System and method to track the status, physical location, and logical location of workflow objects in a workflow cycle

• US 8,838,466 B2
• Filed: 12/02/2005
• Issued: 09/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WestGUARD Insurance Co. (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Guard Insurance Group
• Inventors: Richardson, John H., Witkowski, Carl J.
• Primary Examiner(s): FEENEY, BRETT A
• Application Number:
  US11/164,731
• Publication Number:
  US 20070130197A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,210 Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0817 using directory methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

An invention for tracking the status, physical location, and logical location of a workflow object as an object of a particular process is created and progresses logically through the phases of associated with the lifecycle. The workflow object remains, at all times, physically stored in an object repository. Each workflow object has at least one embedded new technology file system (NTFS) tag, wherein the NTFS tag is extended as the workflow object progresses through the phases of a workflow cycle. The embedded and extended NTFS tags define a state of the object progressing through said phases of said workflow cycle. Such embedded and extended NTFS tags can be extracted to obtain properties, methods, and events associated with a requested object, and a GUI displays the extracted information indicating status, physical location, and logical location of one or more workflow objects in a workflow cycle.

Claims

1. A computer-based method when executed by a computer tracks a status, physical location, and logical location of one or more digital workflow objects in a workflow cycle, said workflow cycle comprising a plurality of phases, said one or more digital workflow objects stored in an object repository, said computer-based method comprising the following steps as executed by said computer:

(a) identifying a digital workflow object of the one or more digital workflow objects in said object repository to be tracked;

(b) identifying an existing embedded tag associated with said identified digital workflow object, said existing embedded tag storing properties defining where said identified digital workflow object belongs within a physical storage hierarchy of a file system;

(c) extending said existing embedded tag via an extended tag where said extended tag does not store where said identified digital workflow object belongs within said physical storage hierarchy of said file system, but stores workflow properties, methods and events associated with said identified digital workflow object progressing through said plurality of phases of said workflow cycle;

(d) receiving a request for a state of said identified digital workflow object in said object repository;

(e) extracting said workflow properties, methods, and events associated with said identified digital workflow object; and

(f) outputting said status, physical and logical location of said identified digital workflow object based on said extracted workflow properties, methods and events stored in said extended tag of said identified digital workflow object.

2. The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein said step of outputting comprises displaying said extracted workflow properties, methods and events stored in said extended tag of said identified digital workflow object.

3. The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein said workflow cycle is an insurance lifecycle.

4. The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein said identified digital workflow object is any of the following:

a proposal, a policy, an endorsement, an employer'"'"'s report, state form, direct bill statement, document, video object, audio object, a digital data object, or a record of who engaged a transaction.

5. The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein said extracted workflow properties comprises any of, or a combination of, the following:

(1) properties identifying a destination process towards which said requested identified digital workflow object is logically progressing, (2) properties identifying rendering aspects for viewing said requested identified digital workflow object, or (3) properties identifying generation aspects for viewing said requested identified digital workflow object.

6. The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein said workflow methods comprise any of, or a combination of, the following:

queuing or batching.

7. The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein said workflow events comprise errors.

8. The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein said existing embedded tags monitor any of the following:

signal strength, position in printer queue, or position in email server.

9. The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein said existing embedded tags monitor signal strength associated with a facsimile document.

10. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein which, when executed by a computer, tracks a status, physical location, and logical location of one or more digital workflow objects in a workflow cycle, said workflow cycle comprising a plurality of phases, said one or more digital workflow objects stored in an object repository, said non-transitory computer usable medium comprising:

(a) computer readable program code identifying a digital workflow object of said one or more digital workflow objects in said object repository to be tracked;

(b) computer readable program code identifying an existing embedded tag associated with said identified digital workflow object, said existing embedded tag storing properties defining where said identified digital workflow object belongs within a physical storage hierarchy of a file system;

(c) computer readable program code extending said existing embedded tag via an extended tag where said extended tag does not store where said identified digital workflow object belongs within said physical storage hierarchy of said file system, but stores workflow properties, methods and events associated with said identified digital workflow object progressing through said plurality of phases of said workflow cycle;

(d) computer readable program code receiving a request for a state of said identified digital workflow object in said object repository;

(e) computer readable program code extracting said workflow properties, methods, and events associated with said identified digital workflow object; and

(f) computer readable program code outputting said status, physical and logical location of said identified digital workflow object based on said extracted workflow properties, methods and events stored in said extended tag of said identified digital workflow object.

11. A system to track a status, physical location, and logical location of one or more digital workflow objects in a workflow cycle, said one or more workflow cycle comprising a plurality of phases, said system comprising:

a processor; and

computer storage storing computer readable program code that when executed by said processor tracks a status, physical location, and logical location of one or more digital workflow objects in said one or more workflow cycle, said computer storage comprising;

(a) computer readable program code identifying a digital workflow object of said one or more digital workflow objects in an object repository to be tracked;

(b) computer readable program code identifying an existing embedded tag associated with said identified digital workflow object, said existing embedded tag storing properties defining where said identified digital workflow object belongs within a physical storage hierarchy of a file system;

(c) computer readable program code extending said existing embedded tag via an extended tag where said extended tag does not store where said identified digital workflow object belongs within said physical storage hierarchy of said file system, but stores workflow properties, methods and events associated with said identified digital workflow object progressing through said plurality of phases of said workflow cycle;

(d) computer readable program code receiving a request for a state of said identified digital workflow object in said object repository;

(e) computer readable program code extracting said workflow properties, methods, and events associated with said identified digital workflow object; and

(f) computer readable program code outputting said status, physical and logical location of said identified digital workflow object based on said extracted workflow properties, methods and events stored in said extended tag of said identified digital workflow object.