Granted Patent B2

US 8,831,965 · App. 12/270,460 · Granted Sep 9, 2014

Abstract

Claims (58)

1. A method, comprising:

identifying, via a computing device, a list of a plurality of service seekers, each respective service seeker of the service seekers having previously received a service from a particular service provider, as identified from at least one service transaction record stored in a service transaction record database for at least one service transaction between the respective service seeker and the particular service provider;

presenting a single user interface to the particular service provider, the single user interface including:

the list of the service seekers;

first user interface elements to select a subset of the service seekers; and

at least one second user interface element selectable to activate at least one command;

receiving, from the particular service provider using the first user interface elements in the single user interface, a selection of at least one service seeker having previously received a service from the particular service provider; and

in response to receiving an activation of the command, processing the at least one service seeker to manage communications between the at least one service seeker and the particular service provider according to the command.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing of the at least one service seeker comprises blocking the at least one service seeker from contacting the service provider.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing of the at least one service seeker comprises providing the service provider a process to contact the at least one service seeker.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one service seeker includes a plurality of service seekers; and services received from the particular service provider comprise advice.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

presenting a listing of the particular service provider to service seekers;

in response to a first service seeker selecting the listing, providing a communication connection between the first service seeker and the particular service provider; and

charging the first service seeker on behalf of the particular service provider for a service provided by the particular service provider over the communication connection.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the providing of the communication connection comprises:

establishing a first phone connection to the first service seeker;

establishing a second phone connection to the particular service provider; and

connecting the first phone connection and the second phone connection to connect the first service seeker and the particular service provider.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first phone connection comprises a first phone call; the second phone connection comprises a second phone call; and connecting the first phone connection and the second phone connection comprises conferencing the first phone call and the second phone call.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

keeping track of time spent on the communication connection between the first service seeker and the particular service provider.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining an identification of the particular service provider based on a request received from the service provider;

wherein the user interface is presented based on the identification of the particular service provider determined based on the request received from the particular service provider.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the determining of the identification of the particular service provider comprises:

receiving a selection of a link from the service provider, after authentication of the service provider.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein services provided by the particular service provider are at least one of: live advice provided over a phone, recorded audio advice provided over a phone, and written advice provided via electronic mail.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sorting the list of service seekers according to a date of contact with the particular service provider.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the at least one second user interface element includes at least one link associated with the at least one command.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

identifying at least one of the service seekers as a potential repeat customer according to pre-determined criteria.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

providing an alert to the particular service provider for the potential repeat customer.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

notifying the particular service provider to initiate contact with the potential repeat customer.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

assigning the at least one service seeker to a category.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions configured to instruct a computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:

identifying a list of a plurality of service seekers of a particular service provider based on records stored in a transaction database, wherein the transaction database stores records of service transactions between respective service seekers and respective service providers, including the particular service provider;

presenting a single user interface to the particular service provider, the single user interface including:

the list of the plurality of service seekers of the particular service provider;

first user interface elements to select a subset of the service seekers; and

at least one second user interface element selectable to activate at least one command;

receiving, from the particular service provider using the first user interface elements in the single user interface, a selection of at least one service seeker;

in response to receiving an activation of the command using the second user interface element, processing the at least one service seeker to manage communications between the at least one service seeker and the particular service provider according to the command.

19. A system, comprising:

a processor configured to identify a list of a plurality of service seekers, each respective service seeker of the service seekers having previously received a service from a service provider, as identified from at least one service transaction record stored in a service transaction record database for at least one service transaction between the respective service seeker and the particular service provider; and

a communication device configured to present a single user interface to the particular service provider, the single user interface including:

the list of the service seekers;

first user interface elements to select a subset of the service seekers; and

at least one second user interface element selectable to activate at least one command;

wherein the communication device is further configured to receive, from the particular service provider using the first user interface elements in the single user interface, a selection of at least one service seeker; and

wherein the processor is further configured to, in response to receiving an activation of the command, process the at least one service seeker to manage communications between the at least one service seeker and the particular service provider according to the command.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the processor is further configured to identify at least one service seeker as a potential repeat customer; and the communication device is further configured to provide an alert to the particular service provider for the potential repeat customer.

21. The system of claim 19 , further comprising:

the service transaction record database storing records of service transactions between respective service seekers and respective service providers, including the particular service provider.

Assignments (38)