METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY CAPTURING BILLABLE TIME
First Claim
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1. A method of billing time, comprising:
- loading a daemon into memory and executing the daemon to provide a billing module;
detecting a billable event with the daemon, wherein the billable event is at least one of;
reading an email, composing an email, expiration of an appointment event, completion of a task event, completion of a voice-over-IP telephone call, completion of a web-browsing event, completion of a webinar event, completion of an on-line document preparation, review or revision collaboration, and completion of drafting, reviewing or revising a document in a productivity application;
determining a billing identifier associated with the billable event;
calculating a billable time amount associated with the billable event; and
storing the billing identifier and the billable time amount in an accessible storage.
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Abstract
A method and system helps users capture billable time spent in writing an email and related tasks. A software program is provided that is integrated with an existing email program. The program tracks user time spent on each email and associates billing information with the spent time for use in a billing program.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of billing time, comprising:
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loading a daemon into memory and executing the daemon to provide a billing module; detecting a billable event with the daemon, wherein the billable event is at least one of;
reading an email, composing an email, expiration of an appointment event, completion of a task event, completion of a voice-over-IP telephone call, completion of a web-browsing event, completion of a webinar event, completion of an on-line document preparation, review or revision collaboration, and completion of drafting, reviewing or revising a document in a productivity application;determining a billing identifier associated with the billable event; calculating a billable time amount associated with the billable event; and storing the billing identifier and the billable time amount in an accessible storage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for billing time, the system comprising:
a workstation executing a software module, wherein the software module is loaded into a memory and executed as a daemon, the module configured to, detect a billable event, wherein the billable event is at least one of;
reading an email, composing an email, expiration of an appointment event, completion of a task event, completion of a voice-over-IP telephone call, completion of a web-browsing event, completion of a webinar event, completion of an on-line document preparation, review or revision collaboration, and completion of drafting, reviewing or revising a document in a productivity application;determine a billing identifier associated with the billable event, calculate a billable time amount associated with the billable event, and store the billing identifier and the billable time amount in an accessible storage. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer-readable medium including instructions adapted to execute a method for billing time, the method comprising:
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loading a daemon into memory and executing the daemon to provide a billing module; detecting a billable event, wherein the billable event is at least one of;
reading an email, composing an email, expiration of an appointment event, completion of a task event, completion of a voice-over-IP telephone call, completion of a web-browsing event, completion of a webinar event, completion of an on-line document preparation, review or revision collaboration, and completion of drafting, reviewing or revising a document in a productivity application;determining a billing identifier associated with the billable event; calculating a billable time amount associated with the billable event; and storing the billing identifier and the billable time amount in an accessible storage.
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17. The medium of 16, wherein the predefined trigger is at least one of:
- a predetermined periodic upload window and a user command.
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18. The medium of 16, wherein the billable time amount is rounded to a nearest user-set billable time increment.
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19. The medium of 16, wherein the billing identifier is determined in accordance with a set of user-defined rules.
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20. The medium of 16, wherein the method further includes
determining a description of the billable event; - and
storing the description with the billing identifier and the billable time amount.
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Specification