Method and system for monitoring the status of an online transaction

• US 8,156,185 B1
• Filed: 05/16/2002
• Issued: 04/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Moody, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Bhatia, Ajay
• Application Number:
  US10/147,164
• Time in Patent Office: 3,617 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/206, 709/224, 700/115, 235/385, 705/26.1
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

The invention includes methods and software for presenting a user with a set of interfaces that reveal what events are to occur, or are likely to occur, in a transaction, and provide the ability to program the automatic monitoring of these anticipated events with a customizable set of alerts. A merchant encodes events that are possible for the transaction as part of developing an online transaction system such as an online catalog. The data regarding these events is encoded in an electronic communication, such as an email or onsite transaction history item, such that this data can be detected by a receiving system. The method includes presenting and setting monitoring options for event notices that have not yet been received. The chosen options for event notices that have not yet been received are used to program the monitoring and alerting of the user when such event notices have or have not been received.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for monitoring the status of a transaction performed between a local computer user and a remote computer, the transaction comprising a series of events, the method comprising:

electronically receiving via email by a processing device from the remote computer, a list of events involved in the transaction, including one or more future events;

electronically storing, via the processing device, the list of events involved in the transaction;

automatically monitoring, via the processing device, email messages received from the remote computer to determine an occurrence of events involved in the transaction by associating data in each monitored email message with data in the stored list of events and to determine whether the monitored email message represents an event corresponding to a given event in the stored list of events;

notifying the local computer user, via an email message by the processing device, upon the occurrence of the given event involved in the transaction or the failure of a given event involved in the transaction to occur, the email message includes a graphical representation of the list events involved in the transaction and a list of anticipated future emails, not yet received, associated with the one or more future events;

providing to the local computer user a representation a given anticipated future email and a form for user selection of receiving one or more future emails corresponding to the anticipated future email, the representation of the given anticipated future email including a graphical object representing a linked node visualization of occurred events and the one or more future events; and

encoding the user selection into a reply email to the processing device.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising allowing a user to select one or more future events from the received list of events whose status is to be monitored.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising storing the received list of events in a memory device accessible to the local computer user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the list of events comprises receiving the list embedded in a header of an email message from the remote computer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the list of events comprises receiving a list of event identifiers each identifying an event involved in the transaction.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein monitoring email messages comprises receiving messages each including an event identifier embedded therein and comparing each embedded event identifier to the event identifiers in the list of event identifiers to thereby associate the message with an event in the list.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising allowing the local computer user to select one or more notification options by which to be notified and wherein notifying the local computer user of the occurrence of an event or failure of an event to occur comprises notifying the local computer in accordance with the selected one or more notification options.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein allowing the local computer user to select one or more notification options comprises allowing the user to select from the group consisting of:

email message, instant message, and page.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein notifying the local computer user upon the failure of a given future event involved in the transaction to occur comprises notifying the local computer user when the event has not occurred within a certain selected amount of time.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the representation of the events involved in the transaction comprises displaying a graphical object representing a linked node visualization of the events and their sequence within the transaction.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the representation of the events involved in the transaction comprises visually distinguishing between events which have occurred and events which have yet to occur at any given time at which the representation is being displayed.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing program code which, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for monitoring at an intermediate server the status of a transaction performed between a local computer user and a remote computer, the transaction comprising a series of events, the method comprising:

receiving in an email message from the remote computer a list of first events involved in the transaction, including one or more future events;

storing the list of events involved in the transaction in a memory accessible to the intermediate server;

automatically monitoring email messages received from the remote computer, at least some of which contain event identifiers representing events involved in the transaction, to determine an occurrence of events involved in the transaction by associating event identifiers in each monitored email message with the stored list of events and to determine whether the monitored email message represents an event corresponding to a given event in the stored list of events;

notifying the local computer user, via an email message, upon the occurrence of the given event involved in the transaction as determined by the presence of a matching event identifier in a received email message or the failure of the given future event involved in the transaction to occur as determined by the failure to receive an email message containing a matching event identifier within a certain amount of time, the email message including a graphical representation of the events involved in the transaction and a list of anticipated future email messages, not yet received, each representing an anticipated future event involved in the transaction following;

providing to the local computer user a representation of a given anticipated future email message and a form for user selection of receiving one or more future notifications corresponding to the anticipated future email message, the representation of the given anticipated future email message including a graphical object representing a linked node visualization of occurred events and a plurality of future events; and

encoding the user selection into a reply email to the remote computer.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the list of events and the event identifiers are embedded in the header of email messages.