System and method for providing improved wait time estimates

摘要

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for providing estimated wait times to consumers waiting to communicate with a customer service representative. The system accesses information about the consumer, analyzes that information, and based on that analysis places the consumer into a segment. The system then provides to the consumer an estimated wait time to communicate with a customer service representative based on the segment assigned to the consumer. Access to information about the consumer can be actively granted by the consumer, or passively acquired by a system configured to utilize publically available information.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a service center, an incoming communication from a device, the incoming communication regarding a product; transmitting, to the device, a request for a permission to access information from a social network about a user associated with the device, to yield a permission determination; when the permission determination indicates an approval:
retrieving, from the social network, the information about the user;analyzing the information to determine whether the user has a negative attitude towards the product and frequently complains about the product on the social network, to yield an analysis;when the analysis indicates that the user has the negative attitude towards the product, placing future communications with the device in a specialized communications queue selected among a plurality of specialized communications queues, the specialized queue corresponding to a segment of estimated communication durations; andproviding to the device a first estimated wait time for the specialized communications queue based on the segment; and when the permission determination indicates a disapproval:
placing the future communications with the device in a queue separate from the plurality of specialized communication queues; andproviding to the device a second estimated wait time for the queue, the second estimated wait time being less accurate than the first estimated wait time.