Method and system for responding to an event occurring on a managed computer system

• US 7,627,667 B1
• Filed: 11/26/2002
• Issued: 12/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Marketing LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Marketing USA LP
• Inventors: Rive, Peter Joshua, Rive, Russell S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Flynn; Nathan J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Afolabi; Mark O
• Application Number:
  US10/306,049
• Time in Patent Office: 2,562 Days
• Field of Search: 709/202, 709/223, 709/224, 719/317, 719/318, 700/49, 702/176, 706/46, 706/47, 713/340
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0769 Readable error formats, e.g. cross-platform generic formats, human understandable formats
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0781 Error filtering or prioritizing based on a policy defined by the user or on a policy defined by a hardware/software module, e.g. according to a severity level

Abstract

A method of responding to an event occurring on at least one managed computer system is provided. The method includes receiving event data from a monitoring agent on the managed computer system at a client installation, and processing the event data at a management system to determine if a verbal response is required. A voice call to the client installation is initiated when a verbal response is required. The method includes retrieving associated response data in a reference database wherein the associated response data is associated with the event and the managed system. In certain embodiments, the method includes identifying if the event meets a customer defined severity level, and initiating the voice call when the event meets the customer defined severity level.

Claims

1. A method of responding to an event occurring on at least one managed computer system, the method comprising:

receiving event data from a monitoring agent on a managed computer system at a client installation, the event data being associated with the event;

automatically processing the event data at a management system to determine that a verbal response is required;

generating, at the management system, an asset report comprising at least an installed software list including a list of software installed on the managed computer system;

based on the determination that a verbal response is required,

automatically initiating a voice call between a support person and the client installation; and

automatically generating a user interface on a technical support console to display the installed software list to the support person.

2. The method of claim 1, which includes retrieving associated response data in a reference database, the associated response data being associated with the event and the managed computer system.

3. The method of claim 1, which includes identifying if the event meets a customer defined severity level, and initiating the voice call when the event meets the customer defined severity level.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each event has a plurality of customer defined severity levels, each severity level being associated with a specific customer.

5. The method of claim 2, which includes queuing the voice call at a technical support console until the technical support person is available to respond to the event, and providing the response data to the technical support person, using the user interface.

6. The method of claim 5, which includes initiating the voice call and the user interface in an automated fashion without human interaction in response to the event.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the monitoring agent hooks into an operating system on the managed computer system to obtain the event data.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the event data corresponds to events on a Windows™

operating system.

9. A system to facilitate provision of services to a managed computer system, the system comprising:

a receiver to receive event data from a monitoring agent on the managed computer system at a client installation;

a asset module to generate, at the management system, an asset report comprising at least an installed software list including a list of software installed on the managed computer system;

a server to generate a user interface on a technical support console to display the installed software list to a technical support person; and

a processor to process the event data at a management system to automatically determine that a verbal response is required and to automatically initiate a voice call to the client installation based on the determination that the verbal response is required.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein associated response data is retrieved from a reference database, the associated response data being associated with the event and the managed computer system.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor identifies if the event meets a customer defined severity level, and initiates the voice call when the event meets the customer defined severity level.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein each event has a plurality of customer defined severity levels, each severity level being associated with a specific customer.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the voice call is queued at a technical support console until a technical support person is available to respond to the event, and the user interface is used to provide the response data to the technical support person.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the voice call and the user interface is initiated in an automated fashion without human interaction in response to the event.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the monitoring agent hooks into an operating system on the managed computer system to obtain the event data.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the event data corresponds to events on a Windows™

operating system.

17. A machine-readable medium storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to execute a method of responding to an event occurring on at least one managed computer system, the method comprising:

receiving event data from a monitoring agent on the managed computer system at a client installation, the event data being associated with the event;

automatically processing the event data at a management system to determine that a verbal response is required;

generating, at the management system, an asset report comprising at least an installed software list including a list of software installed on the managed computer system;

based on the determination that a verbal response is required,

automatically initiating a voice call between a support person and the client installation;

automatically generating a user interface on a technical support console to display the installed software list to the support person.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein associated response data is retrieved from a reference database, the associated response data being associated with the event and the managed computer system.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the voice call is initiated if the event meets a customer-defined severity level.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein each event has a plurality of customer defined severity levels, each severity level being associated with a specific customer.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the voice call is queued at a technical support console until a technical support person is available to respond to the event, and the user interface is used to provide the response data to the technical support person.

22. The machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the voice call and the user interface are initiated in an automated fashion without human interaction in response to the event.

23. The machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the monitoring agent hooks into an operating system on the managed computer system to obtain the event data.

24. The machine-readable medium of claim 21, wherein the event data corresponds to events on a Windows™

operating system.

25. A system to facilitate provision of services to a managed computer system, the system comprising:

means for receiving event data from a monitoring agent on the managed computer system at a client installation;

means for generating, at the management system, an asset report comprising at least an installed software list including a list of software installed on the managed computer system;

means for generating a user interface on a technical support console to display the installed software list to a technical support person; and

processor means for automatically processing the event data at a management system to determine that a verbal response is required and automatically initiating a voice call to the client installation based on the determination that the verbal response is required.