IP Library Granted Patent US 11,381,682
Granted Patent B2
US 11,381,682 · App. 17/107,118 · Granted Jul 5, 2022

Tunable chatbots

Inventors: Valentine C. Matula (Granville, OH); David Chavez (Broomfield, CO); Dragan Grebovich (Amesbury, MA)
Assignee: Avaya Management L.P.
H04M3/5166G06F40/51G06F40/56H04L51/02H04L67/34H04M3/5175
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,381,682
App. No.
17/107,118
Granted
Jul 5, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

A contact center, communication system, and method of operating a contact center are provided. In one example, the contact center includes a plurality of chatbots stored in memory and a chatbot selector that determines a customer interaction in the contact center will have a chatbot assigned thereto, selects a chatbot from the plurality of chatbots for assigning to the customer interaction based on a match between a capability of the chatbot and a service requirement associated with the customer interaction, and assigns the selected chatbot to the customer interaction thereby enabling the selected chatbot to process inputs received during the customer interaction and provide responses to the inputs.

Claims (47)

1. A method of processing messages received in a communication system, the method comprising:

receiving a contact from a customer communication device in a contact center;

determining a service requirement associated with the contact;

comparing the service requirement with capabilities of a plurality of different chatbots, wherein each of the plurality of different chatbots possesses a different set of capabilities;

selecting a chatbot from the plurality of different chatbots, wherein the chatbot is selected based on its set of capabilities best matching the service requirement associated with the contact and wherein the chatbot is tunable;

allowing the chatbot to engage in an interaction with the customer communication device for purposes of servicing the contact,

determining a personality trait that is more likely than not to be found desirable by a customer that initiated the contact, and

tuning, in real-time; a personality characteristic of the selected chatbot to provide the determined personality trait.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected chatbot is selected based on its ability to be tuned to provide the personality trait.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the personality characteristic comprises at least one of assertive, passive, quiet, permissive, conscientious, agreeable, extraverted, and introverted.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the service requirement with the capabilities of the plurality of different chatbots comprises:

analyzing a range of a personality characteristic for each of the plurality of different chatbots as a probability curve;

specifying a parameter of the probability curve as a parameter of interest; and

determining the personality characteristic for each of the plurality of different chatbots by comparing the parameter of interest for each probability curve of each of the plurality of different chatbots.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the probability curve comprises a bell curve and wherein the parameter comprises a width of the bell curve.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing an output of the chatbot to a human agent prior to allowing the output to be transmitted to the customer communication device;

receiving an input from the human agent that verifies the output of the chatbot as acceptable to transmit to the customer communication device; and

in response to receiving the input from the human agent, transmitting the output of the chatbot to the customer communication device.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the output comprises a text-based output and wherein the output is transmitted via a digital communication channel.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the output comprises an audible output and wherein the output is transmitted via a voice or video communication channel.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the service requirement comprises a skill and wherein the capabilities comprise a skill set.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the service requirement comprises a personality trait and wherein the capabilities comprise a personality characteristic.

11. A communication system, comprising:

a processor; and

computer memory storing data thereon that enables the processor to:

receive a contact from a customer communication device in a contact center;

determine a service requirement associated with the contact;

compare the service requirement with capabilities of a plurality of different chatbots, wherein each of the plurality of different chatbots possesses a different set of capabilities;

select a chatbot from the plurality of different chatbots, wherein the chatbot is selected based on its set of capabilities best matching the service requirement associated with the contact and wherein the chatbot is tunable;

allow the chatbot to engage in an interaction with the customer communication device for purposes of servicing the contact;

determine a personality trait that is more likely than not to be found desirable by a customer that initiated the contact; and

tune, in real-time, a personality characteristic of the selected chatbot to provide the determined personality trait.

12. The communication system of claim 11 , wherein the data stored in memory further enables the processor to:

provide customer input to the plurality of different chatbots;

receive, from each of the plurality of different chatbots, candidate responses to the customer input; and

select the chatbot based on a candidate response provided by the chatbot.

13. The communication system of claim 12 , wherein the candidate response provided by the chatbot satisfies an optimization function better than candidate responses provided by other chatbots in the plurality of different chatbots.

14. The communication system of claim 13 , wherein the optimization function considers a benefit associated with the candidate response provided by the chatbot and benefits associated with the candidate responses provided by other chatbots.

15. The communication system of claim 13 , wherein the Optimization function considers a cost of using the chatbot and costs associated with using other chatbots.

16. The communication system of claim 11 , wherein the contact comprises a text-based message received via a digital communication channel.

17. The communication system of claim 11 , wherein the contact is received via a voice or video communication channel.

18. The communication system of claim 11 , wherein the processor and computer memory are provided as a quantum computer.

19. A contact center, comprising:

a plurality of chatbots stored in memory; and

a chatbot selector that determines a customer interaction in the contact center will have a chatbot assigned thereto, selects a chatbot from the plurality of chatbots for assigning to the customer interaction based on a match between a capability of the chatbot and a service requirement associated with the customer interaction, assigns the selected chatbot to the customer interaction thereby enabling the selected chatbot to process inputs received during the customer interaction and provide responses to the process inputs, and tunes a personality characteristic of the selected chatbot to provide a determined personality trait.

20. The contact center of claim 19 , wherein the chatbot selector is further configured to pre-test the plurality of chatbots prior to selecting the chatbot and based on a performance of each of the plurality of chatbots to the pre-test, select the chatbot from among the plurality of chatbots, wherein pre-test comprises providing an input received during the customer interaction to each of the plurality of chatbots and receiving candidate outputs from each of the plurality of chatbots.

Assignments (7)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS (REEL/FRAME 61087/0386) Recorded May 18, 2023
From: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: AVAYA MANAGEMENT L.P.; AVAYA INC.; INTELLISIST, INC.; AVAYA INTEGRATED CABINET SOLUTIONS LLC
Reel/Frame 063690/0359 →
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded May 4, 2023
From: AVAYA INC.; AVAYA MANAGEMENT L.P.; INTELLISIST, INC.
To: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 063542/0662 →
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded May 3, 2023
From: AVAYA MANAGEMENT L.P.; AVAYA INC.; INTELLISIST, INC.; KNOAHSOFT INC.
To: WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB [COLLATERAL AGENT]
Reel/Frame 063742/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS AT REEL 57700/FRAME 0935 Recorded Apr 26, 2023
From: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: AVAYA HOLDINGS CORP.; AVAYA INC.; AVAYA MANAGEMENT L.P.
Reel/Frame 063458/0303 →
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Aug 5, 2022
From: AVAYA INC.; INTELLISIST, INC.; AVAYA MANAGEMENT L.P.; AVAYA CABINET SOLUTIONS LLC
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 061087/0386 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Oct 4, 2021
From: AVAYA MANAGEMENT LP
To: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 057700/0935 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 30, 2020
From: MATULA, VALENTINE C.; CHAVEZ, DAVID; GREBOVICH, DRAGAN
To: AVAYA MANAGEMENT L.P.
Reel/Frame 054493/0600 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63026561 · May 18, 2020
Related Publication 20210360106A1 · Nov 18, 2021
Cited By (2)
US 12,450,660 US 12,632,692