An Agent-Based Architecture for Customer Services Management and Product Search

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Heiberg, Thomas | Matskin, Mihhail | Pedersen, Jøran

Affiliations: BEKK Consulting AS, Skur 39, Vippetangen, N-0150 Oslo, Norway. E-mail: thomas.heiberg@bekk.no | Department of Computer and Information Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway. E-mail: mihhail.matskin@idi.ntnu.no | Kelkoo Norge, Parkveien 60, N-0254 Oslo, Norway. E-mail: joran.pedersen@kelkoo.com

Abstract: The amount of products and services available over the Internet increases significantly and it soon becomes beyond users ability to analyze and compare them. At the same time the number of potential customers available via the Internet also increases dramatically and starts to be beyond the service providers ability to perform efficient targeted marketing. A possible way for relaxing the above-mentioned limitations could be in usage of electronic assistants, both for customers and providers. Such assistants may serve as mediators for commercial Internet-based activity. Software agents could play role of such mediators representing customers and providers in the network. In this paper we present our experience and a solution to using agent technology in customer services management for mobile users. The solution is intended to increase granularity and personalization in targeted advertising while ensuring customer privacy. The proposed solution has been implemented in a prototype system for providing services for users of mobile devices.

Keywords: software agents, customer services, WAP devices, product search

DOI: 10.3233/INF-2002-13405

Journal: Informatica, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 441-454, 2002