Contact management system and method

• US 20060247962A1
• Filed: 04/28/2006
• Published: 11/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Barclays Capital Incorporated (Barclays PLC)
• Original Assignee: Barclays Capital Incorporated (Barclays PLC)
• Inventors: Black, George Richard, Tierney, George, Mai, Richard H., Muro, Aiko, Sarigumba, Dante R., McCormack, Gerald John, Catchpole, Michael Joseph, Harvey, John Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 8,898,229 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

A contact management system is described having a first database containing proprietary information and a second database containing public information. Where appropriate, the publicly available information is displayed with the proprietary information to give the user more information about a contact. The multiple relationships provided by the public database allow the user to use both the proprietary and public data to find a relationship with a potential client.

Claims

1. A contact management system comprising:

a first database containing proprietary contact information;

a second database containing public contact information; and

a contact component for receiving proprietary contact information from a user for storage in the first database and presenting contact information to the user,

wherein the presented contact information includes information retrieved from the first database and the second database.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising an appointment component for receiving meeting data from a user and presenting one or more meeting alerts to the user.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the meeting data includes at least one of a list of attendees, a meeting time, a meeting date, and a client contact.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the meeting data further includes a link to a meeting pattern.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the meeting pattern includes a repeat factor and a frequency.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the appointment component generates a meeting from the meeting pattern and inserts the generated meeting into a calendar of an attendee if the generated meeting falls within a predetermined future time period.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the appointment component further comprises an alert component, the alert component configured to retrieve current information about the contact and send the retrieved information to a meeting attendee prior to the meeting.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the current information includes a most recent market data of the contact.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the current information includes news about the contact.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the retrieved information is sent to the attendee by email.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein a history of previous meetings with the contact is included in the sent information.

12. The system of claim 2, wherein the appointment component further comprises a synopsis component, the synopsis component configured to send a reminder to a meeting attendee after a scheduled end of a meeting, the reminder prompting the attendee to enter a synopsis of the meeting, the synopsis stored by the synopsis component.

13. The system of claim 2, wherein the appointment component further comprises a summary component, the summary component configured to generate a report for the user, the generated report indicating a number of meetings with one or more of the user'"'"'s contacts over a time period.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the contact component further comprises an inference component, the inference component configured to prompt the user to facilitate an introduction to the user'"'"'s contact based on a predetermined rule.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the predetermined rule depends on at least one of a user'"'"'s role, a contact title, and a meeting type.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising a referral component for receiving referral data from a user, presenting one or more potential referrals and tracking referrals made by the user.

17. A method comprising the steps of:

retrieving proprietary contact information from a first database;

retrieving public contact information from a second database; and

presenting to a user contact information comprising the proprietary contact information and the public contact information.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

retrieving current information about a contact; and

sending a meeting alert including to the user prior to the meeting, the meeting alert presenting the retrieved current information about the contact.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

generating a report for the user, the generated report indicating a number of meetings with one or more of the user'"'"'s contacts over a time period; and

presenting the generated report to the user.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the meeting alert further includes a history of previous meetings with the contact.

21. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

prompting the user to enter a synopsis of the meeting after a scheduled end of the meeting; and

storing the synopsis in the first database.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising presenting to the user one or more potential referrals, each of the one or more of potential referrals identifying a sponsor that can facilitate an introduction between the user and the potential referral.

23. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

receiving a new contact information from the user;

storing the new contact information in the first database; and

prompting the user to indicate whether the user can facilitate an introduction to the new contact after inferring that the user can facilitate an introduction to the new contact.

24. A method comprising the steps of:

requesting contact information of a contact; and

viewing the requested information, wherein the requested information includes proprietary information retrieved from a proprietary database and public information retrieved from a public database.

25. The method of claim 24 further comprising:

entering contact information of a new contact; and

indicating, in response to a prompt, a willingness to facilitate an introduction to the new contact.

26. The method of claim 24 further comprising receiving a meeting alert for a meeting with the contact at a future date, the alert including current information about the contact.

27. The method of claim 26 further comprising receiving a report indicating a number of meetings with one or more of a user'"'"'s contacts over a time period.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the meeting alert further includes a history of previous meetings with the contact.

29. The method of claim 24 further comprising:

receiving a request to enter a synopsis of a recently finished meeting;

entering a synopsis of the recently finished meeting.

30. The method of claim 24 further comprising:

requesting a potential referral for a contact;

reviewing the potential referral and a sponsor associated with the potential referral;

contacting the sponsor to request an introduction to the potential referral.