Methods and interfaces for probing and understanding behaviors of alerting and filtering systems based on models and simulation from logs

• US 20060002532A1
• Filed: 06/30/2004
• Published: 01/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Horvitz, Eric J., Apacible, Johnson T.
• Granted Patent: US 7,664,249 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/112.10
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/145 involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/147 for predicting network behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5022 by giving priorities, e.g. assigning classes of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5093 wherein the managed service relates to messaging or chat services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity

Abstract

The present invention relates to systems and methods that predict behaviors of alerting and filtering systems based on simulation from messaging logs. By logging contextual information, such as the presence, activity, and availability of users, as well as incoming messages and their properties, forecasting services can be created that serve to provide users with an interactive “what if” capability, informing them what they might expect in terms of future behaviors of an automated message alerting and/or filtering system, based on recent messaging histories. A log of the history of incoming messages and contextual data is examined by modeling and simulation tools. The tools reveal the influence of alternate settings on the system'"'"'s behavior, in response to an expected stream of incoming messages, providing users with insights about how control settings affect alerting, filtering, or routing behaviors.

Claims

1. A system that provides predictions relating to future communications performance, comprising:

a data store that logs past communications activities directed to a user;

a model that predicts future communications performance based upon the past communications activities; and

at least one threshold setting associated with an interface that influences the model in regard to the future communications performance.

2. The system of claim 1, the model is associated with at least one of an urgency model, a context model, a notification model, and a presence model.

3. The system of claim 1, the threshold setting is associated with a graphical user interface that provides feedback relating to the future communications performance.

4. The system of claim 1, the model is employed with a simulator to determine future communications performance.

5. The system of claim 1, the model is employed with a forecasting service that serves predictions to local or remote applications.

6. The system of claim 1, the interface is associated with a desktop or a mobile device.

7. The system of claim 1, the data store logs data from previous prioritized alerts having varying priorities, information relating to a user'"'"'s presence, absence or availability, or information relating to the user'"'"'s context including their present state of busyness or focus of attention.

8. The system of claim 1, the threshold setting is associated with at least one of a low, medium, and high priority category.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one of a priorities system, a notification system, and a coordinate system to facilitate communications.

10. The system of claim 1, the models are trained over time based upon current or different settings adjustments provided by the user.

11. A computer readable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon for implementing the components of claim 1.

12. A method to facilitate tuning of an automated communications system, comprising:

automatically logging past communications activities of a system;

building models to predict future communications performance of the system;

providing adjustments that allow configuration of the system; and

automatically providing feedback associated with the future communications performance in response to the adjustments.

13. The method of claim 12, the logging includes message amounts, priorities associated with the messages, frequencies of messages, time stamps for messages, presence or availability data for the user, or user context data.

14. The method of claim 12, the model includes an influence model or a rule-based model.

15. The method of claim 12, the adjustments are associated with input threshold settings that are processed with respect to the future communications performance.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising logging settings over time as communications are received, and training the models in view of the settings to determine approximate communications patterns in view of one setting versus another.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing audio or visual feedback relating to future communications activity that is predicted based on models of past activities.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising automatically re-computing predictions based upon changes to the adjustments.

19. A system to facilitate communications system adjustment, comprising:

means for logging communications activities of a system or user;

means for determining expected communications performance of the system;

means for configuring the system; and

means for displaying the expected communications performance in response to configuring the system.

20. A graphical user interface to facilitate communications forecasting, comprising:

a display object associated with configuring parameters relating to an automated communications system;

at least one input to configure the parameters; and

a component to predict changes with respect to the parameters, the changes relating to expected performance of the automated communications system.

21. The graphical user interface of claim 20, the automated communications system is at least one of a message prioritization system, a notification system, and a presence forecasting system.

22. The graphical user interface of claim 20, the input is associated with at least one of a desktop communications application, a mobile communications application, and a web browser.

23. The graphical user interface of claim 20, further comprising a component to display a number of predicted desktop alerts as a function of the number of messages received per message priorities.

24. The graphical user interface of claim 23, the message priorities are associated with a low, medium, and high parameter.

25. The graphical user interface of claim 20, the input is associated with a configuable threshold setting relating to message priority.

26. The graphical user interface of claim 20, further comprising at least one of a sound enabler, a text herald display with message, a selection for priorities messages having focus on a desktop application, a setting enabling an information herald to follow a user'"'"'s focus of attention, a selection for deferring alerts if a priorities system detects a busyness state, a selection for deferring alerts if conversation is detected, and a time specification for an amount of delay applied to a message deferral.

27. The graphical user interface of claim 20, a component that supplies a prediction that is assigned for notifications having a priority above a given value and a user'"'"'s presence has been determined to be away for a selectable time period.

28. A system that provides predictions relating to future communications performance, comprising:

a data store that logs past communications activities directed to a user;

a model that predicts future communications performance based upon the past communications activities; and

a simulator that influences the model in regard to the future communications performance.

29. The system of claim 28, the simulator is associated with an interface that includes user adjustable settings that influence the model.

30. The system of claim 29, the simulator generates an output to the interface regarding future communications patterns, the output includes at least one of textual, audio, visual, and numeric data.

31. The system of claim 30, the simulator determines future message alerting or routing performance that includes at least one of SPAM, e-mail, junk mail, Instant Messages, voice mail, and telephone calls.

32. The system of claim 30, the simulator assumes stationary conditions, reruns a simulation trace with new settings, and employs the output as predictive feedback regarding statistics about future events.

33. The system of claim 30, further comprising a component to encode properties of messages.

34. The system of claim 28, communications activities are associated with a mobile or a desktop device.

35. The system of claim 28, the simulator analyzes threshold information to determine future communications activities.

36. The system of claim 28, the threshold information is associated with urgency settings or filter settings.

37. The system of claim 36, further comprising a visualization relating to headers of messages that would have been kept in a regular inbox versus filtered into a junk email folder or deleted.