Systems and Methods for Providing Customer Support

Abstract

The disclosed customer support methods and systems allow customers to request and receive product-specific support from service providers. The embodiments facilitate support interactions between such customers and providers by allowing providers to provide on-demand and/or scheduled support services to customers via various communication channels, displaying product-specific communications and resources to customers, and/or allowing customers and providers to access past support interactions.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 storing, by a server, in a database, a plurality of customers, each customer associated with customer information;   storing, by the server, in the database, a plurality of providers, each provider associated with provider information;   receiving, by the server, a demo creation request associated with demo information comprising:
 a selected customer from the plurality of customers; 
 a selected provider from the plurality of providers; and 
 a selected date/time; 
   creating, by the server, a demo event comprising the demo information;   storing, by the server, in the database, the demo event;   transmitting, by the server, to a provider device associated with the selected provider, the demo event;   transmitting, by the server, to a client device associated with the selected customer, the demo event;   transmitting, by the server, to the provider device, a demo notification before the selected date/time;   receiving, by the server, from a confirmed provider, a demo confirmation,
 wherein the confirmed provider comprises the selected provider or a different provider of the plurality of providers; and 
   connecting, by the server, the confirmed provider to the selected customer at the selected date/time to thereby facilitate a live video call between the confirmed provider and the selected customer.   
     
     
         2 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the server, from the provider device, a first rescheduling request,
 wherein the first rescheduling request comprises an updated date/time; and 
   updating, by the server, the selected date/time associated with the demo event to the updated date/time before said transmitting the demo event to the client device.   
     
     
         3 . A method according to  claim 2 , further comprising:
 upon said transmitting the demo event to the client device, receiving, from the client device, a second rescheduling request,
 wherein the second rescheduling request comprises a second updated date/time; 
   updating, by the server, the selected date/time associated with the demo event to the second updated date/time; and   providing, by the server, the demo event to the provider device.   
     
     
         4 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining that the demo confirmation has not been received from the selected provider; and   transmitting, by the server, a transfer notification to one or more potential providers of the plurality of providers,   wherein the confirmed provider is one of the potential providers.   
     
     
         5 . A method according to  claim 4 , wherein the demo confirmation is not received from the selected provider within at least a predetermined amount of time before the selected date/time. 
     
     
         6 . A method according to  claim 4 , wherein the one or more potential providers comprises each of the plurality of providers. 
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 4 , wherein the transfer notification comprises some or all of the demo information. 
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising providing, by the server, to the confirmed provider, the customer information associated with the selected customer. 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the confirmed provider is the selected provider. 
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 9 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the server, from the provider device, a live video feed captured by a camera of the provider device; and   transmitting, by the server, to the client device, the live video feed.   
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 10 , further comprising:
 recording, by the server, the live video feed;   storing, by the server, in the database, the recorded live video feed; and   providing, by the server, to the client device, the recorded live video feed.   
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the customer information associated with the selected customer comprises identification information, contact information and a product that is itself associated with product information. 
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 12 , wherein the product is a vehicle and the associated product information comprises one or more of a make, a model, a year and a vehicle identification number (“VIN”) of the vehicle. 
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 1 , wherein the provider information associated with the selected provider comprises one or more of: a name of the selected provider, an organization with which selected provider is associated, and a location at which the selected provider provides support services. 
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the server, from the client device, a rating relating to the confirmed provider. 
     
     
         16 . A system comprising:
 a plurality of client devices, each device associated with one of a plurality of customers;   a plurality of provider devices, each device associated with one of a plurality of providers; and   a server in communication with the plurality of client devices and the plurality of provider devices via a network, the server comprising:
 a memory storing:
 customer information associated with each of the plurality of customers; and 
 provider information associated with each of the plurality of providers; and 
 
 a processor adapted to:
 receive a demo creation request associated with demo information comprising:
 a selected customer from the plurality of customers; 
 a selected provider from the plurality of providers; and 
 a selected date/time; 
 
 create a demo event comprising the demo information; 
 transmit the demo event to a selected provider device associated with the selected provider; 
 transmit the demo event to a selected client device associated with the selected customer; 
 transmit a demo notification to the selected provider device before the selected date/time; 
 receive a demo confirmation from the selected provider device; and 
 connect the selected provider device to the selected client device via the network to thereby facilitate a live video call between the selected provider and the selected customer. 
 
   
     
     
         17 . A system according to  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further adapted to:
 receive a first rescheduling request from the selected provider device,
 wherein the first rescheduling request comprises an updated date/time; and 
   update the selected date/time associated with the demo event to the updated date/time before said transmitting the demo event to the selected client device.   
     
     
         18 . A system according to  claim 17 , wherein the processor is further adapted to:
 receive a second rescheduling request from the selected client device,
 wherein the second rescheduling request comprises a second updated date/time; 
   update the selected date/time associated with the demo event to the second updated date/time; and   provide the demo event to the selected provider device.   
     
     
         19 . A system according to  claim 16 , wherein the processor is further adapted to:
 receive, from the selected provider device, a video feed captured by a camera of the selected provider device; and   transmit the video feed to the selected client device.   
     
     
         20 . A system according to  claim 19 , wherein the processor is further adapted to:
 record the video feed; and   provide the recorded video feed to the client device.