Triggering and conducting an automated survey

Abstract

Systems and methods for initiating and conducting an automated survey are disclosed herein. According to some implementations, a computer-readable medium may be encoded with computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions includes logic adapted to receive a notification of the occurrence of a trigger event associated with a service performed for a customer. The computer-executable instructions further include logic adapted, in response to receiving the notification, to initiate an automated survey to be offered to a survey recipient. Additional logic is adapted to conduct the automated survey. The instructions also include logic adapted to receive survey result information from the survey recipient in response to the automated survey.

1 . A computer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising:
 logic adapted to receive a notification of the occurrence of a trigger event associated with a service performed for a customer;   logic adapted, in response to receiving the notification, to initiate an automated survey to be offered to a survey recipient;   logic adapted to conduct the automated survey; and   logic adapted to receive survey result information from the survey recipient in response to the automated survey.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the customer and the survey recipient are the same. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the trigger event is a completion of the service performed for the customer. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the logic adapted to receive the notification of the occurrence of the trigger event receives the notification from a servicer indicating that the service performed for the customer has been completed, the servicer being an individual or team responsible for performing the service for the customer. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein logic adapted to receive the notification of the occurrence of the trigger event receives the notification from a location tracking device indicating that a servicer has left the vicinity of the customer's premises. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the logic adapted to initiate the automated survey is further adapted to create a survey record, the survey record configured to store the survey result information. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 6 , wherein the logic adapted to initiate the automated survey further comprises:
 logic adapted to place a plurality of survey records in a survey scheduling queue; and   logic adapted to poll the survey scheduling queue on a periodic basis to detect new survey records.   
     
     
         8 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 logic adapted to receive contact information associated with the survey recipient; and   logic adapted to use the contact information when initiating the automated survey.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the logic adapted to initiate the automated survey is further adapted to call a telephone number associated with the survey recipient. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the logic adapted to initiate the automated survey is further adapted to wait a predetermined length of time before calling the telephone number. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the predetermined length of time is greater than about five minutes and less than about one hour. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the logic adapted to conduct the automated survey is further adapted to play recorded survey questions. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the logic adapted to receive survey result information is further adapted to receive numeric answers to the survey questions. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 13 , wherein the logic adapted to receive survey result information is further adapted to receive the numeric answers via a telephone communication channel. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the logic adapted to receive survey result information is further adapted to:
 receive a voice message from the survey recipient; and   digitally record the voice message.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 logic adapted to digitally record a plurality of voice scripts;   logic enabling a user to select one or more of the voice scripts to be combined into the automated survey; and   logic enabling the user to arrange the voice scripts in a specific order.   
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein each voice script is a survey question or a statement. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 logic enabling the user to enter a number of acceptable answers for each voice script that is a survey question.   
     
     
         19 . A computer implemented method comprising:
 receiving a notification of the occurrence of a trigger event associated with a service performed for a customer;   in response to receiving the notification, initiating an automated survey to be offered to a survey recipient;   conducting the automated survey; and   receiving survey result information from the survey recipient in response to the automated survey.   
     
     
         20 . The computer implemented method of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the notification of the occurrence of the trigger event is received from a servicer indicating that the service performed for the customer has been completed; and   the servicer is an individual or team responsible for performing the service for the customer.   
     
     
         21 . The computer implemented method of  claim 19 , further comprising receiving contact information associated with the survey recipient, wherein initiating the automated survey further comprises:
 waiting a length of time greater than about five minutes and less than about one hour; and   calling a telephone number associated with the survey recipient.   
     
     
         22 . The computer implemented method of  claim 19 , wherein receiving survey result information further comprises:
 receiving a voice message from the survey recipient; and   digitally recording the voice message.   
     
     
         23 . An automated survey system comprising:
 an interface device configured to receive a notification of the occurrence of a trigger event associated with a service performed for a customer; and   a processing device associated with a computer system, the processing device configured to initiate an automated survey to be offered to a survey recipient in response to receiving the notification;   wherein the processing device is further configured to conduct the automated survey via the interface device and receive survey result information from the survey recipient in response to the automated survey.   
     
     
         24 . The automated survey system of  claim 23 , further comprising a memory device configured to store a survey program configured to instruct the processing device regarding initiating and conducting the automated survey. 
     
     
         25 . The automated survey system of  claim 24 , wherein the survey program comprises at least a survey triggering module and a survey conducting module. 
     
     
         26 . The automated survey system of  claim 25 , wherein the survey program further comprises a survey assembling module, the survey assembling module configured to:
 digitally record a plurality of voice scripts;   enable a user to select one or more of the voice scripts to be combined into the automated survey; and   enable the user to arrange the voice scripts in a specific order.   
     
     
         27 . The automated survey system of  claim 24 , wherein the memory device further comprises a database for storing one or more types of information selected from the group consisting of order information, customer information, delivery information, survey scripts, a survey scheduling queue, survey result information, and voice message information.