WO2018060988A1

WO2018060988A1 - A method for detection and forwarding of needs in a conversation

Info

Publication number: WO2018060988A1
Application number: PCT/IL2017/051054
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yacov Gurievsky; Assaf LAUFER
Original assignee: Leadr - Leads Innovation Ltd
Current assignee: Leadr - Leads Innovation Ltd
Priority date: 2016-09-28
Filing date: 2017-09-19
Publication date: 2018-04-05
Anticipated expiration: 2019-03-28

Abstract

The subject matter discloses a method, comprising collecting and digitizing information from a conversation between a person interested in goods or services and a provider of goods or services; analyzing and digitizing said information in order to identify an unsatisfied need of the person interested in goods or services; creating an opportunity profile in said digitized information of said conversation and publishing said opportunity profile to one or more than one potential providers of goods or services. The method also discloses identifying additional needs of the potential customer and generating a guide for guiding the service provider how to extract more information from the potential customer about the additional needs. The method discloses a conversation between a potential customer and a third party associated with both the service provider and the potential customer.

Description

A METHOD FOR DETECTION AND FORWARDING OF NEEDS IN A

CONVERSATION FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to tracking conversations occurring over electronic devices, more specifically to identify content during a conversation takes place by electronic devices extract a conclusion from the identified content.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The business world may be seen as a marketplace in which at one side there are customers seeking goods and services, and at the other side are the providers of goods and services. The customers may find the goods or services at a mall, on the street, on an e-commerce website and the like. Customers seeking for goods or services have today a plurality of options which can be utilized for reaching potential service providers and desirable goods. In many cases, the customers reach a potential service provider on the phone or via any other conversation occurring over an electronic device, such as a mobile phone, online chat, online voice communication service such as Skype and others. The number of available options for purchasing goods and services that people have today is large, however, in case a person seeking to purchase goods or services, is not getting satisfied by a service provider, the conversation ends up with no practical way in hand for continuing the conversation in order to find an alternative service provider. For example, in a case an agreement cannot be reached between a technician and a person calls to said technician for a technical problem he or she has. Such a technical problem may be an issue with the air conditioner at home, with the refrigerator at home, and the like. In such a case, the conversation may end up without a built-in option to continue the conversation in order find an alternative technician, and the person seeking for a technician may remain unsatisfied. The term "unsatisfied need" refers to a need for goods or services that cannot be satisfied or fulfilled by the service provider speaking with the potential customer. During the conversation, the service provider is many times asked to provide details on his goods or services, such as manufacturer, supply time, price, color, desired location of the service and the like, and the potential customer decides whether or not the specific provider fits him/her. In some cases, the conversation between a potential service provider and a person seeking to purchase goods or services cannot reach an agreement due to multiple optional reasons. The potential customer's unsatisfied need may result from lack of agreement on the price, or on the scheduling for receiving the goods or the services, agreement on lead time, payment conditions, type of the good or the services, and the like.

Moreover, the providers spend valuable time with the potential customer on the phone or alternative conversation. As such, providers have a strong incentive to maximize their income from the conversation.

The lack of a built-in option to create a conversation between a person seeking to purchase goods or services and an alternative service provider that can satisfy the unsatisfied needs or satisfy additional needs that the person may create at least one of the two issues listed below:

1. The potential customer spent time and effort by looking for another service provider by himself.

2. The provider spent a significant amount of effort, money, time and experience which didn't end up in a deal with a customer, thus the provider didn't make any money from the potential costumer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention discloses a method for identifying unsatisfied needs in a conversation taking place over electronic devices and converting the unsatisfied need to business opportunities for providers of goods and services which may be able to satisfy the unsatisfied need. In some cases, the method disclosed in the present invention may be utilized to suggest alternative providers and resolve cases in which a person spends time and efforts to start looking for an alternative provider. In other some cases, the method disclosed in the present invention may be utilized by providers to monetize requests which could not receive appropriate responses and resolve cases in which providers spend a significant amount of money, time and experience which didn't end up in a deal with a customer.

The unsatisfied need may be based on a need for good or services required by a person, mostly a customer or a potential customer, which cannot be fully satisfied by the person seeking to sell goods or services. Such goods may be any salable merchandise, possessions, wares, stocks, commodities, products or artifacts which one may be required or want to purchase or to hire, or to be rented or hired in an hourly basis, for example acquire information and paying 2 USD per minute.

The service that a person may need may be a mechanism or system for supplying a human or public need which people may be willing to pay for. Such services may be financial services, medical services, tourism services, professional services of all kinds, legal services, design services, marketing services, planning services, interment services, entertainment services, and the like.

Said conversation may take place between a person seeking to purchase goods or services, and at least one more person participating in said conversation. In some cases, the other person participating in the conversation may be a provider seeking to sell goods or services. In some cases, the conversation between the person seeking to purchase goods or services and the other person may be over the telephone or over mobile telephones. In some other cases, the conversation may be performed by other communication types, such as a text conversation, a video conference between two or more persons, an electronic mail exchanging, a mobile telephone application, a cellular phone or by any device utilized for communication among persons or between a person and a robot. The unsatisfied need detected by utilizing the method disclosed in the present invention may be based on a need or necessity for goods or services expressed by one person participating in the conversation and the response received from the other participants of the conversation. For example, in case one person connects via a telephone to a provider in order to purchase any goods or services, the other person which receives the telephone call may answer that the goods or the services cannot be provided at the price requested by the person seeking to purchase the goods or the services. The conversation content which comprises the request and the response may be utilized to identify an unsatisfied need.

The method disclosed in the present invention also comprises a process of creating an opportunity profile out of the unsatisfied need. The opportunity profile may comprise the names of the goods or the services the person requires to purchase or to hire. In some cases, the opportunity profile can also comprise the name of the person seeking to purchase, rent or to hire goods or services. In some other cases, the opportunity profile may also comprise contact details of the person seeking to purchase which can be used to communicate with the person. The opportunity profile may also comprise personal details of the person seeking to purchase or rent or to hire the goods or the services. The personal details may such as be age, gender, geographical region, and the like. In some embodiments of the present invention, the opportunity profile may further comprise information and/or analysis about the person's behavior, such as mood, emotional feelings or lingual expressions, his or her happiness level, the willingness to purchase, expressions of enthusiasm, person's comprehension on the product he or she wants to purchase, and the like.

The method disclosed in the present invention also comprises a process for publishing and sharing the opportunity profiles. The publishing and sharing process may comprise sending the opportunity profiles to one or more persons which may seek to offer goods or services relevant to the identified unsatisfied need or additional needs. In some cases, the publishing and sharing process may not take place and the opportunity profiles may be transmitted to a third party advertiser. Such an advertiser may be, Advertising Networks, Leads-Network, professional Leads- Network (such as PLN), and the like. The method of the present invention comprises determining the destination for the business opportunity, according to a predefined set of rules. The central system nay send the business opportunity to a specific potential provider, or send the opportunity to all providers associated with the system and the potential customer may be contacted by one or more of these potential providers. The system that manages the publication of the business opportunity may comprise a database in which potential customers that their conversations were analyzed in the past will not be connected to providers who could not satisfy their needs, for example by filtering the list of potential providers that may purchase the business opportunity.

The publishing and sharing process may also comprise adding the opportunity profiles to a database located in a server, or a computer, or in a local device. In some cases, the database may be connected to an interface for browsing, searching, presenting and listing the opportunity profiles saved in the database, in a bulletin board or in any other software application. In some embodiments of the present invention the publishing of the opportunity profile may take place during the conversation between the person seeking to purchase goods or services and a provider. Thus, the unsatisfied need may be identified and the person seeking to purchase goods or services may be suggested with alternative providers or services during the conversation, at the end of it, or after the conversation has ended. In some cases, in which an unsatisfied need is detected, the discussion with the provider may be transferred and the person seeking to purchase goods or services may continue the discussion with another person, or, in some other cases with an interactive robot that can converse with a human and for example further discusses his needs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the invention are herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of embodiments of the invention. In this regard, the description taken with the drawings makes apparent to those skilled in the art how embodiments of the invention may be practiced.

Fig. 1 discloses a system designed to capture the information in a conversation taking place between two parties, identify unsatisfied needs and additional needs and publish them as business opportunities according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 2 discloses a method for identifying an unsatisfied need in a conversation takes place between two persons according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 3 discloses a method for converting an unsatisfied need to an opportunity profile and publish it according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 4 discloses a method for managing identified business opportunities, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention; and,

Fig. 5 discloses a method for identified additional and/or complementary business opportunities, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a method for analyzing content of a conversation taking place between a person seeking to purchase goods or services and a suggesting party. The suggesting party may be a potential service provider, an intermediate person who recommends on a service provider or a computer representing the service provider. The following specification defines the service provider to include the intermediate person who recommends on a service provider. The method comprises automatically identify a business opportunity from the conversation and send details of the business opportunity to a third party, for example another service provider. Fig. 1 discloses a system designed to capture the information in a conversation taking place between two parties, identify unsatisfied needs and/or additional needs and publish them as business opportunities according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Fig. 1 comprises a computerized mobile device 105 operated by the person seeking to sell goods or services or by the service provider. The present invention also comprises an embodiment in which the intermediate person uses the computerized mobile device 105 and sends the business opportunity to the service providers he knows. In some exemplary cases, the system of the present invention also comprises a data storage for storing information concerning potential clients who participated in conversations associated with the system, in which the former potential clients unsatisfied needs were identified and stored in the data storage. Such stored unsatisfied needs may be used to direct the same potential customers to more relevant service providers, and not to service providers who were unable to satisfy the potential customers' needs in prior conversations.

The computerized mobile device 105 communicates with Process Management Server 115 via communication link 107. The computerized mobile device 105 may be a computerized device utilized for communication such as a mobile telephone, personal computer, personal computer tablet, smart glasses, and the like. In some cases, the computerized mobile device 105 may be replaced by a landline telephone device.

In some cases, in which the computerized mobile device 105 is replaced with a landline telephone device, the person seeking for purchasing goods or services may have the option to operate an additional mobile device in order to receive communications in formats that are not supported by the landline telephone device. Such format may be as digital video communications, text chatting, and the like. Communication link 107 may be part of or connected to a communication network such as wireless communication system, telephone system, internet, communication network and the like. In some cases, the computerized mobile device 105 may operate an application or a program in order to communicate with the Process Management Server 115.

In some cases, a software module runs in the computerized mobile device 105. The software module may be used to:

1. Record or stream the conversation

2. Communicate with the process management server

3. Enables graphical representation of the leads to sell and to buy

4. Enables user interface to buy and sell leads

5. Enables integration (manual or automatic) within a voice call, a text message, email, or any other communication method with the client.

6. Guides the service provider or the intermediate person to extract information from the client with regard to additional needs the potential customer may have. For example, asking the potential customer about additional needs he may have based on current needs as described in 122.

In some cases, the program or application which runs on 105, may contain some or all of the elements or components of Process management server 115. And/or perform the tasks of the Process management server 115. In some cases, Process management server 115 may contain some or all of the elements or components of the program or application running on 105, for example, if 105 is replaced by a landline, the interface to sell leads may be implemented by voice only, implemented in Process management server 115.

In some cases, the carrier telephone system may operate an application or a program module in order to communicate with the Process Management Server 115, or include at least part of Process management server 115, and/or perform the tasks of the Process management server 115. In some cases, in which the service provider's device is a landline telephone device, the service provider may operate an additional device (mobile or stationary) in order to sell business leads originating from a conversation using the landline telephone device. The additional device may be connected to process management server 115 which monitors the conversation of the landline telephone device. For example, a potential customer calls a dentist and needs a treatment in the next hour. The dentist's secretary answers via a landline phone and says that "The dentist is unavailable in the next hour, but I can offer you to another dentist who is available". The secretary opens a dedicated website with her account, and forwards the lead details (the leads details will be viewed in the website since the website receives information from the process management server 115. This can be done using a communication link 107 which forwards the call through dedicated servers which the process management server can connect to, or by a module which resides in the landline provider itself and enables communication with the process management server.

In some other cases, the service provider uses voice only, or a combination of voice and the input/output capabilities of the system. For example, a potential customer calls a dentist and he needs a treatment in the next hour. The dentist's secretary answers via a simple phone via a land line says that "The dentist is unavailable in the next hour, but I can transfer you to other dentist who is available". The secretary says to the system "please put the client on hold" and then says to the system that she would like to sell the business lead or inputs a command or information on a computerized interface of the system, for example, the dialing buttons.

Fig.1 also shows a Process management server 115 designed to operate diverse modules and programs in order to capture the conversation content, identify opportunity profiles out of the captured content, save the opportunity profiles and in some cases publish the opportunity profiles. Process management server 115 may be operated on a computer, a remote server, a cluster of servers, virtual server, a computerized mobile device, and the like. Process management server 115 comprises Information Capturing Application 110 designed to capture a conversation content. The term conversation comprises a phone call between the service provider and the potential customer, textual chat, for example via SMS messages or IM messages, or a vocal face-to-face conversation recorded by the service provider. Such content may be in a format of text, audio, video or any other format used over computerized devices in order to hold a conversation between persons or between a person and a robot. In some cases, the Information Capturing Application 110 may record the conversation between the persons and convert it to a format such as a digital file which can be processed by a computer, or computerized device. For example, the digital file may include conversation between a potential customer and a provider of goods or services in order to purchase any goods such as shirts, shoes and the like, or services like patent editing, house painting, home fixing etc. During the conversation, the computerized mobile device 105 communicates with the Process management server 115 via communication link 107 and the conversation content can be captured by the Information Capturing Application 110. In some cases, the content captured from the conversation may also be saved by the Information Capturing Application 110 in a format of an audio file, in a digital video format, or in a text format, or in another predefined format. In some other cases, the audio or video content may be converted to a text format and saved as a text file, or processed to another format before analysis. In some other cases, the Information Capturing Application 110 may save the content for later processing or transmit /stream for real time processing. The output of Information Capturing Application 110 may be the text or transcript or any other format of only one side of the conversation, either the service provider or the person seeking to buy goods or services, or output the text said or written by both sides. In some cases, the Information Capturing Application 110 may sample a face-to- face conversation, for example using a microphone. In such cases, the potential customer's details may be inputted by the service provider into the system after the conversation. In some cases, if the potential customer's details cannot be detected, for example if the system is unable to detect the phone number, the service provider may input the number manually, for example via mobile device 105.

Process management server 115 also comprises Analysis Application 120 designed to perform analysis processes on the content captured by Information Capturing Application 110. The analysis processes performed by Analysis Application 120 may comprise methods such as, identifying needs in the content captured by the Information Capturing Application 110, identity the name of the person seeking to purchase goods or services, identify the name of the goods or services the person in the conversation is seeking for, identity of the type of the services that were looked for, and the like. In some cases, the Analysis Application 120 may identify needs which the service provider can satisfy. In some cases, the Analysis Application 120 may identify unsatisfied needs, which are needs which the service provider cannot satisfy. In some cases, the Analysis Application 120 may identify additional needs (which the service provider can or cannot satisfy). These needs might be revealed using the additional needs guide creator 122. In some cases, Analysis Application 120 may identify reasons for the unsatisfied need, for example attributes such as prices, required supply time, sizes, required service location, the color of the good, warranty price, service type, and the like may be part of the output of the analysis processes of Analysis Application 120. In some other cases, Analysis Application 120 may identify attributes such as person's emotional feelings, the happiness level of a person, the willingness to purchase, the probability that the person may perform the deal, the person's sincerity to purchase, and the like. Analysis Application 120 may also have the required interfaces for communicating with other analysis applications in order to add detection functionalities of additional attributes. Such interfaces may be an Application Programming Interface (Also known as: API) to third party application, an API for emotion detection performed by another application, and the like. Analysis Application 120 may detect such needs by according to predefined vocabulary, word patterns, voice patterns, behavior extracted from the voice signals or video, noise patterns, text patterns, and the like. The Analysis Application 120 may also be configured to identify whether the conversation involves a request for service or goods or not, according to predefined rules or properties of the conversation. The rest of the method may be influenced by this conclusion, for example the recipients of the business opportunity information may be determined according to the outcome of whether or not the conversation is a selling conversation. Further, the Analysis Application 120 may also determine whether or not the need defined by the potential customer can be satisfied by the service provider, and if not, may be satisfied by another service provider.

Analysis Application 120 is also designed to save the analysis result, and in some cases, transmit them to Opportunity Profile Creator 125 in order to create an opportunity profile.

In some cases, the process management server 115 may include an additional needs guide creator module 122 designed to assist the service provider in extracting more information from the potential customer. The guide creator module 122 creates a guide according to the conversation, and generates text, or selects text from a text storage, such as leading questions that cause the potential customer to speak about and reveal additional needs he might have, as discussed in the description of fig 5. Such needs may be packaging services in case of moving to another apartment, electrician services in case a new electronic device is purchased, moving services needed by a person wishing to purchase furniture, and the like. For example, in case the potential customer is looking for moving services, he might as well need a handyman, defined as the additional need, and the service provider can yield another business lead from the conversation. This "guide" can be generated in a form of text, sound, video etc., displayed to the service provider via mobile device 105.

Process management server 115 also comprises Opportunity Profile Creator 125 designed to create an opportunity profile out of the analysis results received from Analysis Application 120 and/or from the digital file created by the Information Capturing Application 110.

The Opportunity Profile Creator 125 is configured to identify details concerning the unsatisfied needs and additional needs in the analysis results received from Analysis Application 120 and create the opportunity profiles that may contain the identified details of the unsatisfied needs or additional needs. The Opportunity Profile Creator 125 is also configured to capture the contact details and the name of the person seeking to purchase goods or services, and associate them with the opportunity profile. The contact details may be telephone number, electronic mail address, person's address, and the like. For example, in a conversation based on text exchanged between a person seeking to purchase goods or services with a service provider, the provider writes that the goods cannot be supplied at the required time frame. The text is captured by Capturing Application 110 and analyzed by Analysis Application 120. Then, Opportunity Profile Creator 125 utilizes the analysis results of Analysis Application 120 and detects specific terms, words, and phrases indicating on the details of unsatisfied needs. The Opportunity Profile Creator 125 captures the detected unsatisfied needs, adds the name of the person seeking to purchase said goods, the contact details of said person and creates an opportunity profile. For example, analysis application 120 may detect a need for new furniture requested by a person. Then, the Opportunity Profile Creator 125 can identify in the conversation, the telephone number of the person, the time and date the person may want to receive the furniture, and the like. In some cases, the Opportunity Profile Creator 125 may format the detected conversation into a predefined template or format. For example, the potential customer says "I'm moving to another town tomorrow and need my belongings moved by tomorrow at noon", the Opportunity Profile Creator 125 will classify the conversation into "moving" category", add the customer's deadline and the moving destination. The customer's need is thus formatted to a formal manner.

In some cases, the Opportunity Profile Creator 125 may save the created opportunity profiles in the Opportunity Repository 130.

The Process management server 115 may also comprise an Opportunity Repository 130 designed to store the opportunity profiles created by Opportunity Profile Creator 125. The Opportunity Repository 130 may comprise a database, data warehouse, a file system, or any mechanism or system designed for storing, controlling and managing data. In some cases, the Opportunity Repository 130 can be based on data storage mechanisms such as Network-attached storage, distributed storage or any distributed-file system utilized for storing, changing, analyzing, distributing and manipulating data. For example, a conversation is captured by the Information Capturing Application 110, analyzed by Analysis Application 120, and an unsatisfied need is detected by the Opportunity Profile Creator 125. Then, the Opportunity Profile Creator 125 can communicate with the Opportunity Repository 130 and load the opportunity profile into the database. In some cases, the Opportunity Repository 130 may also comprise additional interfaces in order to communicate with other databases or repositories. For example, a third party application for publishing business opportunities for providers selling goods or services may connect with the Opportunity Repository 130, copy specific opportunity profiles and publish them in said third party application.

The Process management server 115 may also comprise a Request Interface Module 135 in order to publish opportunity profiles as business opportunities for providers seeking to sell goods or services. In some cases, the Request Interface Module 135 may comprise additional functionalities such as filtering and sorting the opportunity profiles, communicating with the Opportunity Repository 130 via a software interface, transmitting some of the opportunity profiles from the Opportunity Repository 130 to an external database located in any computerized device, and the like.

In some cases, the Request Interface Module 135 may comprise options to access the database via commands or keywords, for example access via scripts, SQL command, SSH interface, Telnet interface and other options you can use to access the DB with CLI .This is the intention to have functionalities as any DB has.

In some other cases, a programmable interface may be utilized in order to allow communication between the database and a computerized device.

In some exemplary embodiments of the present invention the Opportunity Profile Creator 125 may transmit the opportunity profile to a third party service. The third party service may be such as a third party database, a software application operating on a server, a software application which can communicate via the internet, and electronic mail service, and the like.

The system that manages the publication of the business opportunity may comprise a database in which potential customers that their conversations were analyzed in the past will not be connected to providers who could not satisfy their needs, for example by filtering the list of potential providers that may purchase the business opportunity.

In some cases, the process management server 115 may further include a purchase module 140 configured to enable the service provider to search for information concerning business opportunities stored in the repository 130. The purchase module 140 may be used to facilitate the process of purchasing a business opportunity as detailed in figure 4. The Process management server 115 may also comprise a robot module 145designed to perform several tasks which helps the service provider. Such a robot module 145 may be an artificial intelligence (AI) software application which can converse with a human via voice conversation, a text chat, and the like.

In some cases the robot module 145 may converse with the potential costumer on behalf of the service provider. In that case the information capturing application 110 may use the digitized data outputted from the robot module 145 as an additional data to help digitalize the conversation.

In some cases, the robot module 145 may have vocal properties that resemble the voice of the service provider, according to voice attributes such as tone, volume, frequency and the like. The robot module 145 may reside on the server side, the service provider electronic device, or be part of a system communicating with the system or be a third party API to AI assistance such as SIRI.

The methods disclosed in figures 2- 5 may be performed by the service provider's mobile device, and when the conversation is between the potential customer and the service provider. Alternatively, at least a portion of the process may be performed when the conversation with between the potential customer and a robot, such as robot module 145. In some cases, the conversation begins with the robot module 145, for example in a website landing page. When the software that runs the robot identifies a need for a person to continue the conversation, for example in case the potential customer does not understand the robot, the system transfers the conversation from the robot module 145 to the service provider's device, such as phone or computer. Similarly, the service provider can decide that the conversation continues with the robot and input a command in his device.

Fig. 2 discloses a method for identifying an unsatisfied need in a conversation takes place between two persons, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. Step 205 illustrates detection of a person communicating with another person. Such communication may be via an audio conversation, text exchange, video conference, and the like. Step 210 discloses capturing the conversation and converting it to a digital format. Such capturing may be performed by a voice recording application running on the service provider's electronic device, or in some cases, the voice recording application may run on the device of the person seeking to purchase goods or services, or, in some other cases the voice recording application may be hosted by the telephone carrier system. Conversion to a digital format is defined in a manner that enables the captured content to be processed by a computer.

For example, a person speaks over the telephone and an application captures the conversation audio and converts it to a source of digital characters which can be processed by a computer. The digital character source may be able to be stored as a computer file at any computerized device such a personal computer, personal computer tablet, server, and the like. Step 215 discloses detecting a request of goods or services from the service provider, for example according to comparing the captured conversation to a predefined set of expressions, or using another algorithm or method as desired by a person skilled in the art. The detection enables defining whether or not the conversation commenced in order to find goods or services. Step 215 may use additional methods like described in 220.

In step 220, the content of the captured conversation is analyzed in order to identify specific patterns in the conversation content. The patterns identified by the analyzing process may be such as words or terms spoken by the provider of goods or services that can potentially indicate on unsatisfied needs, specific volume pattern during the discussions, typical length of the discussion, behavioral analysis extracted from audio signal and the like. In some cases, the analysis process may also comprise identifying patterns such as flatness of the voice, shakings in the sound, and the like. For example, the analyzing process may identify a pattern of a potential unsatisfied need based on specific terms mentioned during the conversation and some voice flatness of one of the conversation participants.

The analyzing process may comprise diverse methodologies such as text analyzing, statistical methods, voice and sound analysis, Natural language processing (NLP), and the like. In some cases, the analyzing process may also contain some manual procedures conducted by a person. In some other cases, the analyzing process may comprise some artificial intelligence (AI) based methods to analyze human conversations. In some cases, the analyzing process may comprise a process for distinguishing and spearing the content expressed by the person seeking to purchase goods or services, and the service provider, or the providers participating in the conversation.

Step 225 discloses detecting unsatisfied needs in the analyzed content performed in step 220. That is, detecting that the service provider can't satisfy the potential costumer's needs. Such detection may include predefined attributes or terms which may indicate on unsatisfied needs, for example "unfortunately", "not currently" and the like. In some cases, the detecting process may compare the patterns identified in the analyzing process defined in step 220 to predefined patterns, terms or conditions in order to detect unsatisfied needs. For example, in case a pattern of word combination was identified at the analyzing process in step 220, in step 225, the word combination can be compared with terms existing in a predefined vocabulary in order to detect unsatisfied needs. Step 225 may also comprise identifying the reason for the unsatisfied need. Such reasons may be, price level, time, delivery time, type of service, Uncomfortable location, type of product, and the like. Unsatisfied need can also be the clients' desire to search for other service providers, even though the service provider can satisfy the need. In some embodiments of the present invention, step 225 may comprise an option to propose the provider options to meet the customer requirements. For example, in case the provider's schedule is busy, the provider may receive a proposal to change the scheduling of the meetings. Such proposal may be provided to the provider via chat robot, a conversation with a person, a text message, an electronic mail, and the like. Such proposal may be provided to the user provider by the application running on the mobile device 105. Step 230 illustrates the case in which no unsatisfied need is identified in the detecting process disclosed in step 225. For example, in the conversation, the person requesting to purchase goods receives a positive answer from the goods' provider. The conversation content is captured and the analyzing process may operate in order to identify specific patterns in the conversation content as defined in step 220. Then, in the detecting process, no match is detected between the patterns identified in the analyzing process and the predefined patterns at the detecting process. The process ends with no unsatisfied need detected and the operation can stop.

Step 235, illustrates the case in which an unsatisfied need is identified by the detecting process. For example, a person requesting to purchase goods or services from a provider holds a telephone conversation and requests from the provider to purchase any goods or services. In the conversation, the person requesting to purchase receives an answer from the provider that the goods cannot be delivered at the color requested by the person seeking to purchase. The conversation content is captured, analyzed and then an unsatisfied need is detected.

Fig. 3 discloses a method for converting an unsatisfied need to an opportunity profile and publishing the opportunity profile, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In step 305, an unsatisfied need is identified in a conversation between two persons, as disclosed in Fig. 2, at step 225. In step 310, an opportunity profile is created. In some exemplary embodiment of the present invention the opportunity profile may be stored in an opportunity repository as disclosed above. Then, in step 320, the opportunity profile is classified, for further process, for example to analyze the segmentation of business opportunities extracted in a specific region, or a specific month. The classification process may be performed according to various parameters such as name of the goods or services requested in said conversation, the purpose of the goods or the services, the provider attributes, the requested price level, the time frame the goods or the services are requested to be delivered, desired location of the service and the like. In some cases, only some of the parameters may be utilized in the classification process. In some other cases, none of the parameters may be identified in the classification process. Then, the opportunity profile may be stored in the opportunity repository, associated with the parameters which were identified in the classification process. For example, in case an unsatisfied need of a person requires to purchase goods is identified, the content of the conversation is utilized to create an opportunity profile which comprises the required goods, the name of the requester, the contact details and the like, as disclosed in Fig. 2. Then, the opportunity profile may be classified according to some parameters identified in the classification process. Such parameters may be price levels, type of a goods required in the conversation and the like.

In step 330, the opportunity profile is formatted as a business opportunity and multiple optional providers are granted with access to a request repository in order to review the opportunity profile. In some cases, the presentation of the business opportunity can be in a bulletin board, an internet application utilized to publish such information, an application operating on a computerized device and the like. In some cases, the providers of goods or services reviewing the business opportunities may have the option to sort, filter or view the business opportunities according to the parameters identified in the classification process.

In some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the publishing process may take place to a third party service. Such service may be a computerized service provided over communication networks, a computerized service provided over the internet, a server, an application, and the like. Thus, in step 315, a connection with a third party service is established. The connection may be via the communication network, an application interface, or any protocol utilized for such communication types. In step 325, the opportunity profile is sent to the third party service via the communication established in step 315. Fig. 4 discloses a method for managing identified business opportunities, according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The method may be implemented by system components described above. According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the method comprises identifying an unsatisfied need during a conversation and publishing a business opportunity according to the unsatisfied need in real time, for example during the conversation. The method of figure 5 may also be used to detecting additional needs, in addition to the unsatisfied needs, as defined above.

For example, when Side A (Seller) would like to transfer the call (sell the lead), the seller clicks on an icon/widget that opens up a quick screen with: selling options, Price, Favorite list of colleagues etc. Once the seller clicks "Sell" the call is put on hold and the potential customer is forwarded and connected with an alternative person that can satisfy the unsatisfied need. In case there are more than one alternative providers, one of them may be selected using a predefined set of rules, for example who is the first buyer, who bid the highest sum and the like. This method can be done via VOIP or via the cellular provider. The alternative provider may be selected by the service provider during the conversation or afterword, using an interface installed on the provider's device. The interface may enable the provider to input his favorite alternative provider, or select from a group of alternative providers. In other cases, the provider may input information into the interface to limit the optional alternative providers.

In another example, during a video conference, an unsatisfied need and/or an additional need are identified and opportunity profiles are created. Then, the provider may choose another optional providers and transmits the opportunity profiles during the conversation to the chosen providers.

Step 405 shows a person, a potential customer, who contacts a service provider or an intermediate person who recommends on a service provider in order to purchase goods or services. The person is defined as a potential customer. Step 410 shows detecting the conversation between a person communicating with another person which may be a provider, for the purpose of purchasing goods or services. Such communication may be via an audio conversation, text exchange, video conference, and the like. In some cases, in which an unsatisfied need or an additional need is identified in the conversation between the person and the service provider, the process continues to step 425 in order to create an opportunity profile. In some cases, the conversation is face-to-face conversation between the potential customer and the service provider or intermediate person. For example, a potential customer is talking with a patent attorney in order to write a new patent, and in the conversation the potential customer is telling the patent attorney that he also wants to build a website. In that case the patent attorney's mobile device 105 may detect the conversation via a microphone and pop up a message saying "I have detected a need for building a website, would you like to sell this lead for 3$?".

Step 415 shows a robot answering the person (the potential costumer). The robot in step 415 is designed to identify requests or needs for purchasing goods or services. For example, a person calls a provider in order to purchase a service or goods. The provider cannot take the call and the conversation is answered by a robot. Thus, the robot can identify whether that person is a potential customer, or not. For example, if the robot identifies that the other side is a potential customer, the robot can automatically transfer the conversation to the service provider. In case needs or requests are identified, the process continues to step 425 for creating the opportunity profiles. Alternatively, in case no requests or needs are identified, the conversation ends and the process moves to step 420. In case the robot identifies a need, the system may analyze the conversation and determine the likelihood of match between the service provider and the potential customer, the probability that the service provider can satisfy the need according to information stored about the service provider and the details about the identified need and the likelihood that the potential customer is willing to contact the provider later. The analysis may use conversation properties, such as tone, detected emotions, behavior and the like. For example, in case the potential customer shows urgency and the service provider cannot be interrupted, the system may decide to transfer the call to another service provider that is available and enjoy the benefit of the lead. According to the above analyses, the system decides whether or not to perform the following options:

1. Transfer the potential customer to another service provider in real time or ask the potential customer for permission to be contacted later by the service provider.

2. Ask the potential customer to wait until the service provider is available in real time or ask the potential customer for permission to be contacted later.

3. Interrupt the service provider and ask him/her to contact the potential customer ASAP in real time. This is good for example if the selling price is high, and the service provider prefers to be interrupted for this reason. In some cases the service provider can determine in advance from which estimated selling price to interrupt him.

The system may comprise a user interface enabling the provider to input definitions on how and when to use the robot. For example, use the robot for every phone call received in the weekends, ask the robot to generate a phone call responsive to receiving details in the provider's website, transfer phone call automatically to the robot when the provider in unavailable and the like. In some cases the robot may also be designed to identify people and contacts in the contact list of the service provider, identify potential customers, and distinguish between a contact and a potential customer. For example, when the service provider is busy and receives a phone call from a number not identified in the service provider's contact list, the system will automatically activate the robot to take the call, in case the call is from a potential client. Then, the system will analyze the conversation as disclosed above

In some cases, the robot may be able to offer services or goods on behalf of the provider. In some cases, the robot can also perform the selling part of the conversation, close the deal with all the relevant terms - price, delivery time table and the like. The robot can store the conversation, or conversation details such as the deal details for the service provider.

In some cases, in which an unsatisfied need and/or additional need is identified in the conversation between the person and the service provider, the process continues to step 425 in order to create an opportunity profile.

In step 420, the call with the person seeking to purchase goods or services ends. In some cases, the conversation content may be stored in a database, in a computer, in a remote computer, a server, a server cluster, and the like. In some other cases, the system may be able to identify the potential customer and add the details of said customer to the saved content. In some case, the conversation content may be transferred to a third party entity.

Step 425 shows the creation of opportunity profiles. The opportunity profiles may be formatted as business opportunities. Creation of the opportunity profile may be performed during the conversation or after the conversation ends. The opportunity profile may comprise the opportunity identified during the conversation or from the conversation. The opportunity profile may comprise an additional need extracted from the conversation, as disclosed in figure 5. The opportunity profile may comprise a plurality of opportunities. In some cases, the method may further comprise a process of adding the contact details of the potential customer, associated with the business opportunity.

In step 435, the business opportunity undergoes an optimization process. Such an optimization process may comprise detailed description of the goods or the services, location, required delivery time, what the suggesting person (intermediate person or service provider) thinks about the potential customer and her/his probability of buying, etc. The optimization process may take place between the person seeking to purchase goods or services and another person that may be the provider. The system may request the provider to verify some details concerning the business opportunity, which can be added or amended textually or vocally via an interface. The details verification may be necessary in case the system is unable to complete the information, for example due to poor audio quality. The provider or suggesting person can add properties of the business opportunity not identified during the conversation, for example due to poor voice quality. Adding the properties can be performed at the end of the conversation or when the potential client is asked to wait on hold in case the conversation is a phone call.

In some cases, the optimization process may be performed between the person seeking to purchase goods or services, and a robot as explained above. Such a discussion may take place in order to add needed details to the business opportunity. Such details may be, the required price, the time, required schedule, good types, and the like. The provider may hand over the conversation to an automatic machine or an interactive robot able to converse with a human. Such robot may be an automatic text application, a voice recognition based application and the like.

In some cases, the conversation transfers seamlessly from the goods' provider to a robot that continues the conversation with the potential customer.

In some cases the service provider saves the opportunity profile during the conversation for additional searching activities. The additional searching activities may be such as, search for a contact that may be able to satisfy the unsatisfied needs, search for additional goods or services that can be suggested to the person seeking to purchase goods or services, change the offering already offered by the provider in order to satisfy the unsatisfied need, and the like. The searching activities may be performed automatically. Saving the opportunity profile may take place in a computerized device such as a computerized mobile device, a computer, a personal computer, a personal computer tablet device, and the like. In some cases, the saved opportunity file can be reviewed in a different time by the provider. The saved opportunity profile may be stored in a storage system

In step 440, the business opportunity may be configured with the price and the target address of the business opportunity. The service provider or suggesting person is given the option to enter the price and the target address by text, talk with a robot, etc., while the client is still on the conversation or transfers to hold, or after the conversation has ended. In some cases, the price may be an amount of money or a price depends of the deal that will be agreed between the client or the potential service provider (for example, a percentage of the priced agreed between the potential service provider and the client). In some cases, the conversation is a face to face conversation and the suggesting person is enabled to enter the price and the target address into the system using text, a vocal conversation with a robot, etc.

In some cases, the system automatically sends the business opportunity according to predefined rules and setting the price and the target address automatically.

In some cases, the system automatically decides on a price for this business opportunity depending on factors such as a predefined percentage of the price agreed during the conversation, an agreed lead price, a predefined portion of the cost of the service, time of day, supply and demand, history of payment of specific potential service providers etc. or adjusting the price suggested by the provider, adding an optimal price for such a product or service. The lead price may be determined according to a lead database that comprises lead prices in various fields. The prices in the database may change frequently or in response to information inputted into the database. In some cases such target address may be a specific name, a person, a provider, a group of providers, system which associates number of providers to one group. The target address may be determined by the system or by the service provider. In some cases, other providers registered to the opportunity repository (130 in fig 1), and the like. The alternative providers who receive the business opportunity may communicate with the system, for example as subscribers who input their details, may bid for opportunities, update their profile and the like.

In some other cases the target address may be a third party service. Such third party service may be a system in which other providers can utilize for trading with the opportunity profiles, a leads network, a bulletin board, a database, a professional leads network, and the like.

In some cases, in which there is no specific target address the business opportunity may continue with the publishing process. Step 450 discloses estimating the likelihood of potential providers to buy the business opportunity, the time it will take to buy the business opportunity, and the likelihood of buying and receiving the call/chat/video conversation transferred with the potential customer in a sorted amount of time. Such estimation may consider prior cases in which potential providers were available or not, current availability of user providers, time of the day, popularity of business opportunity segment and the like. According to said likelihood, the system will determine two options, which can be suggested to the costumer by a robot or by the service provider, as follows:

1. Ask the potential customer to wait on line and wait to be contacted by another service provider, and can estimate when another provider will go on the line and inform the customer about the estimated time.

The system suggests the potential customer to either wait for another provider, the conversation with the original provider terminates and other providers can purchase the business opportunity while the potential customer is waiting on the line

2. Ask the potential customer to end the call and wait until another provider will call the customer back and can estimate when another provider will call the customer back and inform the customer about the estimated time.

Step 455 discloses an option of publishing the opportunity profile according to the target address of step 440 and the connection type decided of step 450. The business opportunity may be sent to the potential providers and they can view it by sound, graphical representations, text or a like via the module in their mobile devices 105, where they can buy the opportunity and contact the potential customer. The business opportunity may be published in a specific website or another computerized system where other service providers can purchase it. The business opportunity may be published in a media not related to the potential providers' mobile devices, such as adaptive or professional websites, electronic billboards and the like.

In some cases, the provider or suggesting person may publish the opportunity profile before or after the conversation ends. The publishing process may comprise options to include widgets or icons that appear at the service provider's device or the suggesting person's device and request the provider to sell the opportunity profile to a potential buyer of the opportunity.

In some cases, during the conversation, the system may publish the opportunity profile before or after the conversation ends, automatically with or without the approval of the provider or the suggesting person. In some cases, said proposal will take place after the client and the original provider has ended the call. In some cases, the message containing the business opportunity may be generated while the conversation with the service provider or suggesting person associated with the unsatisfied need is still taking place, before termination. In some cases, the target service providers may use various computerized devices similar to computerized mobile devices 105 to communicate with the system and wait for the opportunity to buy the business opportunity via the purchase module 140 of figure 1.

In some cases, the person seeking to purchase goods or services may end the conversation with the original service provider or suggesting person and be approached after the conversation by another service provider and receive proposals for purchasing the goods or the services in which said person is interested. Such a proposal can be received in a telephone conversation from a human, a robot, a text message, and electronic mail, and the like.

In some cases, the client will wait on the line for a predefined amount of time and hear a music until the conversation transfers seamlessly to another provider that continues the conversation with the potential customer. Such transition can be performed using a dedicated dialer, or a software module operated within the mobile device of the provider or a central server of a cellular service provider

In some cases, the client will wait on the line for a predefined amount of time for another service provider to continue the conversation, and the system detects that no other provider takes the conversation, the system will transfer the call to a robot or inform the customer that he will be approached later, before terminating the conversation, video conversation or textual chat.

In some cases, the potential service providers may buy the option to contact the potential client, while he/she waits on the line or after the conversation with the original service provider has ended, and the original service provider will receive a payment from this buying. The price of the option may be the price defined in step 440 or another price determined by the system. In some cases, the potential service providers may receive the option to contact the potential client free of charge, while he/she waits on the line or after the conversation with the original service provider or suggesting person has ended, and will pay only if the potential client asks for the potential service provider's contact details or when sending a proposal to the potential client.

In some cases, the client will wait on the line for a predefined amount of time for another service provider to continue the conversation. While the potential client is waiting, the target service providers may receive a notification that there is a potential customer waiting on the line. The notification may be in a form of smartphone notification, a special sound, a phone call, a text message, etc, and may apply also when the target service providers is at another call.

In some cases, the system may be configured to reveal the contact details of potential customers that were not exposed to the service provider before the detected conversation. For example, a certain service provider receives a number of business opportunities. The service provider may be able to receive the contact details of the potential customers which were not exposed to him / her. This can be done by saving the contact details of the potential customer in the system, even in case the service provider does not transfer the business opportunity to the system. Then, when the service provider purchases business opportunities, the system compares the details of the business opportunity to be provided or revealed to the service provider with prior business opportunities that the same service provider conversed with before, to avoid connecting the same person with the service provider, in case the service provider was unable to satisfy the same person in the past.

In some cases, the business opportunity price is an agreed portion of the deal agreed between the customer or the potential service provider, for example, 30 percent of the deal. In such case, the service provider who bought the business opportunity may use a user interface to enter the deal price with the customer and the system will calculate the fee to be transferred to the original service provider or the suggesting person account.

Fig. 5 discloses a method for identifying additional and/or complementary needs of the potential client, besides the original needs of which he contacted the service provider for. The method may be implemented by system components described above

The method can be performed during a conversation between a person and a robot, or during a conversation between a person (potential customer) and a service provider.

For example, the complementary needs may be identified during a conversation of the person seeking to purchase furniture. This person might move to a new home, therefore such additional needs may include packaging services, buying insurance for the new home etc. If the additional needs are identified by the furniture's service provider, he may sell them to another service provider (packaging, insurance), thus maximize the monetization from the potential costumer.

In step 510, a request of goods or services is identified in a conversation between two persons. In step 520, the system analyzes the conversation, and uses algorithms and databases to generate or update a "walkthrough guide" to be used in the conversation, in order to cause the person to speak about additional needs he might have.

For example, if the person is telling the service provider that he/she wants a quotation for building a new website, the system will search in the database for all the complementary needs for building a website. This needs may be - marketing services, SEO (search engine optimization services), etc. Then, the system will generate a "guide" in a form of text, sound, video etc., displayed to the service provider via mobile device 105. The service provider will use the guide in order to extract more information from the potential costumer about the additional needs. For example, the guide can be implemented in a form of text questions displayed to the service provider on a mobile phone screen - "Ask the client if he needs a SEO service?" ,"Ask the client if he already have a marketing strategy?", etc. This step also comprises updating the guide depending on the conversation, for example if the user doesn't respond well to the questions that the guide suggested, the system can try a different strategy in order to "sweet talk" the potential customer to provide information about his additional needs. For example, if the user doesn't respond well to the question "do you need a SEO service" (for example by his tone), then the guide may suggest the provider to try a different approach like asking the potential client about his website and act excited about it, in order to make the client open more freely to the provider.

For example, if the potential customer responds that he already has a SEO provider, the guide may be updated to ask a different question, like "Ask the client if he already has a marketing strategy?" if the client responds that he doesn't yet have a marketing strategy, the guide will continue writing questions about this, for example - "where would you like to market your website?"

In step 525, the service provider or the robot is conversing with the client based on the text generated by the guide of step 520. For example, if the guide is suggesting to ask the client if he needs a SEO service, then the service provider asks the client "do you need a SEO service"?

In some cases a robot is conversing with a person, and the robot will converse with the person according to the guide. When the robot converses with the potential customer, some of the conversation may be hidden from the service provider.

In step 530, the conversation is analyzed and if an additional need is detected, the additional need is used to create an opportunity profile. For example, if the client answered that he does need an SEO services, than a new opportunity profile for SEO services is built. In step 540, the system determines whether or not to continue the cycle, based on several criteria like the tone of the client, if enough additional needs are detected, etc. The business opportunity of an additional need can be treated the same as a business opportunity of an unsatisfied need, in terms of sending it, publishing, selling, rewarding, storing and the like.

The foregoing description of illustrative embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and of description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting with respect to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

collecting and digitizing information from a conversation between a person interested in goods or services and a provider of goods or services;

analyzing and digitizing said information in order to identify an unsatisfied need of the person interested in goods or services;

creating an opportunity profile in said digitized information of said conversation; publishing said opportunity profile to one or more than one potential providers of goods or services.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting information from said conversation comprises recording an audio conversation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting information from said conversation comprises copying text in a text based conversation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing and digitizing of said conversation is performed in response to requests of the person seeking to purchase goods or services and the response received from other conversation participants.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the collecting information from said conversation comprises recording a video conversation.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the unsatisfied need is at least one good or a service required by said person interested in goods or services and cannot be fully supplied by said provider of goods or services.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the opportunity profile comprises the unsatisfied need of said person interested in goods or services.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the opportunity profile further comprises information about said person interested in goods or services.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the opportunity profile further comprises details utilized to contact the said person interested in goods or services.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the opportunity profile is created before said conversation ends.

11. The method about said person of claim 1 , wherein the opportunity profile comprises gender, age, geographical region said person resides.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the publishing comprises classifying information in the opportunity profile.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the publishing is performed before said conversation ends.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the publishing further comprises sending the opportunity profile to one or more devices associated with alternative goods or service providers.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the publishing further comprises adding said opportunity profile to a database.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the publishing further comprises adding said opportunity profile to a bulletin board.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein classifying further comprises a process of associating the type of said goods or said services.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein classifying further comprises a process of associate the requested price level of said goods or said services.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein classifying further comprises a process of associate the delivery time of said goods or said services.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein classifying further comprises a process of associate the delivery geographical region of said goods or said services.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprises generating a guide to the service provider during the conversation with the potential customer.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the guide comprises text configured to extract more information from the potential customer.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprises detecting additional needs associated with the identified unsatisfied need and generating the guide according to the detected additional needs.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprises adding the detected additional needs to the opportunity profile.