Consultation system with contact person through on‐demand calling of a proper expert for a problem

Abstract

AbstractLocal branches of financial institutions offer to their customers a wide spectrum of advisory services which must be upgraded from time to time to keep up with changes in the mix of financial products offered and with the growing sophistication of the customers' inquiries. However, keeping the full staff of experts trained in various aspects of banking business is not practical from the standpoint of cost‐effectiveness, while without them it is difficult to provide high‐quality services. In this paper we propose a window consultation system for customers at the branch office using the on‐demand calling of an expert specializing in the subject related to the inquiry. The proposed system is based on the multimedia network technology and it has two main functions: selection of an on‐line expert and tele‐consultation providing the replies or expert advises to the inquiries. A customer visiting his branch office is interviewed by a clerk who determines the contents of the request and, if he is unable to give the customer satisfactory advice, contacts through the proposed system an appropriate expert. This system makes it possible to provide high‐quality services and to avoid mistakes, which can be made by customers if they operate the consultation systems on their own. The proposed system has a three‐layered structure: application component layer, middleware component layer, and fundamental component layer. This structure allows for an easy installation and modifications depending on the scale of specific branch offices of financial institutions and the mix of financial products offered by them. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 163(2): 57–66, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20518