Electronic survey tool and dynamic workflow tool
First Claim
1. A method for sharing knowledge and information amongst a plurality of users that can be either online or offline, said method comprising:
- compiling said knowledge and information into data objects, said data objects defining logic trees that represent the cumulative knowledge and information regarding a plurality of situations that are expected to be encountered by said users;
storing said data objects in a central database in a network; and
providing electronic access to said database with a plurality of client devices, said client devices being adapted to store locally a copy of each of said data objects for offline utilization by said users with said client devices wherein changes to any of said data objects stored in said central database are automatically reflected in said local copies of said changed data objects through a synchronization process that occurs whenever said client device accesses services provided by said network.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a method and system for knowledge and information sharing. Disclosed embodiments include a central electronic information network and a plurality of portable client devices for use by mobile personnel in the field. The electronic information network has a central database that contains data objects in the form of logic trees representing the cumulative knowledge and information regarding a plurality of situations that are expected to be encountered by the mobile personnel while in the field. These logic trees represent diagnosing algorithms, survey questions, and/or troubleshooting instructions that can be given to help field personnel recognize appropriate question sets to use in a particular situation and how to ask those questions in a logical manner. To provide access to the logic trees whenever necessary, logic tree data objects are also stored electronically on each of the portable client devices. Intermittently and preferably wirelessly, such as whenever a given client device connects to the central network for any reason, each client device synchronizes its logic tree data objects with those in the central database. In this manner, recent updates to the cumulative knowledge or information owned by a particular organization and stored in the central database can be reflected in all field personnel'"'"'s client devices during offline sessions without the need for a wire-line communication connection or a manual synchronization.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for sharing knowledge and information amongst a plurality of users that can be either online or offline, said method comprising:
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compiling said knowledge and information into data objects, said data objects defining logic trees that represent the cumulative knowledge and information regarding a plurality of situations that are expected to be encountered by said users;
storing said data objects in a central database in a network; and
providing electronic access to said database with a plurality of client devices, said client devices being adapted to store locally a copy of each of said data objects for offline utilization by said users with said client devices wherein changes to any of said data objects stored in said central database are automatically reflected in said local copies of said changed data objects through a synchronization process that occurs whenever said client device accesses services provided by said network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for sharing knowledge and information amongst a plurality of users that can be online or offline, said system comprising:
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a central electronic information network having a database and a server, said database containing a plurality of data objects and said data objects defining logic trees that represent the cumulative knowledge and information regarding a plurality of situations that are expected to be encountered by said users; and
a plurality of portable client devices, said client devices each storing copies of said data objects locally for utilization by said users on demand, wherein whenever a given client device connects to the central network for any reason, said given client device synchronizes its data object copies with those in the database such that any recent changes to said data objects stored in said database is reflected in said client devices'"'"' during offline sessions. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification