Action prediction based on interactive history and context between sender and recipient

• US 8,200,691 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2006
• Issued: 06/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Xu, Tian, Farrenkopf, Eckhard, Saager, Dirk, Eichhorst, Andre
• Primary Examiner(s): Jalil, Neveen Abel
• Assistant Examiner(s): Young, Kevin L
• Application Number:
  US11/606,806
• Publication Number:
  US 20080126310A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,022 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Techniques for action prediction based on interactive history and context between a sender and a recipient are described herein. In one embodiment, a process includes, but is not limited to, in response to a message to be received by a recipient from a sender over a network, determining one or more previous transactions associated with the sender and the recipient, the one or more previous transactions being recorded during course of operations performed within an entity associated with the recipient, and generating a list of one or more action candidates based on the determined one or more previous transactions, wherein the one or more action candidates are optional actions recommended to the recipient, in addition to one or more actions required to be taken in response to the message. Key word identification out of voice applications as well as guided actions has also been applied to generate action prediction candidates interactive history links Other methods and apparatuses are also described.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

in response to a message to be received by a recipient from a sender over a network, determining, by at least one processor-based device, at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient, the at least one previous transaction being recorded during course of operations performed within an entity associated with the recipient, wherein determining the at least one previous transaction comprises;

performing a first search of interactive history records based on an identity of the sender and performing a second search of the interactive history records based on identities of entity users associated with the sender by at least accessing a first database to search first previous transactions associated with the sender with respect to the entity, and

accessing, substantially concurrently with the accessing of the first database, a second database to search second previous transactions associated with the recipient with respect to the sender, wherein a list of at least one action candidate is generated based on at least one of the first and second previous transactions,

determining a type of business of the sender and a location of the sender,

determining at least one role of the recipient within the entity,

extracting at least one keyword from a communication; and

generating, by the at least one processor-based device, the list of at least one action candidate based on the determined at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient and one or more of the following;

sender information, recipient information, and the extracted keyword, wherein the at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient including previous triggered links of at least one of related sales orders and related invoices recorded in the interactive history records for interactions between the sender and the recipient, wherein the at least one action candidate is likely to be taken by the recipient and is an optional action recommended to the recipient, in addition to at least one action required to be taken in response to the message.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

extracting at least one keyword from the message;

identifying at least one transaction object that is related to the extracted at least one keyword based on the first previous transactions; and

generating at least one guided action based on the identified at least one transaction object, wherein at least one action candidate is generated based on the at least one guided action.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising adjusting the at least one guided action to form the recommended optional action based on at least one behavior of the sender derived from the first previous transactions.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

generating a first transaction context representing at least one common task performed by the sender based on the first previous transactions and the at least one guided action; and

generating a second transaction context representing at least one common task performed by the recipient based on the second previous transactions, wherein the at least one action candidate is generated based on at least one of the first and second transaction contexts.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising recording at least one behavior of the recipient in view of the first and second transaction contexts, wherein the recorded at least one behavior used to generate further recommended actions with respect to the sender and/or recipient.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the entity is an enterprise entity, and wherein information of the at least one previous transaction is provided from an enterprise information system (EIS) associated with the enterprise entity, the EIS system including at least an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

7. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions therein, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method, the method comprising:

in response to a message to be received by a recipient from a sender over a network, determining, by at least one processor-based device, at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient, the at least one previous transaction being recorded during course of operations performed within an entity associated with the recipient, wherein determining the at least one previous transaction comprises;

performing a first search of interactive history records based on an identity of the sender and performing a second search of the interactive history records based on identities of entity users associated with the sender by at least accessing a first database to search first previous transactions associated with the sender with respect to the entity, and

accessing, substantially concurrently with the accessing of the first database, a second database to search second previous transactions associated with the recipient with respect to the sender, wherein a list of at least one action candidate is generated based on at least one of the first and second previous transactions,

determining a type of business of the sender and a location of the sender,

determining at least one role of the recipient within the entity,

extracting at least one keyword from a communication; and

generating, by the at least one processor-based device, the list of at least one action candidate based on the determined at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient and one or more of the following;

sender information, recipient information, and the extracted keyword, wherein the at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient including previous triggered links of at least one of related sales orders and related invoices recorded in the interactive history records for interactions between the sender and the recipient, wherein the at least one action candidate is likely to be taken by the recipient and is an optional action recommended to the recipient, in addition to at least one action required to be taken in response to the message

in response to a message to be received by a recipient from a sender over a network, determining at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient, the at least one previous transaction being recorded during course of operations performed within an entity associated with the recipient, wherein determining the at least one previous transaction comprises performing a first search of interactive history records based on an identity of the sender, and performing a second search of the interactive history records based on identities of entity users associated with the sender; and

generating a list of at least one action candidate based on the determined at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient, the at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient including previous triggered links of at least one of related sales orders and related invoices recorded in the interactive history records of interactions between the sender and the recipient, wherein the at least one action candidate is an optional action recommended to the recipient, in addition to at least one action required to be taken in response to the message.

8. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises generating the at least one required action based on the at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein determining at least one previous transaction comprises:

accessing a first database to search first previous transactions associated with the sender with respect to the entity; and

substantially concurrently accessing a second database to search second previous transactions associated with the recipient with respect to the sender, wherein the list of at least one action candidate is generated based on at least one of the first and second previous transactions.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

extracting at least one keyword from the message;

identifying at least one transaction object that is related to the extracted at least one keyword based on the first previous transactions; and

generating at least one guided action based on the identified at least one transaction object, wherein at least one action candidate is generated based on the at least one guided action.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises adjusting the at least one guided action to form the recommended optional action based on at least one behavior of the sender derived from the first previous transactions.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

generating a first transaction context representing at least one common task performed by the sender based on the first previous transactions and the at least one guided action; and

generating a second transaction context representing at least one common task performed by the recipient based on the second previous transactions, wherein the at least one action candidate is generated based on at least one of the first and second transaction contexts.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises recording at least one behavior of the recipient in view of the first and second transaction contexts, wherein the at least one recorded behavior is used to generate further recommended actions with respect to the sender and/or recipient.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the entity is an enterprise entity, and wherein information of the at least one previous transaction is provided from an enterprise information system (EIS) associated with the enterprise entity, the EIS system including at least an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

15. A data processing system, comprising:

at least one processor-based device; and

at least one memory device coupled to the at least one processor-based device, the at least one memory device comprising computer instructions that when executed on the at least one processor-based device cause the at least one processor device to at least;

in response to a message to be received by a recipient from a sender over a network, determining, by at least one processor-based device, at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient, the at least one previous transaction being recorded during course of operations performed within an entity associated with the recipient, wherein determining the at least one previous transaction comprises;

performing a first search of interactive history records based on an identity of the sender and performing a second search of the interactive history records based on identities of entity users associated with the sender by at least accessing a first database to search first previous transactions associated with the sender with respect to the entity, and

accessing, substantially concurrently with the accessing of the first database, a second database to search second previous transactions associated with the recipient with respect to the sender, wherein a list of at least one action candidate is generated based on at least one of the first and second previous transactions,

determining a type of business of the sender and a location of the sender,

determining at least one role of the recipient within the entity,

extracting at least one keyword from a communication; and

generating, by the at least one processor-based device, the list of at least one action candidate based on the determined at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient and one or more of the following;

sender information, recipient information, and the extracted keyword, wherein the at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient including previous triggered links of at least one of related sales orders and related invoices recorded in the interactive history records for interactions between the sender and the recipient, wherein the at least one action candidate is likely to be taken by the recipient and is an optional action recommended to the recipient, in addition to at least one action required to be taken in response to the message

in response to a message to be received by a recipient from a sender over a network, to determine at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient, the at least one previous transaction being recorded during course of operations performed within an entity associated with the recipient, wherein determining the at least one previous transaction comprises performing a first search of interactive history records based on an identity of the sender, and performing a second search of the interactive history records based on identities of entity users associated with the sender;

at least one action required to be taken based on the determined at least one previous transaction; and

generate a list of at least one action candidate based on the determined at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient, the at least one previous transaction associated with the sender and the recipient including previous triggered links of at least one of related sales orders and related invoices recorded in the interactive history records of interactions between the sender and the recipient, wherein the at least one action candidate is an optional action recommended to the recipient, in addition to the at least one required action in response to the message.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the computer instructions further comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor-based device to:

search within a first database first previous transactions associated with the sender with respect to the entity; and

to substantially concurrently search within a second database second previous transactions associated with the recipient with respect to the sender, wherein the list of at least one action candidate is generated based on at least one of the first and second previous transactions.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the computer instructions further comprise computer instructions to cause the at least one processor-based device to analyze the message to at least one keyword from the message;

identify at least one transaction object that is related to the extracted at least one keyword based on the first previous transactions; and

generate at least one guided action based on the identified at least one action object, wherein at least one transaction candidate is generated based on the at least one guided action.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the computer instructions cause the at least one processor-based device to identify at least one keyword out of voice applications and to then search at least one transaction object based on the identified key words, the computer instructions further causing the at least one processor-based device to generate at least one guided action based on the at least one transaction object, and wherein at least one action candidate is generated based on the at least one guided action.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the computer instructions further comprise instructions to cause the at least one processor-based device to:

generate a first transaction context representing at least one common task performed by the sender based on the first previous transactions and the at least one guided action; and

generate a second transaction context representing at least one common task performed by the recipient based on the second previous transactions, wherein the at least one action candidate is generated based on at least one of the first and second transaction contexts.