Method, System, and Computer Program Product for Managing Business Customer Contacts
First Claim
1. A method of linking accounts belonging to a common business in order to manage contact with the business, comprising:
- (a) obtaining an identification information for a first account and an identification information for a second account;
(b) applying a plurality of matching rules to the identification information of the first account and the identification information of the second account;
(c) determining via the plurality of matching rules that the first account and the second account are both associated with the common business; and
(d) linking the first account to the second account.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an enterprise where a database maintains multiple accounts for business customers, a method, system, and computer program product correctly links accounts which are associated with a common business. Business identification information from one or more external data sources is obtained and the format of the business identification data is standardized. Data records of business accounts are compared according to a plurality of rules for matching one business account to another. When two business accounts are found to match according to the business matching rules, a common identifier is applied to both business accounts to flag the two accounts as being associated with the same business entity. One or more hierarchy rules are applied to accounts associated with a common business, to establish a hierarchy among the accounts for purposes of marketing and other business communications.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of linking accounts belonging to a common business in order to manage contact with the business, comprising:
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(a) obtaining an identification information for a first account and an identification information for a second account; (b) applying a plurality of matching rules to the identification information of the first account and the identification information of the second account; (c) determining via the plurality of matching rules that the first account and the second account are both associated with the common business; and (d) linking the first account to the second account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for linking accounts belonging to a common business in order to manage contact with the business, comprising:
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a processor; and a memory in communication with the processor, the memory storing a plurality of processing instructions for directing the processor to; obtain an identification information for a first account and an identification information for a second account; apply a plurality of matching rules to the identification information of the first account and the identification information of the second account; determine via the plurality of matching rules that the first account and the second account are both associated with the common business; and link the first account to the second account. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to link accounts belonging to a common business in order to manage contact with the business, said control logic comprising:
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first computer readable program code means for causing the computer to obtain an identification information for a first account and an identification information for a second account; second computer readable program code means for causing the computer to apply a plurality of matching rules to the identification information of the first account and the identification information of the second account; third computer readable program code means for causing the computer to determine via the plurality of matching rules that the first account and the second account are both associated with the common business; and fourth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to link the first account to the second account. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification