Dynamic association of electronically stored information with iterative workflow changes

• US 20040122835A1
• Filed: 12/10/2003
• Published: 06/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Michael T. Mckibben
• Original Assignee: Leader Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Lamb, Jeffrey R., McKibben, Michael T.
• Granted Patent: US 7,139,761 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A data management tool. The tool a unified, horizontal system for communications, organization, information processing, and data storage. The tool operates seamlessly with existing platforms, and is a common workflow layer that is automated with a scalable, relational database. The tool uses one or both of a relational and object database engine that facilitates at least many-to-many relationships among data elements. The highest contextual assumption is that there exists an entity that consists of one or more users. The data storage model first assumes that files are associated with the user. Thus, data generated by applications is associated with an individual, group of individuals, and topical content, and not simply with a folder, as in traditional systems.

Claims

1. A system that facilitates the management of data, comprising a unified horizontal data management tool for at least many-to-many functionality, the tool facilitating data communications, data organization, data processing, and data storage.

2. The system of claim 1, the data management system structures data according to a user who generated the data.

3. The system of claim 1, the data management system structures data according to the context in which the data was generated.

4. The system of claim 1, the tool provides links to enterprise leadership priorities.

5. The system of claim 1, the tool performs communications tasks substantially simultaneously with reminding a user associated work priorities.

6. The system of claim 1, the tool automatically stores contextual information relating to an item of communication and utilizes that contextual information in performance of communication tasks.

7. The system of claim 1, the tool integrates two or more different applications into a common application, the different applications comprising telephony, unified messaging, decision support, document management, portals, chat, collaboration, search, vote, relationship management, calendar, personal information management, profiling, directory management, executive information systems, dashboards, cockpits, tasking, meeting and, web and video conferencing.

8. The system of claim 1, the tool provides a structure that defines relationships between and among complex collections of data.

9. The system of claim 1, the tool automates workflow between and among multiple entities.

10. The system of claim 1, the tool facilitates data storage using at least one of relational and object storage methodologies.

11. The system of claim 1, the tool facilitates collaboration among a plurality of users across a plurality of projects, the tool dynamically assigns at least one communications tool to at least one of the plurality of projects.

12. The system of claim 11, at least one communications tool includes one or more of e-mail, voicemail, fax, teleconferencing, instant message, chat, contacts, calendar, task, notes, news, ideas, vote, web and video conferencing, and document sharing.

13. The system of claim 1, the tool includes a plurality of applications, wherein at least one of the plurality of applications includes file storage pointers that are dynamic, and associated initially with a board within which the at least one application is launched.

14. The system of claim 13, the board storage pointers can be acted upon from another board by the same application.

15. A computer employing the system of claim 1.

16. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for carrying out the system of claim 1.

17. The system of claim 1, the tool facilitates an encrypted environment wherein at least one of data communications and data storage is encrypted.

18. A system that facilitates the management of data, comprising:

a context component that captures context information associated with a user in a first context; and

a tracking component that tracks a change of the user from the first context to a second context, and automatically associates at least a portion of the context information with the second context.

19. The system of claim 18, the context component is associated with a board that is a collection of data and application functionality related to a user-defined topic.

20. The system of claim 18, the context component is associated with a web that is a collection of interrelated boards, the web maintains the location of data of the respective boards when one or more of the interrelated boards are moved into a different board interrelationship, whether within the web or to another web.

21. The system of claim 18, the context information includes a relationship between a user and at least one of an application, application data, and user environment.

22. The system of claim 18, the context component captures context information of the first context and context information related to one or more other contexts.

23. The system of claim 22, the context information of the one or more other contexts is at least one of stipulated by the user, and suggested automatically by the system based upon various search and association criteria set by the user.

24. The system of claim 18, wherein data created in the first context can be associated with data created in the second context.

25. The system of claim 18, the context information is tagged to data when the data is created.

26. A method of facilitating data management, comprising:

creating data within a user environment using an application; and

automatically associating to a user of the user environment, information related to the data, the application and the user environment.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising,

tracking movement of the user from the user environment to a second user environment;

and

associating at least one of the data and the application with the second user environment such that the user can employ the application and data from the second environment.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising capturing context information of the user.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising indexing content of the environment such that a plurality of users can access the content from a plurality of user environments.

30. The method of claim 26, the data is in the form of at least files and documents.

31. The method of claim 26, the least one of the data and the application is associated automatically with the second user environment.

32. The method of claim 26, further comprising accessing the user environment using a browser.

33. The method of claim 26, further comprising communicating with the user environment using a TCP/IP communication protocol.

34. The method of claim 26, further comprising locating the user environment from a remote location using a URL address.

35. The method of claim 26, further comprising accessing the user environment via a portable wireless device.

36. A method of facilitating data management, comprising:

providing a plurality of user environments;

ordering two or more of the user environments in a number of different collections of the user environments;

providing a plurality of applications to generate and process data in the user environments, the data of a user environment is associated with that environment; and

traversing the collections of the user environments with one or more of the applications to locate the data associated therewith.

37. The method of claim 36, the step of traversing is performed using a webslice that includes traversal information for locating the data associated with a given user environment.

38. The method of claim 37, the traversal information includes at least a collection ID, a user environment ID, and a routing path to the location of the environment data.

39. The method of claim 36, the collections, user environments, and associated data carry both hierarchical and non-hierarchical associations simultaneously within the applications.

40. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method of facilitating data management, the method comprising:

creating data within a user environment using an application;

automatically associating to a user of the user environment, information related to the data, the application and the user environment;

tracking movement of the user from the user environment to a second user environment; and

associating at least one of the data and the application with the second user environment such that the user can employ the application and data from the second environment.

41. A system that facilitates the management of data, comprising:

means for creating data within a user environment using an application;

means for associating to a user of the user environment, information related to the data, the application and the user environment;

means for tracking movement of the user from the user environment to a second user environment; and

means for associating at least one of the data and the application with the second user environment such that the user can employ the application and data from the second environment.

42. A graphical user interface that facilitates the management of data in a many-to-many methodology, the user interface facilitating at least data communications, data organization, data processing, and data storage, the interface comprising:

an input component for receiving data management information, the data management information associated with,

capturing context information associated with a user in a first context;

tracking a change of the user from the first context to a second context; and

automatically associating at least a portion of the context information with the second context; and

a presentation component for presenting a portion of the data management information to facilitate user interaction therewith.

43. The interface of claim 42, the data management information includes a context interface for configuring a user context, a web, and a board.

44. The interface of claim 42, the data management information includes an interface for accessing an application that facilitates at least one of telephony, unified messaging, decision support, document management, portals, chat, collaboration, search, vote, relationship management, calendar, personal information management, profiling, directory management, executive information systems, dashboards, cockpits, tasking, meeting and, web and video conferencing.