Telecommunication-based time-management system and method

• US 6,895,438 B1
• Filed: 09/06/2000
• Issued: 05/17/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Paul Ulrich
• Original Assignee: Paul C. Ulrich
• Inventors: Ulrich, Paul C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harvey, Jack
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hai V.
• Application Number:
  US09/655,681
• Time in Patent Office: 1,714 Days
• Field of Search: 709/219, 709/232, 709/204, 709/224, 709/227, 709/233, 707/1, 707/3, 707/6, 705/9, 704/201, 704/503, 455/66.1, 455/186.1, 455/566, 370/521, 370/522, 370/535, 370/328, 345/716, 379/120, 719/329, 235/382
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5064 Customer relationship management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/82 Criteria or parameters used for performing billing operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/2006 Fixed telephone network, e.g. POTS, ISDN
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/78 Metric aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7806 Time based
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

A proxy-server system (15) connected preferably to a computer-telephone system (10) intercepts, processes, and analyzes as traffic-analysis results (68A-C) all forms of real- and non-real-time electronic communication passing over the network in the form of raw traffic data (61). The proxy-server system normalizes each communication into the measure of time needed by recipient(s) of the communication to understand the information contained therein. Once normalized, the data may be aggregated into summary reports (69A-C). As part of the analysis, the aggregated communication records are compared with user-defined rules to provide alerts if the individual or aggregated durations exceed boundaries set by the rules. In one embodiment, the summary reports may be integrated with general-ledger data (94) and other raw business data (74) via a relational database (72) to derive more accurate records of activity-based-costing information (76). Additionally, the data of the summary reports may be visualized in two- or three-dimensional representations of communication-flow patterns to illustrate in an intuitive and semantically scalable manner the desired level of detail for time and time-based expense consumed by the electronic interactions of an individual or organization.

Claims

1. A method for managing electronic communications:

recording a direction of a first electronic communication between a first entity and a second entity;

determining a duration required for said second entity to process said first electronic communication;

storing a data record of said first electronic communication comprising said direction, said duration, and identities of said first and said second entities in a database with at least one other data record of a second electronic communication;

establishing a standard duration from the duration to process said first and said second communications; and

comparing the duration to process subsequent electronic communications to said standard duration,

whereby productivity of communicating entities may be determined through electronic communications.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of graphically presenting said first and said second communications.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of user-defined standards; and

alerting a user when a communication violates one of said plurality of standards.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of reading a message-specific standard duration from metadata of a received electronic communication.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

determining a subject matter for each received communication; and

storing said determined subject matter in said database in the data record for that electronic communication.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of determining the subject matter further comprises reading subject matter data from said metadata.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said first entity and said second entity are users and further comprising the steps of:

determining for each said user the time applied by that user to a selected subject matter; and

providing each said user with a rank in response to said time determining step.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step of associating said rank with business data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said electronic communications further comprise telephone calls.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said electronic communications further comprise e-mails.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said electronic communications further comprise video data.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said electronic communications further comprise transferred data files.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said electronic communications further comprise mix-media data.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said electronic communications further comprise instant messaging.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said electronic communications further comprise image files.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of establishing a standard duration further comprises establishing said standard duration using the size and data format of the electronic communication.

17. A system for managing electronic communications, comprising:

means for recording a direction of a first electronic communication between a first entity and a second entity;

means for determining a duration required for said second entity to process said first electronic communication;

a database for storing a data record of said first electronic communication comprising said direction, said duration, and identities of said first and said second entities, said database storing at least one other data record of a second electronic communication;

means for establishing a standard duration from the duration to process said first and said second communications; and

means for comparing the duration to process subsequent electronic communications to said standard duration,

whereby productivity of communicating entities may be determined through electronic communications.

18. The system of claim 17 further comprising means for graphically presenting said first and said second communications.

19. The system of claim 17 further comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of user-defined standards; and

means for alerting a user when a communication violates one of said plurality of standards.

20. The system of claim 17 further comprising means for reading a message-specific standard duration from metadata of a received electronic communication.

21. The system of claim 17 further comprising:

means for determining a subject matter for each received communication; and

means for storing said determined subject matter in said database in the data record for that electronic communication.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the means for determining the subject matter further comprises reading subject matter data from said metadata.

23. The system of claim 22 further comprising:

means for determining for each said user the time applied by that user to a selected subject matter; and

means for providing each said user with a rank in response to said time determining step.

24. The system of claim 23 further comprising means for of associating said rank with business data.