Monitoring a response time for a user request
A processing system allows for the monitoring of user requests such that a response may be provided within a defined maximum processing time (MPT). The user request relating to issues or concerns with a product or application/usage of the product is received through an input portal, such as a web site. The user request is assigned a response time, typically based on the type of request, where the response time indicates a preferred guideline for how quickly an assistant should provide a response. Once the request has been assigned to an assistant, a notification is generated to inform the assistant about the user request and the corresponding deadline for response. At a pre-determined time prior to the expiration of the response time, it is determined if the response has been provided. If the response has not been provided, a reminder is generated to inform the assistant of the pending deadline.
1. An apparatus for monitoring a timely response to a user request, the apparatus comprising:
a processing device operative to:
receive the user request;
determine request factors from the user request;
submit a search request based on the request factors to a response time database, wherein the database includes various response times associated with different inquiries where the response times are set by a governing standard relating to customer support guidelines;
assign a response time to the user request from the response time database;
generate a notification including the user request and a deadline based on the response time; and
assign the notification to an assistant to respond to the user request from a plurality of assistants based at least on one of: the assistant's availability, the assistant's experience level, and the assistant's seniority;
an output device coupled to the processing device for receiving and displaying the notification; and
the processing device further operative to:
prior to the expiration of the response time, determine if the user request has been processed; and
generate a reminder if the request has not been processed; and
a routing device operative to route the notification to the assistant.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
an input device operative to receive the user request from an input portal and
provide the user request to the processing device.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a request queue coupled to the processing device such that the user request is stored in the request queue.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the request queue includes a plurality of user requests each having response times such that the users requests are stored in the queue based on the corresponding response times.
5. A computer-implemented method for monitoring a timely response to a user request, the method comprising:
determining by a processing device request factors from the user request;
submitting by the processing device a search request based on the request factors to a response time database, wherein the database includes various response times associated with different inquiries where the response times are set by a governing standard relating to a customer support guidelines;
assigning by the processing device a response time to the user request from the response time database;
assigning by the processing device the user request and associated response time to an assistant to respond to the user request from a plurality of assistants based at least on one of: the assistant's availability, the assistant's experience level, and the assistant's seniority;
notifying by an output device the assistant of the user request and a deadline based on the response time;
at a pre-determined time prior to the expiration of the response time, determining by the processing device if the user request has been processed; and
if the request has not been processed, reminding by the output device the assistant of the user request and the deadline.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 further comprising:
if the request has not been processed at a preset time prior to the expiration of the response time, distributing by the processing device the user request to a second assistant.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 further comprising:
receiving by the processing device the user request and the deadline in a remote processing system; and
writing by the processing device the user request to a request queue.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 further comprising:
writing by the processing device the response time to a calendar application.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 wherein the request queue includes a plurality of user requests having different response times, the method further comprising:
sorting by the processing device the user requests based on the response times.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 further comprising:
receiving the user request from an input portal; and
processing by the processing device the user request to determine a request subject.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 further comprising:
assigning by the processing device the response time to the user request based on the request subject.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 further comprising:
assigning by the processing device the user request to the assistant based on the request subject.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 further comprising:
prior to distributing the user request to an assistant, displaying the user request in a central display location;
receiving by the processing device an assignment requests from assistant.