US Patent 9992334 Multi-modal customer care system

Customer service and/or care providers generally have multiple communications channels (i.e., modes of communications, such as an Internet webpage, live agent telephones, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system) of communication with which a customer may interact with the customer service provider. Currently, customers must select the communications channel by guessing which communications channel would best accommodate the customer's purpose/need for communicating with the customer service provider. In some scenarios, the customer may select the wrong communications channel because the selected channel is not able to service the customer's need. In another scenario, the customer may select a channel that is more cumbersome to service the customer's particular need than another channel of the customer service provider. Embodiments of the present invention provide an interface that integrates the multiple channels of the customer service provider and recommends a channel based on an identification of a customer service need of the customer.