WO2001025966A1 - Web mail management method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of and process for processing e-mail. According to the disclosed method and an e-mail message is received and stored in a relational database. The contents of the message are parsed to thereby assign values to corresponding fields of the relational database. These values are assigned based upon the parsed contents of the e-mail message. This generates a case based upon the message.

Description

WEB MAIL MANAGEMENT METHOD AND SYSTEM

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention described herein relates to e-mail and web-mail management systems characterized by a common mailbox, the capability to track cases, threads, and ownership, and the ability to create responses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Electronic Commerce

Electronic commerce and Web-based interactions are fulfilling their early promise for business- to-business trade. As shown in FIGURE 1, there is a dynamic ofthe electronic marketplace that links Web Seller Sites, Web Buyer Sites, and Intermediaries. Market places that connect buyers and sellers are up and running in many industries, and businesses are using this emerging channel to create a customer base and grow revenues. While attracting customers is a primary objective, companies now face the greater challenge of relating to customers and serving their needs through this new medium. Telephone, fax, and in-person meetings have long been the chief delivery channels of customer service. However, as corporate Web sites open doors for customer service, they now have to deal with growing volumes of electronic queries. Many firms are turning to Internet customer service, not only to cut costs, but also to offer convenience and meet customer demand.

A critical problem in e-commerce is e-service, that is, customer service through the Internet and, in particular, the growing deluge of email now overwhelming corporate Web sites. If companies procrastinate now regarding Internet-based customer service, it can eventually undermine their coφorate reputations and seriously hamper their ability to compete. Furthermore, very few companies are successfully handling e-mail coming into their coφorate Web address (such as Service^@rnvcompanv.com) due to the unavailability of the right tool set. Many companies are still languishing with ill-suited traditional e-mail clients geared for the relatively simple pattern of personal e-mail. New tools are critically needed that address the mosaic nature of coφorate e- communications.

Electronic Communications and Interactivity

The electronic marketplace is exploding. Responding to the phenomenal growth of the Web, companies have hastened to establish Web sites to attract an audience and turn them into customers. There are estimates that as of 1999 there are 1.3 to 1.6 million active "dot.com" sites on the web. The experience of early participants has shown that an electronic marketplace can capture savings on the sell-side, while delivering lower prices to buyers. The rewards are shared. Sell-side Web sites can reach more customers, gather better information about them, target them more effectively, and serve them better. Buyers are able to compare products and prices easily, compelling suppliers to compete more fiercely than ever.

A single vendor seeking many buyers usually sets up marketplaces controlled by sellers. The aim of such sites is to create or retain value and market power in any transaction or interaction. The coφorate Web sites set up many vendors enable buyers to check lead times, prices, and order and shipping status, confer with technical experts, usually by sending e-mail to addresses like support@mvcompany.com or service@mvcompanv.com. Buyer-controlled marketplaces are set up for the puφose of shifting power and value in the marketplace to the buyer. Many involve an intermediary, but some particularly strong buyers have developed marketplaces for themselves. The e-mail volume on these sites may be relatively lower than in a sellers market as most buyers usually deal with just a handful of suppliers.

Electronic communications spark a rising flood of e-mail. The electronic marketplace has resulted in growing interactivity between companies and Web site visitors. The flow of incoming email is reaching critical limits, and the problem can only deepen as customers bombard Web sites seeking product support, service inquiry, and filing Web documents, for product registration. There are reliable predictions that annual message volume will balloon to 12 billion incidents in 2001 - six times 1999^'s e-mail traffic. On the customer-service front, there are reliable estimates that the 500 e-mail inquiries that many companies currently receive daily will grow to 2,000 a day within the next two years:

E-mail usage grows. E-mail is reportedly the most common online activity. According to a recent survey, 75% of the respondents used e-mail; 41% reported using e-mail daily, while another 27% used it weekly. A trade journal predicts that the number of people with e-mail access worldwide will grow 800% to 450 million over the next three years, up from 60 million in 1997. Another source predicts worldwide growth from 2 million mailboxes in 1995 to 48 million by the year 2000. This number does not include seats of free e-mail clients, notably Eudora Lite, which has as many as 12 million users to date.

Customer support moves from phone to e-mail. According to industry analysts, the worldwide software support market totaled $16 billion in 1995. Telephone support accounted for nearly $ 10 billion with a 12.6% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) projected through the year 2000. Worldwide spending in the electronic support services market in 1995 was $48 million and will grow at a CAGR of 43% to $290 million in the year 2000. This tremendous growth is based on electronic support's potential to lower support cost and reduce turnaround time.

Meanwhile, on-line business penetration streaks skyward: As reported by a major financial reporting service, the number of top-level business domains has increased by about 100% over the last 12 months from approximately 700,000 "dot.com" domains in July 1997 to 1.3 domains in 1998. While this doesn't express the total opportunity, it does reflect the propensity of US businesses to use the Web as an active business medium. By 2002, 98% of very large (5,000+ employees) and large businesses (1 ,000 to 4,999) will go on-line. In the same time frame, 85% of medium-sized companies (100 to 999) and 45% of small firms (20 to 99) will connect to the Internet.

E-Service - a New Concept of Customer Service Electronic-service (e-service), in its simplest form, is any interaction with an e-customer that successfully resolves an inquiry. These queries may be proactively generated from e-mail, Web forms, chats, net meetings, or call-me-now systems. Some require human interaction, while others may be managed through automated intelligent response tools. In this way, E-service is seen as a holistic Internet customer approach aimed at efficiently managing the electronic interaction between companies and its e-customers and building mutually beneficial relationships between the two. While coφorations are ultimately using a variety of Net-related channels to interact with customers, such as Internet telephony, e-mail, chat, and synchronized browsing of pages by customer-service reps and customers. However, the most viable option right now is e- mail, because it is so effective, efficient, and universally available. While firms may not be able to quantify cost savings associated with Internet based customer services, it is still imperative that they process all electronic queries finding their way through the coφorate Web site.

E-service has caught many companies off-guard and the consequences can be costly. Companies that are serious about integrating the Web into their overall business plan face many challenges. How will they effectively control the voluminous incoming requests? How will they track the inquiries? How can they manage performance of the interaction? Who is best suited to manage it? Can this new type of service be merged with their existing infrastructure while managing costs to the company? Above everything else, the service provider must treat a customer's electronic inquiry as seriously as they treat a customer phone call.

Though companies have created Web sites to provide customers with the ability to send electronic queries, they have not been prepared to keep up with the inflow of queries. Many companies do not have a dedicated e-service team, resulting in a total lack of ownership. MIS divisions of many companies publish an e-mail address for customer queries on the Web site with or without buy-in from the people answering coφorate e-mail. Moreover, MIS Departments and Webmasters don't assess the infrastructural needs before doing so. The

Webmaster receives queries and at best forwards it to various divisions as appropriate. Most companies are still not prepared or staffed the way they need to be to efficiently process and track service or transaction-related communications. Many do not have people trained to answer e-mail and are not given enough forewarning to respond to demands for increased staffing. The problem is that companies haven't nurtured a customer-centric mindset regarding e-service, and haven't implemented a customer-centric e-service paradigm. A leading customer management consulting firm visited over 3.500 consumer and business Web sites asking for information through the vehicle provided by the site. They measured the speed, appropriateness, and completeness of the response, and reported that the average company surveyed responded in 15 days, with only four same day responses and only two of those within an hour ofthe request. Instant response should be the standard for companies who see themselves as customer-centric. There is indeed a gap between what customers expect, and what companies deliver in terms of the speed and quality of responses.

_ Some businesses are more likely to employ e-service. Customer relationship in a world of plentiful and cheap customer interactions clearly requires new skills, new tool sets, and a new mindset. While the exact pace and extent of change will vary by company, industry, and national economy, no firm or sector will be left unaffected. There are some industries and product categories, however, that are better adapted to an interactive e-service world, such as, banking, news, and software. In addition, industries that rely heavily on customer relationships could beneficially provide e-service. The combination of both of these factors suggests a good breadth of industries that could employ e-service as a significant medium for delivering customer service. The relationship of "Level of Customer Relationship" to "Level of Interactivity" for selected industries is shown in FIGURE 2. Industries likely to be transformed would thus include: Retail banking where the nature of customer interactions will be transformed forever

Digitizable industries, including news, entertainment and software, in which the conversion of products from atoms to bits will create unlimited possibilities for interaction Intermediary industries, such as brokerages and wholesalers, where cheap, frequent, and direct interactions will reduce the market imperfections on which players thrive Integrated firms, such as many utilities and oil companies, whose natural structure and coφorate boundaries will be completely changed by the failing costs of external interactions. E-Service Requirements

It is fair to assume that in the near future, companies will organize dedicated E-service departments to tackle the e-mail deluge. Even without solid proof of improved service, companies expect a shift of at least one fifth of all customer service from phone and fax to the Web. However, of those companies attempting to tackle this problem, very few are successfully handling inbound email. Most coφorate addresses use traditional e-mail clients for managing their e-mail. But traditional e-mail clients haven't been adequate to meet the specific needs of a coφorate address, as person to organization communication requires a system that can increase productivity, maintain process efficiency and increase customer focus. The relationship of addressing in traditional e-mail clients and in the e-service systems contemplated herein is shown in FIGURE 3.

Shortcomings of traditional e-mail clients Traditional e-mail clients are seriously limited in their ability to handle the unique nature of person-to-organization communication. They are useful toolsets for handling person-person e- mail communication but not for group alias (coφorate e-mail address) mail management. Most e-mail clients send, receive, store mail, maintain passwords, allow backup, and do all the basic functions. Managing customer mail coming to a group alias requires more sophisticated feature set.

Traditional e-mail clients do not allow service representatives to see what operations are being performed by other representatives, thereby resulting in poor coordinatio. The traditional e-mail clients don't have an assignment model that would allow service representatives to divide the work and facilitate ownership of questions. Moreover, with a traditional e-mail client, one cannot automatically categorize incoming messages along several important dimensions. This is because traditional e-mail clients use a folder model that doesn't allow service representatives to view a subset of messages based on some filter condition.

A further shortcoming of traditional e-mail clients is that service responses need to be prompt, but the traditional e-mail clients are not configured for prompt responses. For example, with many repetitive questions, e-mail clients do not provide short cuts, predefined templates or canned responses.

Another problem is that traditional e-mail clients do not guide the business process along. For example, for example, they do not monitor or report the status of a response when handling customer queries (assigned? responded? closed⁹ critical?). E-mail clients do not allow for this thereby limiting answering priority. Closely related is that traditional e-mail clients do not have the facility to track customer history.

A further shortcoming of traditional e-mail clients is their inability to integrate a reporting application. Thus, with typical traditional e-mail clients, preparing monthly reports for management is a tedious cut and paste job.

Moreover, high-end help-desk software is not capable of being integrated with e-service management, nor is it suitable for comprehensive e-service management. This is because the origins of high-end customer care software are in the help-desk / call center domain. Though they address the fundamental customer support issue, they are unsuitable to handle the specific e- mail management problems of coφorate addresses for many reasons: First, they are elaborate systems that cover sales and marketing, customer service, field service and logistics, customer asset management, quality assurance and help desk applications. Second, they do not solve the specific process, productivity, and customer focus e-mail management needs of a coφorate e- mail address. Third, they are based upon and derived from phone based support tools supporting advanced computer-telephony integration, with no advanced e-mail capability.

There is a need for e-service systems that have superior e-mail capabilities and are more cost- effective than helpdesk applications. Such systems will be applicable and suitable to a range of small to medium size companies, and in some cases can also be deployed at a departmental level within larger companies. E-mail clients are very inexpensive, but don't fit the bill either because they are limited to inter personal address communication, which differs from the unique nature of person-to company communications. FIGURE 4 is an illustration of a projection of the potential installed bases for help desk software, e-services systems, clients versus estimated costs ofthe systems.

There is a clear need for e-service including e-mail support and answering mail through group alias accounts should be fast and accurate. E-service systems are the first step toward standardizing the industry to achieve that goal. Given the impending rapid evolution of Web-based e-mail communication, present ad-hoc solutions cannot address the specific needs in a seamless manner and will result in lowering productivity, customer satisfaction, and efficiency of providing support.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of our invention to provide an e-service tool for managing incoming e-mail.

It is a further object to provide customer history, customer priority, customer ownership, creation and application of customer custom properties, mail merge including rule driven and data driven mail merge, and management of customer data across multiple aliases.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide the user with control ofthe e-service process, including sophisticated workload features, a shared in-box lets everyone on a team see all incoming and outgoing mails, automatic assignment by routing rules and case reservation ensures optimum workflow, manual assignment, consult and specialist review of incoming e- mail, reminders, and merge and split.

It is still a further object of our invention to provide power customization tools, including (1) rules which come into effect when certain user defined conditions are fulfilled, triggering a desired action, and (2) privileges for defining certain users and the extent of their user access rights.

Another object of our invention to provide rigorous tracking and tagging options, including case audit trails showing the complete summary of interactions (email, we forms, phone messages, consultations, follow-up, etc.) relating to it, complete status reports, showing opened, in progress, pending, reviewing, escalated, closed, resolved, or expired - and the Priority setting of each case in the system; notifications; cataegories and sub-categories, filters, and workspaces.

It is still another object of our invention to provide fast analysis and monitoring features for reports and logs. A still further object of the invention is the capability of importing pre-existing e-mail and address books from various mail clients provides continuity with past transactions, phone support integration; importing exporting external databases, as customer databases, and interacting with external customer data sources.

It is still a further object of our invention to provide case search and customer searches, full text search and advanced searches, and pattern searching, where patterns read your mail for you and display only the parts that you want.

It is still a further object of our invention to enhance output by providing canned responses, including auto suggests pop-ups, and rapid response the let a user send a single-click, out-the- door reply without even typing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The E-service method and system of our invention meets these needs and objectives. It does this through an architecture that seamlessly integrates (1) a data server with address book services, (2) a client, and (3) one or more alias databases, interacting through the alias database and (4) a web viewer. The method and system of our invention is a pseudo client server application that talks to a client. It has four major components, as shown in Figure 5. The four major components are (1) the Services component, which provides Server and Address Book services and performs the back end tasks for the system and method of our invention. The server performs all tasks related to servicing case responses. This includes sending/receiving email, threading messages and events into cases, prioritizing cases, and performing database operations such as auto-backup, compact, and so forth. The Address Book service synchronizes the Address List with, for example, the Address Book on the Microsoft® Exchange Server; (2) the Client, which is the front-end for all mail and e-service management functionality; this desktop tool connects with the databases, retrieves cases, and displays them in the appropriate workspaces/filters, allowing a user to manage a user's messages and customers; (3) Database, which stores, for example, email, Web forms, and customer or case-related information, signatures, alias and user account configuration information, notifications, default settings, etc; it is the storehouse ofthe system; the client retrieves/fetches data from the databases and displays this information in the client: and (4) the Web Viewer, an optional component, is a non-editable Web interface to the system database; it allows a user to view the full status of all cases and case operations, reports, and so forth. The system also includes databases that hold different types of information.

The system and method of our invention tailors interactions between the Internet service team and the customers to address each of the following: Process Efficiency CSR Productivity Customer Focus

As shown in the "E Service Triangle" of FIGURE 6, linking the above elements, these three elements represent a company's best opportunities to service its e-customers.

Process Efficiency. The e-service method and system of our invention provides the e-service team with control over the e-service process. As shown in FIGURE 7, the system empowers the e-service team with each of the following four components.

Streamlined Teamwork

Rigorous tracking Monitoring and Analysis

Intelligent Integration

The ability to assign incoming e-mail allows the team to divide the work and facilitate ownership of questions. In traditional call center management, an automatic call distribution (ACD) system places calls into queues and then assigns them to service agents based on availability. Automatic assignment options in an e-service system should include the choices to 'load balance', 'round robin', or 'custom configure' to maintain the relationship between a customer and a specific service agent. Manual assignment allows distribution of work based on expertise.

The E-service method and system of our invention allows for escalation and single point of contact. When e-mail is sent outside the e-service team system for consultation, ownership stills resides within the group alias to ensure closure o the incident. Common access allows a group of people to streamline workgroup coordination, focus on answering the questions, while maintaining a single point of contact to the outside world. In many companies, each group or division may have its own address, yet, all e-mail received by the coφoration goes to a central person who is responsible for answering or routing the messages.

Process efficiency through streamlined teamwork. Our invention provides simultaneous access to a shared in-box. This simultaneous access to the shared in-box allows each user in the group to know what the other is doing and avoid duplication of work. The increasing load of electronic queries as well as the unique nature of person-to-company electronic communication has motivated many coφorations to have a group of people handle incoming mail.

If a company is making an effort to handle an abundance of mail, they generally have a supervised group of people handling mail at the Webmaster@ or the info@ coφorate address as illustrated by FIGURE 8, with incoming messages, the alias address web site, e.g., info@xyz.com. .and the individual customer service representatives (CSR's). A team using traditional e-mail client software in this situation simply cannot see what operations the other members are performing. The result is poorly coordinated responses, frequent duplication of effort, and confused or misplaced customers. The most effective solution is a shared inbox that allows all answering agents to view all the messages at any point in time.

The e-service method and system of our invention facilitates process efficiency through rigorous tracking. For example, once a customer query has been assigned to a specific service agent, as a practical matter, the service agent usually performs one or more ofthe following actions: Reply is sent to the customer by the service agent.

E-mail is forwarded to another service agent within the system for consultation

E-mail is forwarded or escalated outside the system to a specialist for consultation.

An agent may not be able to completely handle all customer communications. The service agent may, for example, want to escalate or forward the mail to a co-worker or supervisor for review. Another incoming query may require a response from someone with more functional knowledge. FIGURE 9 depicts an ideal flow. Having assigned the message to a specific service agent, the e-mail management system and method of our invention now tracks each mail irrespective of what actions have been performed on it. The method and system should present an audit trail of the incident, with the component messages and actions, at a glance. Every inquiry coming into the alias must be tracked to completion. The e-service system and method of our invention ensures this by having various states associated with every mail, at all times. Every incoming query could thus be 'new', 'open', 'closed', 'escalated', 'reply-in-progress', 'resolved', 'expired', etc. keeping the service reps informed about the status of the customer query at any given point in time.

The E-service method and system allows the user to track every incident, prioritize responses based on various criteria (such as assignment, age of message, etc.), and allows them to differentiate messages on which no action has been taken. Different types of notifications or alerts are configurable to highlight assignment and escalation actions, prioritize items based on customer type and elapsed time, and generally keep the user informed about any change in state or new messages.

In the e-service method and system of our invention, customer queries are categorized and retrievable under one or more user-defined categories, for focus and data mining. This multiple categorization helps the service representative to organize the customer queries into meaningful buckets. The enables representatives to manage multiple aliases thereby facilitating workflow capability across departments. This is similar to what happens in a call center when different departments receive calls from the same customer. However, the advantage that an e-mail-based system can offer is the ability to maintain full context as well as a transaction log of all conversations related to the incident to ensure that communications are acted upon and never lost.

In the e-service method and system of our invention, process efficiency is achieved through intelligent integration of various complementary functions, capabilities, and activities.

For example, many companies provide Web forms on their Web sites that allow the customer to fill in pre-defined fields. The e-service method and system of our invention allows the company to integrate the incoming Web form data to their existing business practices. Likewise, phone support integration allows critical continuity to be maintained in the interaction between the company and the customer on any incoming query.

Process efficiency through analysis and monitoring. Current organizational structures are unprepared to handle customer service on the Internet. Firms are reorganizing and spinning off specific customer service teams to manage new roles and responsibilities related to Internet customer service. Perhaps even more than usual, management is placing greater importance on performance related to Internet support

Preparing periodic reports for management is a tedious, manual, cut and paste job using a standard e-mail client and separate, standalone database and spread sheet applications. The e- service system and method of our invention provides convenient, yet comprehensive reporting for both managers and users. Our system and method will allow the user to generate customized productivity reports to track response times, traffic, and other statistical data that gauges the performance of a user or a team over a defined period.

While several metrics may be used in reporting, two classes of measurement are required: value to customer and cost to company. There are numerous ways to report data: current snapshots of the system, status information on mail in different aliases, numbers of open, closed, and new incidents coming in data about new customers, mail categories of mails, etc.

In any system, these reports and others should be easily produced along with trend-line schematics. This helps analyze resource allocation, productivity, and performance of an individual or an entire group. Furthermore, the reporting capability must allow the user to report on messages in any way, and at any time. If management suddenly decides they want to know how many messages of regarding product "A" were received over the last 3 months, the system should be able to produce the results instantly.

CSR productivity. Customer service is driven by prompt and accurate responses, and therefore, good e-service systems should increase the e-service representative's productivity. Typically, phone service representatives answer incoming phone calls in a few minutes, while e-mail answers have indefinite response times. Assuming that customers expect an immediate response, e-mail service agents try to answer every question within 24 hours. However, traditional e-mail clients have been designed to support electronic communication, not increase productivity. Where a coφorate alias is receiving hundreds of e-mail messages a day, a dedicated e-service system and method of our invention provides automated features that replace manual operations on repetitive activities that are taxing, time consuming, and often open to inaccuracy. The sophisticated e-mail management system and method of our invention reduces this burden and minimizes bandwidth on routine tasks with productivity enhancing capabilities such as, predefined canned responses, and the ability to select multiple repeat messages and respond to them with one message. Furthermore, standard spell checks and the ability to automatically correct textual errors make the reply process less taxing.

Incoming mails, as a practical matter, usually fall into a few categories, and many of these mails tend to be about similar issues. A travel agency, for example, receives a large number of ticketing related questions, but the questions themselves may fall into a few user defined categories (such as prices, refund policy, payment methods, and so forth) and sub-categories (refund policies of a selected airline on a particular market segment). The company already knows the answers to most of these questions. The E-mail management method and system of our invention allows the service team to configure and send canned responses when the answers to frequently occurring questions are known. It also goes one step further and provide rapid responses that empower the e-service representative to respond with just a mouse click.

In the event that certain messages require the same response, the method and system system of our invention allows the user to select multiple messages and respond to them in one reply window, thereby saving the trouble of sending messages to the recipients individually. The process of an e-mail response from a customer service representative. With an incoming message to the customer service representative, and outgoing replies, rapid click options, canned responses, and multi-select and respond responses is illustrated in FIGURE 9.

Using the e-services method and system of our invention, the service representatives are also able to reduce typing time by automatic textual features to define hot keys for frequently used phrases and correction capabilities that recognize spelling errors and corrects them automatically. The standard spellchecker must identify spelling errors as the e-service representative types so that they don't waste time looking for them manually.

Customer focus. Relating to customers is one of digital marketing's most important opportunities to create and add value. In essence, customer relations presents the opportunity to understand the customer's needs and preferences, customize each interaction, and tailor the product or the communication to that consumer at that time. Interactive media and e-mail management systems in particular, provide unprecedented opportunities for coφorate aliases to satisfy a customer. Best practice Internet service companies use the information that the consumer offers electronically (hardware ownership, brand preferences, interests, and so forth) to craft focused value-added communication.

One of the greatest benefits of electronic communication is that it is permanently recorded in a medium and therefore all details of every customer interaction are can be quickly or automatically retrieved for reference. This is often not true in the case of phone support, where, at best, the service representative has access to previous notes on the customer interaction. Past e-mail interaction and customer history can provide the service representatives with a more complete context in which to understand the customer's needs.

The e-service system and method of our invention provides not only the ability to preserve and present context and remember all interactions, but it also allows the team to build a storehouse of customer data that can be mined for future marketing. The customer data with meaningful user definable fields is closely integrated with customer originated incidents. The database of customer interactions, for example, may indicate that customers from a particular segment often ask questions about a particular product feature. This may indicate a need to change and improve the product, or to add a feature in future versions of the product for that specific segment, thereby opening new market opportunities.

Using the e-service method and system of our invention, companies are empowered and enabled to prioritize their valuable customers through Customer Priority filters in order to maintain the desired service levels for them They could be prioritized according to company policy and different response times must be definable for different types of customers. The e-service method and system of our invention recognizes special or preferred customers and offer service representatives the opportunity to customize and personalize a response to that customer.

Coφorate Web sites are ushering a new type of customer into the marketplace - the electronic - customer (e-customer). What's more, for the first time, companies are expected to provide electronic customer service that will satisfy this growing online audience. Traditional means are not applicable any more. The Internet is invading customer service-where phone, fax, and person-to-person dialogue traditionally managed customer questions. Industry analysts are predicting that companies will see customer service demands dramatically shift from phone and fax inquiries, to e-mail and Web-form-based questions. Companies must use these delivery vehicles to not only cut costs, but also to create convenience for customers and meet the surge in customer demand.

The number of e-service requests will only increase as businesses develop the Worldwide Web. The number of interactions on business sites promises to skyrocket as customers bombard them with electronic queries. Forrester Research expects that the annual e-mail message volume in 2001 will balloon to 12 billion - nearly six times the volume experienced today. Companies currently receiving 500 e-mail inquiries a day will receive nearly 2,000 a day within two years. In fact, with the growing demand for e-service, Forrester reports the customer service software segment will grow from $1 1 million in 1997 to $658 million in 2002 - doubling its market share to 18%o while all the other segments experience declining or stagnant share.

THE FIGURES

The method and system of our invention is illustrated by the FIGURES appended hereto. FIGURE 1 is an illustration ofthe web-based relationship of web seller sites, web buyer sites, and intermediaries.

FIGURE 2 is an illustration ofthe graphical relationship between "Level of Customer Relationship" and "Level of Interactivity" for selected industries.

FIGURE 3 is an illustration of the relationships between traditional e-mail clients of the prior art and e-service systems ofthe type contemplated herein.

FIGURE 4 is an illustration of a projection of the potential installed bases for help desk software, e-service systems, and e-mail clients, verus the costs of these systems.

FIGURES 5 A and 5B are illustrations ofthe system architecture ofthe e-service method and system of our invention, showing (1) the service and address book services module, (2) the client module, (3) the alias databases module, and (4) the optional Web Viewer module.

FIGURE 6 illustrates the "E-Service" Triangle linking the attributes of Process Efficiency, CSR Productivity, and Customer Focus.

FIGURE 7 illustrates the four critical capabilities for an e-service system, Streamlined Teamwork, Rigorous Tracking, Monitoring and Analysis, and Intelligent Integration.

FIGURE 8 illustrates handling of incoming e-mail with an e-service capability, and with incoming e-mail messages coming to a web address, info@xyz.com, and being passed on to customer service representatives ("CSR's").

FIGURE 9 is a representation of e-mail flow in the business process ofthe method and system of our invention. FIGURE 10 is a representation of available e-mail response options including standard replies to customers, rapid click option responses to customers, configurable canned responses to customers, and multi-select and respond responses to customers.

FIGURE 1 1 illustrates a screen shot of the Mail Room Screen of the system and method of our invention.

FIGURE 12 is a screen shot ofthe Table View of a CSR's terminal.

FIGURE 13 is a screen shot of the Preview Pane of a CSR's terminal.

FIGURE 14 illustrates a screen shot of the left pane of the Mail Room Screen.

FIGURE 15 illustrates a screen shot of the My Cases screen of the system and method of our invention.

FIGURE 16 illustrates a screen shot of the left pane ofthe My Cases Screen.

FIGURE 17 illustrates a screen shot of the Filing Cabinet screen of the system and method of our invention.

FIGURE 18 illustrates a screen shot ofthe Advanced Search Dialog Box.

FIGURE 19 illustrates a screen shot for the Filter Manager.

FIGURE 20 illustrates a screen shot for the Customer File.

FIGURE 21 illustrates a screen shot for the customer window which provides detailed information about a customer. FIGURE 22 illustrates a screen shot for the Cuαent Snapshot Reports module of the s\ stem and method of the invention.

FIGURE 23 illustrates the Periodic Status Reports screen of the method and system of our invention.

FIGURE 24 illustrates the Trend Reports screen of the method and system of our invention.

FIGURE 25 illustrates the Read Window of the method and system of our invention.

FIGURE 26 illustrates the Reply Window of the method and system of our invention.

FIGURE 27 illustrates a case thread screen of the method and system of our invention.

FIGURE 28 illustrates a Case Read Window ofthe method and system of our invention.

FIGURE 29 illustrates the Case Header element of the Case Read Window shown in FIGURE 28.

FIGURE 30 illustrates the Categories Pane in the Read Window shown in FIGURE 28.

FIGURE 31 shows the Assign Dialog Box ofthe method and system of our invention.

FIGURE 32 shows the Reply Window ofthe method and system of our invention.

FIGURE 33 shows the Select Canned Response List Box of the method and system of our invention.

FIGURE 34 shows the customer window ofthe method and system of our invention.

FIGURE 35 shows the Case Counts tab. FIGURE 36 shows a screen shoot o the Advanced Search Dialog Box of the system and method of our invention.

FIGURE 37 shows a screen shot of the Advanced Search screen showing the search conditions in the left pane and the search results in the right pane.

FIGURE 38 shows a screen shot of the Category Manager of the method and system of our invention, which allows a user to create, rename, or delete categories.

FIGURE 39 shows the New Filter dialog box for creating a new filter.

FIGURE 40 shows a screen shot of the left pane of the Filing Cabinet, which allows a user to specify a search condition for a filter.

FIGURE 41 shows a screen shot of the Advanced Search Dialog Box which allows a user to specify additional parameters for a search.

FIGURE 42 shows a screen shot of the Edit Filter Dialog Box for editing search conditions and saving as a new filter.

FIGURE 43 shows a screen shot of the Outbox Manager ofthe method and system of our invention.

FIGURE 44 shows a screen shot of the Current Snapshot Reports screen ofthe system and method of our invention.

FIGURE 45 is a screenshot ofthe Period Status Reports ofthe system and method of our invention.

FIGURE 46 is a screen shot of the Trend Reports ofthe system and method of our invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Overview

The method and system of our invention is an e-service method and system that incoφorates an email and Web form management tool that organizes high-volume customer service requests sent to coφorate aliases or to a user's Web site. This is accomplished by integrating a database management system, as a relational database management system with the e-mail system, allowing the relational database management system to interact with the e-mail system for efficient team access to incoming and stored e-mails. The relational database is a repository for both the message and for information parsed or derived from the message. The method and system of our invention transforms a workgroup into a team environment, where all incoming service requests can be efficiently assigned, escalated, tracked, reported, and archived from a shared inbox and a relational database.

The method and system of our invention satisfies the need for an out-of-the-box software solution that enables a team to control the electronic service (e-service) process, achieve maximum productivity, and still keep a strong focus on the customer.

The method and system of our invention is designed to handle small or large volumes of electronic communications - even integrate phone messages - in a team-shared environment.

Sophisticated features boost productivity as a user manage the flow and follow-through of customer inquiries sent to busy aliases, such as info@companv.com. The method and system of our invention is the key to great e-service.

Architecture The method and system of our invention is a pseudo client server application that talks to any

SMTP/POP3 or Microsoft® Exchange client. It has four major components, as shown in Figures

5A and 5B.

Services. The Server and Address Book services perform the back end tasks for the system and method of our invention. 1 he serv er performs all tasks related to servicing case responses This includes sending/receiving email, threading messages and events into cases, prioritizing cases, and performing database operations such as auto-backup, compact, and so forth. The Server uses a mail component to send and receive messages to and from any SMTP/POP3 or Microsoft Exchange mail server.

The Address Book service synchronizes the Address List with the Address Book on the Microsoft® Exchange Server. This synchronization is done at 12:00 AM and 12:00 PM every day. This service needs to run only if a user's aliases are working with the Microsoft® Exchange Servers.

Client

The client is the front-end for all mail and e-service management functionality. This desktop tool connects with the databases, retrieves cases, and displays them in the appropriate workspaces/filters. It allows a user to manage a user's messages and customers.

Database

The 1.0 database is a Microsoft Jet Database Engine store of all email, Web forms, and customer or case-related information, signatures, alias and user account configuration information, notifications, default settings, etc. It is the storehouse ofthe system. The client retrieves/fetches data from the databases and displays this information in the client.

Web Viewer

The Web Viewer, an optional component, is a non-editable Web interface to the system database. It allows a user to view the full status of all cases and case operations, reports, and so forth. The Web Viewer is designed for the remote overseer who is not directly responsible for the day-to-day activities on a system, but who plays a supervisory or managerial role in the e- service response process.

The databases A Server installation comprises several databases that hold different types of information.

11 Fach Server installation has the following databases. These databases are located in the shared folder.

The following databases are created for each alias. These databases are created in the alias folders.

FIGl 'RE 5B illustrates the system and method of our invention where an outside customer communicates with the system through, for example e-mail or a Web form (through a script, as an ASP script) as input to a mail server. The mail server passes the customer through to an extractor and a threader, parsing, threading, and prioritizing, inter alia, to transform the incoming e-mail into a case. The case is properly indexed and stored in a database, for example a relational database. The case may be subject to forwarding, or escalation, or a reply generated. The reply goes through a dispatcher to the mail server, and out to the customer.

Where the databse paradigm, model, or meta-structure is a relational database, the incoming case can be indexed, stored, searched, and retrieved based upon various fields. Specifically, the use of a relational database structure and paradigm allows incoming e-mail to be parsed and ordered based on data fields in the relational database. For example, incoming may be sorted by one or more of sender, recipient, account, account owning CSR, subject matter (for example product or service, action requested), sender attribute (size, location, prior dealing history, and the like). In this way, each work space may be regarded as a view of the relational database, with the view being defined in terms of filters on one or more ofthe categories in the relational database.

The metadata of the underlying relational databases can define fields for the case ID, the originator (customer), the originator's address and/or affiliation, the number of cases connected to the originator, the subject, the owning CSR, the number of cases assigned to and/or owned by the CSR, the properties ofthe e-mail, the categories of the e-mail subject matter, textual notes, customer priority, case priority, number of related messages, links to related messages, case status, consultant status, reply contents, canned reply elements, and user defined fields. Searches can be based upon contents of a single field or of a plurality of fields, as is well known in the database management systems art.

How mail progresses in the method and system of the invention

The following description leads a user through the path a mail takes, from the time it enters the system till a user send a response to a user's customer, a user will also learn about the tasks the server performs. First, the SMTP POP3 or Microsoft Exchange mail server receives mail from a customer. Next, the Dispatcher component of the server sends all messages queued for dispatch to the mail server. The outgoing messages display the alias name in the From field and the email address of the customer in the To field. The Extractor component fetches the mail sent by a user's customer (from the mail server). Each detail of the message is stored in one of the tables of the ODBC-compliant databases. Thus, a user can never lose messages. The Threader component of the Sever creates a Case ID for the new message. This ID is inserted as a prefix in the Subject line. The Threader checks to see if the customer already exists in the Customer database. If the search is negative, it dials-up the Directory Service and searches the Internet for address information. It then saves the retrieved information in the Customer database. The Threader next checks to see if an auto response has been set for the alias, and dispatches the AutoResponse. A user's customer is thus assured that a user (a CSR) is working on the problem/request for information.

The Prioritizer computes the priority of the case. The Server then automatically assigns the case to a Customer Service Representative.. When a user logs in to the client, the case appears in the Open filter of a user's My Cases workspace. If a user had set an assign notification, notifies a user whenever a case is assigned to you. An event is inserted in the case to record the assignment of the case to you.

The Customer Service Representative or other user can choose one of the following routes to respond to the customer:

Simple response.

Using a Canned Response.

Sending a Rapid Response. Consulting a Specialist and then putting together the response.

Using AutoText to insert a one- or two-sentence response.

Multi selecting cases and responding to them at a time.

Once a user responds, the message remains queued in the Outbox Manager. A user may access the Outbox Manager to Rush or Pause the message. A user would need to Pause the message if information sent out was incomplete or if a user discovered a mistake in a user's response. The user also has the capability to Rush the message if it is of high priority.

When the server next processes the alias, the Dispatcher fetches mail from the Outbox and dispatches them to the SMTP/POP3 or Microsoft Exchange mail server and thereon to the customer.

Mailbox

The mailbox is the common inbox for the alias. It appears in the left pane of a user's Mail Room. The mailbox acts as the distribution point for all cases sent to an alias. All unassigned cases in the current group alias appear here, a user can manually assign cases from the mailbox unless an AutoAssign rule has been set for the alias. All users monitoring an alias can access the mailbox.

Mail slots

Mail slots are the mailboxes of each member of the alias. The mail slots are displayed in alphabetical order, on the left pane of the Mail Room, below the alias mailbox.

When a case is assigned to a Customer Service Representative or other user, it moves to that user's mail slot. The cases in a user's mail slot are mirrored in the Open filter of the My Cases workspace.

Case workspaces

These are the Mail Room, My Cases, and Filing Cabinet. Users can view cases and perform operations on cases from these workspaces, a user can switch between workspaces using the Workspace bar.

The table view

This view, shown in FIGURE 11 , lists cases in the tabular format, where each case occupies a row, with its properties displayed in the columns. The default columns depend on the workspace a user is in. The preview pane

This pane, shown in FIGURE 12, occupies the lower half of the right pane in the Mail Room, My Cases, and Filing Cabinet. It displays details ofthe case selected in the table view.

The messages and events (actions performed on the case) are displayed in chronological order. The events serve as a record of the history of actions performed on the case, a user may resize or hide this pane. Click the + (plus sign) to expand an event, and on the - (minus sign) to collapse it. a user can choose to show or hide this pane in the Mail Room, My Cases, and Filing Cabinet.

The left pane

This is the area to the left of all workspaces except Reports. The left pane of each workspace is distinct. The left pane in the Mail Room, shown un FIGURE 13, comprises the shared mailbox and the mail slots of all users in the current alias. In the My Cases workspace, the pre-defined filters organize cases according to the actions performed on them. A user can add a user's own filter to the My Cases workspace. A user can opt to show or hide the left pane in all the workspaces. The left pane ofthe My Cases workspace is shown in FIGURE 14.

The left panes in the Filing Cabinet and Customer File help define search parameters to locate cases or customers. These panes are similar, except for a few case- or customer-related fields, a user can hide or resize the left panes.

Columns

The columns in the workspaces vary according to the records displayed in the table view. The Case ID is the first column in all the case workspaces, a user cannot change, move, delete, or resize this column to less than a minimum. Clicking on the column header sorts the cases on the property ofthe column. An arrow-head indicates the direction of sorting.

The Workspaces

The method and system of our invention aids customer service representatives in resolving customer inquiries coming through e-mail and web forms (e-service) quickly and accurately. The method and system of our invention segments the e-service business process into a plurality of stages and maps a virtual workspace of the method and system of our invention to each stage in the business process. The stages in the business process and the corresponding virtual work space are:

1. Collection and assignment of inquiries: Mail Room workspace

2. Resolution of inquiries: My Cases workspace

3. Search for inquiries: Filing Cabinet workspace

4. Search for customers: Customer File workspace 5. Analysis: Reports workspace

Each of these virtual workspaces provides appropriate tools that help the users to perform the actions appropriate for the stage in the business process.

The basic unit of customer interaction is the "case." The method and system of our invention defines a "case" as the sequence of messages exchanged between the Customer and the Service Organization, as also the audit trail of all the actions performed by the CSRs as part of the process of resolving the issue(s).

The method and system of our invention has five functional areas — or Workspaces —that aid the process of managing and tracking cases and customers, as well as carrying out administrative tasks. Each workspace is geared toward helping a user perform specific operations. The workspaces are the Mail Room, My Cases, Filing Cabinet, Customer File, and Reports.

The Mail Room

The case first enters the system through the mail room workspace. This workspace aids collection and assignment of inquiries. A screen shot of the mail room workspace is shown in FIGURE 1 1 , and FIGURES 1 1A, 12, and 13. The tree on the left side of FIGURE 1 1 (also shown in FIGURE 13) shows the mailboxes (Help and Info) or queues (Default, Marketing and Sales) where all incoming cases are collected. The nodes under Sales represent the users responsible for handling Sales cases. The cases are shownin in the right side of FIGURE 1 1 and in FIGURE 1 1A as a table. The supervisor can quickly drag and drop cases from the table on the right side to each user on the left side. This action assigns the case to the user and from then on that user becomes responsible for that case.

This is the default workspace when a user logs in to the e-service method and system of our invention. All new mail to the group alias arrives here and is routed either automatically or manually to the members of the alias. This workspace is shown in FIGURE 1 1.

The Mail Room helps a user take stock of the cases that need to be dealt with, and aids the process of assignment. All cases in the Mail Room are in the Open state. The shared mailbox of the alias and the mail slots of the individual members of the current alias are listed in the left pane. To manually assign cases, the user drags and drops cases on a mail slot. Automatic assignment of cases is done according to the rules set in the Alias and User Manager.

A user, as a Customer Service Representative, can perform the following operations from the

Mail Room:

Assign, re-assign, and view cases

Reply to customers Consult a specialist

Search for and categorize cases

My Cases

My Cases Workspace. FIGURE 15 illustrates the My Workspace" This workspace provides a user with tools that help him/her resolve the case quickly. This workspace shows only those cases that belong to the logged in user. So all other superfluous information that might create clutter is kept out of this workspace. The left pane, shown in FIGURE 14A, shows subsets (filters) of the cases that are assigned to the user. These filters separate out cases that are high priority or those that have been sent to an outside specialist for more information from those that have already been resolved and those that are still lying unanswered. This workspace, with the interface shown in FIGURE 15, provides a personalized space from where a user can focus on cases assigned to you. a user can prioritize work based on the predefined filters. This workspace organizes the cases and moves them to the appropriate filters based on the actions a user perform on them. The filters help a user focus on cases that need a user's attention most. A user can define her own filters in this workspace. These customized filters are sorted alphabetically. The Filter Manager allows a user to manage the filters created in this workspace. This workspace has a set of pre-defined filters. These filters contain cases based on the actions performed on them.

Pre-defined filters Description

Open Mirrors the cases in a user's mail slot in the Mail

Room. These are the new cases assigned to you. This filter will also hold cases whose state reverted to Open from Resolved (because a customer sent a follow-up).

High Priority These cases need a user's immediate attention. The cases are High Priority because they are from high priority customers or remained unanswered for a specific period (defined by the High priority option of the Case Properties tab in the Alias and User Manager).

Reply In Progress The responses a user saved without sending, a user needs to complete these responses and send them out. If a user delays sending the response beyond the duration defined by the High priority option (Case Properties tab in the Alias and User Manager), the cases will be mirrored in the High Priority filter. Sent to Specialist The cases a user referred to persons who are not a part of the system. These persons are specialists in their fields and are there to help in case a new problem arises or no one else is able to solve it. a user would escalate cases to Specialists only if a user are unable to find the solution a user's self. If a Specialist delays in responding beyond the duration defined by the High priority option (Case Properties tab in the Alias and User Manager), the cases will be mirrored in the High Priority filter.

Received from Responses from the Specialists, a user now need to put Specialist together a user's reply to the customer.

Resolved A case moves to this filter as soon as a user Send & Resolve the response. The case remains here till its Case state changes to Closed (defined by the AutoClosed option ofthe Time Intervals tab in the Alias and User Manager). If the customer follows-up before the case is AutoClosed, the case returns to the Open filter. After the case is automatically closed, any follow-up message changes the Case state to Open.

The My Cases workspace provides a user a friendly environment from which a user can read and reply to cases. Here's what a user can do from the My Cases workspace.

Read, re-assign and categorize cases

Reply to a customer

Consult a specialist

Search for a case

Create filters. The Filing Cabinet

The Filing Cabinet, shown in the screen shot of FIGURE 17, is a store of all cases in the database. This workspace enables a user to search the database. Some handy search tools are provided on the left side of the screen. In addition the user can do some advanced searches using the Advanced Query Builder that can be invoked from here.

The Filing Cabinet has the user interface shown in FIGURE 17, and presents an interface through which a user can search for and view a specific set of cases. Use this workspace to quickly browse through cases, or to locate a case a user need to refer to. Searches can be based on simple to fairly sophisticated conditions.

The Filing Cabinet is split into three panes - the left pane, the table view and the preview pane. The left pane contains several fields in which search conditions can be defined.

The search conditions can be saved as filters, a user can search within these lists or base further searches on these filters.

The left pane of the Filing Cabinet essentially allows a user to do the following: Search for cases

Create filters

Create a search list

Search in a list

Add a list to an existing list Save a list as a filter

Use a base filter.

This is an explanation ofthe fields in the left pane.

Last request Organizes cases based on when some action was received last taken on them. These filters make case Today retrieval easier if a user know approximately Yesterday when the case a user are searching for was acted upon.

Example

'Today' contains cases acted upon today.

'Yesterday' contains cases acted upon yesterday.

Assigned to Organizes cases according to who owns them.

John All the members of a user's alias are displayed

Maureen as filters.

Suzanne Example

'John' contains cases assigned to John. Categories Organizes cases according to the categories they

Catalog are assigned to.

Fabric Example

'Catalog' lists cases assigned to this category. Filter You would have created these filters to view

USA subsets of cases that satisfy some specific

Europe criteria.

Example

'Europe' contains cases that originated from

European customers.

The Advanced Search Capability

The Advanced Search dialog box, shown in FIGURE 18, lends searches extra power through several additional search conditions. Click Advanced to open this dialog box. The Filter Manager

_ _ . The Filter Manager, when accessed from the My Cases. Filing Cabinet and Customer File, has the interface shown in FIGURE 19 and permits a user to manage the filters created from the left pane.

The Customer File

The Customer File workspace, shown in FIGURE 20, provides a window to the Customer database. The Customer File allows a user to search for, view, update, and modify customer information, a user would search this workspace for customers, and probably view the history of a customer's interaction with the aliases. These details will serve as a pointer on how a user needs to handle a user's customers. This workspace supports views similar to the table view. The only difference being that instead of cases, customer records are displayed here.

The left pane in the Customer File helps find or isolate customers. Specifically, the left pane comprises several fields in which search conditions can be defined. The Advanced Search dialog box lends a user's search extra power, through many more search conditions. A user can also save the lists as filters and search within the lists. Plus, a user can base further searches on these filters.

The Filter Manager, shown in FIGURE 19, when accessed from this workspace, permits a user to manage the filters a user created from the left pane.

When a new customer sends mail to the system, the Directory Services feature (if enabled in the Alias and User Manager) searches the Internet for information about the customer, and saves the retrieved information to the Customer database. All these details can be viewed from the Customer window.

The Customer window

The Customer File Workspace, shown in FIGURE 20, is the workspace that shows information about all the customers in the database. Here too the user can build simple queries using the search tools in the left pane or can build advanced queries using the Advanced Query Builder.

54. The Customer Window. The method and system of our invention's Customer Window, shown in FIGURE 21 , presents all the information pertaining to a single customer in a simple, intuitive interface.

The various visual/informational components on the Customer window, are:

1. Customer Information

2. Name, Email address and Phone

3. Customer History Tab. This pane shows all the cases that this customer ever interacted with the Support Organization on, and makes it very easy to locate a case pertaining to a customer, and can also give the CSRs knowledge about the customer or his issues. Clicking on any case in the history pane, brings up the Case Read window for that case.

4. Outbound Mailers tab. This tab shows all the mailers that have been sent to this customer as also info about whether the customer replied to that mailer, or clicked-through to the web-site (if any) mentioned in the mailer. 5. General Properties Tab. This tab shows some properties of the customer like his address, contact information, inbformation about his organization etc.

6. Custom Tabs (one or more). The method and system of our invention allows the

Administrator to define any number of custom properties. These properties can be configured to be visible in any of the tabs.

In addition to presenting the Customer data in an intuitive manner, the Customer Window also facilitates operations on customers like sending email to them, merging customers, getting additional information about the customer using Directory Services.

The Customer Window, shown in FIGURES 21 and 34 gives a user access to detailed customer information - all at one place - in the Customer window. Here a user can view customer priority, address details, and more importantly, the entire history of a customer's interactions with all the aliases on the server a user is connecting to. The user can do the following from this workspace:

Search for a customer

View Columns in the Customer File

Find out the owner of a customer

Create a filter

Merge customers

Automatically retrieve customer information

The Reports Workspace

Reports workspace. The Reports Workspace, shown in FIGURE 22, 23, and 24 allows users to see current status and study parameters like traffic, and productivity. It also shows reports that enable analysis of trends in productivity, response times, productivity, type of queries being received and many more factors.

The Reports Workspace displays comprehensive, customized and attractive reports, based on several parameters. Reports can be quickly and easily generated showing everything from current snapshots of the system, to periodic status reports, and long-term trends on a variety of parameters. Easy export of data into Microsoft® Excel makes for even more advanced reporting.

Available report types include Current Snapshot, Periodic Status, and Trends. The reports give the status of cases, the operations carried out by different users, case operations within different categories, and statistics, such as the number of messages received within a particular period.

Current Snapshot Reports

The Current Snapshot report shown in FIGURE 22 illustrates the number of Open cases assigned to users monitoring the Sales alias. Periodic Status Report

The periodic status report, shown in FIGURE 23, tracks the category-wise responses sent from the Sales alias. It also indicates the number of first-time responses and the responses to follow- ups.

Trend Reports

The trend report, shown in FIGURE 24, depicts the time taken to close 50% of the cases received across aliases during the last three quarters.

No matter what type of report a user chooses, the method and system of our invention enables the following common operations across all types of reports:

Viewing a report in the tabular view

Sending a chart report

Exporting a report to Microsoft® Excel

Read and Write Windows

Reading mail and responding to customers involves using the Read and Reply windows. The following sections describe these windows. The Read Window

This window, shown in FIGURE 25, comprises the toolbar, Customer header, Case header, body of the case, and a Category pane.

The Category pane shows the categories that the case has been assigned to.The file attachments in a case are shown as icons. Attachments are listed at the end of each message, a user can open, save, and print an attachment from this window.

The tasks a user can carry out from this window include replying to the customer, adding comments, assigning the case to another user, referring a case to a Specialist, and marking the case as Resolved, a user can perform these tasks from the main menu or from the right-click menu. The Reply Window

This is where a user composes her responses. This window displays when a user selects Reply/Reply All from the Case menu.

After typing a user's response, the user can either send it to the customer or save the response without sending (if a user want to add more information or need to get it reviewed).

If a user choose to send a response, the message moves to the Outbox, and the Case goes into the

Resolved state (Case state) and Reply in Outbox state (Reply state).

Case Management

All messages and events pertaining to the same issue form a case. The e-services system and method of our invention groups or interleaves the message a customer sends, the actions (events) performed on the message (assign, reply, consult, comments, etc.), and any responses to the message, into a case. Any follow-up messages, the actions performed on them, as well as responses from the alias are also threaded into the case.

All messages in a case relate to the same issue or subject. The threading of messages and events into a case is done on the basis of the Subject line of the messages or the Case ID. The messages and events in a case are arranged in chronological order.

The Case ID is a unique number given to the first message from a customer, on an issue. This ID is inserted as a prefix in the subject line ofthe message. Subsequently, all messages with the same ID in the subject line are threaded into this case. If the customer changes the ID in the subject line or deletes it, will not be able to thread the message into the case. When cases are threaded on the Subject line, and if a customer changes the Subject line, will not be able to thread the message into the case and will instead create a case.

58. Threading

A case thread screen is shown in FIGURE 27. Threading messages and events into cases ensures quick access to the history of a customer problem. The case records all the actions taken on a message, as well as the names of the persons who performed them, thus enabling anyone to quickly track what exactly happened to a customer problem. The case states help users keep a tab on the actions taken on a case and indicates the future course of action required.

Threader. The Threader module is responsible for parsing each inbound message and deciding what to do with it. The Threader: 1. Creates a new case out ofthe message (assigning it a unique ticket number)

2. Adds the message to an existing case

3. Parses the message extracting all the structured data and then treat the message body as it would a regular message (as in the case of email originating from a web-form)

4. Parses the subject line to extract the information about URL Click-Throughs and update the relevant data in the database.

The Threader algorithm is as shown below:

Algorithm

While (messages remain to be threaded) Begin

1. If the subject line of the message contains the Magic Number corresponding to a URL-Click through message then

Begin

Parse the subject line for the information relating to the Outbound Mailer, Customer, and the URL

Update the database to reflect the information that the customer visited the web-site defined by the URL, by clicking on the URL in the outbound mailer.

Delete the email from the incoming message list Move to next message and Goto Start of loop

End 2 If the subject line of the message contains the Magic Number corresponding to structured-data (perhaps picked off a web-jorm) then

Begin

Parse the body of the message and extract the data corresponding to the various fields ofthe case or customer and the message body.

End

3. If the subject line contains a CaselD then

Begin Thread the case into the appropriate Case ID

(Exception cases: if the case is marked for deletion: Undelete the case and thread this message if the case does not exist (deleted and purged) - create a new case and assign a new CaselD

Delete the email from the incoming message list

Move to the next message and Goto Start of loop

End

4. (Note: The message gets to this point only if it does not have a CaselD) Apply a heuristic to decide which case to thread the message into. This heuristic tries to thread the case into an existing open case from the same customer, with the same subject line.

(Exception cases:

In case of multiple such messages, it picks the one that is latest

If no such case is found, then the Threader creates a new case and assigns a new CaselD

) 5. Delete this message from the list υj incoming messages

End

-

Case States

The Case Window is a method to present a single view of a case in a hybrid customer service environment. Again, the method and system of our invention defines a Case as the sequence of 0 messages exchanged between the Customer and the Service Organization, as also the audit trail of all the actions performed by the CSRs as part of the process of resolving the issue(s). Towards this end, The method and system of our invention provides a simple and intuitive UI that enables the CSRs to get a complete view of the issue, the steps taken to resolve the problem, as also information about the customer. 5

The various visual/informational components on the Case Read window, are

1. Customer Information. A snapshot of the important data about the customer, for example: the name, the email address, Priority of the customer, whether or not he's a new customer or a 0 repeat customer of standing. This view also allows the user to bring up a more detailed window which displays all the data stored in the database about this customer (see The Customer Read Window)

2. Case state information. The method and system of our invention's read window makes it 5 very easy to see the status of the case on multiple axes -

Open/Closed/Resolved/Expired

Reply In Progress/Reply In Outbox/Replied

Escalated/Escalation Resolved

0 3. Case history. The method and system of our invention provides an audit trail, in chronological order, of all the events in the lifetime of a case. Apart from giving a complete picture of the flow of information between the CSRs and the Customer, it also lets the CSRs see at a glance all the actions that have been taken towards the resolution, as also the information about who performed those actions and when they were performed.

3. Category information. The method and system of our invention allows the CSR's to define a set of categories to help classify the cases for easy retrieval and reference. In the Read Case window, The method and system of our invention shows you all the categories as a checklist making it very easy to both view the current categorization as well as to categorize/uncategorize the case.

4. Custom Properties defined for the case. The method and system of our invention allows an arbitrary number of parameters to be tagged on to cases in a queue. The Read Window provides an easy way to switch between the Categories Pane and the Properties Pane. Again, the UI for Properties makes it easy to view and modify the current set of values of the properties.

In addition to letting the user view all the data in one screen, the Read Window also makes is easy to perform ANY case operation.

The case states give a user an "at a glance" summary of the status of a customer's query. The states of a case indicate the actions that have been performed on it. A case can have three states: Case state, Consult state and Reply state. The state icons in the table view ofthe case workspaces clearly indicate the current status of a case. Below is a summary of the states and their values:

Examples for state changes

A case may take one or more states/values depending on the actions performed on it.

Example 1

A CSR has consulted a Specialist on a case:

Example 2

A CSR has saved a reply but not sent it, and then decided to consult a Specialist:

If a user's customer sends a follow-up message:

If a user^'s customer does not follow-up for the AutoClosed duration set in the Alias and I 'ser Manager:

Case state = Closed

If a user blocked email from a customer or if a user left a case unanswered for the duration set in the Alias and User Manager, then it is marked as AutoExpired.

A Case Read Window is shown in FIGURE 28. The Case header shown in FIGURE 29 displays information such as the Case ID, the user it is assigned to, the states, and the categories the case is categorized under. In addition, the Customer header in the Read window displays details regarding the customer who sent in the message. Click the Customer Information button on the case header to view customer history.

A user can add comments to a case so that a user can pass on any extra information regarding the issue when a user are assigning, forwarding, or consulting a specialist. These comments would help the users who actually respond to the customers.

The method and system of our invention allows a user to classify or file cases according to their content or based on the user who responded to them. This helps manage cases and offers another mechanism for quick case retrieval. Categories are alias specific.

A case can be assigned to more than one category. The category pane is shown in FIGURE 30. For example, a case can be assigned to various categories, including user specific and user defined categories, such as the categories "Fabric", "Pricing" and "Special offers".

Cases can inherit categories from the canned responses or cases a user use while replying to them. For instance, if a user use a canned response classified as "Personnel" as well as text from a case categorized as "HR" and "Contacts" in a user's response, then the case a user are replying to inherits to all the three categories - "Personnel", "HR" and "Contacts". Λ user can also set AutoCategoπ e rules so that cases are categorized on the basis o the user who responds to them. For example, a user can AutoCategorize all cases Steve replies to as " Hot Contacts".

Assigning a case

The Assign operation is used to distribute the workload amongst all the members of the alias. The Assign Dialog Box is shown in FIGURE 31 , This ensures there is no confusion regarding who handles each case in a group alias.

The method and system of our invention permits two types of case assignment: manual and automatic.

Cases can be manually assigned from the Mail Room if no AutoAssign option has been set in the Alias and User Manager. When a case is assigned from the Mail Room, it actually moves from the mailbox to the mail slot of the user it is assigned to. This user is responsible for resolving the issues raised in the case or for providing the information requested for. a user should preferably assign cases from the Mail Room, though a user may do so from any of the case workspaces.

If the Administrator had set an AutoAssign rule while creating the alias, then cases are assigned automatically.

Ensuring faster response times

Using a canned response. Canned responses are easily retrievable, ready-made answers to frequently asked questions, and help ensure faster response times while preventing the loss of information.

A user can include one or more canned responses in a user's response from the Reply, Forward and New Message windows. Canned responses can be textual (if typed directly or if copied and pasted in the given space) or file attachments (if created from existing files). The text articles are inserted into responses as text while the file-based articles are inserted as attachments.

To include a canned response in a user's reply, the user starts from the Reply Window, shown in FIGURE 32. In the Reply window, set the cursor position to where a user want to insert the canned response. Select Canned Response from the Insert menu. The Canned Responses dialog box is displayed (Figure 8). A paper clip icon next to an article indicates that the canned response is a file attachment.

Rapid Responses

Rapid responses are canned responses that a user can send at the single click of a button. Sending a rapid response is as easy as selecting the case in the table view, viewing the customer query in the Preview pane, and clicking the appropriate rapid response button.. Forwarding a case

A user may forward cases to other users or to people outside the system, to keep them informed about the progress on a case.

Advanced case operations The Advanced case operations are in specialized mail enhancements a user can use for ease and efficiency.

Logging a phone call

A CSR would need to do this if a customer made a telephone call or came personally to record a problem, or if the problem was sent through a faxed message or a letter.

Adding a request to a case

Though the e-services method and system of our invention predominantly relies on getting customer requests through email, a user can just as easily create a case or add a request to an existing one in the event of customer interaction over any other media. In fact, a user can receive a customer query through a telephone call or as a fax, or a letter, or even in person. In the course of the telephone call or during a user^'s interaction with the customer, a user may even end up solving the problem raised, allows a user to create a case from the information a user get and leave the case Open, or create a case and mark it as Resolved.

The user would add a request to an existing case if a customer communicates (using any of the above-mentioned media) regarding a case. For instance, a customer could have sent in a query but may not be able to access a user's response due to various reasons, a user would add these requests to a user's database to keep track of the requests and the status of the case.

While adding a request to a case, a user may also change the customer associated with the case. This may happen if another person from the organization follows up (through any of these media or over email).

Composing new mail

A user can compose and send mail from within Talisma, without threading the mail into a case, a user would probably need to use this feature to initiate a conversation with customers, send out newsletters, etc.

The method and system of our invention does not thread such mail into cases but just sends them out as a new message. However, if a user's customer replies to the message, the server component treats this as a new case, and threads the component messages and events into a case.

Consulting a specialist Specialists are persons who are not regular users (CSR's). This role is usually reserved for persons who have special expertise in an area or who have access to information that is not available to the users, a user would refer or escalate cases to Specialists only if a user is unable to find the solution a user's self. When a user consult a Specialist, the case remains assigned to a user but moves to the Sent to Specialist filter in the My Cases workspace. The Case state is Open and its Consult state is Consulting.

When the Specialist responds, the case moves to the 'Received from Specialist' filter in a user's My Cases workspace. All a user need do is reply to the customer after collating the information and formatting the message. When the Specialist responds, the Consult state changes to Specialist Responded. If a Specialist does not know the answer and comes back with a "sorry, do not know", then allows a user to consult another Specialist.

Consulting is a purely external operation. If a user wants an internal review, a user have to assign the case to the appropriate user.

Merging Cases A user may merge cases if a message has formed a new case instead of getting threaded into an existing case. This would happen if a user's customer changed or modified the case ID or Subject line while following up.

Splitting Cases The method and system of our invention allows a user to detach one or more messages and events from a case and create a separate case, a user would need to split a case if a message gets wrongly threaded into a case, or if a user's customer follows up with an additional query that's best solved by users on another alias. If this happens, a user would need to first split the case and then transfer the appropriate case.

Messages can be split from a case, provided they are from a valid customer. A user cannot split a case if it has a consult or reply event after the message from which a user want the split. All messages in the resulting case are arranged in chronological order. The new case takes the categories of the source case. All events, except the last assign, categorize and comments, are moved to the new case. Transferring a case

The method and system of our invention allows a user to transfer cases from one alias to another or from one alias to a specific user on another alias, a user would typically transfer cases from an alias if cases are sent to the wrong alias, a user may transfer cases to aliases that a user do not have permissions to monitor.

When a user transfer a case, a new case is created and sent to the mailbox (assigned to none) or the specific user (to whom a user assigned the case) on the destination alias. When a user transfer a case, its Case state changes to Open. Any categorize and uncategorize events in the original case are removed from the resulting case. This means that the case is not categorized in the destination alias. The priority of the case takes the priority of the customer who sent the case.

Managing a Customer Service Representative's Customers

A Customer Service Representative's customer is the most valuable asset to the Customer Service Representative's company, centers on customer service; its enhanced features allow a user to store and view, update, and modify customer information, a user can also view the history of a customer's interactions with the aliases. These details serve as a pointer on how a user need to handle a user's customers.

The Customer window

The e-service system and method of our invention gives a user access to detailed customer information - all at one place - in the Customer window. Here a user can view customer priority, address details, and more importantly, the entire history of a customer's interactions with all the aliases on the server a user is connecting to.

The Customer Service Representative can view information about a customer who corresponds with an alias that a user do not have access to, simply because the Customer database is shared by all aliases configured on a Server. The Customer Service Representative can also read customer related notes, which could have been jotted down by any user on any ofthe aliases. The Customer window comprises four tabs of information and a list box that lists all the cases sent by the customer to the aliases.

General - this tab displays the customer^'s name, priority. Reference ID, etc. If the Block customer email box is selected, it means that some user has blocked email from this customer. All mail sent by this customer will be automatically expired, a user can view the Expired cases by creating filters in the Filing Cabinet.

Case counts - here a user will find details pertaining to the cases sent to the various aliases, who owns the customer on each alias, when the customer last sent a case to the aliases, and the total number of cases sent to the aliases. Figure 25 shows the Case counts tab for the customer June

Gilian Brown. She has sent a total of 10 cases to the CustomerServ and Sales aliases. While no user owns this customer on the CustomerServ alias, Maureen owns this customer on the Sales alias.

June sent in her last message to the CustomerServ alias on 09/09/98 at 15:39 hours. The Sales alias last received a message from her on 09/28/98 at 17:26 hours.

June's Customer ID - 000-007 - is seen in the header area of this window. The three fields immediately below the Title bar are common across the four tabs. These fields display the customers' name, the Reference ID a user have accorded the customer (which could be a user's customer reference from a user's previous system), and the priority of the customer (priority could be Normal or High).

The Cases list box, positioned at the lower half of the window, lists all the ten cases initiated by the customer. Double clicking on any case opens it in the Read window and allows a user to view the history of the case, permits a user to perform any operation on the case, provided a user have permissions to monitor the alias. Most options in the Read window will appear disabled if a user are not a member ofthe corresponding alias. Viewing Customer histor - Customer history in comprises the following information:

The total number of cases received from that customer

The total number of cases received on each alias

The details of the cases logged in by that customer

The Reference ID, Customer ID, and priority of that customer

The user who owns that customer

Address information and other details.

Finding who owns a customer

The e-service system and method of our invention empowers users to own customers. This feature works only if the Preserve Customer - User relationship option is selected in the AutoAssign tab of the Alias and User Manager.

When a customer sends a message to the system for the first time, the case is assigned to a user - either manually or according to the AutoAssign rules set for a user's alias. Let's assume that the Preserve Customer - User relationship option is selected for the Sales alias.

Assume that John Smith's first case was assigned to a user (either manually or through an AutoAssign rule). Now, when a user reply to John Smith, a user assume ownership of this customer on a user's current alias. From now on, if John Smith sends mail to the alias, the mail is automatically assigned to you. a user are solely responsible for tracking the customer problem to closure, a user remain the owner of this customer until a user assign Ted (another user on a user's alias) a case from John Smith. Ted assumes ownership of the customer as soon as he replies to John Smith. From now on, all cases from John Smith are automatically assigned to Ted.

Adding a record to the Customer database When a new customer sends a request to a user's personal email address, or through a fax, letter, or telephone call a user can log the request as a case and the customer record to the Customer database, allows a user to add a new customer with the New Customer dialog box. However, do search the Customer database first to ensure that the customer does not already exist in the system.

Adding Custom Fields to the Customer database

The e-service system and method of our invention allows a user to add two fields to the Customer database. A user can thus customize the database to hold customer information that's specific to a user's organization. The Customer Service Representative can also build search conditions based on these fields.

Searching for Customers in the Customer Database

To search for customer records in the Customer File, a user needs to specify a set of search conditions using the Advanced Search Dialog Box shown in FIGURE 36. The user can refine a search by narrowing down the search conditions so that the search yields precise results. This is done by selecting a filter in the Filter field or defining the search condition in the respective fields on the left pane, select the Search in list radio button from the List creation options group to search in the list already displayed in the right pane, or selecting the Add to list radio button. The refined list is added to the current list displayed in the right pane.

When a user does not specify any search condition and does a Start Search, all the customers belonging to all group aliases are displayed in the right pane. But when a user search based on specific criteria, the customers displayed are specific to the current alias.

Categories Returning to the concept of categories, the e-service method and system of our invention allows a user to classify or file cases according to their content, etc. This helps manage cases and offers another mechanism for quick case retrieval, a user can easily track, sort, create filters for. and group cases. Categories are alias-specific.

A case can be assigned to more than one category. For example, a case can be assigned to the categories "Business", "Key Customer" and "Strategies". Cases can inherit categories from the canned responses or cases a user use while replying to them. For instance, if a user use an article classified as "Personnel" as well as a case categorized as "HR^" and "Contacts" in a user's response, then the case a user are replying to will be assigned to all three categories - "Personnel", "HR" and "Contacts".

A user can also set AutoCategorize rules so that cases are categorized on the basis of the user who responds to them. For example, a user can AutoCategorize all cases Steve replies to as "Hot Contacts". Likewise, a user can also create, rename, or delete categories. Categories can be created using the category manager shown in FIGURE 38.

Using Filters

The e-service method and system of our invention allows a user to create simple to fairly sophisticated search conditions to find one or more cases or customers, a user can save these search conditions so that there is no need of recreating them all over again. A saved search condition is called a filter. Filters are available in My Cases, Filing Cabinet, and the Customer File workspaces.

Filters can be alias specific. Each filter in My Cases and the Filing Cabinet retrieves cases for the current alias. However, when a user searches in the Customer File, customer records are retrieved from all the aliases on the server a user is connecting to. This is because the system maintains a common Customer database.

Filters are also workspace specific. For instance, a user creates the filter 'Finances' in the Filing Cabinet and 'Production' in the Customer File of the Sales alias. Now, when a user invoke the Filter Manager from the Customer File, a user will not see the 'Finances' filter. Similarly, a user will not see the 'Finances' or 'Production' filters in the CustomerServ alias.

Filters may also be user-specific; this means that a user cannot view filters created by other users. Pre-defined filters in My Cases

The My Cases workspace has a set of pre-defined filters. A user cannot delete or modify these filters. However, a user may create a search condition in this workspace and save it as a filter. The filters a user customize are arranged alphabetically, below the pre-defined filters. All filters in the My Cases workspace have their Base condition as (Assigned to me) and (Case state = Open or Resolved). This means that all cases in a user's My Cases workspace are assigned to a user and are either Open or Resolved.

Filters in the Filing Cabinet and Customer File The Filing Cabinet and Customer File do not display the filter list in the left pane. To view the filters in these workspaces, it is necessary to invoke the Filter Manager from the respective workspaces. The e-services system and method of our invention displays an English Representation for filters in the Filing Cabinet and Customer File. This is a string of text that is displayed on the status bar whenever a user specify a search condition. The English Representation remains in the status bar till a user specify a new search condition. Double-click the status bar to view the complete text of the search condition. To retrieve a list of cases or customers that satisfies a search condition, the user goes to the Filing Cabinet or Customer File, selects the filter corresponding to the saved search condition, and clicks Start Search. In the My Cases workspace, select the filter from the left pane to view the corresponding cases in the table view.

A user can create a filter from the New Filter dialog box shown in FIGURE 39. FIGURE 40 shows the left pane in the Filing Cabinet view to specify a search condition for a filter. FIGURE 41 shows the advanced search dialog box which allows a user to specify additional parameters for a search.

The Outbox Manager

The Outbox Manager shown in FIGURE 43 is a viewer to a user's outgoing mail queue. It gives a user a clear summary of all the mail going out of the system, the case states, who the message is addressed to, the subject of the message and other case details. The Outbox contains responses that were sent by users, but have not yet been dispatched to the mail server from the system. The Outbox Manager makes it possible for a user to retract a response if it needs to be modified or deleted.

Reports The e-services system and method of our invention includes a powerful reporting tool. This reporting tool creates, displays comprehensive, customized, and attractive reports on a variety of parameters, making this one of the most desirable features of the product. This workspace makes it easy for a user to track and report on the progress of work on the aliases. A user, manager, or CSR can choose to view the status of cases, the operations carried out by different users, case operations within different categories, and statistics, such as the number of messages received within a particular period.

The e-service system and method of our invention allows a user to generate several types of reports, including Current Snapshots, Periodic Status Reports, and Trend Reports.

The Current Snapshot Reports, shown in FIGURE 44, is displayed by default when a user switches to the Reports workspace. Current Snapshot Reports track the Open cases owned by different users on a particular alias, or the total number of Open cases across the aliases. These reports tell a user how many cases are open, how many cases are assigned to a particular user, and so on, depending on the parameters specified. A user would need to view a Current

Snapshot report if a user were monitoring either a single alias or all aliases in the system and want to know the productivity status of each user, a user can decide to balance the workload accordingly.

Periodic Status Reports, as shown in FIGURE 45, are a set of reports that a user can view for nine different time-periods.

Each report displays the data a user require on cases and case operations, for the time period specified. Trend Reports, shown in FIGURE 46. display data relevant for very long periods of time. These reports track the category-wise productivity of a user or alias for the last year, last five years, etc. This data is useful while making management and policy decisions.

When a user chooses to view a Trend Report, the Reports workspace displays a left pane; the report is displayed in the right window. The left pane displays the live aliases configured in the system. If a user select the All option in the Group Alias list, displays all the 'live' aliases in the system.

Notifications

Notifications are messages that alert a user about an event that may require immediate action (reply to a High Priority case or logging out).

The type of notification a user receives depends on the option a user set for each event that she can be notified on. The user may choose to be notified by a beep, a message box, a brief change of the cursor, or an icon in the system tray. The server also sends notifications before deleting an alias, or when the server is being shutdown. The system has two types of notifications - System defined and User defined notifications.

Tracking URL Click Through

The method and system of our invention includes the steps of and the system for tracing URL click through and tracking the click through rate of a URL in a textual email message.

The method and system of our invention includes an Outbound Mailer feature that makes it easy for CSRs to send out mailers to customers informing them about new deals, products, services or direct them to sources of interest. Given that the web allows publishing of information in a richer manner/format than plain email, such e-mailers typically contain such information as a brief of the offer/product/service, and a link to a web-site that will provide Customer more information The number of people who visited the web-site by followed the Universal Resource Locator (URL) embedded in the mailer is a good indicator of the success of the mailer/campaign or the aptness of the content/message. The method and system of our invention provides a unique mechanism to track customer click-throughs to web-sites, from links embedded in Outbound Mailers.

The Algorithm of this click through system is illustrated with a scenario where ABC Coφoration, uses the method and system of our invention to send out a mailer, called Offerl , to 10,000 customers, and, in particular Customer XYZ. ABC provides more information about the offer, on their website - http://www.abc.com/offerl .htm. The method and system of our invention requires ABC Coφoration to set up another web-page (let's say http://www.abc.com/refer.htm ), that is basically an ASP script that accepts the following parameters:

Outbound Mailer ID (Offer 1 )

Customer information (Customer XYZ).

The URL of the site which has the information (in this case http://www.abc.com/offerl .htm )

The email address of the alias from which the Outbound Mailer was sent (sales@abc.com)

This ASP script:

1. Sends an email to the alias (sales@abc.com) with a Magic Number on the Subject line, along with the following parameters - Outbound Mailer ID, Customer ID, and URL of the site visited, and

2. Re-directs the user automatically to the site http://www.abc.com/offer 1.htm

The Threader picks each incoming message, parses the Subject line, and takes special action when it discovers that the Subject line contains the Magic Number indicating that this message was generated because of a click-through on a URL. When the Threader finds the Magic number on the Subject line, the Threader picks up the other three pieces of information from the subject line and logs data in the The method and system of our invention Database to indicate that Customer XYZ, visited the URL http://ww v.abc.com/offerl .htm, from the Outbound Mailer, Offerl .

The threader handles the following situations:

Multiple URLs in the same Outbound Mailer. Multiple URLs are often embedded in the same mailer (directing the customer to different sites , for example - one URL for the Jazz selections, and one for the R&B selections). Since he method and system of our invention tracks which

URL in an Outbound Mailer was clicked on, it can keep track of this and give the organization valuable input about which of its offerings was more popular/appreciated.

Same URL referred to by Multiple Outbound Mailers._Since The method and system of our invention keeps track of which Outbound Mailer the customer jumped to this web-site from, it is possible to track response across Mailers and see which was better received by the customers.

Reporting The method and system of our invention is able to use the Threader data to generate many kinds of reports, in particular reports that show, for example, the number of customers who followed the links in a mailer .vs. the total intended audience, the distribution of click-throughs across all the URLs mentioned in a mailer, and the distribution of click-throughs across mailers.

While the invention has been described with respect to certain preferred exemplifications and embodiments thereof, it is not intended to be limited thereby, but solely by the claims appended hereto.

Claims

CLAIMS /We claim:

1. A method of processing e-mail comprising the steps of: a. receiving an e-mail message; b. storing the e-mail message in a relational database, c. parsing the contents of the e-mail message, and d. assigning values to corresponding fields of the relational database based upon the parsed contents ofthe e-mail message, thereby generating a case based upon the message.

2. The method of claim 1 comprising assigning a case to a customer service representative based upon contents of one or more fields of the relational database.

3. The method of claim 1 comprising ordering cases based upon of at least two field of the relational database.

4. The method of claim 3 comprising ordering cases based upon a field of the relational database showing customer service representative ownership, and a field ofthe relational database showing business process status.

5. The method of claim 1 comprising searching the database using filter based queries.

6. The method of claim 1 comprising showing originator data, and state information for a case.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the state of a case is chosen from the group consisting of open, closed, resolved, expired, reply in progress, reply in outbox, replied, escalated, and escalation resolved.

8. The method of claim 6 comprising showing a case history.

9. The method of claim 1 comprising parsing an inbound message to do one or more of: a. creating a new case; b. adding the message to an existing case; c. retrieving structured data; and d. extracting information about URL click throughs.

10. The method of claim 9 comprising parsing the incoming message to determine if the incoming message contains code indicating that the message was generated by a click through on a URL.

1 1. The method of claim 10 comprising sending an outbound e-mail message to an addressee, said outbound e-mail containing a. an outbound mailer ID, b. a customer ID, c. the URL of a site to which the addressee is to respond, d. a click through to the URL, and wherein said return message from the customer contains code which indicates that the message was generated by a click through on the included URL.

12. A method of processing e-mail comprising the steps of: a. receiving an inbound e-mail message; b. storing the e-mail message in a relational database, c. parsing the contents ofthe e-mail message, d. assigning values to corresponding fields of the relational database based upon the parsed contents ofthe e-mail message, thereby generating a case based upon the message, and e. extracting information about URL click throughs from the inbound e-mail.

13. The method of claim 12 in which the parsing steps includes determining if the incoming message contains code indicating that the message was generated by a click through on a URL.

14. The method ot claim 13 comprising sending an outbound e-mail message to an addressee, said outbound e-mail containing a. an outbound mailer ID, b. a customer ID, c. the URL of a site to which the addressee is to respond, d. a click through to the URL, and wherein said return message from the customer contains code indicates that the message was generated by a click through on the included URL.

15. A system for processing e-mail, said system comprising computer readable program code residing on one or more computers, said computer readable program code adapted to carry out the steps of: a. receiving an e-mail message; b. storing the e-mail message in a relational database, c. parsing the contents of the e-mail message, and d. assigning values to corresponding fields of the relational database based upon the parsed contents of the e-mail message, thereby generating a case based upon the message.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein said system is configured to assign a case to a customer service representative based upon contents of one or more fields of the relational database.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein said system is configured to order cases based upon at least two fields of the relational database.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said system is configured to order cases based upon a field of the relational database showing customer service representative ownership, and a field of the relational database showing business process status.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein said system is configured to search the database using filter based queries.

20. The system of claim 15 wherein said system is configured to show originator data, and state information for a case.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the state of a case is chosen from the group consisting of open, closed, resolved, expired, reply in progress, reply in outbox, replied, escalated, and escalation resolved.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein said system is configured to show a case history.

23. The system of claim 15 wherein said system is configured to parse an inbound message to do one or more of: a. creating a new case; b. adding the message to an existing case; c. retrieving structured data; and d. extracting information about URL click throughs.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein said system is configured to parse the incoming message to determine if the incoming message contains code indicating that the message was generated by a click through on a URL.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the system is configured to send an outbound e-mail message to an addressee, said outbound e-mail containing a. an outbound mailer ID, b. a customer ID, c. the URL of a site to which the addressee is to respond, d. a click through to the URL, and wherein said return message from the customer contains code indicates that the message was generated by a click through on the included URL.

26. A system for processing e-mail, said system comprising computer readable program code residing on one or more computers, said computer readable program code adapted to carry out the steps of: a. receiving an e-mail message; b. storing the e-mail message in a relational database, c. parsing the contents ofthe e-mail message, d. assigning values to corresponding fields of the relational database based upon the parsed contents of the e-mail message, thereby generating a case based upon the message, and e. extracting information about URL click throughs from the inbound e-mail.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the parsing step includes parsing the incoming message to determine if the incoming message contains code indicating that the message was generated by a click through on a URL.

28. The system of claim 26 wherein the system is configured to send an outbound e-mail message to an addressee, said outbound e-mail containing a. an outbound mailer ID, b. a customer ID, c. the URL of site to which the address is to respond, d. a click through to the URL, and wherein said return message from the customer contains code indicates that the message was generated by a click through on the included URL.