Technical support chain automation with guided self-help capability using active content assertions

• US 6,658,598 B1
• Filed: 02/17/2000
• Issued: 12/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Motive Communications Incorporated
• Inventors: Sullivan, Francis X.
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bonzo, Bryce P.
• Application Number:
  US09/505,502
• Time in Patent Office: 1,384 Days
• Field of Search: 714/25, 714/26, 714/31, 714/46, 714/57
• US Class Current: 714/25
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test

Abstract

Guided self-help is facilitated through use of so-called “active content” pages that are selectively filtered and retrieved as a function of a set of declarative “assertions.” An assertion typically is an individual statement or building block of a larger, more comprehensive diagnostic map. An assertions map is a smaller, more focused version of a diagnostic map that is executed against a user'"'"'s computer system to diagnose a particular problem situation that the user has encountered. When a user encounters a technical problem, he or she navigates to a search window and enables a given command when entering a search string to identify fixes for the problem. A server process responds to the search request and downloads an assertions map that checks the state of the end user system and returns results. The server process then processes the conditions, filters content that matches conditions on the end user system, and ranks and displays search results to the relevant active content based on a hierarchy of assertion results.

Claims

1. A method for automated technical support in a computer enterprise comprising:

in response to a user-initiated technical support search request for information related to a problem with a first computer system corresponding to a user'"'"'s machine, downloading a program from a second computer system and executing the program to gather data from the first computer system, wherein the data comprises a first set of assertions about the first computer system;

receiving the first set of assertions at the second computer system;

comparing at the second computer system the first set of assertions to respective sets of assertions associated with active content in an active content database; and

transmitting to the first computer system some but not all of the active content from the active content database in response to comparing the first set of assertions to the respective sets of assertions, wherein

a given piece of active content is transmitted when the comparing indicates that the given piece of active content pertains to diagnosing the problem with the first computer system.

2. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the active content is basic content that has been activated with an activator.

3. The method as described in claim 2 wherein the basic content is selected from a content group comprising at least one of the following:

FAQs,

release notes, and

at least one URL to a Web technical support reference.

4. The method as described in claim 1 wherein an assertion is a declarative statement about a state of a computer system.

5. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the program comprises a set of concatenated assertions.

6. The method as described in claim 1 wherein a given assertion evaluates to a given condition.

7. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the given condition is selected from a set of conditions consisting of true, false and don'"'"'t care.

8. The method as described in claim 1 further including the step of ranking the active content as a function of a number of the respective set of assertions associated with the active content that evaluate to a given condition.

9. A method for automated technical support in a computer enterprise comprising:

responsive to a user-initiated request for technical support related to a problem with a first computer system corresponding to a user'"'"'s machine, searching an active content library for active content related to diagnosing the problem, wherein a given piece of the active content in the active content library is associated with a first set of one or more answers to a first set of one or more questions, wherein the first set of one or more answers indicates a respective problem;

downloading a program from a second computer system to gather a second set of answers to a second set of questions from the first computer system;

executing the program to produce the second set of answers;

transmitting the second set of answers to the second computer system, wherein the second computer system performs the searching of the active content library as a function of the second set of answers to the second set of questions.

10. The method as described in claim 9 wherein a given answer describes a characteristic of a computer system.

11. The method as described in claim 9 wherein the program comprises an assertions map.

12. The method as described in claim 9 wherein the active content is basic content that has been activated with an activator, wherein the basic content is selected from a content group comprising at least one of the following:

FAQs,

release notes, and

at least one URL to a Web technical support reference.

13. A method for automated technical support in a computer system comprising:

generating an assertions map for use in searching a content library by;

downloading a program including assertions from a server to a user'"'"'s computer system;

executing the program to gather data from the user'"'"'s computer system for producing the assertions map;

obtaining the assertions map at the server;

searching the content library using the assertions map, wherein the searching is performed by the server; and

returning to the user'"'"'s computer system active content in the content library that satisfies a given condition.

14. The method as described in claim 13 wherein the given condition is that all of a set of assertions associated with the active content evaluate true.

15. The method as described in claim 13 wherein the given condition is that at least some of a set of assertions associated with the active content evaluate true.

16. The method as described in claim 13 wherein the content library is searched in response to a user-initiated search request.

17. An automated technical support system in a computer network, comprising:

a database of active content, wherein a given active content entry in the database has a set of one or more assertions associated therewith, wherein the set of one or more assertions is related to a technical support problem; and

a process responsive to a user-initiated request for searching the active content database as a function of answers to questions evaluated by a program downloaded from a server to a user'"'"'s computer system in the form of assertions, wherein

the answers are gathered from the user'"'"'s computer system by executing the program, and

the answers are obtained by the server for performing the searching.

18. The automated technical support system as described in claim 17 wherein the active content is basic content that has been activated with an activator, wherein the basic content is selected from a content group comprising at least one of the following:

FAQs,

release notes, and

at least one URL to a Web technical support reference.

19. A method for automated technical support in a computer enterprise comprising:

in response to a request for information related to a problem with a first computer system, downloading a program related to the problem from a second computer system and executing the program to gather data from the first computer system, wherein the data include a first set of assertions about the first computer system;

receiving the first set of assertions at the second computer system;

comparing at the second computer system the first set of assertions to respective sets of assertions associated with a plurality of active content entries in a content database; and

providing to the first computer system a given active content entry of the content entries when the comparison indicates that the respective set of assertions associated with the given active content entry meets a condition with respect to the first set of assertions about the first computer system.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein

the condition indicates that the first set of assertions and the respective set of assertions associated with the given piece of active content are the same.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein

the condition indicates that the first set of assertions includes a given number of the respective set of assertions associated with the given piece of active content.

22. A method for automated technical support in a computer enterprise comprising:

in response to a request for information related to a problem with a user'"'"'s machine, downloading a program related to the problem from a server and executing the program to gather data from the user'"'"'s machine, wherein the data include a first set of assertions about the user'"'"'s machine;

receiving the first set of assertions at the server;

comparing the first set of assertions to respective sets of assertions associated with a plurality of entries in a content database; and

returning to the user'"'"'s machine a given entry of the entries when the comparison indicates that the respective set of assertions associated with the given entry meets a condition with respect to the first set of assertions about the user'"'"'s machine.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein

the condition indicates that the first set of assertions and the respective set of assertions associated with the given entry are the same.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein

the condition indicates that the first set of assertions includes a given number of the respective set of assertions associated with the given entry.