Multi-party reporting system and method
First Claim
1. A data collection and reporting method comprising the steps of, in a central system:
- receiving a report concerning at least one parameter from at least one sender;
automatically extracting report data from the report and storing the extracted report data in a memory;
for at least one third party, storing a set of party-specific rules in the memory;
associating the received report with the corresponding third party; and
via a publicly accessible transmission network, allowing access by the third party to at least a selected portion of the extracted report data according to that third party'"'"'s corresponding party-specific rules.
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Accused Products
Abstract
One or more parameters such as time is reported to a center using a form. The center then automatically extracts data from the form and converts it for storage and subsequent processing or review. The invention allows other parties, upon proper authentication, to annotate received data, to indicate acceptance or rejection of the reported data. Depending on the relationship of the various parties and business rules stored with the center, parties other than the sender and center may also download reported data for subsequent processing, even where they have different hardware and software platforms. The invention is particularly suitable for senders such as employees who need to submit time sheets, expense reports, and the like to an employer, or for automatic analysis of submitted inventory reports, product orders, etc. In one embodiment, the center acts as an automatic data collecting and reporting intermediary between the sender and an employment agency, on one hand, and between the agency and a client, on the other hand, where the sender is associated with the agency but performs tasks on behalf of the client.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A data collection and reporting method comprising the steps of, in a central system:
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receiving a report concerning at least one parameter from at least one sender;
automatically extracting report data from the report and storing the extracted report data in a memory;
for at least one third party, storing a set of party-specific rules in the memory;
associating the received report with the corresponding third party; and
via a publicly accessible transmission network, allowing access by the third party to at least a selected portion of the extracted report data according to that third party'"'"'s corresponding party-specific rules. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A data collection and reporting method comprising the steps of, in a central system:
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receiving a report concerning at least one parameter from at least one sender;
extracting report data from the report and storing the extracted report data in a memory in a predetermined common format;
for at least one third party, storing a set of party-specific rules in the memory;
associating the received report with the corresponding third party;
converting the extracted data into a format specified by the rules associated with that third party, whereby third parties operating different hardware platforms and processing software may receive and process extracted data from the same memory within the central system;
via a publicly accessible transmission network, allowing access by the third party to at least a selected portion of the extracted report data according to that third party'"'"'s corresponding party-specific rules;
transferring a copy of the extracted report data to the third party via the network, whereby the transferred data resides at and is available for processing by the third party;
associating at least one fourth party with the sender and with at least one of the third parties;
via the network, allowing access by a fourth party to at least a selected portion of the extracted report data from the respective sender;
in which;
the third party is an agency;
the fourth party is a client of the employment agency;
the sender is a person referred by the agency to the client and performs work tasks for the client; and
the at least one parameter is time worked by the sender on behalf of the client. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A data collection and reporting system comprising a central system that includes:
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I/O means for automatically receiving from any of a plurality of senders, via a transmission channel, a report concerning at least one parameter from at least one of the senders;
form processing means;
for extracting report data from the report and for storing the extracted report data in a memory;
for at least one third party, for storing a set of party-specific rules in the memory;
for associating the received report with the corresponding third party; and
via a publicly accessible transmission network, for allowing access by the third party to at least a selected portion of the extracted report data according to that third party'"'"'s corresponding party-specific rules. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A method for doing business comprising the following steps:
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receiving a report concerning at least one parameter from at least one sender;
extracting report data from the report and storing the extracted report data in a memory;
for at least one third party, storing a set of party-specific rules in the memory;
associating the received report with the corresponding third party;
via a publicly accessible transmission network, allowing access by the third party to at least a selected portion of the extracted report data according to that third party'"'"'s corresponding party-specific rules; and
charging the third party for the access.
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Specification