Apparatus and Method for Managing User Chat Experiences with Businesses

摘要

A computer-implemented method of managing a chat experience of a user desiring to chat with a selected one of a plurality of businesses or chat hosts utilizes in various aspects a chat management server running computer processes for communicating with user devices. In another aspect, a computer-implemented method of providing a chat experience to a user having a user device and desiring to chat with a selected one of a plurality of businesses utilizes computer processes running on the user device. Corresponding embodiments similarly provide an apparatus performing any of the foregoing methods. Other corresponding embodiments similarly provide a computer readable medium storing instructions, which when loaded into a computer, perform processes corresponding to any of the foregoing methods.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method of managing a chat experience of a user desiring to chat with a selected one of a plurality of businesses or chat hosts, the method utilizing a chat management server running computer processes comprising:
receiving a search signal over a first network from a mobile device, under control of the user, to indicate that the user's mobile device is running a process configured to support a managed chat session and including data characterizing criteria for a business or chat host with which the user seeks to chat; responsive to the search signal,
(i) identifying a set of businesses or chat hosts meeting the criteria,(ii) determining, for each member of the set of businesses or chat hosts, whether the member is available to engage in chat, based on member data maintained for each member including physical device status for each seat operator of the member, and(iii) transmitting, to the user's mobile device for display, indicia for each member of the set of businesses or chat hosts, the indicia indicating whether the member is available to engage in chat; receiving over the first network a request message originated by the user on the mobile device to enter a chat channel, the request message identifying a member of the set of businesses or chat hosts that the user has selected for engaging in chat; and responsive to the request message, subscribing the user's mobile device to the chat channel for the selected one of the set of businesses or chat hosts, and transmitting to the mobile device, over the first network, a launch-chat command to initiate a chat session over the chat channel.