SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING A CLIENT AGENT FOR DELIVERY OF REMOTE SERVICES

• US 20110022653A1
• Filed: 07/23/2010
• Published: 01/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PlumChoice Incorporated (Allstate Corporation)
• Original Assignee: PlumChoice Incorporated (Allstate Corporation)
• Inventors: Goldlust, Joshua, Werth, Theodore
• Granted Patent: US 9,077,736 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/30 Profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

The solution of the present application provides many types and forms of resources, such as products or services, to an environment of heterogeneous devices. An agent and centralized service may communicate to deliver an optimum package of resources to a device. Each device may include an agent that collects information important to determining the appropriate resources for the device and understanding the environment the devices are contributing to. The information may be stored and analyzed in a cross device knowledge base, and the knowledge base may be consulted to determine resources appropriate for devices. The agent and centralized service may engage in pro-active alerting and provisioning of services, based on any collected information, to minimize the burden of resource procurement on the customer. After delivery of resources, the agent and centralized service may also perform updating, repairing, and healing functions for the resources. Resources may be aggregated into a cohesive platform to be combined and delivered in an optimum manner, and resources may also be maintained and monitored to ensure their quality via escalation or remedial action. Devices may be connected to the resources through intelligent routing.

Claims

1. A method for providing recommendation of a provisioning action for a device, the method comprising:

(a) transmitting, by a first agent executing on a first device to a centralized service, data about an environment of the first device;

(b) transmitting, by a second agent executing on a second device to the centralized service, data about an environment of the second device;

(c) receiving, by the first agent, from the centralized service a recommendation of a provisioning action for the first device, the recommendation from the centralized service based on correlating data between at least the first device and the second device; and

(d) generating, by the first agent, an alert on the first device to request a user of the device to execute the provisioning action.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, establishing by the first agent a communications interface between a user of the first device and the centralized service.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising one of the first agent or the second agent receiving data from a third agent to transmit to the centralized service.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises transmitting, by the first agent to the centralized service, data about one of operation or performance of a combination of software and hardware of the device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) further comprises transmitting, by the second agent to the centralized service, data about one of operation or performance of a combination of software and hardware of the second device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) further comprising receiving, by the first agent, the recommendation of the provisioning action comprising at least one of the following:

installation of recommended software, installation of recommended hardware, configuration action on installed software, configuration action on installed hardware of the device, execution of an optimization tool, execution of software, purchase of one or more remote services of the centralized service, provisioning of one or more remote services of the centralized service, de-installation of software, de-installation of hardware, a change to configuration of operating system, and a change to state of the operating system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) further comprising transmitting, by the first agent to the centralized service, a request from the user to perform the provisioning action.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) further comprising transmitting, by the first agent, one of a status or result of execution of the provisioning action.

9. A method for provisioning by an agent a remote service from a centralized service, the method comprising:

(a) transmitting, by an agent executing on a device to a centralized service, data about an environment of the device;

(b) receiving, by the agent from the centralized service, a recommendation of a remote service to be delivered by the centralized service to the device, the recommendation from the centralized service based on correlating data from the device with data from other devices via a cross-device database; and

(c) provisioning, by the agent in response to the recommendation, delivery of the remote service by the centralized service to the device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein step (a) further comprises transmitting, by the agent, data about one of operation or performance of a combination of software and hardware of the device.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein step (b) further comprises receiving, by the agent, a compilation of services generated from a service compiler of the centralized service.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein step (b) further comprises receiving, by the agent, a recommended subscription to one or more remote services provided by the centralized service.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein step (c) further comprises automatically connecting, by the agent, to the centralized service to provision the remote service.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein step (c) further comprises provisioning, by the agent, the remote service responsive to a policy of the user.

15. A method for providing remote support service to a wireless device by a centralized service, the method comprising:

(a) transmitting, to a centralized service by a first agent executing on a first device of a plurality of devices of a user, data about an environment of the first device;

(b) transmitting, to the centralized service by a second agent executing on a wireless device of a plurality of devices of the user, data about an environment of the wireless device, the centralized service correlating data between at least the first device and the wireless device of the user;

(c) transmitting, by the second agent, a request to the centralized service for support on the wireless device responsive to selection by the user of a single user interface element on the wireless device; and

(d) receiving, by the wireless device via the second agent, a connection from the centralized service to provide remote support to the wireless device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second device is wireless.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein step (a) further comprises transmitting, by the first agent to the centralized service, data about one of operation or performance of the first device.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein step (a) further comprises transmitting, by the second agent to the centralized service, data about one of operation or performance of the wireless device.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein step (c) further comprises detecting, by the second agent, the user'"'"'s selection of the single user interface element to request support from the centralized service.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein step (d) further comprises establishing, by the second agent, the connection with the centralized service.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein step (d) further comprises receiving, via the connection, support from a remote support personnel of a pool of remote support personnel provided by the centralized service.

22. A system for receiving services from a centralized service, the system comprising:

an agent executing on a device and in communication via a network with a centralized service;

a data collection component of the agent for collecting data about one of operation or performance of a combination of software and hardware installed on the device and communicating the collected data to the centralized service;

a delivery component of the agent for remote delivery of a compilation of one or more services from the centralized service determined based on data collected from the data collection component; and

a provisioning component of the agent for provisioning a resource on the device based on a recommendation from the centralized service.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the agent comprises one or more of the following components:

a sales component of the agent for identifying to the user of the device one of a product or service for the device based on a recommendation from the centralized service;

a discovery component of the agent for discovering configuration of software and hardware of the device;

a diagnostics component of the agent for performing diagnostics on the combination of software and hardware of the device;

a reporting component of the agent for reporting on one of the operation or performance of the device; and

an alerting component of the agent for alerting the user about information from other components of the agent.