Method and apparatus for simultaneously monitoring computer user screen and telephone activity from a remote location

• US 6,370,574 B1
• Filed: 12/16/1998
• Issued: 04/09/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Verint Americas Incorporated (Verint Systems Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Witness Systems Incorporated (Verint Systems Incorporated)
• Inventors: Beckett, Stephen Marshall II, House, Donald Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Ayaz
• Assistant Examiner(s): JEAN, FRANTZ B
• Application Number:
  US09/212,900
• Time in Patent Office: 1,210 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/208, 379/34, 379/265, 707/507, 345/326, 345/302, 340/505, 370/244
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/38 Displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/36 Statistical metering, e.g. recording occasions when traffic exceeds capacity of trunks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5175 Call or contact centers supervision arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5183 Call or contact centers with computer-telephony arrangements

Abstract

The present invention relates to simultaneous computer screen and voice monitoring from a remote location, and particularly relates to synchronized telephone and screen monitoring of a computer workstation from a remote location, by use of a multiple bounding rectangles technique. Such monitoring is useful for providing training and assistance to those using such workstations, especially in connection with telephone use, can also be useful for providing an audit trial of significant on-screen events, or can be used as a trigger to initiate other separate events. In one embodiment, graphics primitives are used to determine localized screen changes which are periodically copied from the monitored workstation desktop and sent over a network to a remote, monitoring, workstation. In another embodiment, localized screen changes are determined by full screen comparison, and sent over a network to a remote, monitoring, workstation.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring, on a monitoring workstation, on-screen activities of a monitored computer workstation, said monitored computer workstation having a video display screen, its own operating system software, and a display driver, by transferring data from the monitored computer workstation to said monitoring workstation, said data corresponding to changes made on said video display screen, said changes being between a first-in-time screen display and a second-in-time screen display, said method comprising the steps of:

a) defining a data grid structure corresponding to said video display screen of said monitored workstation, said data grid structure comprised of cells, each of said cells corresponding to a separate screen area of said video display screen of said monitored workstation;

b) marking each cell when its corresponding screen area has undergone change;

c) grouping said marked cells into separate marked cell groups, each group consisting of a rectangular 2-dimensional array of marked cells; and

d) transferring to said monitoring workstation data corresponding to changes made on said video display screen of said monitored workstation, said data being transferred separately and corresponding to said marked cell groups.

2. A method of transferring data to a remote location, said data corresponding to changes made on a video display screen, said changes being between a first-in-time screen display and a second-in-time screen display, said method comprising the steps of:

a) defining a data grid structure corresponding to said video display screen, said data grid structure comprised of cells, each of said cells corresponding to a separate screen area of said video display screen;

b) marking each cell when its corresponding screen area has undergone change;

c) grouping said marked cells into separate marked cell groups, each group consisting of a rectangular 2-dimensional array of marked cells; and

d) transferring to a remote location data corresponding to changes made on said video display screen, said data being transferred separately and corresponding to said marked cell groups.

3. A method of transferring data to a remote location, said data corresponding to changes made on a video display screen, said changes being between a first-in-time screen display and a second-in-time screen display, said method comprising the steps of:

a) defining a data grid structure corresponding to said video display screen, said data grid structure comprised of cells, each of said cells corresponding to a separate screen area of said video display screen;

b) marking each cell when its corresponding screen area has undergone change;

c) grouping said marked cells into separate marked cell groups; and

d) transferring to a remote location data corresponding to changes made on said video display screen, said data being transferred separately and corresponding to said marked cell groups.

4. A method of transferring data to a remote location, said data corresponding to changes made on a video display screen, said changes being between a first-in-time screen display and a second-in-time screen display, said method comprising the steps of:

A) defining a data grid structure corresponding to said video display screen, said data grid structure comprised of cells, each of said cells corresponding to a separate screen area of said video display screen and being structured within an array including horizontal and vertical rows;

B) marking each cell when its corresponding screen area has undergone change;

C) grouping said marked cells into separate marked cell groups by;

1) finding a continuous segment of marked cells within a horizontal row;

2) finding adjacent horizontal rows which contain the same continuous segment of marked cells; and

3) grouping said found marked cells within a rectangular array of marked cells having as one dimension the length of said continuous segment and as the other dimension the number of adjacent horizontal rows having said continuous segment; and

D) transferring to a remote location data corresponding to changes made on said video display screen, said data being transferred separately and corresponding to said marked cell groups.

5. A method of transferring data to a remote location, said method comprising the steps of:

a) defining a multi-dimensional data grid structure corresponding to said data, said data grid structure comprised of cells;

b) marking certain cells within said data grid structure as marked cells;

c) grouping said marked cells into separate marked cell groups, each group consisting of a rectangular 2-dimensional array of marked cells

wherein said rectangular grouping in step “

c”

is done by;

1) finding a continuous segment of marked cells within a horizontal row;

2) finding adjacent horizontal rows which contain the same continuous segment of marked cells;

3) grouping said found marked cells within a rectangular array of marked cells having as one dimension the length of said continuous segment and as the other dimension the number of adjacent horizontal rows having said continuous segment; and

d) transferring to a remote location the portion of said data corresponding to said marked cell groups.

6. A method of transferring data to a remote location, said data corresponding to changes made on a video display screen, said changes being between a first-in-time screen display and a second-in-time screen display, said method comprising the steps of:

A) defining a data grid structure corresponding to said video display screen, said data grid structure comprised of cells, each of said cells corresponding to a separate screen area of said video display screen;

B) marking each cell when its corresponding screen area has undergone change;

C) grouping said marked cells into separate marked cell groups by use of a grouping technique;

D) comparing the number of groups founding in step “

C”

to a predetermined threshold number;

E) if said predetermined threshold number is exceeded in step “

D”

, enlarging the cell sizes until said grouping technique groups marked cells into separate marked cells numbering less than said predetermined threshold number; and

F) transferring to a remote location data corresponding to changes made on said video display screen, said data being transferred separately and corresponding to said marked cell groups set forth in step “

E”

.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said cell size increase is provided by merging cells.

8. A method of transferring data to a remote location, said method comprising the steps of:

A) defining a multi-dimensional data grid structure corresponding to said data, said data grid structure comprised of cells;

B) marking certain cells within said data grid structure as marked cells;

C) grouping said marked cells into separate marked cell groups, each group consisting of a rectangular 2-dimensional array of marked cells;

D) comparing the number of groups founding in step “

C”

to a predetermined threshold number;

E) if said predetermined threshold number is exceeded in step “

D”

, enlarging the cell sizes until said grouping technique groups marked cells into separate marked cells numbering less than said predetermined threshold number; and

F) transferring to a remote location the portion of said data corresponding to said marked cell groups set forth in step “

E”

.