Delivery expert system and method

• US 7,265,861 B1
• Filed: 09/15/2003
• Issued: 09/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ip Ot Sub Ulc
• Original Assignee: Captaris, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Johns, Valerie Louise, Li, Diana, Ranalli, Douglas J., Baumgartner, Lori, Ranalli, Shelley J., Hubener, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): GRANT II, JEROME
• Application Number:
  US10/662,858
• Time in Patent Office: 1,450 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.15, 358/400, 358/401, 358/468, 358/407, 358/479, 358/402, 358/404, 358/405, 358/434, 358/435, 358/410, 379/100.01, 379/109
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0001 Transmission systems or arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00082 Adjusting or controlling interrupting an operation H04N1/00915; inhibiting an operation H04N1/00925
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00206 Transmitting or receiving computer data via an image communication device, e.g. a facsimile transceiver H04N1/00236 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00209 Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0083 Arrangements for transferring signals between different components of the apparatus, e.g. arrangements of signal lines or cables for control or supervision between image input and output device H04N1/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32053 Delayed transmission, e.g. to make use of reduced connection rates H04N1/32074 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32074 Redialing, e.g. after failure to make a connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/324 intermediate the transmitter and receiver terminals, e.g. at an exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32406 in connection with routing or relaying, e.g. using a fax-server or a store-and-forward facility stored and forward data switching systems H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32411 Handling instructions for routing or relaying
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32422 Reprocessing messages, e.g. in case the intended destination is busy
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32641 of transmission or transmitted data, e.g. interruption or wrong number of pages
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0093 Facsimile machine H04N2201/0094 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0098 User intervention not otherwise provided for, e.g. placing documents, responding to an alarm
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3278 Transmission

Abstract

An automated rule-based system for facilitating delivery of a fax document from a source to a destination over a network where an initial delivery attempt has been unsuccessful. Actions to be taken are based upon a time-variable set of input conditions which may be determined from one or more of the destination, the source, a database of past delivery attempts, and a human analyst. The actions may include one or more of resubmitting the fax document to the network for a next delivery attempt, canceling the document, sending a request to the source or destination for additional delivery information, and identifying the destination as a technical problem. The input conditions may include an identification of non-business days and non-business hours.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating delivery of a document from a source to a destination over a network, comprising:

attempting an initial delivery of the document to the destination by using a first destination number associated with the destination;

determining that the initial delivery attempt was unsuccessful;

automatically retrieving multiple alternative destination numbers associated with the destination and already stored in a memory, each of the alternative destination numbers distinct from the first destination number; and

automatically performing an additional attempt to deliver the document to the destination by,

obtaining delivery information related to delivering the document to the destination and not related to the initial delivery attempt;

selecting one of the alternative destination numbers as a second destination number, the selecting based at least in part on the obtained delivery information; and

attempting a delivery of the document to the destination by using the second destination number.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the attempted document delivery to the destination using the second destination number is successful such that the destination receives the document.

3. The method of claim 1 including repeatedly performing additional attempts to deliver the document to the destination such that multiple of the alternative destination numbers are used in those additional attempts.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the obtained delivery information indicates an ordering among the multiple alternative destination numbers such that at least one of the alternative destination numbers is preferred over other of the alternative destination numbers, and wherein the second destination number is selected based on being one of the preferred alternative destination numbers.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the ordering among the multiple alternative destination numbers is time-variable, and wherein the selecting of the second destination number is further based on a time related to the additional attempt to deliver the document to the destination.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the ordering among the multiple alternative destination numbers varies based on a type of the document, and wherein the selecting of the second destination number is further based on the type of the document.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the delivery information used for the selecting of the second destination number is obtained from the destination.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the obtaining of the delivery information from the destination is performed in response to the determining that the initial delivery attempt was unsuccessful and includes requesting an intended recipient of the document at the destination to provide that delivery information.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the multiple alternative destination numbers associated with the destination are retrieved from the destination.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the retrieving of the multiple alternative destination numbers from the destination includes requesting an intended recipient of the document at the destination to provide those alternative destination numbers.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the first destination number is associated with a first delivery network, wherein the obtained delivery information indicates an alternative delivery network with which at least one of the multiple alternative destination numbers is associated, and wherein the second destination number is selected based on being associated with the alternative delivery network.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the attempting of the initial delivery of the document used first delivery instructions, wherein the obtained delivery information indicates distinct alternative delivery instructions, and wherein the attempting of the delivery of the document by using the second destination number further uses the alternative delivery instructions.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the attempting of the initial delivery of the document used a first group of delivery information, and wherein the obtained delivery information is distinct additional delivery information.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the first destination number corresponds to a first device at the destination, and wherein the second destination number corresponds to a distinct device at the destination.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the first destination number corresponds to a first device, and wherein each of the multiple alternative destination numbers correspond to alternative devices.

16. The method of claim 1 including, before the attempting of the initial delivery of the document using the first destination number, automatically selecting the first destination number for use based on obtained delivery information related to delivering the document to the destination.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the performing of the additional attempt to deliver the document to the destination is performed in such a manner as to reduce costs associated with delivery of the document.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the obtained delivery information includes information related to costs associated with delivering the document using one or more of the alternative destination numbers, and wherein the selecting of the second destination number and/or the attempting of the delivery by using the selected destination number are performed in such a manner as to minimize the costs associated with the delivery of the document.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the obtained delivery information includes delivery instructions specific to the document.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the obtained delivery information includes delivery instructions specific to the destination.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second destination numbers are telephone numbers, and wherein the initial and additional attempts to deliver the document include dialing those telephone numbers.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the additional attempt to deliver the document was unsuccessful, and including selecting a next action related to the delivery of the document based at least in part on a combination of the unsuccessful initial and additional delivery attempts.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more actions other than the unsuccessful initial delivery attempt were attempted before the additional delivery attempt of the document, and wherein the selecting of the second destination number is further based at least in part on the unsuccessful initial delivery attempt and on the other actions.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein the selecting of the second destination number is performed under control of a rule-based process.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein the document is an email message.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein the document is a voice mail message.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein the document is a textual message.

28. The method of claim 1 wherein the document is a fax document.

29. The method of claim 1 including, after the determining that the initial delivery attempt was unsuccessful, notifying a human of the initial delivery attempt.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the notified human is a delivery analyst operator, and wherein the obtained delivery information is received from the delivery analyst operator in response to the notifying.

31. The method of claim 29 wherein the notified human is associated with the destination.

32. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computing device to facilitate delivery of a document from a source to a destination over a network, by performing a method comprising:

after an unsuccessful initial attempt to deliver the document to the destination by using a first destination number associated with the destination, identifying one or more distinct alternative destination numbers associated with the destination;

obtaining delivery information related to delivering the document to the destination and not related to the unsuccessful initial attempt;

selecting one of the alternative destination numbers based at least in part on the obtained delivery information and in part on a rule-based process of a time-variable set of input conditions; and

delivering the document to the destination by using the selected destination number.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the method includes notifying a human of the unsuccessful initial attempt to deliver the document.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 32 wherein the method includes notifying a human of the delivering of the document to the destination.

35. A computer-implemented method for facilitating delivery of a document from a source to a destination, comprising:

after an unsuccessful initial attempt to deliver the document to the destination via a first network, identifying one or more distinct alternative networks via which the document could be delivered to the destination;

obtaining delivery information related to delivering the document to the destination and not related to the unsuccessful initial attempt;

selecting one of the alternative networks based at least in part on the obtained delivery information and in part on a rule-based process of a time-variable set of input conditions; and

attempting a delivery of the document to the destination by using the selected alternative network.

36. A computer-implemented method for facilitating delivery of a document from a source to a destination, comprising:

after an unsuccessful initial attempt to deliver the document to the destination using first delivery instructions, identifying one or more distinct groups of alternative delivery instructions with which the document could be delivered to the destination;

obtaining delivery information related to delivering the document to the destination and not related to the unsuccessful delivery attempt;

selecting one of the groups of alternative delivery instructions based at least in part on the obtained delivery information and in part on a rule-based process of a time-variable set of input conditions; and

attempting a delivery of the document to the destination by using the selected alternative delivery instructions.

37. A computer-implemented method for facilitating delivery of a document from a source to a destination, comprising:

identifying multiple distinct alternative destination numbers associated with the destination;

obtaining delivery information related to delivering the document to the destination;

selecting one of the alternative destination numbers based at least in part on the obtained delivery information and in part on a rule-based process of a time-variable set of input conditions; and

delivering the document to the destination by using the selected destination number.

38. A computer-implemented method for facilitating delivery of a document from a source to a remote destination over a network after an initial delivery attempt has been unsuccessful, comprising:

determining a group of one or more current conditions at the remote destination; and

initiating rule-based processing to determine a next action related to the delivery of the document based on the determined group of current conditions at the remote destination, the determined next action being one of multiple distinct possible next actions such that the other next actions are for use based on other groups of current conditions at the remote destination.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein the group of current conditions at the remote destination includes multiple current conditions, and including, after the determining of the group of current conditions at the remote destination:

receiving an indication of an unsuccessful initial delivery attempt of a second document to the remote destination from the source;

determining a second group of multiple current conditions at the remote destination, the second group of current conditions distinct from the group of current conditions; and

determining a second action related to the delivery of the second document based on the determined second group of current conditions, the determined second action distinct from the determined next action.

40. The method of claim 38 including performing multiple unsuccessful attempts to deliver the document from the source to the remote destination, and wherein the method is performed in response to the unsuccessful delivery attempts.

41. The method of claim 38 wherein the determined group of current conditions at the remote destination includes multiple current conditions of multiple distinct types.

42. The method of claim 38 including determining one or more prior conditions related to the remote destination, and wherein the determining of the next action by the rule-based processing is further based on the determined prior conditions.

43. The method of claim 38 wherein the current conditions include whether a current day at the remote destination is a non-business day and/or whether a current time at the remote destination is a non-business time.

44. The method of claim 38 wherein the current conditions include alternative delivery instructions at the destination.

45. The method of claim 38 wherein the document is a fax document.

46. The method of claim 38 wherein the document is an email message.

47. The method of claim 38 wherein the document is a voice mail message.

48. The method of claim 38 wherein the document is a text message.

49. The method of claim 38 including performing the determined next action to further facilitate the delivery of the document.

50. A method for facilitating network delivery of a document from a source to a destination when an initial delivery attempt has been unsuccessful, comprising:

initiating a rule-based process to determine a next action, wherein the rule-based process at least identifies an occurrence of a non-business day at the destination; and

determining a next of multiple possible actions related to the delivery of the document based at least in part on the identification of the occurrence of the non-business day.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein the non-business day is identified as occurring currently.

52. The method of claim 50 wherein the non-business day is identified as occurring during the initial delivery attempt.

53. The method of claim 50 wherein the non-business day is a weekend day.

54. The method of claim 50 wherein the non-business day is a holiday.

55. The method of claim 50 wherein the identifying of the occurrence of the non-business day includes determining non-business days specific to a geographic area that includes the destination.

56. The method of claim 50 wherein the identifying of the occurrence of the non-business day includes determining non-business days specific to the destination.

57. A method for facilitating network delivery of a document from a source to a destination when an initial delivery attempt has been unsuccessful, comprising:

automatically initiating a rule-based process to determine a next action, wherein the rule-based process at least identifies an occurrence of a non-business hour at the destination; and

automatically determining a next of multiple possible actions related to the delivery of the document based at least in part on the identification of the occurrence of the non-business hour.

58. A method for facilitating network delivery of a document from a source to a destination when an initial delivery attempt has been unsuccessful, comprising:

automatically initiating a rule-based process to determine a next action, wherein the rule-based process at least retrieves information related to past attempts to deliver other documents to the destination; and

automatically determining a next of multiple possible actions related to the delivery of the document based at least in part on the retrieved information.