System and method for automated received message handling and distribution
First Claim
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1. An automatic message distribution system, comprising:
- a computer;
a message distributor executing on said computer to control distribution of digitally-encoded messages that are input to the automatic message distribution system;
a resource load operatively connected to said message distributor containing resources that process said digitally-encoded messages;
a resource information maintenance and access process operatively connected to said message distributor for storing resource information pertaining to the status of said resources;
a distribution message queue operatively connected to said message distributor to store said digitally-encoded messages, for distribution;
a distribution rule maintenance and application process connected to said message distributor to store distribution rules for distributing said digitally-encoded messages to said resources in accordance with said resource information;
an automatic message distribution daemon to control distribution of said digitally-encoded messages to said resources;
a configuration file to store parameters that are used by said daemon to control distribution of said digitally-encoded messages;
wherein said resources are users of the automatic message distribution system;
wherein said configuration file comprises a primary user list having at least one entry corresponding to a primary user of said distributed message queue;
wherein said configuration file comprises a secondary user list having at least one entry corresponding to a secondary user of said distributed message queue;
a count indicative of the number of messages in the distribution message queue; and
wherein said configuration file further comprises;
a first threshold value to indicate that digitally-encoded messages are backing up in said distribution message queue when said count reaches or exceeds said first threshold value;
a second threshold value to cause said daemon to use both said primary user list and said secondary user list to determine where to route said digitally-encoded messages; and
a third threshold value to indicate an overflow condition caused by a volume of digitally-encoded messages that is too great for said primary users and said secondary users to process.
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Abstract
An automated message distribution system routes digitally-encoded messages via public-switched telephone networks and wide area networks and local area networks to the most desired route. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, digitally encoded messages enter into a local area network, either directly or via a public-switched telephone network, and are sent to their destinations in a distributed manner. The paths or routes are calculating by using a set of customized rules. The customized rules are set to distribute messages evenly among the available paths.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. An automatic message distribution system, comprising:
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a computer; a message distributor executing on said computer to control distribution of digitally-encoded messages that are input to the automatic message distribution system; a resource load operatively connected to said message distributor containing resources that process said digitally-encoded messages; a resource information maintenance and access process operatively connected to said message distributor for storing resource information pertaining to the status of said resources; a distribution message queue operatively connected to said message distributor to store said digitally-encoded messages, for distribution; a distribution rule maintenance and application process connected to said message distributor to store distribution rules for distributing said digitally-encoded messages to said resources in accordance with said resource information; an automatic message distribution daemon to control distribution of said digitally-encoded messages to said resources; a configuration file to store parameters that are used by said daemon to control distribution of said digitally-encoded messages; wherein said resources are users of the automatic message distribution system; wherein said configuration file comprises a primary user list having at least one entry corresponding to a primary user of said distributed message queue; wherein said configuration file comprises a secondary user list having at least one entry corresponding to a secondary user of said distributed message queue; a count indicative of the number of messages in the distribution message queue; and wherein said configuration file further comprises; a first threshold value to indicate that digitally-encoded messages are backing up in said distribution message queue when said count reaches or exceeds said first threshold value; a second threshold value to cause said daemon to use both said primary user list and said secondary user list to determine where to route said digitally-encoded messages; and a third threshold value to indicate an overflow condition caused by a volume of digitally-encoded messages that is too great for said primary users and said secondary users to process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An automatic message distribution system, comprising:
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a computer; a message distributor executing on said computer to control distribution of digitally-encoded messages that are input to the automatic message distribution system; a resource load operatively connected to said message distributor containing resources that process said digitally-encoded messages; a resource information maintenance and access process operatively connected to said message distributor for storing resource information pertaining to the status of said resources; a distribution message queue operatively connected to said message distributor to store said digitally-encoded messages, for distribution; a distribution rule maintenance and application process connected to said message distributor to store distribution rules for distributing said digitally-encoded messages to said resources in accordance with said resource information an automatic message distribution daemon to control distribution of said digitally-encoded messages to said resources wherein said distribution message queue comprises; a high-priority queue; a low-priority queue; and an age value indicating the age of any of said digitally-encoded messages, wherein said age is determined by subtracting the time that the fax entered the automatic message system from the current time; and wherein said configuration file comprises a bonus value that is added to each digitally-encoded message in said high-priority queue to make it appear older than it really is. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An automatic message distribution system, comprising:
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a computer; a message distributor executing on said computer to control distribution of digitally-encoded messages that are input to the automatic message distribution system; resource load operatively connected to said message distributor containing resources that process said digitally-encoded messages; a resource information maintenance and access Process operatively connected to said message distributor for storing resource information pertaining to the status of said resources; a distribution message queue operatively connected to said message distributor to store said digitally-encoded messages, for distribution; a distribution rule maintenance and application process connected to said message distributor to store distribution rules for distributing said digitally-encoded messages to said resources in accordance with said resource information; an automatic message distribution daemon to control distribution of said digitally-encoded messages to said resources; a configuration file to store parameters that are used by said daemon to control distribution of said digitally-encoded messages; at least one additional distribution message queue; an input message router to initially route the digitally-encoded messages to one of said distribution queues; and wherein said input message router determines to which of said distribution message queues to send a digitally-encoded message using an image-to-text conversion technique.
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12. An automatic message distribution system, comprising:
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a computer; a message distributor executing on said computer to control distribution of digitally-encoded messages that are input to the automatic message distribution system; a resource load operatively connected to said message distributor containing resources that process said digitally-encoded messages; a resource information maintenance and access process operatively connected to said message distributor for storing resource information pertaining to the status of said resources; a distribution message queue operatively connected to said message distributor to store said digitally-encoded messages, for distribution; a distribution rule maintenance and application process connected to said message distributor to store distribution rules for distributing said digitally-encoded messages to said resources in accordance with said resource information; an automatic message distribution daemon to control distribution of said digitally-encoded messages to said resources; a configuration file to store parameters that are used by said daemon to control distribution of said digitally-encoded messages; at least one additional distribution message queue; an input message router to initially route the digitally-encoded messages to one of said distribution queues; wherein said input message router determines to which of said distribution message queues to send a digitally-encoded message using an image-to-text conversion technique; and wherein said image-to-text conversion technique is one of optical mark recognition, optical character recognition and handwriting recognition.
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13. A method for automatically distributing digitally-encoded messages that are input to an automatic message distribution system that includes a resource load containing a plurality of resources, comprising the steps of:
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(a) storing said digitally-encoded messages in one or more distributed message queues; (b) storing resource information concerning said resources in a resource information table that enables the automatic message distribution system to determine which of said resources is available to process a digitally-encoded message stored in said one or more distributed message queues; (c) storing a set of routing rules in a distribution routing table that control distribution of said digitally-encoded messages to the resources; and (d) automatically routing a digitally-encoded message stored in said one or more distributed message queues (e) creating a primary user list of at least one primary user for each of said one or more distributed message queues; (f) storing said primary list in said system configuration file (g) creating a secondary user list of at least one secondary user for each of said one or more distribute message queues; and (h) storing said secondary user list in said system configuration file; (i) storing a count corresponding to the number of digitally-encoded messages stored in the one or more distributed message queues; (j) setting a first threshold value that, if reached, indicates that digitally-encoded messages are backing up in said distribution message queue when said count reaches or exceeds said first threshold value; (k) setting a second threshold value that, if reached, causes said daemon to use both said primary user list and said secondary user list to determine where to route said digitally-encoded messages; and (l) setting a third threshold value that, if reached, indicates an overflow condition caused by a volume of digitally-encoded messages that is too great for said primary users and said secondary users to process; and (m) storing each of said first, second and third threshold values in said system configuration file. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification