JP2001195497A - Charging system for help desk system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To conduct charging which causes no unfairness, according to the inquiry content and the inquiry situation of a customer to a help desk. SOLUTION: A user terminal 1 transmits inquiry information from the customer to the help desk 2. The help desk 2 registers the date/time, of the information receipt to a database 21 as first charging information. The date/time, when the response was started to be transmitted to the user terminal 1, are registered in the database 21 as second charging information. An accounting working part 4 calculates data corresponding to difference data of first and second charging information, namely, the time necessary for making response, calculates the number of the points of service from a corresponding rule stored in a database 23 and conducts charging based on the number of points.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a billing system for a help desk system, and more particularly to a billing system for a help desk system for billing according to the contents of a customer inquiry and the status of the inquiry.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as for a method of charging for inquiries to a help desk, a fixed amount is charged for each customer on a yearly or monthly basis.

[0003] On the other hand, the content and status of inquiries made by the customer to the help desk vary widely depending on the customer, and the labor and service level of the help desk have not always been made uniform in response to the content.

[0004]

As described above, the conventional billing method for inquiries to the help desk is a flat-rate system. Since the same fee is charged, there has been a problem of unfairness.

[0005] As a service index for evaluating the help desk side, the number of customer inquiries, the time required for response, or the time from when there is a call from the customer until the contact person answers the telephone is called. However, among these, the time data required for the response is easily influenced by the data in the case of some prominence, and therefore, it is difficult to use as an index. Also, from the customer's point of view, the same billing should be made for the same inquiry content, and this cannot be evaluated as fair if it is affected by the variation in the time required for the response.

Further, depending on the customer, even if it is a trivial question that it is sufficient to check the manual or the like by himself, there are some customers who immediately contact the help desk as it is because the billing is fixed at a fixed rate. Even in such a case, it is considered unfair to charge the same fee as another customer.

[0007] When a help desk or a similar department is set up in a company, the service is closed in the company, and the burden is reduced by the ratio of personnel and the goods to be serviced by each department in the company. In many cases, the cost burden should be allocated in accordance with the service ratio of the service received by the internal use department (ie, the usage status of the help desk or similar department). It was believed that this was the case, and that this was also unfair. In this case, the priority of the in-house use department was not taken into consideration.

The present invention has been made in view of the various problems in the conventional help desk charging method as described above, and an unfairness is determined according to the contents of inquiry to the help desk of the customer and the inquiry status. It is an object of the present invention to provide a billing system of a help desk system that can bill without causing a problem.

[0009]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a customer conducts a survey on inquiry information transmitted via a user terminal, and responds to the customer with the survey result. A billing system for a help desk system for billing the customer, means for registering the date and time at which the inquiry information was received in a database as first billing information, and a reply corresponding to the inquiry information to the user. Means for registering the date and time when transmission to the terminal has been started as second charging information in a database, means for calculating difference data between the first and second charging information, that is, required time, and a predetermined rule based on the required time Means for calculating the number of service points, and the amount charged to the customer based on the calculated number of points. Billing system helpdesk system characterized by comprising a means for output are provided.

That is, according to the present invention, when conducting a survey corresponding to the inquiry information from a customer, the inquiry is handled according to the difficulty level of the inquiry information or a predetermined priority defined for the customer, and At the time of charging, by creating charging information based on the time required from the inquiry from the customer to the response of the help desk system, the implementation of fair charging according to the service level is achieved. I have.

Further, by analyzing the billing information accumulated within a predetermined period, it is possible to evaluate the degree of service, the degree of customer satisfaction, and the like with an index. Further, it is possible to fairly allocate the cost burden of the help desk system to the in-house customer department based on the billing information.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications are possible.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a billing system of a help desk system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The billing system of the help desk system according to the present embodiment includes a user terminal 1 for transmitting inquiry information from a customer, a help desk 2 for receiving the inquiry information, an inquiry information from a high priority customer, A secondary responding unit 3 for accepting inquiry information that is difficult to investigate, a accounting unit 4 for determining a charging fee corresponding to each inquiry information, a database 21 for registering charging information for each inquiry information, It includes a database 22 for storing degree information, a database 23 for storing point information for each corresponding time, and a database 24 for storing affiliation-specific billing information.

Here, the user terminal is connected to the user terminal 1
However, the number of user terminals installed can generally be plural. Further, the database 22 for storing the priority information, the database 23 for storing the point information for each corresponding time, and the database 24 for storing the accounting information for each affiliation can be replaced by a storage area of a computer used by the system. It is.

The function of each component of the billing system of the help desk system according to the present embodiment will be described below.
The user terminal 1 transmits inquiry information from a customer who uses general merchandise and software products to an information path P1.
To the help desk 2 via

The help desk 2 registers the first call from the customer (date and time at which the inquiry information was received) together with the customer name in the database 21 via the information path P2, and the priority of the inquiry information ( (See below) and the degree of difficulty of the technical content, and decide whether to make the inquiry information self-processed, or to send it to the secondary response unit 3 or to close and investigate in the company. When the inquiry information is sent to the secondary response unit 3, the inquiry information is transmitted to the secondary response unit 3 via the information path P9. ). (If it is difficult for the internal investigation department to respond by itself, the inquiry information sent above is also sent to the secondary response unit 3.) Further, the help desk 2 3 or a response from the in-house research department is transmitted to the user terminal 1 via the information path P3. After the transmission, the last call (the date and time when the response to the inquiry based on the inquiry information is started) and the required time (the time difference between the first call and the last call) are registered in the database 21 via the information path P2.

Further, when the help desk 2 uses the above inquiry information as its own process, the help desk 2 immediately transmits the answer to the user terminal 1 via the information path P3. In this case, when registering in the database 21 after the transmission, whether the answer content to the customer has already been announced,
Or, if the content is the same as that in the past case that notifies all of the customers who inquired about the same content, the first call is performed so that the required time is the same as the required time in the past case. And register the final call. If the answer to the customer is other than that based on past cases (for example, an answer based on a manual or an operator's experience), the last call is replaced with the first call registered earlier. Register with the same numerical data.

Note that, for inquiries that are not subject to charging, such as a product defect, nothing is registered in the database 21 from the beginning. The accounting section 4 calculates the number of points (the number of points indicating the score of the service) from the required time information registered in the database 21 by using corresponding time-based point information described later in the database 23.

Further, the accounting section 4 executes verification of a billing object and calculation of the billing fee based on the number of points and the billing information by affiliation stored in the database 24.
If the customer who sent the inquiry information is a customer to be charged, for example, a billing notification including the calculated billing fee is transmitted to the user terminal 1 via the information path P7.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned billing notice may be collectively executed at the time of carrying out cost transfer once a month or the like. In the case where the billing fee is not a help desk limited to in-house use, for example, the billing fee can be calculated by multiplying the number of points by a predetermined fixed fee.

When the target of the customer is limited to the organizational unit in the company, the charge per charge is calculated from the maintenance cost of the help desk system and the total number of points, and the cost per point is calculated. A maintenance fee is charged for each organizational unit.

The accounting section 4 can also create an index for quantifying the contribution of the service. For example, the quotient obtained by dividing the total required time in a predetermined measurement period (one month, one week, etc.) by the number of inquiries, that is, the average required time can be used as the index.

Also, for example, a quotient obtained by dividing the total number of points in the above-mentioned predetermined measurement period by the number of inquiries, that is, the average number of points can be used as the index. Based on each of the above-mentioned indices, it is possible to determine whether the response time required until the end of the service has deteriorated. Further, each of the above-mentioned indexes can be used as a staffing plan and an index of customer satisfaction.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying the contents of information stored in each database of the help desk system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A shows billing information registered in the database 21. In this example, the content corresponding to each item of the first call, the last call, and the required time is registered for each customer who made the inquiry.

FIG. 2B shows the priority information stored in the database 22. In this example, the priority (priority of the answer process) is stored for each customer. FIG. 2C shows point information classified by required time stored in the database 23. In this example, the number of points in each section is defined by dividing the corresponding time from 0 minutes to more than 3 hours into four steps. The shorter the response time,
The concept is that the service level is high and the number of points should be large.

FIG. 2D shows affiliation-specific billing information stored in the database 24. In this example, personnel (indirect departments) and executives are excluded from billing. FIG.
5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the billing system of the help desk system according to the embodiment of the present invention, centering on the help desk.

The operation centering on the help desk 2 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 and the flowchart shown in FIG. In step S1, the help desk 2
Is sent from a customer. That is, the help desk 2 receives the inquiry information transmitted from the customer to the help desk 2 via the user terminal 1.

In step S 2, the help desk 2 registers the first call (the date and time of reception) in the database 21. In step S3, the help desk 2 determines whether or not the inquiry can be answered immediately by self-processing. Step S if possible
Move to 8.

If it is impossible to answer immediately, the help desk 2 determines the priority of the customer in step S4. If the customer has a high priority, the help desk 2 performs a secondary response in step S7, and then proceeds to step S7. Move to S11, if the priority is not high,
In step S5, it is determined whether or not the investigation can be performed by the in-house investigation department. If not possible, the process is returned to the secondary response in step S7. If possible, the in-house investigation is performed via the in-house investigation department. Then, in step S11, a response is made to the customer who made the inquiry. That is, an answer is transmitted to the user terminal 1 that has transmitted the inquiry information.

In step S12, the last call (date and time when the response to the inquiry is started) is registered in the database 21. If it is determined in step S3 that the inquiry can be answered immediately by self-processing, first, in step S8, it is determined whether the same answer has been received in the past. If there is the same answer content in the past, in step S10, the database 21
Is set to be the same as the time required for the answer in the past. If there is no same answer content in the past, the final call is registered in step S9 so that the first call and the final call are the same. That is, the last call is set as the same numerical data as the first call. After that, the process proceeds to the above-described step S11 and subsequent steps.

In the present embodiment, the required time is calculated by the help desk 2 and registered in the database 21. However, it is also possible for this task to be processed by the accounting section 4.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, inquiries are made in accordance with the difficulty level of the inquiry information and the priority of the customer, and the fee is charged based on the response time from when the inquiry is made until the answer is given. As a result, it is possible to perform fair charging according to the service level.

Further, it is possible to analyze the billing information and evaluate the service level, customer satisfaction level, and the like by using an index. In addition, based on the billing information,
The cost burden of the help desk system can be fairly allocated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a billing system of a help desk system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating contents of information stored in each database of the help desk system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the billing system of the help desk system according to the embodiment of the present invention, centering on the help desk;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... User terminal, 2 ... Help desk, 3 ... Secondary support unit, 4 ... Accounting unit, 21, 22, 23, 24 ...
… Database

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A billing system for a help desk system, wherein a customer conducts a survey on inquiry information transmitted via a user terminal and, when responding to the customer with the survey result, bills the customer. Means for registering the date and time at which the inquiry information was received as first charging information in a database, and the date and time at which transmission of a response corresponding to the inquiry information to the user terminal was started as second charging information to the database. Means for calculating the difference data between the first and second billing information, that is, means for calculating the required time, means for calculating the number of service points from the required time according to a predetermined rule, and the calculated points Means for calculating an amount to be charged to the customer based on the number. System billing system. 2. A quotient obtained by dividing a total of the required time corresponding to each of the inquiry information received within a predetermined period by the number of inquiries within the predetermined period indicates a contribution degree of a service of the help desk system. 2. The billing system for a help desk system according to claim 1, further comprising means for calculating an index. 3. A means for calculating a quotient obtained by dividing the total number of points corresponding to each of the inquiry information received within the predetermined period by the number of inquiries as an index indicating the contribution of the help desk system service. The billing system for a help desk system according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. The billing system for a help desk system according to claim 1, further comprising means for referring to billing information per customer affiliation when calculating the billing amount. 5. A means for judging whether or not a survey required for the inquiry information can be answered immediately by itself, a means for referring to a priority of a predefined answer process for the customer, Means for judging whether the necessary survey can be answered by an in-house survey, and means for verifying whether or not the same answer has been given in the past when the necessary survey for the inquiry information can be answered immediately by itself. The billing system for a help desk system according to claim 1, further comprising: 6. A means for sending the inquiry information from the high priority customer to a secondary response unit, and for sending the inquiry information from the low priority customer to an in-house investigation,
2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising means for conducting in-house investigation of inquiry information that can be answered in the in-house survey, and passing the inquiry information that cannot be answered in the in-house investigation to the secondary response unit. Help desk system billing system. 7. In the case where a survey required for the inquiry information can be answered immediately by himself / herself and there is the same answer content in the past, the time required for the calculation is determined by the time required for answering the past answer content. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second billing information is set to be the same as the first billing information when the same answer content does not exist in the past. Billing system for help desk system.