System and method for modeling and applying a people network representation

• US 7,519,542 B1
• Filed: 08/14/2001
• Issued: 04/14/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Versata Development Group, Inc. (ESW Capital, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Versata Development Group, Inc. (ESW Capital, LLC)
• Inventors: Waingold, Elliot
• Primary Examiner(s): MEINECKE DIAZ, SUSANNA M
• Application Number:
  US09/929,374
• Time in Patent Office: 2,800 Days
• Field of Search: 705/10
• US Class Current: 705/7.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9024 Graphs; Linked lists G06F16/9027 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

A system and method for applying a people network representation to aid contact between a member of an organization and a target individual selects a contact path between the member and the target supported by analysis of the level of interaction between members of the organization based on network communications of the organization. The people network of the organization is modeled. Level of interaction is analyzed using network communications that take into account the recentness and frequency of interactions, such as email, ICQ, or phone interaction. To contact a targeted individual, for instance such as to obtain expertise in a desired area, the model of the people network allows determination of a contact path between the member and target which improves the likelihood of obtaining the target'"'"'s expertise. A contact path from a member may include a suggestion to contact the target through one or more intervening organization members.

Claims

1. A method for selecting a contact path between a first member of an organization and a target individual, the method comprising:

storing in a memory data associated with multiple members of the organization, wherein the data includes data that directly states one or more areas of expertise for the multiple members of the organization and the target individual is one of the multiple members of the organization;

tracking network communications of the members of the organization;

analyzing a level of interaction between the members of the organization based on the network communications to develop a people network;

receiving data indicating an area of expertise desired by the first member of the organization;

processing, using a computer system, the data that directly states the one or more areas of expertise for the multiple members of the organization to identify at least one or more target individuals of the organization, wherein the data associated with each target individual states that the target individual has expertise in the area of expertise desired by the first member of the organization;

determining, using a computer system, a contact path between the first member of the organization and at least one of the one or more target individuals, the contact path including one or more members of the organization having at least a predetermined level of interaction with at least one of the first member and at least one of the target individuals and the contact path identifies one or more members of the organization that represent a proposed path through the people network for the first member to contact at least one of the target individuals, wherein the one or members of the contact path are distinct from the first member and the target individual; and

providing the contact path to the first member.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

modeling the people network of the organization as a directed graph having plural nodes representing members of the organization and plural edges representing levels of interaction between members of the organization;

wherein analyzing the level of interaction comprises analyzing the edges associated with the first member and the target individual.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein each edge comprises one or more weights, each weight representing a level of interaction for one type of network communication.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein one weight represents the level of interaction for e-mail communication.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein one weight represents the level of interaction for instant messenger communication.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein one weight represents the level of interaction for telephone communication.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining plural contact paths, each contact path representing a proposed path through the people network for the first member to contact a member of the organization having the desired expertise.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising graphically depicting the plural contact paths as nodes representing members of the organization and edges representing the level of interaction between the members, each node and edge having an appearance that corresponds to the strength of the contact path.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a contact path between the first member of the organization and the target individual comprises:

determining a contact path between the first member of the organization and the target individual, wherein the contact path includes multiple intervening members of the organization between the first member and the target individual.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

providing data to a computer system, wherein the data causes the computer system to display the contact path and the expertise at least one of target individuals.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein storing in a memory further comprises:

storing the data in a contact database and the data, including the data that states the one or more areas of expertise for the multiple members of the organization, is stored in the contact database.

12. A system for determining a people network within a communications network, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, coupled to the processor, to store data associated with multiple members of the organization, wherein the data includes data that directly states one or more areas of expertise for the multiple members of the organization;

wherein the memory further includes a people network model module interfaced with the communications network and interfaced with the memory and operable to model communications of the communications network;

wherein the memory further includes code that is executable by the processor and the code comprises;

an interaction level analyzer module interfaced with the people network model module and operable to apply a model of the communications to a level of interaction of the plural members to determine a people network representation; and

a target locator and contact path module interfaced with the people network model and the interaction level analyzer module to;

(i) accept a query from a first member for members of the organization having a desired expertise;

(ii) process the data that directly states the one or more areas of expertise for the multiple members of the organization to identify at least one or more target individuals of the organization, wherein the data associated with each target individual states that each target individual has expertise in an area of expertise desired by the first member of the organization;

(iii) determine a contact path between the first member of the organization and at least one of the one or more target individuals, the contact path including one or more members of the organization having at least a predetermined level of interaction with at least one of the first member and at least one of the target individuals and the contact path identifies one or more members of the organization that represent a proposed path through the people network for the first member to contact at least one of the target individuals, wherein the one or more members of the contact path are distinct from the first member and each target individual; and

(iv) provide the first member with the contact path and the one or more target individuals based on the desired expertise and the level of interaction of the first member with members of the organization.

13. The system of claim 12 further comprising a graphical user interface operable to depict a visualization of the people network of a selected member of the organization.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the graphical user interface depicts a selected member'"'"'s people network representation as plural nodes interfaced with edges, the nodes representing members of the network and the lines representing the level of interaction between the members.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the graphical user interface depicts the first member'"'"'s people network representation as a bullseye having the first member at the center and members of the organization distributed in successive rings representing the level of interaction with the first member.

16. The system of claim 12 wherein the people network model module is further operable to model the people network of the organization as a directed graph having plural nodes and edges, the nodes representing members of the organization and the edges representing the level of interaction between nodes.

17. The system of claim 12 wherein the target locator and contact path module further comprises code executable by the processor to provide at least one of the one or more target individuals using a shortest path determination to prioritize target individuals in order of strongest contact path with the first member.

18. The system of claim 12 wherein the people network representation includes a contact path between the first member and the one or more target individuals and the contact path includes multiple intervening members of the organization between the first member and at least one of the one or more target individuals.

19. The system of claim 12 wherein the memory comprises a contact database and the data, including the data that states the one or more areas of expertise for the multiple members of the organization, is stored in the contact database.

20. The system of claim 12 wherein the code executable by the processor further comprises:

a display module to provide data to a computer system, wherein the data causes the computer system to display target individuals with rankings based on expertise.

21. A method of using a computer system for determining a target individual having expertise in a subject matter of interest to a first member of an organization, the method comprising executing code stored in the computer system for:

storing in a memory data associated with multiple members of the organization, wherein the data includes data that directly states one or more areas of expertise for the multiple members of the organization and the target individual is one of the multiple members of the organization;

processing the data that directly states the one or more areas of expertise for the multiple members of the organization to identify one or more members of the organization, wherein the data associated with each of the identified members of the organization states that the one or more members have expertise in the subject matter;

selecting one or more target individuals from only the one or more identified members having the expertise in the subject matter as stated in the data associated with each target individual;

determining a contact path between the first member of the organization and at least one of the one or more target individuals, the contact path including one or more members of the organization having at least a predetermined level of interaction with at least one of the first member and at least one of the target individuals and the contact path identifies one or more members of the organization that represent a proposed path through the people network for the first member to contact at least one of the target individuals, wherein the one or members of the contact path are distinct from the first member and each target individual; and

providing the first member with at least one of the contact paths to at least one of the target individuals.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein selecting one or more target individuals further comprises identifying members having contact paths of less than a predetermined number of intervening members between each target individual and the first member.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein providing the first member with contact paths comprises:

modeling a people network of the organization based on communications of members of the organization across a network; and

determining the contact paths by analyzing the level of interaction between members of the organization.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein modeling a people network comprises representing the people network as a directed graph having a node for each member of the organization, the nodes interfaced by edges representing levels of interaction.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the communications network supports plural type of communication and wherein each edge has a set of weights, each type of communication having an associated weight.

26. The method of claim 23 wherein the communications comprise e-mail communications.

27. The method of claim 23 wherein the communications comprise instant message communications.

28. The method of claim 23 wherein the communications comprise phone communications.

29. The method of claim 23 wherein determining the contact paths comprises performing a strongest path analysis using the people network model to prioritize the one or more target individuals.

30. The method of claim 21 wherein providing the first member with at least one contact path to at least one of the target individuals comprises:

providing the first member with at least one contact path to at least one of the target individuals, wherein the contact path includes multiple intervening members of the organization between the first member and at least one of the target individual individuals.

31. The method of claim 21 further comprising:

providing data to a computer system for displaying the contact path and the expertise of at least one of the of target individuals.

32. The method of claim 21 wherein storing in a memory further comprises:

storing the data in a contact database and the data, including the data that states the one or more areas of expertise for the multiple members of the organization, is stored in the contact database.