Call center dashboard

• US 7,636,852 B1
• Filed: 10/07/2004
• Issued: 12/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Marshall, Stephen L., Jayaraman, Hemanth, Balasubramanian, Balagurunathan, Kuruvalli, Bharath N., Himawan, Rudi
• Primary Examiner(s): Zand; Kambiz
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHAIFER HARRIMAN, DANT B
• Application Number:
  US10/960,535
• Time in Patent Office: 1,902 Days
• Field of Search: 713/202
• US Class Current: 713/183
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/41 where a single sign-on provides access to a plurality of computers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2115 Third party

Abstract

A password management system is provided. The password management system includes a plurality of enterprise applications accessible by local and remote desktop computers by providing single sign-on security information. Each of the plurality of enterprise applications require separate login information which is stored in a secure back-end system along with the single sign-on security information. Scripts located, for example, on remotely accessible servers and/or on the local desktop computer, allow a user to logon with a single sign-on and have access to the plurality of enterprise applications. The script uses the single sign-on security information, and perhaps other information, to authenticate the user and access the login information for each of the enterprise applications. The script is further operable to automatically interface with the enterprise applications through user input windows, such as by scripting login information automatically into the enterprise application login windows.

Claims

1. A password management system, comprising:

a plurality of enterprise applications accessible by a desktop computer by providing user authentication information, wherein the user authentication information for a user is unique with respect to the user for at least two of the plurality of enterprise applications such that the user authentication information for the user for a first one of the at least two of the plurality of enterprise applications is different from the authentication information for the user for a second one of the at least two of the plurality of enterprise applications;

an application security data store that stores the user authentication information;

an authentication component;

a web server that communicates with the authentication component to authenticate a request for web services and forwards a request for the user authentication information;

an application server that receives the request for the user authentication from the web server for user authentication information;

a password management application executed by the application server, the password management application that requests the user authentication information related to one or more of the enterprise applications from the application security data store, the password management application further updates the unique user authentication information maintained by the application security data store; and

a password management client resident on the desktop computer in communication with the web server, the password management client uses single sign-on information to be authenticated by the authentication component and obtain the user authentication information for one or more of the enterprise applications from the password management application, the password management client further uses the obtained user authentication information to access the one or more enterprise applications.

2. The password management system of claim 1, wherein the authentication component is a centralized authentication software component.

3. The password management system of claim 1, further including a switch component operable to load balance between at least the web server and a second web server, the switch component selects and wherein the switch component communicates with the web servers using a secure socket layer.

4. The password management system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of distributed web browser component object model program components and wherein the password management client includes a plurality of scripts operable to request user security information of one of the enterprise applications from the password management application and to use the user security information to logon to one or more of the enterprise applications, the plurality of distributed web browser component object model program components operable to trigger execution of one of the scripts.

5. The password management system of claim 1, wherein the application server is a platform independent service oriented architecture application server.

6. The password management system of claim 1, further including:

a cached application security data store operable to store the user security information including user identities and user passwords, and wherein the cached application security data store is operable to periodically receive updates from the application security data store;

an alternate authentication component operable to authenticate a request for web services;

an alternate web server accessed through an alternate universal reference locator, to authenticate the request for web services through communication with the alternate authentication component, to forward the request for the user security information, and to return the user security information; and

an alternate application server operable to receive the request for the user security information from the alternate web server, to retrieve the user security information from the cached application security data store, and to return the user security information to the alternate web server.

7. The password management system of claim 1, further including:

a remote agent resident on a remote desktop computer;

a plurality of access servers responsive to the remote agent on the second desktop computer; and

a plurality of scripts on each of the access servers, the scripts operable to request the user security information from the web server, and wherein the plurality of enterprise applications are accessible via the access servers such that the plurality of scripts on the access servers are operable to employ the user security information to logon to the enterprise applications.

8. The password management system of claim 7, wherein the enterprise applications are resident on each of the access servers.

9. The password management system of claim 7, wherein the remote agent is further defined as a remote client, and wherein the access servers are further defined as remote servers.

10. The password management system of claim 7, wherein at least one fat client is resident on the desktop computer to access one of the enterprise applications.

11. A method for logging into enterprise applications from a computer, comprising:

logging into a password management system including a web server using a single sign-on login information;

authenticating, with an authentication component in communication with the web server, the single sign-on login information to access a password management application executing on an application server;

requesting login information for one of the enterprise applications from the password management application, wherein at least two of the enterprise applications have a unique login information with respect to a user such that the login information for the user for a first one of the at least two of the enterprise applications is different from the login information for the user for a second one of the at least two of the enterprise applications;

retrieving, by the password management application, the login information from a data store;

providing the retrieved login information to a password management client executing on the computer; and

using, by the password management client, the retrieved login information to log into at least one of the enterprise applications.

12. The method of claim 11, further including:

providing the login information associated with each of a plurality of enterprise applications; and

storing the login information associated with each of a plurality of enterprise applications in the data store.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein on a first logging into the password management system the method further includes:

loading a plurality of distributed web browser component object model program components and a plurality of scripts onto the computer, each distributed web browser component object model program component associated with a user interface and operable to invoke at least one of the scripts associated with one of the enterprise applications, and wherein each script is operable to communicate with a password management back end to request and receive login information for at least one of the enterprise applications and to use the login information to login to the enterprise application associated with the script.

14. The method of claim 13, further including loading one or more updated distributed web browser component object model program components.

15. The method of claim 13, further including loading one or more updated scripts.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the distributed web browser component object model program components and scripts are transmitted from the password management system to the computer in the form of a file and wherein the file contains the distributed web browser component object model program components and scripts in compressed format.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the file is a cabinet file or a .jar file.

18. The method of claim 11, further including:

detecting that the enterprise application requires a changed password;

generating the changed password;

using the changed password to log into the enterprise application; and

after successfully logging into the enterprise application, storing the changed password in the data store.

19. A method for logging into an enterprise application from a computer, comprising:

attempting to log into a password management system including a first server;

receiving an out of service message from the password management system;

logging into a backup password management system including a second server using a single sign-on login information;

authenticating, with an authentication component in communication with the second server, the single sign-on login information to access a password management application executing on an application server;

retrieving, by the password management application, a unique login information with respect to a user for at least two of a plurality of enterprise applications from a data store in the backup password management system such that the login information for the user for a first one of the at least two enterprise applications is different from the login information for the user for a second one of the at least two enterprise applications and wherein the unique login information is different from the single sign-on login information;

providing the retrieved unique login information for the at least two enterprise applications in clear text to the computer;

using the retrieved unique login information to log into one or more of the enterprise applications from the computer.

20. The method of claim 19, further including periodically copying login information from the password management system to the data store in the backup password management system.

21. A method for logging into enterprise applications from computers local and remote to an enterprise using a single sign-on, the method comprising:

using a single sign-on information from the remote computer to log into a server communicating with a web server of the enterprise;

authenticating the single sign-on information received from the remote computer and security information to access the enterprise;

requesting login information that is unique relative to the single sign-on information for at least one enterprise application such that the login information is different from the single sign-on information for the at least one enterprise application;

retrieving the enterprise application login information from a data store;

using the enterprise application login information to log into at least one of the enterprise applications by the remote computer;

using the single sign-on information from the local computer to log into the web server;

authenticating the single sign-on information received from the local computer to access the enterprise; and

using the enterprise application login information to log into at least one of the enterprise applications by the local computer.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the authenticating of the single sign-on information involves employing a centralized authentication software package.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the authenticating of the single sign-on information from the remote computer involves the web server validating single sign-on information using tokens presented when requesting the enterprise application login information and involves the web server presenting a proxy user identity and a proxy user password to the centralized authentication software package to authenticate the requestor.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the tokens include one or more types of information selected from the group consisting of a user identity, a domain of the enterprise application, a hash value calculated on a script employed in requesting the login information, and an internet protocol address of the remote server.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the hash value is calculated on the script using the MD5 secure hashing algorithm.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein the security information is further defined as an internet protocol address of the server, a hash value of a script on the server, and an logon information provided by a user of the remote computer.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein using the enterprise application login information to log into one or more of the enterprise applications further comprises:

detecting, by the script, a display window of the enterprise application requesting login information; and

automatically completing, by the script, the display window login information requested by the enterprise application to access the enterprise application.