Patent Application
20150213455
This invention relates generally to the field of global financial services, and more particularly embodiments of the invention relate to apparatuses and methods for a process that allows clients with global banking accounts in various regions across the globe to receive international support during the business hours of the clients.
In some instances, particularly when clients have operations in a domestic country and not in international countries, it may be difficult for clients to receive the desired service from an organization for accounts located in the international countries. Clients may receive service in a primary country based on one service model, and may receive service in various international countries based on one or more other service models for one or more of the international countries in which the client desires service. Moreover, time differences between primary countries in which the client has operations and international countries in which the client does not have operations may further influence the client's ability to receive the desired service.
Embodiments of the present invention address the above needs and/or achieve other advantages by providing apparatuses (e.g., a system, computer program product, and/or other device) and methods that help a client having operations in a primary region (or multiple primary regions) to obtain the desired service for accounts in outside regions in which the client does not have operations.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a client with a single phone number and/or a single e-mail contact (or other direct communication channel) in the primary region to handle all of the client's requests for accounts in the primary region or international regions. Depending on the type of client and the type of client request, the client request is routed to the appropriate representative for resolving the client request without passing off the client through multiple communication channels to multiple representatives that handle different types of requests.
Embodiments of the invention may differentiate how client requests are routed based on how the client requests are initiated, for example when a client request is initiated through a phone call versus when a client request is initiated through electronic written correspondence (e.g., e-mail, fax, instant messages, or other like written communication channels). Client requests may be further routed based on a difference between the types of clients, for example when a client is identified as type 1, type 2, type 3, or an Nth type client. Moreover, the client request may also be routed based on the location of the account associated with the type of client request, for example a client request for an account located in a primary region (e.g., region 1 in which the client has operations) and a client account located in an international region (e.g., region 2, region 3, Nth region in which the client does not have operations). The regions described herein may be a portion of a country, a country, a group of portions of multiple countries, a group of multiple countries, or any other type of area. Finally, the client request may also be routed based on the type of request, for example a first touch request (described herein as an “FTR”) that can be handled by a client representative or a non-first touch request (described herein as a “non-FTR”) that requires additional research from a research representative.
The term representative may be used throughout the specification with respect to different types of representatives. A dedicated service representative (hereinafter “DSR”) may be described herein as a dedicated service director (hereinafter “DSD”) that communicates directly with the client, or a dedicated service consultant (hereinafter “DSC”) that works along with or for the DSD but does not have direct contact with the clients. In some embodiments the DSRs may be used to communicate only with the type 1 and/or type 2 clients. In some embodiments each individual DSRs may be responsible for a particular client (e.g., type 1 clients) and/or a group of DSRs may be responsible for a particular client (e.g., type 2 clients). A general service representative or team of general service representatives may be described herein as contact center representatives for a contact center team or general research representatives for a general research team, or another type of general representative. The general service representative may or may not have contact with clients (e.g., a general contact center representative may have contact with clients while a general research representative may not have contact with clients). The general service representative or team of general service representatives may be used to communicate with type 3 or type N clients. In other embodiments of the invention type 2 clients may also speak with the general service representatives or team of general service representatives.
General international service representatives from a general international servicing team are used to help resolve client requests that the DSR or general service representative cannot handle by himself or herself. As such, the general international servicing team is trained to resolve client requests for client accounts in regions outside of the primary region (e.g., outside the first region), resides outside of the primary region, and is available during the business hours of the client in the primary region to resolve client requests during the initial client call or shortly thereafter (e.g., within the same day).
Regional representatives from regional teams are used to resolve client requests that cannot be handled by the DSR or general service representative, or the general international service representatives. The regional team representatives are generally not available to resolve client requests during the hours of the primary region, and as such, they generally work the business hours of the region in which they are located (e.g., region 2, region 3, region N). As such, the client representative (e.g., DSR or general service representative) is used to monitor the resolution of the client request by the regional representative and report the resolution of the client request to the client during the business hours of the client in the primary region.
Workflow representatives from a workflow team may be use to help route the client request to the proper representative (e.g., general international representative or regional representative).
These representatives and the roles for the representatives within the cross regional client service environment and system are described throughout this specification. As described herein any representative that communicates directly with the client may further be described as a client representative. Alternatively, any representative that functions to research client requests, such as workflow representatives, general international team representatives, regional team representatives, or the like may be referred to herein as research representatives. In some embodiments of the invention the client representatives may also research client requests in addition to communicating with the client.
A case management tool may be utilized by representatives in order to open cases for client requests and track the cases throughout the resolution process. Additionally, an assignment tool may be utilized in order to provide a source of information for the representatives to determine how to route the client requests within the institution for resolution.
Embodiments of the invention comprise systems, computer program products, and methods for responding to a global client request. One embodiment of the invention comprises receiving an input for a region related to a client request, wherein the input for the region is received from a representative; providing a client request type selection interface; receiving an input for a client request type, wherein the input for the client request type is received from the representative; and providing a client request details interface, wherein the client request details interface provides client request information for routing the client request.
In further accord with an embodiment, the invention comprises receiving an input indicating a representative type, wherein the representative type is a client representative or a research representative; and wherein the representative type is used to determine the client request information provided to the representative for routing the client request.
In another embodiment of the invention, the client request information for the client request displayed to the client representative comprises information to collect from the client, a first touch resolution or a non-first touch resolution indication, a service level agreement time limit, entitlement requirements, and routing information.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, when the client request is received through a phone call and the request type is a first touch resolution then the client request information indicates that the client representative can resolve the request or the client representative can contact a general international team to resolve the request. In other embodiments when the client request is received through the phone call and the request type is a non-first touch resolution then the client request information indicates that the client representative should assign the request to a workflow research team for routing.
In still other embodiments of the invention, when the client request is received through an electronic written communication and the client request can be handled by the client representative the client request is resolved by the client representative. In other embodiments, when the client request is received through the electronic written communication and the client representative is unable to handle the client request then the client request information indicates that the client representative should assign the request to a workflow research team for routing.
In further accord with an embodiment of the invention, the client request information for the client request displayed to the research representative comprises a regional team or a general international team to which the research representative should route the request.
In another embodiment of the invention, the client request information for the client request displayed to the research representative comprises how to update a case in a case management tool before routing the client request to a regional team or a general international team.
The features, functions, and advantages that have been discussed may be achieved independently in various embodiments of the present invention or may be combined in yet other embodiments, further details of which can be seen with reference to the following description and drawings.
Having thus described embodiments of the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all, embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Although some embodiments of the invention described herein are generally described as involving a “financial institution,” one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other embodiments of the invention may involve other institutions that take the place of or work in conjunction with the financial institution to perform one or more of the processes or steps described herein as being performed by a financial institution. Still in other embodiments of the invention the financial institution described herein may be replaced with other types of businesses that offer account services to clients (e.g., inside or outside of the financial services industry).
The clients that make requests may be separated into different types of clients, which may each have different needs that may be satisfied in different ways. For example, the clients may be separated as type 1, type 2, type 3, or type N (e.g., any number of client type that the financial institution uses to classify clients). Type 1 clients may have different service needs than type 2 clients, type 3 clients, and type N clients. As such the service provided for the types of clients may be completely different, may partially overlap, or may completely overlap depending on how a financial institution may separate and describe different clients 9. Depending on the type of client, when the client 9 initiates the client request, the client representative that the client 9 contacts may be a specific DSR (e.g., for a type 1), a DSR from a group of DSRs (e.g., for a type 2), or a general service representative (e.g., for a type 3), for example from a contact center, when the communication is a phone call. When the communication is an electronic written correspondence the client request may be directed to DSRs (e.g., for a type 1 and type 2) or general service representatives (e.g., for a type 3) as previously discussed with respect to the phone call. In other embodiments of the invention other types of representatives or teams of representatives may be utilized to handle various communications from the client.
As illustrated by block 104, the representative 7 that receives the call or written electronic communication (e.g., e-mail, fax, or the like) identifies if the client service request is a cross-regional request. For example, the representative may determine if the client 9 has operations in a primary region (e.g., region 1) and the client request involves an account for an outside region (e.g., region 2, region 3, or region N). For example, when the representative is authenticating the client for the client service request the representative may identify in which region the account is domiciled.
As illustrated by block 106, and explained in further detail later, the representative 7 creates a case for the client request. In some embodiments the representative 7 may be able to resolve the client request at the time of the communication (or shortly thereafter) or may be able to contact a general international team of representatives to assist in resolving the client request at the time of the communication (or shortly thereafter). However, in other embodiments if the representative 7 and/or the general international team of representatives cannot resolve the client service request at the time of the request, the representative 7 may route the client request for further researching. The case created by the representative 7 is populated with case information regarding the client request, which may include the product, request type, priority, account number, or other like information. In other embodiments if the client service request has already been created, the service request is verified for the product, request type, priority, and account number, or other like information. In some embodiments the representative 7 may create a single case, or may create multiple linked cases when the client request involves accounts in multiple regions or when the client request has multiple aspects.
Block 108 in
As illustrated by block 110, and explained in further detail later, depending on the routing information from the assignment tool 17, the dedicated service representatives (DSRs), the general service representatives, the general international servicing team of representatives, or the representatives from the regional teams, and/or other representatives resolve the client request. For example, dedicated service representatives may handle type 1 and type 2 client requests over the phone themselves if it the request falls within the scope of a request that can be handled by the dedicated service representatives. Alternatively, the assignment tool 17 may indicate that a representative from a general international servicing team can handle the client request at the time of the initial communication. If the client request is more complex and requires additional research then the request may be routed to a representative at the general international servicing team or to specific regional teams based on the information provided in the assignment tool 17. In some embodiments the general international servicing team is located outside of the primary region, but works the hours of the representatives in the primary region.
Finally, as illustrated by block 112, the representative 7 (e.g., client representative) that handled the initial client communication monitors the resolution (e.g., if the research representative resolves the client request) and communicates the resolution of the client request to the client. For example, the dedicated client representative or the general service representative that handled the initial client communication (or another representative from the general service team) updates the client regarding the status of the client request and closes out the client request after it is resolved (e.g., the status is provided throughout the duration of the research or after the client request is resolved).
Regardless of the representative 7 that receives the client phone call, the representative 7 may be described as a “client representative” and may authenticate the client 9 and identify the type of client request and the location of the account associated with the request. The representative 7 may create a case for the client request to track the client request by utilizing a case management tool 15, which is discussed in further detail later. The representative 7 may utilize an assignment tool 17, which is also explained in further detail later, to determine the information needed to fulfill the client request based on the type of request and the location of the account associated with the client request. If the client service request is a request that can be handled by the DSR or a general service representative from the general service representative team 216 (e.g., the request is related to an account in in a primary region in which the client 9 has operations or the request is a client request or an account in an outside region that the representative 7 can handle) the request is classified as an in-scope first touch resolution (FTR). Additionally, if the DSR or a general service representative from the general service representative team 216 cannot resolve the client request, but a representative 7 from a general international team 218 may be able to handle the request, the DSR or general service representative from the general service representative team 216 may contact the general international representative from the general international team 218 (e.g., on a separate line or conferenced into the call) to identify how to resolve the client request for the account in the outside region. This resolution of the client request would also be classified as an in-scope FTR. In some embodiments of the invention the general international representative team may be located outside of the primary region, but work the business hours of the client in the primary region. As such, a general international representative is able to resolve the client requests as FTRs during the business hours of the client in the primary region instead of having to research the request during off-hours of the primary region (e.g., during business hours of the other regions) and respond to the DSR after the initial communication (e.g., a day or two after the initial customer request). Alternatively, if the client service request requires additional researching the client service request is considered a non-FTR and is out of scope, thus requiring routing for further research by a workflow team. A representative 7 from a workflow team (e.g., a workflow representative or research representative), or the DSR or general service representative, may use the case management tool 15 to identify the information associated with the case and pass the client request to a representative 7 in general international team 218 or a representative 7 in the specific region in which the account is located (e.g., a region 2 team 222, a region 3 team 224, a region N team 226, or the like) through the use an assignment tool 17. For example, if the client request is a complex request that requires specific knowledge of the details of the financial system in a particular region, the request is sent to representatives 7 from a regional team that have an expertise in the specific region. Once the client request is resolved by any of the representatives the resolution is passed back to the type 1 DSR 212 in the case of type 1 clients 202, the type 2 DSR in the case of type 2 clients 204, and the general service representative from the general service representative team 216 or other representative, such that a client representative may provide the resolution of the client request to the client 9. It should be understood that in the present invention a financial institution may separate clients 9 into different types in a number of ways in order to provide the best service for the clients in an efficient manner based on the client's needs. As such, the clients 9 may be separated into an “Nth” type client (wherein N is substituted by any integer).
As further illustrated in
As described herein any representative that communicates directly with the client, such as a DSR or general service representative may be referred to herein as a client representative. Alternatively, any representative that functions to research client requests, such as workflow representatives, general international team representatives, regional team representatives, or the like may be referred to herein as research representatives. In some embodiments of the invention the research representatives may also include some DSRs that are dedicated for researching client requests. For example, the DSRs may comprises of DSDs that both communicate with the client and research requests, while DSCs research resolutions to client requests and report back to the DSDs for communicating the resolutions back to the client.
As illustrated by decision block 304, different process steps may occur when the communication is through a telephone call and when it occurs through another type of communication channel, such as e-mail or fax. As further illustrated by decision block 306, different types of clients will also result in different types of processes. For example, type 1 clients may be large clients that have a large number of accounts in outside regions, and as such, may have client requests on a daily basis or at least a regular basis. Type 2 clients may be medium or large clients that may have client requests on a recurring basis but not as often as type 1 clients. Alternatively, type 3 clients or other types of clients (e.g., Nth type clients) may be smaller clients that have client requests, but only on a limited basis. As such, in one embodiment when a client 9 is a type 1 client or a type 2 client the a phone communication from the client 9 may be directed to a specific representative 7, such as a DSR or a representative 7 in a group of DSRs. Therefore, as illustrated by block 308, in one embodiment, when a type 1 or type 2 client contacts the institution the call may be directed to a specific DSR or a DSR from a group of DSRs that is assigned to the client account, and as such the DSRs may authenticate the client 9 and determine the client's need. For example, the contact numbers assigned to different types of clients 9 or specific clients 9 may be specific numbers that are direct lines to the assigned DSR or group of DSRs. In one embodiment of the invention the client 9 may be authenticated by the channel through which the client communications (e.g., phone number, e-mail address, letterhead, contact details, or the like), an account number provided by the client during the call, or alternatively or in addition, through the use of passwords, voice recognition (e.g., by the representative), voice recognition software, challenge questions, or other like means. In some embodiments depending on the type of client request, the client may not require authorization (e.g., when the client request is unrelated to specific account details).
As illustrated by decision block 310, the DSRs determine if the client request includes an international request. If the client request involves an account in the client's primary region, then the DSRs will handle the requests themselves or through the use of teams within the primary region as illustrated by block 311 in
In one embodiment of the invention, an example of a case management interface 600 for the case management tool 15 is illustrated in
As illustrated by decision block 314, a determination is made regarding whether or not the client request is a request related to a single account in a single region or multiple accounts in multiple regions. As illustrated by block 316 if the request is for a product or account in a single region, then the DSR may begin to fill out the case. Alternatively, if the client request involves multiple regions, then as illustrated by block 318 the DSR creates multiple cases for the multiple regions for which the client request relates. For example, the client request may include a request regarding an account in an outside region, such as region 2, but may also include products from region 3, accounts in region 3, transactions involving entities in region 3, or otherwise involves information based on another region. The DSR may open cases in multiple regions and in some embodiments link the cases together under the same client request. In some embodiments, creating multiple cases may require that the DSR changes his profile before creating each separate request.
Creating a case for each client request may include entering information into the case management tool 15 through a case request information interface 650, as illustrated in
In some embodiments of the invention the case request information interface 650 further includes a priority section 670 which indicates the priority for the particular region related to the account associated with the client request. The priority section 670 may be entered first by the DSR after changing the profile of the DSR because drop down features, lists, or other automatic responses within the case request information interface 650 may be based on the selection of the priority. The priority section 670 may include both the region for which the request is based, as well as the importance of the request (e.g., low, normal, high, or the like) indicating the urgency of the request, and thus how quickly the request should be handled. The channel section 672 may indicate through which channel the request was received, such as but not limited to phone request, e-mail request, fax request, instant message request, or any other type of communication channel. This information may indicate how the request should be handled or processed, as well as how to communicate with the client in response to the client request. The notes section 674 is an area in which the DSR or other representative may be able to include additional information related to another section in the case request information interface 650, or that is not specifically included in the case request information interface 650. The workbasket section 676 may include information related to where the case should be routed, if necessary. The package ID section 678 may be an identification number that may be used in the future to access, track, research, and resolve the client request.
The case request information interface 650 may also include a root cause section 680 that indicates the root cause of the client inquiry, which may be filled out after the client request is resolved. The issue type section 682 may indicate the issue that caused the client request. The status section 684 may indicate the location in the process of resolving the client request, such as but not limited to new, open, in process, researching, closed, or other like statuses. The created date section 686 may indicate the date and time when the case for the client request was created. The received date section 688 may indicate the date and time when the client request was received (e.g., the request may be received through e-mail and the case may not be opened until the following day). The closed date section 690 indicates the date and time when the case was resolved and closed. The due date section 692 may indicate a date and time when the representative 7 thinks the client request may be resolved. The client expected due date section 694 may include the date and time when the representative 7 expects the client request to be resolved. The “work of date” section 696 may indicate the date and time when the resolution of the client request was performed.
The various sections in the case request information interface 650 may be manually entered, automatically entered, or both based on the client type, product, request type, or the like, and based on the information received in communications with the client 9.
As illustrated by decision block 320, after the DSR creates the case or multiple cases, a determination is made if the DSR currently handling the call can resolve the call as a first touch resolution (FTR) or requires additional research and/or documentation. This determination may be facilitated by the assignment tool 17, which indicates how various client requests may be handled and routed if necessary. As illustrated by decision block 322 when the client request is a non-FTR request, a determination is made as to if entitlement documentation is required. Entitlement documentation may include the necessary documentation to complete a client request. For example, the entitlement documentation may include the documentation necessary for the client to open an account, complete a transaction, or the like. As illustrated by block 324 if entitlement is required the DSR or other representative 7 communicates the necessary documents to the client 9 or directs the client 9 to a documents team 228 that helps the client 9 fulfill the entitlement requirements. If no entitlement is required the case, or at least a portion of the case that requires additional research is assigned to a new workbasket for assignment to another representative 7 that will be able to research and resolve the client request (e.g., the portion of the client request assigned), as illustrated by block 326. After the portion of the case (e.g., also described herein interchangeably as an activity) is assigned to the new workbasket the process continues to block “C1” in
Returning to decision block 320, if the request is an FTR request, meaning it can be handled immediately by the current DSR or another representative 7, the DSR will work to resolve the client request, as illustrated by decision block 328. A determination is made as to whether or not the DSR can resolve the request himself, as illustrated by block 330. If the client request can be handled by the current DSR, the current DSR resolves the client request and communicates the resolution to the client, as illustrated by block 338.
Alternatively, if the client request cannot be handled by the current DSR, the case may be referred to a general international servicing team 218, as illustrated by block 332. In some embodiments the DSR may put the client on hold and call the general international serving team 218 on another line. In other embodiments the DSR ends the communication with the client 9 and indicates that he will contact the client after performing additional research (e.g., speaking with the international servicing team 218). In still other embodiments a representative from the international servicing team 218 may be conferenced into the phone call with the client 9. The general international servicing team 218, in some embodiments of the invention, may be a team that is positioned in an outside region, and is tasked with handling various client requests for accounts located in various outside regions that are located outside of the client's primary region. In some embodiments, the general international servicing team 218 may work the same or similar business hours of the DSRs and/or clients 9 located in the primary region (e.g., first region). The same or similar hours may overlap the general business hours of clients working in the primary region, such as from 5 am to 8 pm (or ranges that fall within this ranges or outside of this range). As such, the general international servicing team 218 is trained to resolve client requests for accounts in regions outside of the primary region (e.g., first region), and resides outside of the primary region, but is available during the business hours of the first region to resolve client requests. As illustrated by decision block 334 the case, or at least a portion of the case, is assigned to a representative from the general international servicing team 218. As illustrated by block 336 the DSR will use the case management tool 15 to monitor the portion of the case assigned to the general international servicing representative until it is resolved. For example, the DSR will monitor the DSR's list of open cases and identify when the status of the case has been changed to resolved (or other like status identifier) by the general international servicing representative. In other embodiments of the invention, when the general international servicing representative resolves the portion of the case a notification may be sent to the DSR that the portion of the case has been resolved. In some embodiments, the DSR may be monitoring different portions of the same client request that have been sent to various representatives for research and resolution. As illustrated by block 336 after resolution of the portion of the case, the DSR will communicate the resolution of the case to the client 9. This may not occur until all of the portions of the case (e.g., multiple portions or a single portion) associated with the client request have been resolved. After the case is resolved the DSR will close the case, as illustrated by block 340.
In some embodiments if the general international team 218 cannot resolve the portion of the client request, then the DSR may follow up with the client by indicating that additional research is needed and the portion of the case may be assigned to a workbasket for further research. However, this may not occur because if additional research is needed the case would likely have been initially classified as a non-FTR for further research, as illustrated by block 320.
Returning to decision block 306, in the illustrated embodiment if the client is a type 3 client or another type of client (e.g., Nth type), as illustrated by block “A” the process moves to the client phone service process flow for an alternate client 350, as illustrated in
As illustrated by decision block 366 the general service representative (e.g., general contact center representative) determines if the client request is an FTR request or a non-FTR request. When the request is a non-FTR request a determination is made as to if entitlement is required, as illustrated by decision block 390. If entitlement is required then the general service representative or a document team 228 in charge of the entitlement documents communicates entitlement documents to the client 9, as illustrated by block 392. After the documents are complete or in the case when entitlement is not required, the case (or a portion thereof) is assigned to a specific general service representative (e.g., general research representative) for ownership, as illustrated by block 394. As previously discussed, as illustrated by block 396, the case is assigned to a workflow basket for which a workflow representative from a workflow team 230 will assign the case based on the assignment tool 17, and the process flow moves to “C1” in
Returning to block 366, when the request is an FTR request, then as illustrated by block 368, the general service representative (e.g., general contact center representative) works the request for resolution. As illustrated by block 370 if the case is resolved, the general service representative (e.g., general contact center representative) provides the resolution to the client 9 and closes the cases, as illustrated by block 372. Returning to decision block 370, if the general service representative (e.g., general contact center representative) cannot resolve the case by himself, he will contact the general international servicing team to help resolve the case, as illustrated by block 374 and as previously discussed with respect to block 332. The general service representative (e.g., general contact center representative) assigns a representative from the general international servicing team at least a portion of the case, as illustrated by block 376. As illustrated by block 378, if the general international service representative can resolve the portion of the case assigned then as illustrated by blocks 368 to 372 the general service representative (e.g., general contact center representative) receives the resolution from the general international service representative and communicates the resolution to the client 9. However, if the general international service representative cannot resolve the case immediately, then as illustrated by block 380, the general international service representative will continue to research the resolution for the assigned portion of the case. As illustrated by block 382, the general service representative monitors the resolution of the case using the case management tool 15, as previously discussed with respect to block 336. When the case (or portion of the assigned case) is identified as being resolved the general service representative (e.g., general contract center representative or other representative) provides the resolution of the case to the client 9, as illustrated by block 384. After presentation of the resolution to the client 9, the general service representative closes the case, as illustrated by block 386.
Returning to decision block 304 in
As illustrated by decision block 420 a determination is made as to whether or not the client request is a FTR or non-FTR request. When the request is a non-FTR request a determination is made as to if entitlement is required, as illustrated by decision block 422. If entitlement is required then the DSR (or other representative 7), or a document team 228 in charge of the entitlement documents, communicates the entitlement documents to the client 9, as illustrated by block 424. After the documents are complete or in the case when entitlement is not required, the case (or a portion thereof) is assigned to a workflow basket for which a workflow representative from a workflow team 230 will assign the case based on the assignment tool 17, and the process flow moves to “C1” in
Returning to decision block 420 when the client request is an FTR request the DSR works to resolve the client request, as illustrated by block 428. As illustrated by block 430 if the DSR can resolve the client request then the DSR communicates the resolution to the client 9 during the initial call, as illustrated by block 432. Thereafter, as illustrated by block 434 the DSR closes the case. However, if the DSR cannot resolve the client request by himself, then as illustrated by block 436, the DSR will contact the general international servicing team 218 as previously discussed with respect to block 332. The DSR will assign a general international service representative a portion of the case to research and resolve, as illustrated by block 438. The DSR monitors the resolution of the case as illustrated by block 440 and as previously discussed with respect to 336. When the portion of the case is resolved the DSR communicates the resolution of the case to the client 9, as illustrated by block 432 and as previously discussed with respect to block 338. Thereafter, the DSR closes the case, as illustrated by block 434.
Returning to decision block 402, when the client is a type 3, or Nth type client, then as illustrated by block “C2” the process goes straight to the assignment process flow for various types of clients 500. Block “C2” in
Returning to block 528, when the request is a non-FTR request a determination is made as to if entitlement is required, as illustrated by decision block 550. If entitlement is required then the general service representative (or other representative 7), or a document team 228 in charge of the entitlement documents, communicates the entitlement documents to the client 9, as illustrated by block 552. After the documents are complete or in the case when entitlement is not required, the case (or a portion thereof) is assigned to a workflow basket for which a workflow representative from a workflow team 230 will assign the case based on the assignment tool 17, and the process flow moves to “C1” in
Block “C1” in
A representative 7 using the assignment tool 17 may first change the function of the assignment tool 17 between the front office interface 700 and the research interface 750 based on the role of the representative 7 (e.g., client representative or research representative). Once the desired interface is selected, a representative 7 may input a region or branch code for the account associated with the client request in a Region/Branch Code section 704. In some embodiments a drop-down list may be provided in response to the representative's input. The representative selects the desired region/branch associated with the client request. After the representative selects a region, a list of request types may be provided in a request type section 710 as illustrated in the front office interface 700 in
The network 2 may be a global area network (GAN), such as the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or any other type of network or combination of networks. The network 2 may provide for wireline, wireless, or a combination of wireline and wireless communication between devices on the network.
As illustrated in
The processing device 14 is operatively coupled to the communication device 12 and the memory device 16. The processing device 14 uses the communication device 12 to communicate with the network 2 and other devices on the network 2, such as, but not limited to, representative computer systems 20, client computer systems 30, and other financial institution systems 30. As such, the communication device 12 generally comprises a modem, server, or other device for communicating with other devices on the network 2.
As further illustrated in
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The other financial institution systems 5 are operatively coupled to the client service system 10, the representative computer systems 20, the client computer systems 30, or the like through the network 2. The other financial institution systems 5 have devices the same or similar to the devices described for the client service system 10, representative computer systems 20, or the client computer systems 30 (e.g., communication device, processing device, memory device with computer-readable instructions, datastore, or the like). Thus, the other financial institution systems 5 communicate with the client service system 10, the representative computer systems 20, and client computer systems 30 in the same or similar way as previously described with respect to each system. The other financial institution systems 5, in some embodiments, are comprised of systems and devices that store and access account information or other information within or outside of the financial institution, such as for example account information stored for the clients 9 related to the accounts of the clients 9 in various regions across the globe.
It is understood that the systems and devices described herein illustrate one embodiment of the invention. It is further understood that one or more of the systems, devices, or the like can be combined in other embodiments and still function in the same or similar way as the embodiments described herein.
Any suitable computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be utilized. The computer usable or computer readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires; a tangible medium such as a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other tangible optical or magnetic storage device.
Computer program code/computer-readable instructions for carrying out operations of embodiments of the present invention may be written in an object oriented, scripted or unscripted programming language such as Java, Pearl, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer program code/computer-readable instructions for carrying out operations of the invention may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages.
Embodiments of the present invention described above, with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods or apparatuses (the term “apparatus” including systems and computer program products), will be understood to include that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a particular machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create mechanisms for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instructions, which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. Alternatively, computer program implemented steps or acts may be combined with operator or human implemented steps or acts in order to carry out an embodiment of the invention.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ to Snellings et al., entitled “Client Request Fulfillment Using a Case Management Tool,” which is filed concurrently herewith, is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of, and not restrictive on, the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other changes, combinations, omissions, modifications and substitutions, in addition to those set forth in the above paragraphs, are possible. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations, modifications, and combinations of the just described embodiments can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.
