Contact management system and method

• US 20070266118A1
• Filed: 05/09/2006
• Published: 11/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: John Wilkins
• Original Assignee: John Wilkins
• Inventors: Wilkins, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,255,464 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9554 by using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A computer-implemented contact management method includes creating a contact record in a contact management system, generating a unique serial number corresponding to the contact record, conveying the serial number to a recipient, entering, by the recipient, the serial number into an internet-enabled computer application, requesting, by the application, the record from the contact management system corresponding to the serial number, and receiving data associated with the contact record. The received contact data may be automatically updated through an update function. A contact management system includes a data storage and a contact management server. A plurality of internet-enabled computer applications associated to the same user account may receive the same information using a synchronization function without further user input.

Claims

1. In a network including a contact management system and a plurality of network devices, a computer-implemented contact management method comprising the steps of:

creating a primary contact record in the contact management system;

generating a unique serial number for the primary contact record;

storing the serial number and associated contact information in the primary contact record;

transmitting the serial number to a first network device;

receiving, at the contact management system, a request from a second network device for stored contact information associated with the serial number; and

transmitting the associated contact information to the second network device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of creating comprises receiving, at the contact management system, a unique user identifier and contact information from the first network device.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of generating a unique serial number includes determining a unique alphanumeric sequence and appending a checksum value.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of transmitting the serial number includes sending an email, including the serial number, to an email address associated with the first network device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of transmitting the associated contact information includes identifying an application on the second network device and formatting the associated contact information in a manner compatible with the identified application.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of transmitting the serial number includes downloading web page content, including the serial number, for display in a web browser.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

launching an application on the second network device, the application including an input screen for entering a serial number; and

receiving the serial number via the input screen.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising creating a derivative contact record on the second network device, the derivative contact record including the associated contact information, and mapping the derivative contact record to the serial number.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the steps of detecting changes in the associated contact information stored in the primary contact record, and automatically updating the derivative contact record after changes to the primary contact record are detected.

10. In a network having a plurality of network devices, a contact management system comprising:

a data storage; and

a contact management server, wherein the contact management server creates a first contact record in the data storage in response to contact data received from a first network device, generates and stores in the first contact record a first unique serial number, and transmits the generated first unique serial number to the first network device.

11. The contact management system of claim 10 wherein the contact management server receives the unique first serial number from a second network device, and transmits a response to the second network device including stored contact data associated with the received first unique serial number, the response having a format compatible with the second network device.

12. The contact management system of claim 11 wherein the contact management server is a web server and wherein the response includes an XML file.

13. The contact management system of claim 11 wherein the data storage includes a request log and wherein the contact management server stores each request received from one of the network devices in a data record including the requested serial number and a request type.

14. The contact management system of claim 13 wherein each record in the request log includes a user identifier field and a network device identifier field, wherein the unique first serial number is received in a request including a user identifier and a network device identifier, and wherein the response to the second network device includes stored contact data associated with a second unique serial number associated with the received user identifier through a record in the request log.

15. The contact management system of claim 10 wherein the contact management server generates a unique group serial number and stores in the data storage a mapping of the group serial number to the unique first serial number.

16. The contact management system of claim 15 wherein the contact management server is further adapted to perform steps comprising:

mapping a plurality of contact serial numbers to the group serial number; and

transmitting the group serial number to the first network device.

17. The contact management system of claim 16 wherein the contact management server is further adapted to receive a request from a second network device for the unique group serial number, and transmit a response to the second network device including stored contact data associated with the serial numbers mapped to the group serial number.

18. In a network including a contact management server, a network device comprising:

data storage for storing a personal contact database;

a network interface facilitating communications with the contact management server; and

an application adapted to facilitate user input of a serial number, request contact information associated with the input serial number from the contact management server, and store received contact information in the personal contact database including the input serial number.

19. The network device of claim 18 wherein the data storage further stores a cross-reference database, and wherein the application is further adapted to store the received contact information as a new record in the personal contact database, the new record including a unique record identifier, and store a new record in the cross-reference database including the record identifier and the serial number.

20. The network device of claim 19 wherein the application is further adapted to transmit a synchronization request to the contact management server;

receive updated contact information from the contact management server in response to the synchronization request, the updated contact information including a second serial number;

identify, via the mapping in the cross-reference database, a contact record in the personal contact database associated with the second serial number; and

update the identified contact record with the received contact record.

21. The network device of claim 20 wherein the application is further adapted to receive contact information for a new contact record, the contact information being associated with a second network device, and store the contact information as a new contact record in the personal contact database.

22. The network device of claim 18 wherein the application is further adapted to testing the validity of the format of the user input serial number and retrieve the contact information only if the input serial number format is valid.

23. The network device of claim 18 wherein the application is further adapted to transmit a synchronization request to the contact management system, the request including an identifier of the network device and an identified of the application, and receive in response to the synchronization request, information associated with serial numbers previously requested by another network-enabled application.