Automated Billing Data Masking for Secure Telephone Order Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for transferring sensitive information during telephone communications lack security and efficiency, as customers often reveal billing information directly to service representatives, and there is no assurance that the person on the other end is trustworthy, leading to time-consuming and insecure data collection processes.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that establish a verbal communication between a customer service representative and a customer using an electronic device, where an identifier alerts the system to the customer's stored profile, allowing for identification confirmation without revealing sensitive information to the representative, and enables secure access to billing information for processing orders without the representative viewing it.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If customers provide billing information directly to customer service representatives during telephone calls, then order processing can be completed, but security is compromised and the process becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an automated system that acts as an intermediary between the customer and the order processing system. The system automatically retrieves billing information from stored customer profiles using identifiers provided during the telephone call, eliminating the need for customers to verbally provide sensitive billing information while maintaining efficient order processing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by storing customer billing information in secure profiles before the telephone call occurs. When a customer calls, the system already has the billing information readily available, eliminating the time-consuming process of collecting it during the call while maintaining security through automated access controls
2Ease of operation
If customer service representatives have access to customer billing information to process orders, then order processing is enabled, but security risks increase as representatives can view sensitive data
Solution Approach 1:
The automated system serves as an intermediary that handles the retrieval and processing of billing information, preventing customer service representatives from directly viewing sensitive data. The system validates and processes the information automatically, enabling order processing while eliminating the security risk of representative exposure to billing information
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-service by automatically retrieving, validating, and processing billing information without requiring customer service representatives to access or view the data. The automated processes handle the entire information handling sequence independently, maintaining both operational capability and security
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a communications module that establishes a verbal communication between a customer service representative of a company and a customer through an electronic device in the possession of the customer. An identification module receives an identifier that alerts the customer service representative and/or a computer system of the company that the customer has a customer profile stored electronically. The customer profile includes information to identify the customer. An ID confirmation module receives an identification confirmation in response to identifying information input by the customer matching the information to identify the customer in the customer profile. The identity of the customer is confirmed electronically while masking sensitive information from the customer service representative. A notification module sends a message to the customer service representative indicating that the ID confirmation module received the identification confirmation. The message is free from sensitive information associated with the customer.