IP Library Granted Patent US 12,323,375
Granted Patent B2
US 12,323,375 · App. 17/508,872 · Granted Jun 3, 2025

Contextual communication routing methods and systems

Inventors: Gabor Angeli (Redwood City, CA); Pei Xuan Lee (Burlingame, CA); Jason Purdy (Alameda, CA)
Assignee: Block, Inc.
H04L51/214G06F16/90332G06F40/289G06F40/30G06Q10/1095
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,323,375
App. No.
17/508,872
Filed
Oct 22, 2021
Granted
Jun 3, 2025
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2441
USPC
709/206
Abstract

Contextual routing and/or management of communications is described. Server(s) of service provider can receive a first communication via a first communication channel. The first communication can be associated with a first service offered by the service provider and with a merchant identifier of a merchant that is an intended recipient of the first communication. The server(s) can generate, based at least partly on context data associated with the first communication, a recommendation for the merchant to respond via (i) a second communication channel that is different than the first communication channel and/or (ii) a second service that is different than the first service. The server(s) can cause the first communication and the recommendation to be presented via a consolidated communication user interface of a computing device of the merchant that presents (i) the first communication and (ii) a second communication between the merchant and a second customer of the merchant.

Claims (82)

1. A computer implemented method comprising:

receiving, from a computing device of a customer, a first communication via a first communication channel, wherein the first communication is associated with a service offered by a service provider, wherein the first communication is associated with a merchant identifier of a merchant, and wherein the first communication channel comprises email communication, text communication, first-party application communication, or third-party application communication;

determining context data associated with the first communication;

determining, based at least in part on the context data, that the first communication is associated with a transaction;

automatically switching, based at least in part on the context data, from the first communication channel to a second communication channel, the second communication channel being a different one of the email communication, the text communication, the first-party application communication, or the third-party application communication than the first communication channel; and

generating a second communication to be sent to the customer via the second communication channel, wherein the second communication is associated with a mechanism to facilitate the transaction with the merchant identified by the merchant identifier.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the context data is determined based at least in part on analyzing the first communication using at least one of natural language processing, image processing, or a machine-trained model, wherein the machine-trained model is trained based at least in part on analyzing previous communications transmitted by the service provider.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying one or more items associated with the first communication;

determining that a confidence score associated with the one or more items is above a threshold; and

sending the second communication to the computing device of the customer.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying one or more items associated with the first communication;

determining that a confidence score associated with the one or more items is below a threshold; and

populating a virtual cart associated with the customer with the one or more items.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying the first communication as high priority; and

causing presentation of the first communication on a consolidated user interface, the first communication being presented as high priority.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending the second communication to the computing device of the customer;

receiving information associated with the transaction;

determining, based on the information, that the transaction was completed using the mechanism associated with the second communication; and

updating a checkout model associated with the second communication based at least in part on determining the transaction was completed using the mechanism associated with the second communication.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending the second communication to the computing device of the customer;

receiving information associated with the transaction;

determining, based on the information, that the transaction was completed using a different mechanism than the mechanism associated with the second communication; and

updating a checkout model associated with the second communication based at least in part on determining the transaction was completed using the different mechanism.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the context data is associated with at least one of a date associated with the first communication, a time associated with the first communication, a topic associated with the first communication, content of the first communication, a merchant preference of the merchant, a customer preference of the customer, the first communication channel, or the service.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating, based at least in part on the context data and in response to receiving the first communication, a recommendation for the merchant to respond via the second communication channel, the second communication channel being associated with a customer identifier,

wherein generating the second communication is based at least in part on the recommendation.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the context data is determined based at least in part on analyzing the first communication using a machine-trained model; and

the computer implemented method further comprises:

sending the second communication to the computing device of the customer;

determining that the transaction was completed using the mechanism associated with the second communication; and

retraining the machine-trained model based at least in part on determining the transaction was completed using the mechanism associated with the second communication.

11. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a computing device of a customer, a first communication via a first communication channel, wherein the first communication is associated with a service offered by a service provider, wherein the first communication is associated with a merchant identifier of a merchant, and wherein the first communication channel comprises email communication, text communication, first-party application communication, or third-party application communication;

determining context data associated with the first communication;

determining, based at least in part on the context data, that the first communication is associated with a transaction;

automatically switching, based at least in part on the context data, from the first communication channel to a second communication channel, the second communication channel being a different one of the email communication, the text communication, the first-party application communication, or the third-party application communication than the first communication channel; and

generating a second communication to be sent to the customer via the second communication channel, wherein the second communication is associated with a mechanism to facilitate the transaction with the merchant identified by the merchant identifier.

12. The system of claim 11 , the operations further comprising:

determining that the first communication is associated with the transaction based at least in part on a confidence score being above a threshold; and

sending the second communication to the computing device of the customer.

13. The system of claim 11 , the operations further comprising:

identifying one or more items associated with the first communication;

determining that a confidence score associated with the one or more items is below a threshold; and

populating a virtual cart associated with the customer with the one or more items.

14. The system of claim 11 , the operations further comprising:

identifying the first communication as high priority; and

causing presentation of the first communication on a consolidated user interface, the first communication being presented as high priority.

15. The system of claim 11 , the operations further comprising:

generating, based at least in part on the context data and in response to receiving the first communication, a recommendation for the merchant to respond via the second communication channel, the second communication channel being associated with a customer identifier; and

wherein generating the second communication is based at least in part on the recommendation.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein:

the context data is determined based at least in part on analyzing the first communication using a machine-trained model; and

the operations further comprise:

sending the second communication to the computing device of the customer;

determining that the transaction was completed using the mechanism associated with the second communication; and

retraining the machine-trained model based at least in part on determining the transaction was completed using the mechanism associated with the second communication.

17. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a computing device of a customer, a first communication via a first communication channel, wherein the first communication is associated with a service offered by a service provider, wherein the first communication is associated with a merchant identifier of a merchant, and wherein the first communication channel comprises email communication, text communication, first-party application communication, or third-party application communication;

determining context data associated with the first communication;

determining, based at least in part on the context data, that the first communication is associated with a transaction;

automatically switching, based at least in part on the context data, from the first communication channel to a second communication channel, the second communication channel being a different one of the email communication, the text communication, the first-party application communication, or the third-party application communication than the first communication channel; and

generating a second communication to be sent to the customer via the second communication channel, wherein the second communication is associated with a mechanism to facilitate the transaction with the merchant identified by the merchant identifier.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17 , the operations further comprising:

sending the second communication to the computing device of the customer;

receiving information associated with the transaction;

determining, based on the information, that the transaction was completed using the mechanism associated with the second communication; and

updating a checkout model associated with the second communication based at least in part on determining the transaction was completed using the mechanism associated with the second communication.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17 , the operations further comprising:

sending the second communication to the computing device of the customer;

receiving information associated with the transaction;

determining, based on the information, that the transaction was completed using a different mechanism than the mechanism associated with the second communication; and

updating a checkout model associated with the second communication based at least in part on determining the transaction was completed using the different mechanism.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 17 , wherein the context data is determined based at least in part on analyzing the first communication using at least one of natural language processing, image processing, or a machine-trained model, wherein the machine-trained model is trained based at least in part on analyzing previous communications transmitted by the service provider.