Generation of personalized and hybrid responses to queries submitted from within tax return preparation system during preparation of electronic tax return
First Claim
1. A computerized tax return preparation system comprising:
- a shared data store; and
at least one processor configured to perform processing comprising;
presenting, by a user interface controller process, at least one interview screen to a user of the computerized tax preparation system, the interview screen comprising a search field for entry of a query by the user through the interview screen;
writing, by the user interface controller process, data to the shared data store to update runtime data of a current electronic tax return, the runtime data including user-supplied data and results of calculations performed using the user-supplied data;
reading, by a tax logic agent process independent of the user interface controller process, the runtime data from the shared data store;
analyzing, by the tax logic agent process, the runtime data for compliance with one or more rules;
generating, by the tax logic agent process, one or more non-binding suggestions of unanswered questions or topics for consideration by the user interface controller process based on the analyzing;
receiving, by a response engine process independent of the tax logic agent process, the query entered into the search field;
generating, by the response engine process, a hybrid result in response to the query, the hybrid result comprising;
at least one of the non-binding suggestions,runtime data of the shared data store that is selected based at least in part upon the search query, andan action to be performed for preparation of the electronic tax return;
receiving, by the user interface controller process, the hybrid result; and
presenting, by the user interface controller process, an interview screen comprising the hybrid result to the user in response to the query during preparation of the electronic tax return.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A hybrid response mechanism for processing queries submitted through an interview screen of a tax preparation application. User submits query through search field of interview screen generated by tax preparation application. Response engine accesses runtime data of electronic tax return stored in data store and generates hybrid response including runtime data and an action. Hybrid response data may be alpha/numerical runtime data or data identifying runtime data and identifying or including a link to an action, e.g., a form to be completed or revised, or to prepare a new form. The hybrid search result can also include a result (such as reference materials, e.g., information about tax topics or an answer provided by an on-line community member) generated by an external computing resource such as an online community for the tax preparation application also processing the query but that is not included in the electronic tax return being prepared.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A computerized tax return preparation system comprising:
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a shared data store; and at least one processor configured to perform processing comprising; presenting, by a user interface controller process, at least one interview screen to a user of the computerized tax preparation system, the interview screen comprising a search field for entry of a query by the user through the interview screen; writing, by the user interface controller process, data to the shared data store to update runtime data of a current electronic tax return, the runtime data including user-supplied data and results of calculations performed using the user-supplied data; reading, by a tax logic agent process independent of the user interface controller process, the runtime data from the shared data store; analyzing, by the tax logic agent process, the runtime data for compliance with one or more rules; generating, by the tax logic agent process, one or more non-binding suggestions of unanswered questions or topics for consideration by the user interface controller process based on the analyzing; receiving, by a response engine process independent of the tax logic agent process, the query entered into the search field; generating, by the response engine process, a hybrid result in response to the query, the hybrid result comprising; at least one of the non-binding suggestions, runtime data of the shared data store that is selected based at least in part upon the search query, and an action to be performed for preparation of the electronic tax return; receiving, by the user interface controller process, the hybrid result; and presenting, by the user interface controller process, an interview screen comprising the hybrid result to the user in response to the query during preparation of the electronic tax return. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computer-implemented method for providing search capabilities in a tax preparation application operable to prepare an electronic tax return, the method being performed by one or more processors of one or more computers and comprising:
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presenting, by a user interface controller, at least one interview screen to a user of the tax preparation application, the interview screen comprising a search field for entry of a query by the user through the interview screen; writing, by the user interface controller, data to a shared data store to update runtime data of a current electronic tax return, the runtime data including user-supplied data and results of calculations performed using the user-supplied data; reading, by a computerized tax logic agent independent of the user interface controller, the runtime data of the electronic tax return from the shared data store; processing, by the tax logic agent, a decision table derived from a directed completion graph based at least in part upon the runtime data; and generating, by the tax logic agent, one or more non-binding suggestions of a question or topic to present to a user of the tax preparation application based at least in part upon the decision table processing; transmitting, by the tax logic agent, the non-binding suggestion to the user interface controller; receiving, by a response engine independent of the tax logic agent, query data entered into the search field by the user; accessing, by the response engine, the shared data store; generating, by the response engine, a hybrid result in response to the query, the hybrid result comprising; at least one of the non-binding suggestions, runtime data of the shared data store that is selected based at least in part upon the search query, and an action to be performed for preparation of the electronic tax return; receiving, by the user interface controller, the hybrid result; and presenting, by the user interface controller, an interview screen comprising the hybrid result to the user.
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Specification