Patent Application
20240330792
The present application generally relates to communication analytics and more specifically relates to automatically recommending and facilitating next-step actions.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more certain examples and, together with the description of the example, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the certain examples.
Examples are described herein in the context of automatically recommending and facilitating next-step actions. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following description is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of examples as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or like items.
In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the examples described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application—and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another.
Entities often communicate via multiple different means about different projects, for example, video conferencing, phone calls, and emails, online chats, or in-person meetings. Data related to the communication also spreads over these different channels. Analyzing all the data across different channels over a period of time manually is tedious. It also takes time for entities to decide on the best channel for next-step communication and the important information to convey during the next-step communication, in view of the large amount of data and the importance of the projects.
To facilitate next-step communications between different entities, the present disclosure provides techniques for automatically recommending a communication channel and automatically generating content for the next-step communication. For example, a communication analytics platform is integrated with third-party platforms, such as project management or customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. The third-party platforms include information about different projects (e.g., product developments, business deals, etc.) involving different teams or parties. The communication analytics platform is also integrated with different communication channels, for example, video conferences, phone calls, online chats, or on-line calendars. The different communication channels can be provided by one communication platform or by multiple different communication platforms.
The communication analytics platform extracts a list of project items from the third-party platforms. Each project item includes information about the project, for example, project name, project value, project stage, involved parties, target dates, contacts, etc., which can be collectively referred to as project metadata.
A user selects one project for analyzing by the communication analytics platform. The user can choose some or all historical communication data related to the selected project from across different communication channels to be imported to the communication analytics platform. The communication analytics platform then analyzes the imported communication data. In some examples, the communication analytics platform generates a summary of each communication session.
The communication analytics platform then suggests or recommends a communication channel for the next-step communication by analyzing the imported data and the project metadata. For example, based on the imported communication data and the project metadata for a specific project, the communication analytics platform recommends a video conference with other parties involved in the project as the next step. In some examples, the communication analytics platform implements a machine learning (ML) model for recommending a preferred communication channel. The ML model can be a classification model.
The communication analytics platform also generates content to facilitate the next-step communication. In some examples, the communication analytics platform implements another ML model for generating content based on the imported communication data and the recommended communication channel. The ML model can be a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model. For example, if the recommended communication channel is email, the generative AI model can generate a body of the email including important points to communicate with the other parties. As another example, if the recommended communication channel is phone call, the generative AI model can generate a script for the phone call including important points for the user to communicate with the other parties.
The user may provide feedback on the recommended communication channel or the generated content for next-step communication. The feedback can be used to retrain the ML models respectively so that the ML models provide more accurate and relevant outputs.
Thus, this example provides techniques for automatically recommending a communication channel and generating content for the next-step communication. The communication analytics platform imports and analyzes project metadata and previous communication data to recommend a communication channel based on a ML model. The communication analytics platform also generates certain content to facilitate the next-step communications. Thus, the automatic recommendation and facilitation saves a user time and provides actionable intelligence for the user in a decision-making process for a project.
This illustrative example is given to introduce the reader to the general subject matter discussed herein and the disclosure is not limited to this example. Even though next-step communication is one type of next-step action, but the next-step action can include other non-communicative actions. The following sections describe various additional non-limiting examples and examples of automatically recommending and facilitating next-step action.
Referring now to
The system optionally also includes one or more authentication and authorization providers, e.g., authentication and authorization provider 115, which can provide authentication and authorization services to users of the client devices 140-160. Authentication and authorization provider 115 may authenticate users to the chat and video conference provider 110 and manage user authorization for the various services provided by chat and video conference provider 110. In this example, the authentication and authorization provider 115 is operated by a different entity than the chat and video conference provider 110, though in some examples, they may be the same entity.
Chat and video conference provider 110 allows clients to create videoconference meetings (or “meetings”) and invite others to participate in those meetings as well as perform other related functionality, such as recording the meetings, generating transcripts from meeting audio, generating summaries and translations from meeting audio, manage user functionality in the meetings, enable text messaging during the meetings, create and manage breakout rooms from the virtual meeting, etc.
Meetings in this example chat and video conference provider 110 are provided in virtual rooms to which participants are connected. The room in this context is a construct provided by a server that provides a common point at which the various video and audio data is received before being multiplexed and provided to the various participants. While a “room” is the label for this concept in this disclosure, any suitable functionality that enables multiple participants to participate in a common videoconference may be used.
To create a meeting with the chat and video conference provider 110, a user may contact the chat and video conference provider 110 using a client device 140-180 and select an option to create a new meeting. Such an option may be provided in a webpage accessed by a client device 140-160 or a client application executed by a client device 140-160. For telephony devices, the user may be presented with an audio menu that they may navigate by pressing numeric buttons on their telephony device. To create the meeting, the chat and video conference provider 110 may prompt the user for certain information, such as a date, time, and duration for the meeting, a number of participants, a type of encryption to use, whether the meeting is confidential or open to the public, etc. After receiving the various meeting settings, the chat and video conference provider may create a record for the meeting and generate a meeting identifier and, in some examples, a corresponding meeting password or passcode (or other authentication information), all of which meeting information is provided to the meeting host.
After receiving the meeting information, the user may distribute the meeting information to one or more users to invite them to the meeting. To begin the meeting at the scheduled time (or immediately, if the meeting was set for an immediate start), the host provides the meeting identifier and, if applicable, corresponding authentication information (e.g., a password or passcode). The video conference system then initiates the meeting and may admit users to the meeting. Depending on the options set for the meeting, the users may be admitted immediately upon providing the appropriate meeting identifier (and authentication information, as appropriate), even if the host has not yet arrived, or the users may be presented with information indicating that the meeting has not yet started, or the host may be required to specifically admit one or more of the users.
During the meeting, the participants may employ their client devices 140-180 to capture audio or video information and stream that information to the chat and video conference provider 110. They also receive audio or video information from the chat and video conference provider 110, which is displayed by the respective client device 140 to enable the various users to participate in the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, the host may select an option to terminate the meeting, or it may terminate automatically at a scheduled end time or after a predetermined duration. When the meeting terminates, the various participants are disconnected from the meeting, and they will no longer receive audio or video streams for the meeting (and will stop transmitting audio or video streams). The chat and video conference provider 110 may also invalidate the meeting information, such as the meeting identifier or password/passcode.
To provide such functionality, one or more client devices 140-180 may communicate with the chat and video conference provider 110 using one or more communication networks, such as network 120 or the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”) 130. The client devices 140-180 may be any suitable computing or communication devices that have audio or video capability. For example, client devices 140-160 may be conventional computing devices, such as desktop or laptop computers having processors and computer-readable media, connected to the chat and video conference provider 110 using the internet or other suitable computer network. Suitable networks include the internet, any local area network (“LAN”), metro area network (“MAN”), wide area network (“WAN”), cellular network (e.g., 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, 5G, etc.), or any combination of these. Other types of computing devices may be used instead or as well, such as tablets, smartphones, and dedicated video conferencing equipment. Each of these devices may provide both audio and video capabilities and may enable one or more users to participate in a video conference meeting hosted by the chat and video conference provider 110.
In addition to the computing devices discussed above, client devices 140-180 may also include one or more telephony devices, such as cellular telephones (e.g., cellular telephone 170), internet protocol (“IP”) phones (e.g., telephone 180), or conventional telephones. Such telephony devices may allow a user to make conventional telephone calls to other telephony devices using the PSTN, including the chat and video conference provider 110. It should be appreciated that certain computing devices may also provide telephony functionality and may operate as telephony devices. For example, smartphones typically provide cellular telephone capabilities and thus may operate as telephony devices in the example system 100 shown in
Referring again to client devices 140-160, these devices 140-160 contact the chat and video conference provider 110 using network 120 and may provide information to the chat and video conference provider 110 to access functionality provided by the chat and video conference provider 110, such as access to create new meetings or join existing meetings. To do so, the client devices 140-160 may provide user authentication information, meeting identifiers, meeting passwords or passcodes, etc. In examples that employ an authentication and authorization provider 115, a client device, e.g., client devices 140-160, may operate in conjunction with an authentication and authorization provider 115 to provide authentication and authorization information or other user information to the chat and video conference provider 110.
An authentication and authorization provider 115 may be any entity trusted by the chat and video conference provider 110 that can help authenticate a user to the chat and video conference provider 110 and authorize the user to access the services provided by the chat and video conference provider 110. For example, a trusted entity may be a server operated by a business or other organization with whom the user has created an account, including authentication and authorization information, such as an employer or trusted third-party. The user may sign into the authentication and authorization provider 115, such as by providing a username and password, to access their account information at the authentication and authorization provider 115. The account information includes information established and maintained at the authentication and authorization provider 115 that can be used to authenticate and facilitate authorization for a particular user, irrespective of the client device they may be using. An example of account information may be an email account established at the authentication and authorization provider 115 by the user and secured by a password or additional security features, such as single sign-on, hardware tokens, two-factor authentication, etc. However, such account information may be distinct from functionality such as email. For example, a health care provider may establish accounts for its patients. And while the related account information may have associated email accounts, the account information is distinct from those email accounts.
Thus, a user's account information relates to a secure, verified set of information that can be used to authenticate and provide authorization services for a particular user and should be accessible only by that user. By properly authenticating, the associated user may then verify themselves to other computing devices or services, such as the chat and video conference provider 110. The authentication and authorization provider 115 may require the explicit consent of the user before allowing the chat and video conference provider 110 to access the user's account information for authentication and authorization purposes.
Once the user is authenticated, the authentication and authorization provider 115 may provide the chat and video conference provider 110 with information about services the user is authorized to access. For instance, the authentication and authorization provider 115 may store information about user roles associated with the user. The user roles may include collections of services provided by the chat and video conference provider 110 that users assigned to those user roles are authorized to use. Alternatively, more or less granular approaches to user authorization may be used.
When the user accesses the chat and video conference provider 110 using a client device, the chat and video conference provider 110 communicates with the authentication and authorization provider 115 using information provided by the user to verify the user's account information. For example, the user may provide a username or cryptographic signature associated with an authentication and authorization provider 115. The authentication and authorization provider 115 then either confirms the information presented by the user or denies the request. Based on this response, the chat and video conference provider 110 either provides or denies access to its services, respectively.
For telephony devices, e.g., client devices 170-180, the user may place a telephone call to the chat and video conference provider 110 to access video conference services. After the call is answered, the user may provide information regarding a video conference meeting, e.g., a meeting identifier (“ID”), a passcode or password, etc., to allow the telephony device to join the meeting and participate using audio devices of the telephony device, e.g., microphone(s) and speaker(s), even if video capabilities are not provided by the telephony device.
Because telephony devices typically have more limited functionality than conventional computing devices, they may be unable to provide certain information to the chat and video conference provider 110. For example, telephony devices may be unable to provide authentication information to authenticate the telephony device or the user to the chat and video conference provider 110. Thus, the chat and video conference provider 110 may provide more limited functionality to such telephony devices. For example, the user may be permitted to join a meeting after providing meeting information, e.g., a meeting identifier and passcode, but only as an anonymous participant in the meeting. This may restrict their ability to interact with the meetings in some examples, such as by limiting their ability to speak in the meeting, hear or view certain content shared during the meeting, or access other meeting functionality, such as joining breakout rooms or engaging in text chat with other participants in the meeting.
It should be appreciated that users may choose to participate in meetings anonymously and decline to provide account information to the chat and video conference provider 110, even in cases where the user could authenticate and employs a client device capable of authenticating the user to the chat and video conference provider 110. The chat and video conference provider 110 may determine whether to allow such anonymous users to use services provided by the chat and video conference provider 110. Anonymous users, regardless of the reason for anonymity, may be restricted as discussed above with respect to users employing telephony devices, and in some cases may be prevented from accessing certain meetings or other services, or may be entirely prevented from accessing the chat and video conference provider 110.
Referring again to chat and video conference provider 110, in some examples, it may allow client devices 140-160 to encrypt their respective video and audio streams to help improve privacy in their meetings. Encryption may be provided between the client devices 140-160 and the chat and video conference provider 110 or it may be provided in an end-to-end configuration where multimedia streams (e.g., audio or video streams) transmitted by the client devices 140-160 are not decrypted until they are received by another client device 140-160 participating in the meeting. Encryption may also be provided during only a portion of a communication, for example encryption may be used for otherwise unencrypted communications that cross international borders.
Client-to-server encryption may be used to secure the communications between the client devices 140-160 and the chat and video conference provider 110, while allowing the chat and video conference provider 110 to access the decrypted multimedia streams to perform certain processing, such as recording the meeting for the participants or generating transcripts of the meeting for the participants. End-to-end encryption may be used to keep the meeting entirely private to the participants without any worry about a chat and video conference provider 110 having access to the substance of the meeting. Any suitable encryption methodology may be employed, including key-pair encryption of the streams. For example, to provide end-to-end encryption, the meeting host's client device may obtain public keys for each of the other client devices participating in the meeting and securely exchange a set of keys to encrypt and decrypt multimedia content transmitted during the meeting. Thus, the client devices 140-160 may securely communicate with each other during the meeting. Further, in some examples, certain types of encryption may be limited by the types of devices participating in the meeting. For example, telephony devices may lack the ability to encrypt and decrypt multimedia streams. Thus, while encrypting the multimedia streams may be desirable in many instances, it is not required as it may prevent some users from participating in a meeting.
By using the example system shown in
Referring now to
In this example, the chat and video conference provider 210 employs multiple different servers (or groups of servers) to provide different examples of video conference functionality, thereby enabling the various client devices to create and participate in video conference meetings. The chat and video conference provider 210 uses one or more real-time media servers 212, one or more network services servers 214, one or more video room gateways 216, one or more message and presence gateways 217, and one or more telephony gateways 218. Each of these servers 212-218 is connected to one or more communications networks to enable them to collectively provide access to and participation in one or more video conference meetings to the client devices 220-250.
The real-time media servers 212 provide multiplexed multimedia streams to meeting participants, such as the client devices 220-250 shown in
The real-time media servers 212 then multiplex the various video and audio streams based on the target client device and communicate multiplexed streams to each client device. For example, the real-time media servers 212 receive audio and video streams from client devices 220-240 and only an audio stream from client device 250. The real-time media servers 212 then multiplex the streams received from devices 230-250 and provide the multiplexed stream to client device 220. The real-time media servers 212 are adaptive, for example, reacting to real-time network and client changes, in how they provide these streams. For example, the real-time media servers 212 may monitor parameters such as a client's bandwidth CPU usage, memory and network I/O as well as network parameters such as packet loss, latency and jitter to determine how to modify the way in which streams are provided.
The client device 220 receives the stream, performs any decryption, decoding, and demultiplexing on the received streams, and then outputs the audio and video using the client device's video and audio devices. In this example, the real-time media servers do not multiplex client device 220's own video and audio feeds when transmitting streams to it. Instead, each client device 220-250 only receives multimedia streams from other client devices 220-250. For telephony devices that lack video capabilities, e.g., client device 250, the real-time media servers 212 only deliver multiplex audio streams. The client device 220 may receive multiple streams for a particular communication, allowing the client device 220 to switch between streams to provide a higher quality of service.
In addition to multiplexing multimedia streams, the real-time media servers 212 may also decrypt incoming multimedia stream in some examples. As discussed above, multimedia streams may be encrypted between the client devices 220-250 and the chat and video conference provider 210. In some such examples, the real-time media servers 212 may decrypt incoming multimedia streams, multiplex the multimedia streams appropriately for the various clients, and encrypt the multiplexed streams for transmission.
As mentioned above with respect to
It should be appreciated that multiple real-time media servers 212 may be involved in communicating data for a single meeting and multimedia streams may be routed through multiple different real-time media servers 212. In addition, the various real-time media servers 212 may not be co-located, but instead may be located at multiple different geographic locations, which may enable high-quality communications between clients that are dispersed over wide geographic areas, such as being located in different countries or on different continents. Further, in some examples, one or more of these servers may be co-located on a client's premises, e.g., at a business or other organization. For example, different geographic regions may each have one or more real-time media servers 212 to enable client devices in the same geographic region to have a high-quality connection into the chat and video conference provider 210 via local servers 212 to send and receive multimedia streams, rather than connecting to a real-time media server located in a different country or on a different continent. The local real-time media servers 212 may then communicate with physically distant servers using high-speed network infrastructure, e.g., internet backbone network(s), that otherwise might not be directly available to client devices 220-250 themselves. Thus, routing multimedia streams may be distributed throughout the video conference system and across many different real-time media servers 212.
Turning to the network services servers 214, these servers 214 provide administrative functionality to enable client devices to create or participate in meetings, send meeting invitations, create or manage user accounts or subscriptions, and other related functionality. Further, these servers may be configured to perform different functionalities or to operate at different levels of a hierarchy, e.g., for specific regions or localities, to manage portions of the chat and video conference provider under a supervisory set of servers. When a client device 220-250 accesses the chat and video conference provider 210, it will typically communicate with one or more network services servers 214 to access their account or to participate in a meeting.
When a client device 220-250 first contacts the chat and video conference provider 210 in this example, it is routed to a network services server 214. The client device may then provide access credentials for a user, e.g., a username and password or single sign-on credentials, to gain authenticated access to the chat and video conference provider 210. This process may involve the network services servers 214 contacting an authentication and authorization provider 215 to verify the provided credentials. Once the user's credentials have been accepted, and the user has consented, the network services servers 214 may perform administrative functionality, like updating user account information, if the user has account information stored with the chat and video conference provider 210, or scheduling a new meeting, by interacting with the network services servers 214. Authentication and authorization provider 215 may be used to determine which administrative functionality a given user may access according to assigned roles, permissions, groups, etc.
In some examples, users may access the chat and video conference provider 210 anonymously. When communicating anonymously, a client device 220-250 may communicate with one or more network services servers 214 but only provide information to create or join a meeting, depending on what features the chat and video conference provider allows for anonymous users. For example, an anonymous user may access the chat and video conference provider using client device 220 and provide a meeting ID and passcode. The network services server 214 may use the meeting ID to identify an upcoming or on-going meeting and verify the passcode is correct for the meeting ID. After doing so, the network services server(s) 214 may then communicate information to the client device 220 to enable the client device 220 to join the meeting and communicate with appropriate real-time media servers 212.
In cases where a user wishes to schedule a meeting, the user (anonymous or authenticated) may select an option to schedule a new meeting and may then select various meeting options, such as the date and time for the meeting, the duration for the meeting, a type of encryption to be used, one or more users to invite, privacy controls (e.g., not allowing anonymous users, preventing screen sharing, manually authorize admission to the meeting, etc.), meeting recording options, etc. The network services servers 214 may then create and store a meeting record for the scheduled meeting. When the scheduled meeting time arrives (or within a threshold period of time in advance), the network services server(s) 214 may accept requests to join the meeting from various users.
To handle requests to join a meeting, the network services server(s) 214 may receive meeting information, such as a meeting ID and passcode, from one or more client devices 220-250. The network services server(s) 214 locate a meeting record corresponding to the provided meeting ID and then confirm whether the scheduled start time for the meeting has arrived, whether the meeting host has started the meeting, and whether the passcode matches the passcode in the meeting record. If the request is made by the host, the network services server(s) 214 activates the meeting and connects the host to a real-time media server 212 to enable the host to begin sending and receiving multimedia streams.
Once the host has started the meeting, subsequent users requesting access will be admitted to the meeting if the meeting record is located and the passcode matches the passcode supplied by the requesting client device 220-250. In some examples additional access controls may be used as well. But if the network services server(s) 214 determines to admit the requesting client device 220-250 to the meeting, the network services server 214 identifies a real-time media server 212 to handle multimedia streams to and from the requesting client device 220-250 and provides information to the client device 220-250 to connect to the identified real-time media server 212. Additional client devices 220-250 may be added to the meeting as they request access through the network services server(s) 214.
After joining a meeting, client devices will send and receive multimedia streams via the real-time media servers 212, but they may also communicate with the network services servers 214 as needed during meetings. For example, if the meeting host leaves the meeting, the network services server(s) 214 may appoint another user as the new meeting host and assign host administrative privileges to that user. Hosts may have administrative privileges to allow them to manage their meetings, such as by enabling or disabling screen sharing, muting or removing users from the meeting, assigning or moving users to the mainstage or a breakout room if present, recording meetings, etc. Such functionality may be managed by the network services server(s) 214.
For example, if a host wishes to remove a user from a meeting, they may select a user to remove and issue a command through a user interface on their client device. The command may be sent to a network services server 214, which may then disconnect the selected user from the corresponding real-time media server 212. If the host wishes to remove one or more participants from a meeting, such a command may also be handled by a network services server 214, which may terminate the authorization of the one or more participants for joining the meeting.
In addition to creating and administering on-going meetings, the network services server(s) 214 may also be responsible for closing and tearing-down meetings once they have been completed. For example, the meeting host may issue a command to end an on-going meeting, which is sent to a network services server 214. The network services server 214 may then remove any remaining participants from the meeting, communicate with one or more real time media servers 212 to stop streaming audio and video for the meeting, and deactivate, e.g., by deleting a corresponding passcode for the meeting from the meeting record, or delete the meeting record(s) corresponding to the meeting. Thus, if a user later attempts to access the meeting, the network services server(s) 214 may deny the request.
Depending on the functionality provided by the chat and video conference provider, the network services server(s) 214 may provide additional functionality, such as by providing private meeting capabilities for organizations, special types of meetings (e.g., webinars), etc. Such functionality may be provided according to various examples of video conferencing providers according to this description.
Referring now to the video room gateway servers 216, these servers 216 provide an interface between dedicated video conferencing hardware, such as may be used in dedicated video conferencing rooms. Such video conferencing hardware may include one or more cameras and microphones and a computing device designed to receive video and audio streams from each of the cameras and microphones and connect with the chat and video conference provider 210. For example, the video conferencing hardware may be provided by the chat and video conference provider to one or more of its subscribers, which may provide access credentials to the video conferencing hardware to use to connect to the chat and video conference provider 210.
The video room gateway servers 216 provide specialized authentication and communication with the dedicated video conferencing hardware that may not be available to other client devices 220-230, 250. For example, the video conferencing hardware may register with the chat and video conference provider when it is first installed and the video room gateway may authenticate the video conferencing hardware using such registration as well as information provided to the video room gateway server(s) 216 when dedicated video conferencing hardware connects to it, such as device ID information, subscriber information, hardware capabilities, hardware version information etc. Upon receiving such information and authenticating the dedicated video conferencing hardware, the video room gateway server(s) 216 may interact with the network services servers 214 and real-time media servers 212 to allow the video conferencing hardware to create or join meetings hosted by the chat and video conference provider 210.
Referring now to the telephony gateway servers 218, these servers 218 enable and facilitate telephony devices' participation in meetings hosted by the chat and video conference provider 210. Because telephony devices communicate using the PSTN and not using computer networking protocols, such as TCP/IP, the telephony gateway servers 218 act as an interface that converts between the PSTN, and the networking system used by the chat and video conference provider 210.
For example, if a user uses a telephony device to connect to a meeting, they may dial a phone number corresponding to one of the chat and video conference provider's telephony gateway servers 218. The telephony gateway server 218 will answer the call and generate audio messages requesting information from the user, such as a meeting ID and passcode. The user may enter such information using buttons on the telephony device, e.g., by sending dual-tone multi-frequency (“DTMF”) audio streams to the telephony gateway server 218. The telephony gateway server 218 determines the numbers or letters entered by the user and provides the meeting ID and passcode information to the network services servers 214, along with a request to join or start the meeting, generally as described above. Once the telephony client device 250 has been accepted into a meeting, the telephony gateway server is instead joined to the meeting on the telephony device's behalf.
After joining the meeting, the telephony gateway server 218 receives an audio stream from the telephony device and provides it to the corresponding real-time media server 212 and receives audio streams from the real-time media server 212, decodes them, and provides the decoded audio to the telephony device. Thus, the telephony gateway servers 218 operate essentially as client devices, while the telephony device operates largely as an input/output device, e.g., a microphone and speaker, for the corresponding telephony gateway server 218, thereby enabling the user of the telephony device to participate in the meeting despite not using a computing device or video.
It should be appreciated that the components of the chat and video conference provider 210 discussed above are merely examples of such devices and an example architecture. Some video conference providers may provide more or less functionality than described above and may not separate functionality into different types of servers as discussed above. Instead, any suitable servers and network architectures may be used according to different examples.
Referring now to
The communication provider(s) 350 can be one or more communication platforms including one or more communication channels. A communication provider 350 can be the chat and video conferencing provider 110 in
The client devices 330 can be any suitable computing or communications device. For example, client devices 330 may be desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, smart phones having processors and computer-readable media, connected to the communication analytics platform 310 using the internet or other suitable computer network. The client devices 330 have communication analytics software installed to enable them to connect to the communication analytics platform 310. During an analytics session, a user, via a client device 330, can interact with the communications analytics platform 310 by selecting a project to analyze, importing communication data, viewing communication channel recommendations, and receiving generated content for next-step communication.
Referring now to
The communication analytics platform 310 is configured to access project metadata for one or more projects from a third-party platform 340. For example, a client device 330 can transmit a permission (e.g., by way of a login with a username and password) for the communication analytics platform 310 to access of the one or more projects on the third-party platform 340 via a communication analytics application 440. The communication analytics platform 310 can extract project metadata for the one or more projects, for example, including project name, project value, project stage, involved parties, target dates, contact information, etc.
The communication analytics platform 310 is configured to access communication data associated with a project from a communication provider 350, which may or may not be on the same platform as the communication analytics platform 310. A user may select a project for analysis and import communication data associated with the project from the communication provider 350 to the communication analytics platform 310. The user can choose a subset of communication data associated with the project. Alternatively, the communication analytics platform 310 can automatically extract communication data associated with the project from the communication provider. The communication data can be generated in different channels, such as video conferencing, phone calls, emails, chats, or in-person meetings, etc. The communication data can include recordings, files, or summaries of video conferences, recordings, files, or summaries of phone calls, emails, chat messages, summaries of in-person meetings, and any records of any other types of communication occurrences. The communication data also include communication metadata, such as dates, times, durations, and parties associated with different communication occurrences.
The data store 410 is configured to store project metadata retrieved from third-party platforms 340 and communication data imported from the communication providers 350 for one or more on-going projects. In addition, the data store 410 also stores historical project related data (e.g., historical communication data and historical project metadata) for historical user projects.
The channel recommendation engine 420 is configured to recommend a communication channel for next-step communication for a user in a project. In some examples, the channel recommendation engine 420 includes a classification model. The classification model can be a trained ML model. The trained ML model can be based on logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, support vector machine, K-nearest neighbor, naive Bayes, stochastic gradient descent, or any suitable ML algorithms for classification. Alternatively, the classification model can be a rule-based model. For example, a preferred channel is recommended based on a combination of project metadata, such as project stage or project size. If the project is at an early stage, chat or email channels can be recommended as preferred channels. If the project is at a late stage, an in-person meeting may be recommended. If the project has a high value (e.g., monetary or by other metrics), video or in-person meetings may be recommended. If the project has a low value, chat or email channels may be recommended. The ML model can be trained to weight the factors in the project metadata and generate rules based on weighted factors. In some examples, the classification model is trained in a supervised learning process. The ML model learns certain features from training data, including historical communication data, historical project metadata, and historical selected channels. In addition, the user may provide feedback on the recommended channels during implementation, such as user selection of one recommended channel over other recommended channels. The feedback data can be used to retrain the ML model to recommend more effective communication channels.
The content generation engine 430 is configured to generate content for next-step communication based on previous communication data and the project metadata. In some examples, the content generation engine 430 implements a pre-trained generative AI model, for example a pre-trained transformer model. The pre-trained generative AI model can be further trained to generate content for next-step communication using historical communication data and historical project metadata for past projects. The content generation engine 430 can generate content for a selected channel for next-step communication. For example, if email is selected for next-step communication, the content generation engine 430 can auto-populate certain information, for example, email recipient, title, salutation, or any suitable information. Meanwhile, the content generation engine 430 also generates a body of the email, including key information to communicate with the recipient. Similarly, if a phone call is selected for the next-step communication, the content generation engine 430 can generate a script for the phone call for the user to reference. A user may edit the style or substance of the content generated by the content generation engine 430. The generative AI model can be fine-tuned or retrained based on the edits.
The client device 330 communicates with the communication analytics platform 310 via the communication analytics application 440 installed on the client device 330 and provided by the communication analytics platform 310. The communication analytics application 440 provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the user to interact with the communication analytics platform 310, for example the GUIs in
In some examples, the communication analytics application 440 also includes a customized channel recommendation engine 450 and customized content generation engine 460. When the communication analytics application 440 is first installed on the client device 330 associated with a user, it includes an initial channel recommendation engine and an initial content generation engine pre-trained by the communication analytics platform 310. As the user interacts with the communication analytics application 440, the communication analytics application 440 collects feedback data for channel recommendations and content generation and other user data, for example user's preferred communications, or even the user's communication styles (e.g., tones, words of choice, etc.).
The initial channel recommendation engine and the initial content generation engine can continue to train themselves with the collected data as described above to become customized channel recommendation engine 450 and customized content generation engine 460 for the user associated with the client device 330. The customized channel recommendation engine 450 and customized content generation engine 460 have similar functions as the channel recommendation engine 420 and the content generation engine 430 on the communication analytics platform 310 as described above, but tailored to the user associated with the client device 330.
The customized channel recommendation engine 450 can recommend a communication channel preferred by the user associated with the client device 330 based on learned features about the user. For example, the customized channel recommendation engine 450 learned that the user does not use emails, it then may not recommend that communication channel for next-step communication.
The customized content generation engine 460 can generate the content for the recommended communication channel for the user based on learned features about the user. For example, the customized content generation engine 460 learned the user likes to use certain words or expressions. When generating content for an email for the user as next-step communication, the customized content generation engine 460 can use these words or expressions in the body of the email. Thus, the generated content is more personalized and reduces editing by the user.
In some examples, the customized channel recommendation engine 450 and the customized content generation engine 460 are on the communication analytics platform 310, or a remote server or a cloud server associated with the communication analytics platform 310. The communication analytics application 440 can access the initial channel recommendation engine and the initial content generation engine, which are provided by the communication analytics platform 310 and located on the communication analytics platform 310 or associated remote server or cloud server. The initial channel recommendation engine and the initial content generation engine can be customized with user specific data collected by the communication analytics application 440 and become channel recommendation engine 450 and the customized content generation engine 460.
The communication analytics application 440 can also include a local data store 470. The local data store 470 can store project metadata and communication data of user projects for the user associated with the client device 330. In addition, the local data store 470 can also store recommended communication channels for next-step communication of different projects, generated content for next-step communication of different projects, user selected communication channels, user feedback on recommended communication channels, user edits of generated content for next-step communication.
Referring now to
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The example GUI 600 includes an import button 620. When the user activates the import button 620, the user can select communication data to be imported related to a particular deal, for example the Wannabuy deal in
The table 650 includes a list of imported communications related to the Wannabuy deal. For each communication item, the table 650 includes a topic of the communication, the internal participants, external participants, deal stage at the time of the communication, date of the communication, sentiment indicator of the communication, and engagement indicator of the communication. The table 650 also includes a symbol for each communication indicating the communication type (e.g., video meetings, phone calls, emails, etc.) and a duration for each communication. The user may elect to show the imported data in timeline by activating a “Show Timeline” button 630. In this example, the “Show Timeline” button 630 is activated, and all the imported communications are displayed in a timeline 640. The timeline 640 is a bar graph, where different types of communications are color coded and the height of the bars representing a duration of a communication or a combined duration of the same type of communications on the same day or adjacent days.
The example GUI 600 also includes a follow-up button 660. When the user activates the follow-up button 660, the communication analytics platform 310 can recommend a communication channel for the next-step action. In some examples, the example GUI 600 presents multiple communication channels (e.g., by order of preference) in a pop-up window.
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At block 805, a communication analytics platform 310 accesses project metadata associated with a project. The communication analytics platform 310 can be integrated with one or more third-party platforms 340 that manage projects, relationships, or business deals. A user associated with the project can transmit a permission to the communication analytics platform 310, via a communication analytics application 440 installed on a client device 330, for extracting project metadata associated with the project user from third-party platforms 340. The communication analytics platform 310 can extract a list of projects from a third-party platform 340. The project metadata associated with a project can include project name, project stage, project size, last activity time, number of communications, close date, parties in the project, contact information for different parities. The project metadata can be stored in a data store 410 on the communication analytics platform 310.
At block 810, the communication analytics platform 310 accesses communication data associated with the project. A client device 330 can select via a GUI of the communication analytics application 440 a project for analysis from the list of projects extracted from the third-party platforms 340. The client device 330 can transmit a request to the communication analytics platform 310 for importing certain communication data associated with the selected project. Alternatively, the communication analytics platform 310 can automatically import the communication data associated with the selected project for analysis.
At block 815, the communication analytics platform 310 determines a recommendation of one or more communication channels for next-step communication for the project based on the project metadata and the communication data. The channel recommendation engine 420 of the communication analytics platform 310 can determine a recommendation of one or more communication channels for next-step communication for the project, generally as described in
At block 820, the communication analytics platform 310 generates content for the next-step communication based on the project metadata and the communication data using a generative AI model. The content generation engine 430 of the communication analytics platform 310 can generate content for the next-step communication, generally as described in
At block 825, the communication analytics platform 310 provides the recommendation of one or more communication channels and the generated content to a user associated with the project. The recommendation of one or more communication channels and the generated content for next-step communication can be provided to the user associated with the project via a GUI of the communication analytics application 440, email, text message, or any suitable means. For example, the ranked list of recommended communication channels generated at block 815 can be provided to the user associated with project for the user to select a communication channel from the ranked list. The user selection can be user feedback data, which can be used to retain the ML model implemented in channel recommendation engine 420. Similarly, the user can edit the content generated at block 820. The user edits can also be used to retrain or fine tune the pre-trained generative AI model implemented by the content generation engine 430.
Even though blocks 805-825 of method 800 in
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The computing device 900 also includes a communications interface 630. In some examples, the communications interface 930 may enable communications using one or more networks, including a local area network (“LAN”); wide area network (“WAN”), such as the Internet; metropolitan area network (“MAN”); point-to-point or peer-to-peer connection; etc. Communication with other devices may be accomplished using any suitable networking protocol. For example, one suitable networking protocol may include the Internet Protocol (“IP”), Transmission Control Protocol (“TCP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”), or combinations thereof, such as TCP/IP or UDP/IP.
While some examples of methods and systems herein are described in terms of software executing on various machines, the methods and systems may also be implemented as specifically configured hardware, such as field-programmable gate array (FPGA) specifically to execute the various methods according to this disclosure. For example, examples can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in a combination thereof. In one example, a device may include a processor or processors. The processor comprises a computer-readable medium, such as a random-access memory (RAM) coupled to the processor. The processor executes computer-executable program instructions stored in memory, such as executing one or more computer programs. Such processors may comprise a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and state machines. Such processors may further comprise programmable electronic devices such as PLCs, programmable interrupt controllers (PICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), programmable read-only memories (PROMs), electronically programmable read-only memories (EPROMs or EEPROMs), or other similar devices.
Such processors may comprise, or may be in communication with, media, for example one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, that may store processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, can cause the processor to perform methods according to this disclosure as carried out, or assisted, by a processor. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable medium may include, but are not limited to, an electronic, optical, magnetic, or other storage device capable of providing a processor, such as the processor in a web server, with processor-executable instructions. Other examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, a floppy disk, CD-ROM, magnetic disk, memory chip, ROM, RAM, ASIC, configured processor, all optical media, all magnetic tape or other magnetic media, or any other medium from which a computer processor can read. The processor, and the processing, described may be in one or more structures, and may be dispersed through one or more structures. The processor may comprise code to carry out methods (or parts of methods) according to this disclosure.
The foregoing description of some examples has been presented only for the purpose of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Numerous modifications and adaptations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Reference herein to an example or implementation means that a particular feature, structure, operation, or other characteristic described in connection with the example may be included in at least one implementation of the disclosure. The disclosure is not restricted to the particular examples or implementations described as such. The appearance of the phrases “in one example,” “in an example,” “in one implementation,” or “in an implementation,” or variations of the same in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same example or implementation. Any particular feature, structure, operation, or other characteristic described in this specification in relation to one example or implementation may be combined with other features, structures, operations, or other characteristics described in respect of any other example or implementation.
Use herein of the word “or” is intended to cover inclusive and exclusive OR conditions. In other words, A or B or C includes any or all of the following alternative combinations as appropriate for a particular usage: A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B only; A and C only; B and C only; and A and B and C.
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/577,073, filed Mar. 27, 2023, titled “Automatic Suggestion and Facilitation of Next Step Actions,” the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63577073 | Mar 2023 | US |
