US 5,884,032 · Granted 1999-03-16

The 1999 Patent That Invented Live Chat Support

Before live chat and video calls with customer service, there was a mess: you'd be on a website, hit a dead end, and have to hang up and call a totally separate number to talk to someone. This patent solved that by letting a customer service agent pick up right where you left off on the website—same screen, same context, instant connection.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claim covers a system that seamlessly connects customers browsing the web to live customer service agents through a call center, allowing both the customer and agent to see the same information on their screens simultaneously. What's protected here is the method of routing a customer from a self-service web interface directly to an available human agent without losing context, plus the customer's ability to initiate that handoff on their own schedule rather than being forced to call a separate number.

Why it matters

In 1999, this was genuinely novel infrastructure. Most companies ran their web presence and their call centers as completely separate operations—you either self-served online or called a 1-800 number. This patent integrated those two worlds, which became table stakes for any company trying to offer modern customer service. It's a foundational piece of what we now call omnichannel customer experience, though the patent itself focused on the technical plumbing that made it possible.

Real-world use

When you're shopping on a retailer's website and a chat bubble pops up offering to connect you with an agent, both of you seeing the same product page—that's the customer journey this patent opened up.

Original USPTO abstract

This invention (The Customer Contact Channel Changer) enables the integration of different Customer Contact Channels such as live call center ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) agents, ADSI (Analog Display Services Interface) enhanced IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems and WWW (World Wide Web) servers. The world wide web servers are used to allow customers with computer equipment to access information from an organizations databases in a self service mode. Frequently these customers have questions best answered by human ACD agents. With this invention the connection between the customer with the question and the agent with the answer is done quickly and efficiently with both parties sharing screens of common information. Also control is retained by the customer to make the call happen when they want it.

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,884,032
Filing date: 1995-09-25
Grant date: 1999-03-16
Assignee: The New Brunswick Telephone Company, Limited
Inventor(s): BATEMAN; THOMAS HOWARD, KIERSTEAD; BRUCE EDWARD, NOBLE; WILLIAM ALEXANDER, CURRY; TIMOTHY LEE, LOCKETT; JOHN ALAN, MERSEREAU; LAURIE EDWARD, OUELLETTE; ROBERT JAMES
CPC class: H04M3/5191

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