IP Library Granted Patent US 10,552,845
Granted Patent B1
US 10,552,845 · App. 15/997,875 · Granted Feb 4, 2020

Providing data messaging support by intercepting and processing received short message service (SMS) messages at a customer support service

Inventors: Adam Caldwell (Omaha, NE); Jeffrey William Cordell (Omaha, NE); James K. Boutcher (Omaha, NE)
Assignee: West Corporation
G06Q30/016H04L51/02H04L51/18H04M3/5183H04W4/14
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,552,845
App. No.
15/997,875
Granted
Feb 4, 2020
Kind
B1
Abstract

A message receiving, intercepting and processing method and corresponding application and device may provide receiving a message at a message processing server, the message being intended for a phone number associated with a customer service provider, identifying a telephone number of the sender of the message, parsing at least one word from the message, retrieving user account information of the sender, and generating an automated response to the message that includes contextual information that is based on at least one of the user account information and the parsed at least one word from the message.

Claims (38)

1. A method, comprising:

intercepting a message from a sender at a message processing server, the message sent to a phone number of a customer service provider which does not receive messages, the message intercepted prior to a negative response being sent to a device which sent the message;

transmitting a response to the message that includes contextual information that is based on at least one of account information of the sender and at least one word from the message;

receiving another message from the sender responsive to the transmitted response; and

responsive to receiving the other message, transmitting additional response messages to the sender which offer additional subscription options to the sender until the sender selects one of the options or requests live customer support.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is a short message service (SMS) type.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying the message as being a text message and redirecting the message to a text interpretation module which parses each of the words from the text message; and

identifying at least one flagged word that is associated with at least one service provided by the customer service provider.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one flagged word invokes an automated response that is generated to include at least one instance of the at least one flagged word which comprises information of at least one of service upgrades, service support, and service offers.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying a telephone number of the sender of the message.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising retrieving account information of the sender.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is intended for a phone number associated with the customer service provider.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a receiver configured to intercept a message from a sender, the message sent to a phone number of a customer service provider which does not receive messages, the message intercepted prior to a negative response being sent to a device which sent the message; and

a processor configured to transmit a response to the message that includes contextual information that is based on at least one of account information of the sender and at least one word from the message;

wherein the receiver is further configured to receive another message from the sender responsive to the transmitted response; and

wherein the processor is further configured to, responsive to receipt of the other message, transmit additional response messages to the sender which offer additional subscription options to the sender until the sender selects one of the options or requests live customer support.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the message is a short message service (SMS) type.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

identify the message as being a text message and redirecting the message to a text interpretation module which parses each of the words from the text message; and

identify at least one flagged word that is associated with at least one service provided by the customer service provider.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one flagged word invokes an automated response that is generated to include at least one instance of the at least one flagged word which comprises information of at least one of service upgrades, service support, and service offers.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to identify a telephone number of the sender of the message.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to retrieve account information of the sender.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the receiver receives the message from the sender intended for a phone number associated with the customer service provider.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform:

intercepting a message from a sender at a message processing server, the message sent to a phone number of a customer service provider which does not receive messages, the message intercepted prior to a negative response being sent to a device which sent the message;

transmitting a response to the message that includes contextual information that is based on at least one of the account information of the sender and at least one word from the message;

receiving another message from the sender responsive to the transmitted response; and

responsive to receiving the other message, transmitting additional response messages to the sender which offer additional subscription options to the sender until the sender selects one of the options or requests live customer support.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the message is a short message service (SMS) type.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform:

identifying the message as being a text message and redirecting the message to a text interpretation module which parses each of the words from the text message; and

identifying at least one flagged word that is associated with at least one service provided by the customer service provider.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the at least one flagged word invokes an automated response that is generated to include at least one instance of the at least one flagged word which comprises information of at least one of service upgrades, service support, and service offers.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform identifying a telephone number of the sender of the message.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform retrieving account information of the sender.

Assignments (5)
OMNIBUS ASSIGNMENT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Recorded Nov 25, 2024
From: UBS AG, STAMFORD BRANCH (AS SUCCESSOR TO CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH IN ITS CAPACITY AS COLLATERAL AGENT)
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS THE SUCCESSOR COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 069438/0775 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Apr 3, 2023
From: INTRADO CORPORATION
To: WEST TECHNOLOGY GROUP, LLC
Reel/Frame 063239/0876 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Apr 3, 2023
From: WEST CORPORATION
To: INTRADO CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 063239/0900 →
NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST (SECOND LIEN) IN PATENTS Recorded Jan 31, 2023
From: CX360, INC.; WEST TECHNOLOGY GROUP, LLC (FKA INTRADO CORPORATION, FKA WEST CORPORATION); INTRADO INTERACTIVE SERVICES CORPORATION (FKA WEST INTERACTIVE SERVICES CORPORATION, FKA COBALT ACQUISITION COMPANY)
To: U.S. BANK TRUST COMPANY, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 062571/0018 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 22, 2022
From: INTRADO CORPORATION (F/K/A WEST CORPORATION)
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 061183/0494 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 15407524 · Jan 17, 2017
Continuation 14988971 · Jan 6, 2016
Continuation 14059048 · Oct 21, 2013