Method and system for distributed information management and document retrieval
First Claim
1. A method for retrieving a solution document in response to an inquiry from among a system of distributed data bases, the system having at least a first and a second computer, each computer having a data base of solution documents, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving at least one inquiry into the first computer, the inquiry having a subject;
searching the data base of the first computer for a solution document related to the subject of the inquiry;
responsive to finding at least one solution document in the data base of the first computer related to the subject of the inquiry, retrieving the solution document from the first computer;
responsive to finding no solution document in the data base of the first computer related to the subject of the inquiry, performing the steps of;
generating in the first computer, a document from at least one inquiry in the first computer for which no solution document was found, the document containing for each such inquiry the subject of the inquiry, and an identity of the computer in which the inquiry originated;
transmitting the document to the second computer;
extracting in the second computer any inquiries from the document;
for each extracted inquiry, searching the data base of the second computer for a solution document related to the subject of the inquiry;
responsive to finding at least one solution document in the data base of the second computer, retrieving the solution document from the second computer and exporting the solution document to the computer in which the inquiry originated; and
,responsive to finding no solution document in the data base of the second computer, notifying the computer in which the inquiry originated that no solution document has been found.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A distributed computer system and method for integrating call management to the retrieval of documents in response to user inquiries includes distributed computers, a processor connected to an incident table register, a user table register and an acyclic graph data base. The incident table register records and stores information related to the user inquiry, the user table stores information related to the user'"'"'s identity and the acyclic graph data base stores a plurality of documents useful in addressing user inquiries. Within a top level of the acyclic graph data base are indices for importing and exporting documents to remote inquiry systems for the purpose of escalating inquiry problems to other systems having more specialized knowledge.
50 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method for retrieving a solution document in response to an inquiry from among a system of distributed data bases, the system having at least a first and a second computer, each computer having a data base of solution documents, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving at least one inquiry into the first computer, the inquiry having a subject; searching the data base of the first computer for a solution document related to the subject of the inquiry; responsive to finding at least one solution document in the data base of the first computer related to the subject of the inquiry, retrieving the solution document from the first computer; responsive to finding no solution document in the data base of the first computer related to the subject of the inquiry, performing the steps of; generating in the first computer, a document from at least one inquiry in the first computer for which no solution document was found, the document containing for each such inquiry the subject of the inquiry, and an identity of the computer in which the inquiry originated; transmitting the document to the second computer; extracting in the second computer any inquiries from the document; for each extracted inquiry, searching the data base of the second computer for a solution document related to the subject of the inquiry; responsive to finding at least one solution document in the data base of the second computer, retrieving the solution document from the second computer and exporting the solution document to the computer in which the inquiry originated; and
,responsive to finding no solution document in the data base of the second computer, notifying the computer in which the inquiry originated that no solution document has been found. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer system for retrieving solution documents responsive to inquires from among a system of distributed computers, the system comprising:
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a communications network coupled between the distributed computers; a plurality of computers, each computer comprising; a processor for receiving an inquiry; an incident table coupled to the processor, the incident table storing the inquiry; a document data base coupled to the processor and storing a plurality of solution documents, each solution document providing a solution to at least one inquiry in incident table; an export index for storing at least one inquiry for communication to a second computer; an import index for storing at least one inquiry received from another computer; a search device coupled to the processor, and directed by the user for searching the document data base to retrieve a solution document providing a solution to an inquiry; an escalation device, coupled to the search device, and placing an inquiry, for which no solution document is retrieved from the document data base by the search device, in the export index; a communications device coupling the computer to the communications network, and coupled to the import and export indices, the communications device for transmitting at least one inquiry in the export index to another computer, and for receiving at least one inquiry from another computer and storing a received inquiry in the import index, wherein the search device searches the document data base for solutions to inquiries in the import index. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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Specification