Live Help / Call Center Application with Flex and BlazeDS

Live Help / Call Center Application with Flex and BlazeDS

customer3.jpgcallcenter.jpg

I recently posted a number of examples (Yahoo Maps Collaboration and Collaborative Data Entry) showing how to use the BlazeDS / LCDS Message Service to build collaborative applications. In this post, I’m extending the Collaborative Forms application to provide an example of a more complete and real life “Live Help / Call Center” application.

The use case goes like this: a customer tries to complete a task (in this case: apply for a mortgage) on a web site, gets in trouble, and starts a “Live Help” session with a support representative. Among other things, the support representative can remotely drive the customer’s application, enter data collaboratively with the customer, chat with the customer using a text-based and/or a video-chat session, close the support ticket, etc.

To make it easier for you to experience the application, I’m hosting it on my server. You can test it using the instructions below.

Testing the application:

  1. Open a browser and access http://coenraets.org/apps/livehelp/customer.html. Enter your email address and click Start.

    Note: Your email address is used as a unique identifier to allow you to test the application in your own sandbox: your experiments are isolated from the experiments of other users testing the application.

  2. Open another browser window (on the same computer or on a different computer) and access http://coenraets.org/apps/livehelp/callcenter.html. Enter your email address and click “Start”. Make sure you use the same email address you used in the customer application.

  3. In the customer application, enter some data in different tabs.

  4. Click “Start session” to initiate a Live Help session with a support rep.

  5. Notice that a new ticket appears in the call center application.

  6. In the call center application select the new ticket, and click “Handle Ticket” (upper right corner). A message should appear in the chat window of the customer application. Notice that the data you typed in the customer application automatically appears in the support rep application.

  7. Type a chat message in the support rep app: the message appears in the customer app.

  8. The support rep can remotely drive the customer application: in the support rep application, change the selected Accordion tab, and notice that the customer application’s user interface is automatically synchronized. This works in both directions: you can change the Accordion tab in the customer app and the support rep’s user interface will be automatically synchronized as well.

  9. The application supports collaborative data entry (collaborative form filling): Enter some data in the support rep application: notice that the data automatically appears in the customer application. This works in both directions as well.

  10. On the Employment History tab, add a few companies (including start date, end date, and salary) and notice that the employment history list is automatically synchronized in the other browser.

  11. If you have a webcam attached to your system, click the “Start webcam” button in one of the applications.

    Note: Live video streaming is powered by Flash Media Server. Since I don’t have access to a hosted instance of Flash Media Server, live video streaming is not enabled in this hosted version.

I will post the source code in the coming days.

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This entry was posted in BlazeDS, Collaboration, Flex, LiveCycle Data Services. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

59 Comments

  1. Posted October 13, 2009 at 3:05 am | Permalink

    We haven’t tried Flex but I wonder if there has been any upgrade since the time of this posting…

  2. Posted October 31, 2009 at 2:57 pm | Permalink

    Live Chat is the future. I know it. Live support allso

  3. Posted March 25, 2010 at 2:15 am | Permalink

    Looks like a great tool – just wondering how it might compare to say, LivePerson? We’ve been using LivePerson for a couple of months now, & it provides some really insightful “back-end” stuff (such as the source of the visitor, their location, their high-level system specs etc)…

    It doesn’t have webcam to my knowledge, which would be cool :)

    All the best with the app, and yes I agree Live Chat is the future! Espeically in this “must have it now!” world.

    Great for customer service, technical support & online business overall!

  4. Posted March 30, 2010 at 8:57 pm | Permalink

    Thank you for the tips. It is very helpful.

  5. Posted April 24, 2010 at 1:20 am | Permalink

    I think on line calling or live calling support a person .
    ———————————————————————
    ronit roy

  6. Posted May 26, 2010 at 10:06 pm | Permalink

    Online applications like this one is really a great help in applying in a call center. I wonder what features are now added in this application.. Thanks for the info.

  7. Posted May 31, 2010 at 4:39 am | Permalink

    Hello, I am rowan atkinson. I am agree with you. Looks like a great tool – just wondering how it might compare to say, LivePerson? We’ve been using LivePerson for a couple of months now, & it provides some really insightful “back-end” stuff (such as the source of the visitor, their location, their high-level system specs.
    ————————————————-
    CROISSANCE SYSTEMS

  8. CROISSANCE SYSTEMS
    Posted June 1, 2010 at 4:26 am | Permalink

    Hey,this is peter.Looks like a great tool – just wondering how it might compare to say, LivePerson? We’ve been using LivePerson for a couple of months now, & it provides some really insightful “back-end” stuff (such as the source of the visitor, their location, their high-level system specs etc)…
    ===================
    peter011

  9. vinman
    Posted August 27, 2010 at 11:55 am | Permalink

    A great application each ecommerce websites should adopt to avoid the frustration of customers over incomplete transaction and their fear of losing money. Any online business website selling its own product should employ this to serve their customers effectively.
    Internet Home Business Ideas

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