System and method for tracking usage of multiple resources provided from multiple locations

• US 20020059193A1
• Filed: 01/08/2001
• Published: 05/16/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Decime, Jerry B.
• Granted Patent: US 6,728,761 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method for tracking the use of an e-mail support tool. In one embodiment, the method initially involves eliciting from a user a query in connection with providing the e-mail support service. A corresponding e-mail query is then generated from the elicited query. The generated e-mail query includes a command having embedded query information that is associated with the user'"'"'s query. The e-mail query is then made available to an agent for responding to the user'"'"'s query by replying to the e-mail query. In replying to the e-mail query, the agent with a computer opens the e-mail query thereby executing the command. The execution of the command causes the agent computer to transmit to a server, designated within the command, a request that includes the embedded query information. The query information is then stored in a database in response to the fact that the request cannot be processed by the designated server. In another embodiment, the command may be executed by a user computer when the user opens the agent'"'"'s reply to the e-mail query.

Claims

1. A method for tracking the use of an enterprise resource, comprising:

eliciting from a user a query in connection with providing a particular resource to said user;

generating from the elicited query a corresponding query, said corresponding query including a command having embedded query information associated with said elecited user'"'"'s query; and

making said generated query available to an agent for a response thereto, wherein the agent has a computer that executes said embedded command when said query is opened by the agent, the execution of said embedded command causing the agent computer to transmit to a server, designated within said embedded command, a server request that includes the embedded query information; and

storing the query information in a database in response to the request being processed by the designated server.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said embedded command comprises a mark up language image tag.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said command transmitted to said server includes a BIT tag with the query information embedded in a BIT URL.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said eliciting step includes the step of providing to the user a web page with a form having one or more fields for defining the query.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the query information is stored in an error log within said designated server.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said server request is a request for retrieving a non-existent file from said server, and wherein said server stores said request information in an error log in response to an error being generated by said server when said server fails to find said non-existent.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said server request is a request for retrieving an image file from said server, said server having a program with an error log, wherein the received request generates an error message within said serve-error log when said image file is not found by the server, the method further including:

the steps of identifying the request in response to said generated error message; and

storing the query information in a database that is separate from said error log.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of making said query available to said agent for a response thereto includes the step of:

depositing the query in a mailbox of a mail server and providing said agent with access to said query.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said queries are e-mails delivered over a community shared network, and wherein the step of making said query available to an agent for a response thereto includes sending e-mail query to the agent via said network.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said query information includes date and time information for tracking when it is responded to by the agent.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said agent is remote from said enterprise, the method further including the step of:

opening said e-mal query with a hyper mail agent residing within said enterprise when said agent replies to it in order to track when said query is responded to by the agent.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the database is an error log within the designated server, said error log being activated by a request directed to an improper file.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the designated server includes an Internet program for implementing the designated server as a web server, wherein the Internet program stores query information from a request into the error log in response to an error being generated by the request at the designated server.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the request includes a BIT URL with a designated broken image file that cannot be found within the designated server, which causes the error to be generated by the Internet program.

16. The system of claim 12 wherein the designated server includes a program for implementing a web server with an error log, wherein the user information is stored in a database separate from the error log.

17. The system of claim 12 wherein the e-mail support tool server and designated server are implemented in the same computer.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein said data base storing step is embedded under control of an error message intentionally generated at said designated server.

12. A system for tracking web users use of an e-mail support system, comprising:

an e-mail support server operably connected to one or more web user computers, the e-mail support tool server having an e-mail support tool program for receiving support system queries from the one or more web user computers, the e-mail support tool server generating an e-mail query from each received support system query and inserting within each e-mail query a command having embedded query information;

one or more e-mail support agent computers operably connected to the e-mail support server for receiving and opening the e-mail queries, and

a designated server operably connected to the one or more support agent computers, wherein the command within an e-mail query is executed by a support agent computer when the e-mail query is opened by the computer causing the computer to transmit to the designated server a request that includes the embedded query information from the command within the e-mail query, the query information being stored in a database in response to the request being processed by the designated server.

18. A method for tracking the use of a support service, comprising:

eliciting from a user a query in connection with providing said support service;

generating from the elicited query a corresponding reply query that includes a command having embedded query information associated with the user'"'"'s elicited query;

making said reply query available to an agent, as well as to said user, so that said agent can responsively reply to said user; and

executing in a computer controlled by said user said command when said reply is opened by said user, the execution of said command causing the user computer to transmit to a server designated within said command, a request that includes the embedded query information, and causing said query information to be stored in a database in response to the request being processed by said designated server.

20. A system for keeping track of the usage of multiple resources provided from multiple locations, said system comprising:

means for receiving user requests for a particular resource;

means for processing said user requests, said processing means including means for providing a message to said user, said message containing at least one command exercisable by a user controlled processor located remote from said processing means; and

means at said user controlled processor and operable under control of said command for sending to a location remote from said user a request for data, said location being identified in said provided message, and said data request containing information pertaining to received ones of said user requests, said data request not being f by said remote location so as to cause said remote location to generate a record of said data request.