portable data device. [Figure 8] 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a networked digital device such as a portable data device. [Figure 9] 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a digital device system such as a portable data device. [Figure 10] 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the in-store request assistance system according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The systems and methods disclosed in the present embodiments will be described in detail by way of example and with reference to the drawings. It should be understood that variations to the disclosed and described examples, arrangements, configurations, components, elements, apparatus, devices, methods, systems, etc. may be suitably made and modified to suit particular applications. Although specific techniques, arrangements, etc. are specifically mentioned in this disclosure, they are either related to the particular examples presented or merely general descriptions of such techniques, arrangements, etc. Although specific details or examples are specifically mentioned, they are not intended to be, and should not be, construed as essential or limiting unless specifically stated otherwise.

[0007] The in-store request assistance system (service request assistance system) is connected in data communication with a service request server. The service request server may include a processor and memory containing executable instructions for receiving, storing, and processing store information, including store inventory, retail item locations, store personnel, and related data communications with wireless portable data devices. Customer requests, employee responses, and all system data transmissions are accomplished by executable instructions in the processor that act on customer and employee input and actions. As used herein, "user" and "customer" are used interchangeably to refer to a person or persons using the in-store request assistance system described herein, unless otherwise specified. As used herein, "store resource," "store employee," "store associate," and "employee" are terms used to refer to persons in an in-store environment who are paid to assist customers in some way. These terms can refer to employees physically present in the store as well as employees located remotely. These terms refer to employees whether or not they are "on duty" during system operation.

[0008] The in-store request assistance system can facilitate a better user experience by using web services to filter incoming customer requests and provide notification of customer requests to make employees available. In one embodiment, customer requests submitted by a customer's portable data device can be distributed to a predetermined number of employee resources within the retail store, including all available employees, to provide more timely assistance to the customer.

[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an in-store request assistance system 100. A service request server 102, at least one customer handheld data device 104, and at least one employee portable data device 106 may be in data communication with each other through a network cloud 120, which may suitably comprise a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or any combination thereof, which may include the Internet. Network connectivity may be provided by any suitable wireless or wired technology. Operation of the exemplary embodiment disclosed herein is operable only within a LAN or subnet. WAN or Internet connectivity is not required.

[0010] In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1 , the service request server 102 is operable as a processor and memory to facilitate use of the in-store request assistance system 100. Customers 112 can interact with the service request server 102 by using an application, also referred to as an “app,” or the like, on their respective customer portable data devices 104. The customer portable data devices 104 may be smartphones or any suitable data device, such as a notebook computer, tablet computer, or the like, wirelessly connected to the in-store request assistance system 100. In one embodiment, customers download the necessary apps to their customer portable data devices 104. In one embodiment, the portable data devices are provided to customers upon entering the store, used in the store, and returned before leaving the store. In one embodiment, the portable data devices are dedicated devices configured to operate one or a limited number of apps, including an app for utilizing the in-store request assistance system 100. Store employees 114 can similarly interact with the service request server 102 by using an “app” or the like on their respective employee portable data devices 106. The employee portable data device 106 may be a smartphone, but may also be any suitable data device such as a notebook computer, tablet computer, or the like that is wirelessly connected to the in-store request assistance system 100 .

[0011] Customers 112 can use their customer portable data devices 104 to input and submit requests for help, which can include requests for locating a specific retail item, requests for technical support, and general requests for store service. The customer requests are appropriately sent to the service request server 102 and routed to a request queue 116 within the in-store request assistance system 100. For example, as shown in FIG. 1 , multiple customers 112, represented as customers 112A-112E, can request assistance via their respective customer portable data devices 104A-104E, which communicate wirelessly with the in-store request assistance system 100 via their respective installed apps. Customer 112A can request, "Where can I find a water filter?" and this request can wait in the request queue 116 in a predetermined order, such as "first-in, first-out (FIFO)." In the illustrated example, requests enter the waiting queue from left to right, so the request for this customer 112A, which is the most recent request to enter the waiting queue, is shown in block 116A, and in this example is shown as "Waiting for Assistance."

[0012] Customer requests are routed by the service request server to one or more store employees 114. In one embodiment, specific requests, as determined by appropriate filters in the service request server, are sent to specific store employees 114, including all store employees 114. In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, all customer requests are routed for reception by all store employees 114, so that all employees receive a queued list of requests and can respond with assistance to any request in the queued list of requests.

[0013] As shown in the representative example of FIG. 1 , five customers 112 utilize apps on their respective customer portable data devices 104 to request assistance through the in-store request assistance system 100. Specifically, customer 112E is the first to make a request in the current request queue 116, and her request is represented in block 116E. Store employee 114E, who may be a customer service representative, sees a notification of customer 112E's request and responds with a response to the system. Until the request is completed, the request appears in the queue in block 116E as "Getting assistance from employee 114E," allowing other store employees to ignore the request or provide additional assistance. At this time, the notification in block 116A of the request queue 116 remains unanswered, displaying an appropriate hold message, such as "Waiting for assistance."

[0014] 1, customer 112D may request assistance such as, "Is the Apple watch model 3 compatible with Android?", and store employee 114D, who may be a cashier, may respond, causing the notification in block 116D of request queue 116 to change to an appropriate message such as, "Getting assistance from employee 114D" or "Being served by employee 114D." By way of further example, customer 112C may request assistance such as, "Where is the first aid kit?", and store employee 114C, who may be an "in-store associate," may respond, causing the notification in block 116C of request queue 116 to change to an appropriate message such as, "Getting assistance from employee 114C" or "Being served by employee 114C." Customer 112B requests assistance such as "Which aisle are the LED light bulbs in?" and employee 114A, who may be a remotely located associate, can respond, so the notification in block 116B of request queue 116 changes to an appropriate message such as "Getting assistance from employee 114A" or "Serving by employee 114A."

[0015] As will be appreciated, in one embodiment, the in-store request assistance system 100 links customer requests with employee resources via a server interface, processed as described herein by executable instructions in a processor. Each customer request is distributed to any or all store employees, so that each store employee has the opportunity to respond to any customer request based on their time availability and expertise in the specific request. Each customer request is displayed on the employee's portable data device. The displayed customer requests are displayed in a diagram queue, and the store employee's response to each customer request can be indicated as answered by an appropriate message. Other employees can ignore the answered request or provide additional assistance. Once a customer request is fulfilled, it is removed from the queue.

[0016] An example of how the in-store request assistance system 100 can be used is described with reference to FIGS. 4-7. As shown in FIG. 2, a customer uses her customer portable data device 104 to submit a request, which can be submitted as a "ticket." A customer app installed and running on the customer portable data device 104 presents a screen display 122, on which several system-specific fields are available for customer data entry. For example, a "Subject" field 124 is filled in by the customer with information such as "aisle information." A "Description" field 126 is filled in by the customer with information about the specific request. A "Related" field 128 is used to provide additional information useful in processing the customer request. A selectable function "Submit Ticket" 130, when selected, sends the customer request to the request queue 116 via the service request server 102. Other inputtable fields can be configured as needed.

[0017] Once a customer submits a request for assistance, the customer may receive a confirmation message screen 132 on their customer portable data device 104 that displays information about the customer request. For example, a request status field 134 may provide information about the customer request, including an estimated response time, the number of requests in the system, etc. The estimated response time may increase or decrease depending on the number of requests in the system, e.g., adding 15 seconds for each additional customer request. The additional time may vary depending on the selection in the "related" field 128, or may increase by 20 seconds, 30 seconds, etc., if multiple customer requests with overlapping selections in the "related" field 128 are received. If the customer wishes to update their request, they may do so by selecting an "Update Ticket" selectable feature, which directs the customer to a section of the app where they can enter updates.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 4 , store employees or related resources, whether in-store or remote, can view one or more customer requests via an employee app installed and operating on the employee portable data device 106. The employee app can be presented on a screen display 140, which can present employee information and several system-specific fields available for employee response. For example, a request queue 116 can be displayed, displaying customer requests in blocks 116A-116E, which can be generally referred to as customer requests 116N, as shown in FIG. 4 . Any employee viewing a customer request 116N can respond by touching, swinging, clicking, or otherwise selecting any one of the customer requests. In one embodiment, an employee can process the request by touching or “clicking” the customer request 116N to signal completion of processing, thereby indicating that the employee can respond to the customer request, as indicated at 142. Thus, by "clicking" on one of the customer requests 116N, the employee portable data device 106 sends a message to the employee portable data devices 106 of all participating employees via the service request server that a particular employee is providing assistance to the customer with that request. In one embodiment, upon selecting a customer request 116N for processing, the customer request 116N is removed from the request queue 116. In one embodiment, if a given employee is unable to assist with the customer request, they may indicate this by interacting with the request in the queue, for example, by swiping right or left, as shown at 144. In one embodiment, swiping left or right on a customer request 116N sends the request to the on-site help desk for review by a subset of store resources.

[0019] In the representative example of FIGS. 4-6 , a first employee, such as store employee 114A of FIG. 1 , responds by touching customer request 116A at symbol 142 and swiping customer request 116E in the direction of arrow 144. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5 , the employee portable data device 106 of a second employee, such as employee 114B, shows only the remaining three requests in request queue 116: customer request 116B, customer request 116C, and customer request 116D, on its screen display 140. The second store employee 114B can choose to process the request, for example, by touching customer request 116B at symbol 142. The other employees then view the remainder of the request queue 116 on the screen display 140 of their respective employee portable data devices 106, as shown in FIG. 6 . For example, first store employee 114A can see three remaining requests on the screen display 140 of his employee portable data device 106A: customer request 116C, customer request 116D, and customer request 116E, which has been returned to request queue 116. In the example of Figure 6, first employee 114A can currently select customer request 116E to process.

[0020] As shown by example screen display 122 of customer portable data device 104 in FIG. 7, acceptance of the request by any store employee is received as a response to the customer request on the customer's portable data device. This response may be labeled, for example, as "Ticket Response" 146 and shown in response field 148. The customer may then continue with a modified or additional request by selecting selectable follow-up feature 150. Alternatively, the customer may indicate that the request has been fulfilled by selecting selectable resolve feature 152.

[0021] Each of the multiple portable data devices disclosed in this embodiment is suitable for data communication with components of the in-store request assistance system 100. Next, FIG. 8 illustrates a portion of an example of the in-store request assistance system 100, including a portion including components 200 suitably configured within the portable data devices 104 and 106 of FIG. 1. It will be understood that the in-store request assistance system 100 includes a controller 201, which is itself a computer system, and may be suitably configured within the service request server 102. The controller 201 includes one or more processors, as indicated by processor (CPU) 202. Each processor is suitably associated with non-volatile memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM) 204 and a random access memory (RAM) 206, via a data bus 212.

[0022] The processor 202 may also be in data communication with a storage interface 208 for reading and writing data to a disk (storage device) 216, which may suitably comprise a hard disk, optical disk, solid state disk, cloud-based storage device, or any other suitable data storage device as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0023] The processor 202 may also be in data communication with a network interface 210, which provides an interface to a network interface controller (NIC) 214, which in turn provides a data path to any suitable wired or physical network connection 220 or to a wireless data connection via a wireless network interface such as Wi-Fi® 218. Examples of wireless connections include cellular, Wi-Fi®, Wireless Universal Serial Bus (Wireless USB), satellite, etc. Examples of wired interfaces include Ethernet, USB, IEEE 1394 (FireWire®), Lightning, telephone line, etc. The processor 202 is also in data communication with a hardware monitor 221, which suitably stores status data from subassemblies, sensors, digital thermometers, etc., suitably including digital status data including device codes such as device error codes. The processor 202 may also be in data communication with a portable data device interface 222, a Bluetooth® interface 226, and an NFC interface 228 via a data bus 212.

[0024] The processor 202 may also be in data communication with any suitable user input / output (I / O) interface (not shown) that provides data communication with user peripherals such as a display, keyboard, mouse, trackball, touch screen, etc.

[0025] The portable data device interface 222 is suitable for data communication with components of the portable data devices 104 and 106. In the illustrated example, these components include an image processing engine suitably comprising digital camera hardware including a facial recognition module 240, a search engine suitably comprising search and retrieval hardware including a store and search module 242, a query engine suitably comprising user interaction hardware for a request questionnaire module 244, and a display engine suitably comprising a customizable request string module 246, including one generated by artificial intelligence. It will be understood that the functional units may suitably comprise intelligent units including any suitable hardware or software platform.

[0026] Referring now to Figure 9, an example of a digital device system 300 is shown that may suitably comprise the portable data devices 104 and 106 of Figure 1. It includes one or more processors, such as indicated by processor 304. Each processor is suitably associated with non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM) 310 and random access memory (RAM) 312, via a data bus 314.

[0027] The processor 304 is also in data communication with a storage interface 306 for reading from or writing to a storage device 308, which may suitably comprise a hard disk, optical disk, solid state disk, or any other suitable data storage device, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0028] The processor 304 is also in data communication with a network interface controller (NIC) 330, which provides a data path to any suitable network or device connection, such as a suitable wireless data connection via a wireless network interface 338. A suitable data connection to the server is via a data network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), which may include the Internet, or any suitable combination thereof. A digital data connection is also suitably made with the service request server 102 via Bluetooth, optical data transfer, Wi-Fi Direct, or the like.

[0029] The processor 304 is also in data communication with a user input / output (I / O) interface 340 that provides data communication with user peripherals such as a touchscreen display 344, keyboard, mouse, trackball, touchscreen, etc. via a display generator 346. It will be understood that the functional units may suitably comprise intelligent units including any suitable hardware or software platform.

[0030] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the in-store request assistance system according to this embodiment. Here, it is assumed that an application for using the in-store request assistance system 100 described above has already been installed on the portable data devices 104 and 106, that multiple customer requests are already included in the request queue 116, and that a new customer request is added to the queue. As shown in FIG. 10 , the customer 112 first operates his / her portable data device 104 to send a customer request to the service request server 102 (S401). For convenience of explanation, the portable data device 104 that sent the customer request will be referred to as the portable data device 104F (not shown) in the following description. The transmitted customer request includes identification information that uniquely identifies the portable data device 104F. The service request server 102 receives the transmitted customer request (S402). After receiving the customer request, the service request server 102 routes the received customer request to the request queue 116, which is a visual representation (S403). The service request server 102 then identifies the portable data device 104F from the received customer request and transmits acceptance information to the portable data device 104F for generating a confirmation message screen 132 (S404). At this time, it is preferable to generate the acceptance information based on the current request queue 116 so that the confirmation message screen 132 includes a request status field 134 such as an estimated response time. The portable data device 104F receives the acceptance information (S405) and displays the confirmation message screen 132 (S406).

[0031] Next, the service request server 102 transmits the request queue 116 to each of the multiple employee portable data devices 106 (S407). The employee portable data devices 106 of each of the multiple employees 114 receive the request queue 116 (S408). Any of the multiple employees 114 selects, by touching or otherwise, a customer request to which they wish to respond from among the customer requests contained in the received request queue 116 and enters a response, thereby transmitting first response information (employee response) to the service request server 102 (S409). The first response information (employee response) includes the entered response, identification information uniquely identifying the customer request to be responded to, and identification information uniquely identifying the employee portable data device 106 of the responding employee 114. For convenience of explanation, the responding employee 114 will be referred to as employee 114F (not shown) in the following description.

[0032] The service request server 102 receives the first response information (S410), updates the request queue 116 by displaying "Getting assistance from employee 114F" in the block of the responded customer request included in the request queue 116 (S411), and again transmits the updated request queue 116 to the employee portable data devices 106 of each of the multiple employees 114 (S412). If the request queue 116 contains multiple customer requests, thereafter, the service request server 102 and the multiple employee portable data devices 106 will transmit and receive the first response information for each customer request, but a description of this will be omitted here. Alternatively, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the selected customer request may be deleted from the request queue 116 and then transmitted.

[0033] Next, the service request server 102 transmits second response information to the customer portable data device 104F based on the first response information, the second response information being used to generate a screen display 122 containing a response from the employee 114F (S413). The customer portable data device 104F receives the second response information (S414), displays the screen display 122 showing the response from the employee 114F in the response field 148 based on the second response information (S415), and determines whether the resolution function 152 has been selected (S416). If the resolution function 152 has been selected (S416, YES), the flow ends. On the other hand, if the resolution function 152 has not been selected (S416, NO), the customer portable data device 104F determines whether the follow-up function (FU function) 150 has been selected (S417). If the follow-up function 150 has been selected (S417, YES), the flow proceeds to step S401 to transmit a customer request for modification or addition. If the follow-up function 150 is not selected (S417, NO), the process returns to step S416.

[0034] Although specific embodiments have been described above, the embodiments are merely illustrative and do not limit the scope of the invention. The novel embodiments described above may be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications may be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments or modifications do not depart from the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the scope of the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A service request assistance system including a service request server having a processor capable of communicating with a plurality of customer portable data devices and a plurality of employee portable data devices, the processor receives a plurality of customer requests, the plurality of customer requests including a first customer request from a first customer portable data device at a first time and a second customer request from a second customer portable data device at a second time after the first time, and distributes the plurality of customer requests, the plurality of customer requests including the first customer request and the second customer request, to the plurality of employee portable data devices in the order received; each of the plurality of employee portable data devices displays a request queue, a visual representation including the plurality of customer requests; the processor receives a first employee response to one of the first customer request and the second customer request, and a second employee response to the other of the first customer request and the second customer request; each of the plurality of customer portable data devices includes a customer device processor that executes a customer device application; The customer device application includes a field for entering a request for service and a notification of the estimated time it will take to process the submitted customer request. Service request support system.

2. The request queue includes selectable functions for each of the plurality of customer requests.

2. The service request support system according to claim 1.

3. 1. A method in a service request system for providing service from store employees to customers in a store, comprising: the service request system includes a service request server including a processor and a memory, and in data communication with a plurality of customer portable data devices and a plurality of employee portable data devices; The method comprises: receiving, by said service request server, a first customer request from a first customer portable data device; transmitting, by said service request server, acceptance information to said first customer portable data device, said acceptance information including an indication of an estimated time to process said first customer request; transmitting, by the service request server, the first customer request to the plurality of employee portable data devices; receiving, by said service request server, a second customer request from a second customer portable data device; transmitting, by said service request server, acceptance information to said second customer portable data device, said acceptance information including an indication of an estimated time required to process said second customer request; transmitting, by the service request server, the second customer request to the plurality of employee portable data devices, and displaying the first customer request and the second customer request in a request queue on each of the plurality of employee portable data devices; A method comprising:

4. A service request assistance system including a service request server having a processor capable of communicating with a plurality of customer portable data devices and a plurality of employee portable data devices, the processor receives a plurality of customer requests, the plurality of customer requests including a first customer request from a first customer portable data device at a first time and a second customer request from a second customer portable data device at a second time after the first time, and distributes the plurality of customer requests, the plurality of customer requests including the first customer request and the second customer request, to the plurality of employee portable data devices in the order received; the processor receives a first employee response to one of the first customer request and the second customer request, and a second employee response to the other of the first customer request and the second customer request; Among the plurality of employee portable data devices, employee portable data devices other than the employee portable data device that performs the first employee response and the employee portable data device that performs the second employee response are made unable to respond to the first customer request and the second customer request. Service request support system.

5. 1. A method in a service request system for providing service from store employees to customers in a store, comprising: the service request system includes a service request server including a processor and a memory, and in data communication with a plurality of customer portable data devices and a plurality of employee portable data devices; The method comprises: receiving, by said service request server, a first customer request from a first customer portable data device; transmitting, by the service request server, the first customer request to the plurality of employee portable data devices; receiving, by said service request server, a second customer request from a second customer portable data device; transmitting, by the service request server, the second customer request to the plurality of employee portable data devices; receiving, by the service request server, a first employee response to one of the first customer request and the second customer request from one of the plurality of employee portable data devices; receiving, by the service request server, from one of the plurality of employee portable data devices, a second employee response to the other of the first customer request and the second customer request; making it impossible for the service request server to respond to the first customer request and the second customer request in employee portable data devices other than the employee portable data device making the first employee response and the employee portable data device making the second employee response, among the plurality of employee portable data devices; A method comprising:

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