Systems for Automatic Customer Support Operations (SACSO)

The SACSO project was a collaborative research and development effort between
our research group and Hewlett-Packard (HP). The project was funded jointly
by HP and the Danish National Centre for IT Research (CIT).
The aim of the project was development of systems for automated customer
support operations (SACSO) through the use of decision-theoretic methodologies.
The overall aim of the SACSO project was to establish a proof of concept for the
application of Bayesian network technology in the area of troubleshooting electromechanical
systems, specifically networked printer systems.
The research and development was carried out in a collaboration involving a
combination of 3 full-time and 2-3 part-time researchers from the group and 1-2
full-time and 3-5 part-time research and development engineers of HP.
On the scientific side, methods and algorithms were developed for generic interactive
troubleshooting guiding the user to carry out cost effective troubleshooting
sequences as well as methods and algorithms for validation and maintenance of
troubleshooters, including methods for manual as well as automatic adaptation of
model structure, probabilities, and costs. The research activities of the project resulted
in 4 patents, 17 reviewed scientific papers, 11 technical reports, 10 working
papers, and 13 presentations.
On the deployment side, systems for interactive construction and execution of
decision-theoretic troubleshooting models were created, and complete troubleshooting
models for four HP high-end laser printers were developed. As a spin-off of
the SACSO project, Dezide ApS was founded in 2001 by former employees of
Hewlett-Packard R& D. Dezide develops and sells innovative software for support
of complex problem solving, primarily focusing on automation of customer service
in telecommunication businesses, ISPs, and mobile operators.