Automated Social Media Post Routing in Contact Centers

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Solution Overview

Problem

Companies face challenges in efficiently monitoring and responding to customer questions and complaints on unsponsored social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, as these posts often go unnoticed due to the lack of automated categorization and routing to appropriate customer service agents.

Innovation Solution

An enhanced customer service system utilizing combinations of web searches, site-specific filtering tools, and syndicated feed readers to analyze and automatically distribute messages to skilled contact center agents, leveraging RSS/Atom feeds, content analysis, and contact center work distribution algorithms to route posts to the correct queues, and employing speech analysis for multimedia content.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If manual monitoring of social media platforms is used, then customer service agents can discover and respond to customer questions and complaints, but the process is time-consuming and requires significant human effort for browsing, filtering, and routing posts

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresponse efficiencyVSAvoidtime for manual browsing and qualification
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables automated self-service by using feed readers and content analysis tools to automatically discover, filter, and route social media posts to appropriate queues without requiring manual human intervention for each post, thereby eliminating the time-consuming manual browsing process

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

An intermediary automated routing system is introduced between the social media platforms and customer service agents. This intermediary uses content analysis and work distribution algorithms to automatically qualify and route posts to the appropriate queues, reducing both manual effort and response time

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If multiple site-specific tools are used to monitor different platforms, then comprehensive coverage of customer feedback is achieved, but the system complexity and coordination requirements increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecoverage of multiple platformsVSAvoidcoordination between multiple tools
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system employs a universal feed reader approach that can handle multiple social media platforms through standardized RSS/Atom feed interfaces. This multi-functional capability allows comprehensive coverage of Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and forums while maintaining a consistent automated routing process, eliminating the need for complex coordination between multiple site-specific tools

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Quantity of substance

If automated feed readers are used to collect posts from multiple sources, then the volume of collected information increases, but the difficulty of analyzing and qualifying posts to determine appropriate responses also increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevolume of collected postsVSAvoiddifficulty of post qualification
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The system replaces manual mechanical analysis of posts with automated content analysis algorithms. These algorithms automatically qualify posts by analyzing their content, sentiment, and relevance, determining which posts require customer service responses and routing them to appropriate queues, thereby managing large volumes of information without proportionally increasing analysis difficulty

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentEP2252021B1Treatment of web feeds as work assignment in a contact center
Publication Date: 2014.01.15 AVAYA INC
  • EP2252021B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2252021B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2252021B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

To provide an enhanced customer service experience, various combinations of web searches, site-specific filtering tools and syndicated feed readers can be used to find relevant posts on the internet. Internal email, IM, phone, and the like can cooperate with an appropriately equipped expert-finding solution to assist with help in locating the experts qualified to respond to the post(s). The leveraging of RSS/Atom feeds or similar technology, content analysis, and contact center work distribution algorithms are leveraged to monitor the feeds from multiple sites and automatically distribute messages to appropriately skilled contact center agents. Each message discovered is analyzed to determine which contact center queue it is to be routed to, and then the contact center assigns it to an appropriate agent. This eliminates or significantly reduces the amount of manual searching and qualification of posts.