Method and system for remotely managing business and employee administration functions

• US 7,636,665 B2
• Filed: 01/04/2001
• Issued: 12/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intuit, Inc.
• Inventors: Cooperstone, Elliot, Pham, H. Thach
• Primary Examiner(s): OUELLETTE, JONATHAN P
• Application Number:
  US09/755,934
• Publication Number:
  US 20020022982A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,274 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1
• US Class Current: 705/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1057 Benefits or employee welfare, e.g. insurance, holiday or retirement packages

Abstract

Human resource and employee benefit products for businesses, implemented on one or more computing devices connected to the Internet, are managed and administered. The combination of human resource and employee benefit products required by the businesses are determined, and are classified according to criteria including a number of employees, type of work performed, and similarity of needs of these businesses in the human resource and employee benefit management areas. A local set of the human resource and the employee benefit products is provided, as is a third party provider set of products located on the third party provider'"'"'s computers. Both sets of products are then organized into integrated benefits packages, each of which packages may be modified by the customer by adding and subtracting products. The price of each integrated and modified benefits package is determined, which price will be binding on the third party provider for a defined period of time.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of integrating a plurality of human resource (HR) services, comprising:

receiving a data item associated with a customer;

identifying an event from the data item;

alerting the customer of a first HR service requiring execution after identifying the event;

automatically determining, by a computer, the first HR service and a second HR service of the plurality of HR services affected by the event,

wherein the customer holds subscriptions to the first HR service and the second HR service,

wherein determining the first HR service and the second HR service is based on the subscriptions, and

wherein the subscriptions allow the customer access to the first HR service and the second HR service;

initializing a first update task and a second update task,

wherein initializing the first update task and the second update task are triggered by the event;

dividing, using the computer, the first update task and the second update task, wherein the first update task is placed into a critical list and the second update task is placed into a non-critical list;

prioritizing, using the computer, the first update task as a critical task after placing the first update task into the critical list;

prioritizing, using the computer, the second update task as a non-critical task after placing the second update task into the non-critical list;

scheduling execution of the first update task and the second update task based on priority of the critical task and the non-critical task;

converting the data item to a first format accepted by the first HR service;

converting the data item to a second format accepted by the second HR service;

executing, based on the event identified, the first update task to update the first HR service, wherein executing the first update task comprises sending the data item in the first format to the first HR service; and

executing, based on the event identified, the second update task to update the second HR service,

wherein executing the second update task comprises sending the data item in the second format to the second HR service, and

wherein the first HR service and the second HR service form a portion of an HR management system for the customer.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second priority exceeds the first priority and the second update task is executed before executing the first update task.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first update task and the second update task are executed synchronously.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein a third update task and the fourth update task are executed asynchronously.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a request to the customer for an additional data item regarding the event;

receiving the additional data item; and

converting the additional data item to the first format,

wherein executing the first update task further comprises sending the additional data item in the first format to the first HR service.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the event is at least one selected from a group consisting of a change in marital status, a change in a health status, a change in a retirement status, a change in location, a change in financial compensation, a change in address, a change in dependents of an employee of the customer.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first HR service is provided by at least one selected from a group consisting of a health insurance provider, disability insurance provider, and a life insurance provider.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a selection from the client, wherein the selection comprises the first HR service and the second HR service; and

installing the first HR service and the second HR service.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 8, further comprising:

installing the first HR service and the second HR service in the HR management system before receiving the data item.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first HR service is an income tax preparation service.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first HR service is provided by a payroll service provider.

12. A computer readable medium storing instructions for integrating a plurality of human resource (HR) services, the instructions comprising functionality to:

receive a data item associated with a customer;

identify an event from the data item;

alert the customer of a first HR service requiring execution after identifying the event;

automatically determine, using a computer, the first HR service and a second HR service of the plurality of HR services affected by the event, wherein the customer holds subscriptions to the first HR service and the second HR service, wherein determining the first HR service and the second HR service is based on the subscriptions, and wherein the subscriptions allow the customer access to the first HR service and the second HR service;

initialize a first update task and a second update task,

wherein initializing the first update task and the second update task are triggered by the event;

divide, using the computer, the first update task and the second update task, wherein the first update task is placed into a critical list and the second update task is placed into a non-critical list;

prioritize, using the computer, the first update task as a critical task after placing the first update task into the critical list;

prioritize, using the computer, the second update task as a non-critical task after placing the second update task into the non-critical list;

schedule execution of the first update task and the second update task based on priority of the critical task and the non-critical task;

convert the data item to a first format accepted by the first HR service;

convert the data item to a second format accepted by the second HR service;

execute, based on the event identified, the first update task to update the first HR service,

wherein executing the first update task comprises sending the data item in the first format to the first HR service; and

execute, based on the event identified, the second update task to update the second HR service,

wherein executing the second update task comprises sending the data item in the second format to the second HR service, and

wherein the first HR service and the second HR service form a portion of the HR management system for the customer.

13. The computer readable of claim 12, wherein the second priority exceeds the first priority and the second update task is executed before executing the first update task.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first update task and the second update task are executed synchronously.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein a third update task and the fourth update task are executed asynchronously.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 12, the instructions further comprising functionality to:

send a request to the customer for an additional data item regarding the event;

receive the additional data item; and

convert the additional data item to the first format,

wherein executing the first update task further comprises sending the additional data item in the first format to the first HR service.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the event is a change in marital status, a change in a health status, a change in a retirement status, a change in location, a change in financial compensation, a change in address, a change in dependents of an employee of the customer.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 12, the instructions further comprising functionality to:

receive a selection from the client, wherein the selection comprises the first HR service and the second HR service; and

install the first HR service and the second HR service.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first HR service is an income tax preparation service.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first HR service is provided by a payroll service provider.

18. The computer readable medium of 12, wherein the first HR service is provided by at least one selected from a group consisting of a health insurance provider, disability insurance provider, and a life insurance provider.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, the instructions further comprising functionality to:

install the first HR service and the second HR service in the HR management system before receiving the data item.

23. An apparatus for integrating a plurality of HR services, comprising:

means for receiving a data item associated with a customer;

means for identifying an event from the data item;

means for alerting the customer of a first HR service requiring execution after identifying the event;

means for automatically determining, by a computer, the first HR service and a second HR service of the plurality of HR services affected by the event, wherein the customer holds subscriptions to the first HR service and the second HR service, wherein determining the first HR service and the second HR service is based on the subscriptions, and wherein the subscriptions allow the customer access to the first HR service and the second HR service;

means for initializing a first update task and a second update task,

wherein initializing the first update task and the second update task are triggered by the event;

means for dividing, using the computer, the first update task and the second update task, wherein the first update task is placed into a critical list and the second update task is placed into a non-critical list;

means for prioritizing, using the computer, the first update task as a critical task after placing the first update task into the critical list;

means for prioritizing, using the computer, the second update task as a non-critical task after placing the second update task into the non-critical list;

means for scheduling execution of the first update task and the second update task based on priority of the critical task and the non-critical task;

means for converting the data item to a first format accepted by the first HR service;

means for converting the data item to a second format accepted by the second HR service;

means for executing, based on the event identified, the first update task to update the first HR service,

wherein executing the first update task comprises sending the data item in the first format to the first HR service; and

means for executing, based on the event identified, the second update task to update the second HR service,

wherein executing the second update task comprises sending the data item in the second format to the second HR service, and

wherein the first HR service and the second HR service form a portion of the HR management system for the customer.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the event is at least one selected from a group consisting of a change in marital status, a change in a health status, a change in a retirement status, a change in location, a change in financial compensation, a change in address, a change in dependents of an employee of the customer.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the first HR service is provided by at least one selected from a group consisting of a health insurance provider, disability insurance provider, and a life insurance provider.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising:

means for receiving a selection from the client, wherein the selection comprises the first HR service and the second HR service; and

means for installing the first HR service and the second HR service.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

means for installing the first HR service and the second HR service in the HR management system before receiving the data item.

28. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the first HR service is a tax preparation service.

29. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the first HR service is provided by payroll service provider.

30. A system for integrating a plurality of human resource (HR) services, comprising:

an interface tier executing on a computer and configured to;

receive a data item associated with a customer and identify an event based on the data item; and

alert the customer of a first HR service requiring execution after identifying the event;

an integration tier executing on the computer, operatively connected to the interface tier, and configured to;

initialize a first update task and a second update task in response to the event;

a data transformation tier executing on the computer, operatively connected to the integration tier, and configured to;

divide the first update task and the second update task, wherein the first update task is placed into a critical list and the second update task is placed into a non-critical list;

prioritize the first update task as a critical task after placing the first update task into the critical list;

prioritize the second update task as a non-critical task after placing the second update task into the non-critical list;

schedule execution of the first update task and the second update task based on priority of the critical task and the non-critical task;

wherein the first update task converts the data item into a first format after ordering execution of the first update task, and

wherein the second update task converts the data item into a second format after ordering execution of the second update task;

the first HR service of the plurality of HR services operatively connected to the data transformation tier, and configured to;

receive the data item in the first format and be updated by the first update task,

wherein the first format is native to the first HR service,

wherein the customer holds a subscription to the first HR service,

wherein the configuration is based on the subscription to the first HR service, and

wherein the subscription to the first HR service allows the customer access to the first HR service; and

a second HR service of the plurality of HR services operatively connected to the data transformation tier, and configured to;

receive the data item in the second format and be updated by the second update task, wherein the second format is native to the second HR service,

wherein the customer holds a subscription to the second HR service, and

wherein the configuration is based on the subscription to the second HR service, and

wherein the subscription to the second HR service allows the customer access to the second HR service.

31. The system of claim 30, further comprising:

a translation rules repository storing rules for converting the data item.

33. The system of claim 30, wherein the first HR service is provided by at least one selected from a group consisting of a health insurance provider, disability insurance provider, and a life insurance provider.

34. The system of claim 30, wherein the first HR service is an income tax preparation service.

35. The system of claim 30, wherein the first HR service is provided by a payroll service provider.

32. The system of system 30, wherein the event is at least one selected from a group consisting of a change in marital status, a change in a health status, a change in a retirement status, a change in location, a change in financial compensation, a change in address, a change in dependents of an employee of the customer.