System and method for handling action items

• US 7,571,108 B1
• Filed: 06/10/2003
• Issued: 08/04/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Leban, Roy
• Primary Examiner(s): Jeanty; Romain
• Application Number:
  US10/458,552
• Time in Patent Office: 2,247 Days
• Field of Search: 705/8
• US Class Current: 705/7.26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work

Abstract

A method and system for handling action items can determine the extent to which an action item can be processed using computer-based processing. Based on this determination, the present invention can complete the action item with a combination of automatic and manual processing. That is, the present invention can analyze an action item, initiate appropriate computer-based steps, and prompt human intervention to complete the action item. According to one exemplary aspect, the present invention can use a network connection to seek, identify, and utilize remote resources for processing an action item. According to another exemplary aspect, the present invention can derive action items from natural language, handwritten script entered into a tablet personal computer. According to another exemplary aspect, the present invention can process an action item list that includes both manual and automatic action items.

Claims

1. A method for computer-based handling of action items comprising:

providing a table of available resources with entries, each entry identifying a resource and indicating whether that resource is available;

entering a set of action items into a computer system by, for each action item of the set,

providing steps for the action items;

providing a table of resource requirements with entries, each entry identifying a resource needed for processing the steps of the action item; and

for each step of an action item, determining by a computer whether a resource for that step is not available as indicated by the provided table and when a resource is determined to be not available, indicating that the step is to involve human intervention, and when all the resources for the step are available, indicating that the step is to involve automatic processing; and

processing the action items by

if human intervention is indicated for a step of an action item based on availability of a resource, then displaying by the computer an indicator to prompt human intervention; and

if automatic processing is indicated for a step of an action item based on availability of a resource, then initiating automatic processing by the computer commensurate with the determination.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning a designation to the action item, wherein the designation is associated with a threshold of human intervention and a threshold of automatic processing.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the assigning step comprises assigning an automatic designation to the action item, and the method further comprising the step of receiving a command to change the automatic designation to a manual designation.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the designation corresponds to one of automatic, semiautomatic, and manual, and wherein:

an automatic action item is associated with a threshold of human intervention that is essentially zero and a threshold of automatic processing that is greater than zero;

a semiautomatic action item is associated with a threshold of human intervention that is greater than zero and a threshold of automatic processing that is greater than zero; and

a manual action item is associated with a threshold of human intervention that is greater than zero and a threshold of automatic processing that is essentially zero.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying an indicator to process an action item with fully automatic processing based upon the determining step;

displaying an indicator to process the action item with a combination of automatic processing and human intervention based upon the determining step; and

displaying an indicator to process the action item with complete human intervention based upon the determining step.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating a table listing resources available to complete one of more of the tasks.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying an indicator further comprises displaying an icon on a computer screen.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a status as to progress of an action item.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the entering step comprises processing electronic ink with a tablet personal computer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating automatic processing step comprises transmitting information over a wireless link between a computer system and a computer network.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the entering step comprises receiving freeform text and natural language processing of the freeform text.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

completing at least one action item of the set; and

displaying an indication that the at least one action item is complete and was processed with one of manual processing, semiautomatic processing, and automatic processing.

13. A method for computer-based handling of action items comprising:

providing a table of available resources with entries, each entry identifying a resource and indicating whether that resource is available;

for each of a plurality of action items,

providing steps for the action items;

providing a table of resource requirements with entries, each entry identifying a resource needed for processing the steps of the action item; and

determining an extent of human intervention and automatic processing associated with processing the steps of the action item such that the action item is designated as automatic, semi-automatic, or manual;

when an action item is designated as automatic, automatically processing the steps of the action item by a computer using resources identified by the table of resource requirements for the action item that are available as indicated by the table of available resources and semi-automatically processing steps of the action item when either a resource identified by the table of resource requirements for the action item is not available as indicated by the table of available resources or the automatic processing of the steps becomes delayed;

when an action item is designated as semi-automatic, automatically processing automatic steps of the action item using resources identified by the table of resource requirements for the action item that are available as indicated by the table of available resources and manually processing steps of the action item that are designated as manual by prompting for user intervention; and

when an action item is designated as manual, manually processing steps of the action item by prompting for user intervention.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the providing of the table of resource requirements includes:

prompting a user to define resource requirements for an action item;

receiving from the user an indication of resource requirements for the action item; and

adding an entry to the table of resource requirements for the action item for each indicated resource requirement.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the automatically processing includes when the processing of a step of the action item is stalled, determining whether a user wants the action item to include manual steps and when it is determined that the user wants the action item to include manual steps, continuing with semi-automatically processing of the steps of the action item.

16. The method of claim 13 including updating entries in the table of available resources to indicate current availability of resources.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein updating of entries is event and time driven.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein updating of entries is time driven.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein updating of entries is event driven.

20. A computer-readable storage medium containing computer-executable instructions for execution by a computer to control the computer to handle action items, by a method comprising:

providing a table of available resources with entries, each entry identifying a resource and indicating whether that resource is available;

for each of a plurality of action items,

providing steps for the action items;

providing a table of resource requirements with entries, each entry identifying a resource needed for processing the steps of the action item; and

designating the action item as automatic or not automatic;

when an action item is designated as automatic, automatically processing the steps of the action item by a computer system using resources identified by the table of resource requirements for the action item that are available as indicated by the table of available resources and semi-automatically processing steps of the action item when a resource identified by the table of resource requirements for the action item is not available as indicated by the table of available resources; and

when an action item is designated as not automatic, automatically processing any automatic steps of the action item using resources identified by the table of resource requirements for the action item that are available as indicated by the table of available resources and manually processing steps of the action item that are designated as manual by prompting for user intervention.