Non-invasive networked-based customer support

• US 6,298,457 B1
• Filed: 10/17/1997
• Issued: 10/02/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Rachlin, John N., Akkiraju, Rama Kalyani Tirumala
• Primary Examiner(s): Wright, Norman M.
• Application Number:
  US08/953,110
• Time in Patent Office: 1,446 Days
• Field of Search: 714/46-49, 714/25, 714/26, 714/13, 714/12, 714/17, 714/16, 714/15, 714/57, 714/28
• US Class Current: 714/49
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test

Abstract

Customer-service tasks are performed in a noninvasive manner by relying on automatic methods for (a) capturing the state of the operating domain and (b) automatically communicating this state as well as a description of the circumstances that lead to activation of the process to a remote service machine via an electronic network. Network-based customer-service for software support includes an automatic mechanism which initiates the product support process. This automatic mechanism may optionally be augmented by a manual mechanism for initiating the support process. The process captures the operating environment in sufficient detail so as to enable its re-creation in part or in whole on a separate machine. Archived data is transmitted to an off-site storage device, and when this data is received, notification is transmitted to customer-support personnel. The operating environment is re-created, and the customer-support person investigates the problem by executing the software product in the re-created environment.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for performing customer-service tasks on a software product in a noninvasive manner comprising the steps of:

monitoring operation of the software product on a customer'"'"'s machine for errors;

automatically initiating a product support process upon detection of an error by transmitting to an off-site storage device operating environment information stored by the error handler related to the detected error, wherein the operating environment information has sufficiently detail to enable re-creation of the operating environment in part or in whole on a separate machine;

detecting at the off-site storage device when information related to a detected error from a customer'"'"'s machine is received;

notifying customer-support personnel of the receipt of the operating environment information related to a detected error from a customer'"'"'s machine;

loading the received information related to a detected error from a customer'"'"'s machine on the separate machine; and

re-creating the operating environment on the separate machine using the operating environment information so that the customer-support personnel may investigate the problem by simulating the operating environment and executing the software product in the re-created environment in real time.

2. The computer implemented method recited in claim 1 wherein the step of automatically initiating a product support process upon detection of an error comprises the steps of:

capturing data of an operating environment of the software product in sufficient detail so as to enable its re-creation in part or in whole on a separate machine; and

archiving the captured data, the archived data being transmitted to the off-site storage device attached to a separate machine.

3. The computer implemented method recited in claim 2 further comprising encrypting the archived data prior to transmitting to the off-site storage device.

4. The computer implemented method recited in claim 1 wherein the step of automatically initiating the product support process may optionally be augmented by a manual mechanism for initiating the support process.

5. The computer implemented method recited in claim 4 further comprising the step of generating a user interface that enables a user of the software product to initiate the process manually.

6. The computer implemented method recited in claim 1 wherein the step of monitoring is performed by detecting one or more error codes by one or more software product components.

7. The computer implemented method recited in claim 6 further comprising the step of invoking an error handler upon the detection of an error code, the error handler generating an error log which forms part of the information related to the detected error.

8. The computer implemented method recited in claim 1 further comprising the step of encrypting information related to the detected error prior to transmitting the information related to the detected error to the off-site storage device.

9. The computer implemented method recited in claim 1 wherein the information related to the detected error specifies an operating environment including at least one of configuration data, execution logs, memory dumps, standard product outputs, date and time information.

12. A computer implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein said operating environment information comprises configuration data, execution logs, memory dumps, standard product outputs, and date and time information.

10. A computer implemented method for performing customer-service tasks on a software product in a noninvasive manner comprising the steps of:

monitoring operation of the software product on a customer'"'"'s machine and detecting one or more error codes by one or more software components;

invoking an error handler upon the detection of an error code, the error handler generating an error log;

capturing data of an operating environment of the software product in sufficient detail so as to enable its re-creation in part or in whole on a separate machine;

archiving the captured data and the error log;

transmitting the archived data and error log to the off-site storage device attached to a separate machine;

detecting at the off-site storage device when the transmitted data related to a detected error from a customer'"'"'s machine is received;

notifying customer-support personnel of the receipt of the transmitted data related to a detected error from a customer'"'"'s machine;

loading the received data related to a detected error from a customer'"'"'s machine on the separate machine; and

re-creating the operating environment on the separate machine using the received data so that the customer-support personnel may investigate the problem by simulating the operating environment and executing the software product in the re-created environment in real time.

11. The computer implemented method recited in claim 10 wherein the information related to the detected error specifies an operating environment including at least one of configuration data, execution logs, memory dumps, standard product outputs, date and time information.

13. A computer implemented method as recited in claim 10, wherein the captured data is operating environment information comprising configuration data, execution logs, memory dumps, standard product outputs, and date and time information.