Virtual information technology assistant

• US 20080183852A1
• Filed: 01/26/2007
• Published: 07/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Bodart, Andrew J., Spence, Josephine L., Olsen, Joanna M., Leake, Tanya S., Pramer, David M.
• Application Number:
  US11/699,211
• Publication Number:
  US 20080183852A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A unified support system is adapted to a user to manage his or her entire personal electronics environment. The system supports a wide range of hardware, software and network configurations, as well as a vast universe of additional products and accessories that may be added to the user'"'"'s personal electronics environment. The unified support system employs a multi-modal interface incorporating multiple communication channels for interfacing with a system user. The unified support is adapted to provide purchase decision support, customized new product installation instructions, new product and ancillary product recommendations, warranty registration, troubleshooting assistance, proactive maintenance, as well as other functions for managing a user'"'"'s personal electronics environment.

Claims

1. A system for managing an electronics environment comprising:

a first database storing user profile data including components and configuration data relating to the electronics environment;

a second database storing product data including compatibility and interconnection data; and

a processor adapted to compare the compatibility and interconnection data of a specified product with the components and configuration data relating to the electronics environment to determine whether the specified product is compatible with the electronics environment.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a communications interface configured to allow a user to communicate with the system over a communications channel.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the communications interface comprises a wireless gateway allowing the user to communicate with the system over a wireless communications channel.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the communications interface comprises an HTTP gateway allowing the user to communicate with the system over the Internet.

5. The system of claim 4 further comprising a cable or DSL modem for accessing the HTTP gateway via the internet.

6. The system of claim 2 wherein the communications interface comprises a PSTN gateway allowing the user to communicate with the system over a publicly switched telephone network.

7. The system of claim 2 wherein the communications interface comprises a multi-modal communications interface configured to allow a user to communicate with the system over a plurality of different communications channels.

8. The system of claim 2 wherein the communications interface comprises a remote kiosk having a plurality of input/output devices through which a user may communicate with the system.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein, when the processor determines that the specified product is not compatible with the electronics environment, the processor is configured to determine additional products necessary to render the product compatible with the existing configuration.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to generate customized installation instructions for integrating the specified product with the electronics environment.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to register warranty data regarding the specified product with a manufacturer who produced the specified product.

12. A Virtual IT Assistant comprising:

an interaction services module configured to allow a user to interact with the Virtual IT Assistant over a communications channel;

an application services module adapted to carryout management functions relating to managing a user'"'"'s personal electronics environment;

a consumer services module adapted to manage a relationship between the Virtual IT Assistant and the user;

a data stores and servers module adapted to store and access user and product data associated with managing the user'"'"'s personal electronics environment;

a data services module adapted to process data associated with the management functions performed by the Virtual IT Assistant; and

an integration services module adapted to allow data generated in one service module to be transferred and used by other service modules of the Virtual IT Assistant.

13. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the interaction services module comprises a communications gateway for providing communications between the Virtual IT Assistant and a user over an external network.

14. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 13 wherein the gateway comprise one of a wireless gateway;

a voice gateway;

or an HTTP gateway.

15. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the interaction services module further comprises an authentication server adapted to authenticate the identity of a user communicating with the Virtual IT Assistant.

16. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 15 wherein the interaction services module further comprises an access and security manager adapted to control the functions and services that an authenticated user may access.

17. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 16 wherein the interaction services module further comprises a Web Server adapted to deliver content relating to managing a user'"'"'s personal electronics environment to the user over the external network.

18. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the interaction services module comprises a portal adapted to invoke management functions of the Virtual IT Assistant relating to managing the user'"'"'s personal electronics environment.

19. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the interaction services module comprises a content management server adapted to manage content associated with performing management functions relating to managing the user'"'"'s personal electronics environment.

20. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 19 wherein the content management server is adapted to track locations where content is stored in a data repository, and to apply workflows to enable use and reuse of the content associated with the performance of management functions relating to managing the user'"'"'s personal electronics environment.

21. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the interaction services module comprises a business intelligence module adapted to gather and analyze data for improving operation of the Virtual IT Assistant.

22. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 21 wherein the business intelligence module is configured to provide decision support and data mining functions and to provide pre-defined business intelligence reports.

23. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the interaction services module comprises a business activity monitoring module adapted to monitor business processes and data processing functions of the Virtual IT Assistant and to provide real-time analysis reporting and monitoring of such business processes and data processing functions.

24. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the application services module comprises an active X wizard adapted to be installed on a device associated with a user'"'"'s personal electronics environment to monitor performance of the device and to report status and alert messages back to the Virtual IT Assistant.

25. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the application services module comprises a business rules engine for defining and implementing business level rules for performing the management functions relating to managing a user'"'"'s personal electronics environment.

26. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the application services module comprises a business process management module adapted to monitor execution of business processes for performing the management functions relating to managing a user'"'"'s personal electronics environment, in order to analyze and optimize the performance of the Virtual IT Assistant.

27. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the application services module comprises an application server adapted to provide applications for performing the management functions associated with managing a user'"'"'s personal electronics environment.

28. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 27 wherein the application server is adapted to provide an application for performing at least one of the management functions comprising:

product purchase decision support;

upgrade/add-on support;

device management;

customized installation instructions;

configuration;

troubleshooting;

inquiry status;

repair and replace services, upgrades, warranty registration;

move management;

returns; and

maintenance.

29. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data stores and servers module comprises a contact database storing user contact information.

30. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data stores and server module comprises a certificates database storing information regarding digital certificates for establishing secure SSL-based transactions with users.

31. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data stores and server module comprises a private UDDI registry providing a distributed directory of consumable Web Services for the Virtual IT Assistant.

32. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data stores and server module comprises an XML artifacts database storing XML building blocks for XML-based transaction definitions in electronic information exchanges.

33. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data stores and servers module comprises a metadata repository for storing metadata that describes how, when and by which logical entity data are received, created, accessed or modified.

34. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data stores and servers module comprises an operational data store storing data supporting time-sensitive operational decision support applications.

35. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data stores and servers module comprises a data warehouse for centralized storage of customer, household and product data that may be accessed across the various services comprising the Virtual IT Assistant.

36. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 35 wherein the data warehouse includes one or more data marts, a data mart comprising a subset of the data warehouse data organized for a particular usage requirement.

37. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data stores and servers module comprises a plurality of data sources.

38. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data stores and services module comprises an extract, transform, and load module for receiving data, transforming the received data into a format appropriate for use by the Virtual IT Assistant, and loading the data into a data storage medium associated with the data stores and servers module.

39. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data services module comprises an email server configured to exchange messages with a user over the Internet.

40. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data services module comprises a simple mail transport protocol server for sending and receiving email messages using a text based protocol.

41. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data services module comprises a metadata management module adapted to organize and store metadata in a metadata repository, the metadata comprising a data set describing how, when and by whom data was received, created, accessed, or modified, and how the data are formatted.

42. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data services module comprises a data cleansing module adapted to transform data from a first format to a predefined standardized format.

43. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the data services module comprises an analytics/householding module configured to analyze data regarding business activities and customer information and to present such data in a concise manner for facilitating fast business decision processes.

44. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the integration services module comprises an enterprise application integration server adapted to integrate applications so that data may be shared across multiple applications.

45. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the integration services module comprises a transformation module for transforming files between applications using different formats.

46. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the integration services module comprises a virtual database configured to provide a single point of access to data for managing heterogeneous applications to allow ad hoc queries, fused data and dynamic access to data.

47. The Virtual IT Assistant of claim 12 wherein the consumer services module comprises a customer relationship management module configured to manage contacts with customers.

48. A method of managing an electronics environment comprising:

compiling a user'"'"'s electronics environment profile, the profile identifying one or more electronic components within the electronics environment, interconnection data identifying connections between the electronic components, and configuration data identifying parameter values for various operating parameters associated with the electronic components;

establishing a communication channel between a user associated with the electronics environment and a remote assistant,

communicating at least one of purchase decision support;

customized new product installation instructions;

new product recommendations; and

ancillary product suggestions from the remote assistant to the user over the communications channel, in accordance with the user'"'"'s electronics environment profile.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein establishing a communication channel between a user and a remote assistant comprises constructing a multi-modal interface whereby the user may communicate with the remote assistant over a variety of communications channels.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein a communications channel comprises a land-line telephone connection.

51. The method of claim 49 wherein a communications channel comprises a wireless mobile telephone connection.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein a communications channel comprises small message service protocol messaging.

53. The method of claim 51 wherein a communications channel comprises multimedia service protocol messaging.

54. The method of claim 50 wherein a communications channel comprises simple mail and transport protocol email messaging.

55. The method of claim 49 wherein the communications channel comprises an interactive Web Site accessible by a Web Browser operating on a personal computer associated with a user.

56. The method of claim 49 wherein the communications channel comprises a broadband cable or DSL connection and an interactive set-top box associated with a user'"'"'s television set.

57. The method of claim 49 wherein the communications channel comprises a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephone.

58. The method of claim 49 wherein the communications channel comprises a kiosk having a plurality of input and output devices allowing the user to interact with the remote assistant.

59. The method of claim 58 wherein the kiosk includes a barcode reader for reading bar codes on product packaging, and the method includes identifying a product based on a bar code read from the product'"'"'s packaging.

60. The method of claim 48 wherein communicating purchase decision support comprises communicating whether a selected electronics product is compatible with the user'"'"'s electronics environment based on the user'"'"'s electronics environment profile.

61. The method of claim 48 wherein communicating purchase decision support comprises identifying additional products required to integrate a selected product into the user'"'"'s electronics environment.

62. The method of claim 48 wherein communicating purchase decision support comprises suggesting complimentary products and enhancements relating to a selected product.

63. The method of claim 48 wherein communicating customized new product installation instructions comprises generating at least one connection diagram based on interconnection requirements of a selected new product and the interconnection data of the user'"'"'s electronics environment profile.

64. The method of claim 48 further comprising receiving notification that the user has purchased a new component to be added to the user'"'"'s electronics environment, the remote assistant acting to register a product warranty with a manufacturer of the new component on the user'"'"'s behalf.

65. The method of claim 48 further comprising monitoring the user'"'"'s electronics environment by the remote assistant, the remote assistant taking proactive steps to maintain optimal performance of the user'"'"'s electronics environment.

66. The method of claim 63 wherein taking proactive steps to maintain optimal performance of the user'"'"'s electronics environment comprises monitoring levels of consumable items and automatically ordering replacement consumable items when levels drop below a predefined threshold.

67. The method of claim 48 further comprising providing troubleshooting assistance to help resolve technical problems with the user'"'"'s electronics environment.

68. The method of claim 67 wherein providing troubleshooting assistance comprises providing a tiered response program in which a level technical support delivered to the user is successively escalated to increased levels of support interaction as necessary to resolve the technical problem.

69. The method of claim 68 wherein a first level of assistance comprises the remote assistant sending pre-written troubleshooting suggestions to the user over the communication channel, the pre-written troubleshooting suggestions based on the user'"'"'s electronics environment profile.

70. The method of claim 69 wherein a second level of assistance comprises the remote assistant establishing a communication link between the user and a live customer service representative.

71. The method of claim 70 wherein a third level of assistance comprises scheduling a service call for a technician to visit the user'"'"'s electronics environment.

72. The method of claim 48 further comprising the remote assistant generating instructions for dismantling and reconnecting the user'"'"'s electronics environment in the same or a new configuration when the user moves the electronics environment to a new location.

73. The method of claim 48 further comprising the remote assistant monitoring manufacturer bulletins relating to the electronic components in the user'"'"'s electronics environment, and alerting the user when product upgrades are available.