System and method for facilitating the transfer of information relating to quality of an organization

• US 7,861,281 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2005
• Issued: 12/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zebra Technologies Corporation
• Original Assignee: Reflexis Systems, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Hawkins, Stan
• Primary Examiner(s): Smithers; Matthew B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fields; Courtney D
• Application Number:
  US11/323,338
• Publication Number:
  US 20070155394A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,824 Days
• Field of Search: 726/1, 715/526
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/50 Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/38 Displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/553 Data upload
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4228 in networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0036 where the data service is an information service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements

Abstract

A system and method transfers information relating to quality or standards of an organization from a server to a wireless handheld computing device and from the wireless handheld computing device to the server in real-time or near real-time. Each member of an organization can have the same policies and procedures as soon as any of the policies and procedures are updated. The inventive system can allow an organization to also measure compliance and conformance with the distributed policies and procedures. With the handheld computing devices, each member of an organization can complete tests that are closely tied to the distributed policies and procedures. The results of these tests can be transmitted in real-time or near real-time from the handheld computing devices to a central computer server so that an organization can track current performance of all its members relative to the policies and procedures and relative to each other.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring quality of an organization comprising the steps of:

receiving input comprising quality information with a wireless handheld computer;

preparing a first set of a plurality of files with the server in advance of receiving a synchronization request that are associated with a unique identifier and comprising information on quality for the organization;

receiving a synchronization request containing the unique identifier from a wireless handheld computer at a middleware server;

receiving a file index from the wireless handheld computer at the middleware server, the file index comprising a list of files available for upload from the wireless handheld computer to the middleware server;

comparing the file index to a file list at the middleware server;

in response to the comparing the file index step, transmitting a message from the middleware server to the wireless handheld computer that indicates which files the wireless handheld computer should transmit to the middleware server;

in response to receiving the message, transmitting a second set of a plurality of files from the handheld computer that have not been previously received with the middleware server via a wireless network; and

transmitting the first set of the plurality of files associated with the unique identifier and comprising information on quality for the organization from the server to the wireless handheld computer via the wireless network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving a synchronization request further comprises associating the unique identifier with at least one database.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether a wireless connection with the network is available.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the second set of a plurality of files that have not been previously received to a middleware server further comprises:

formatting the second set of the plurality of files into a readable format at the middleware server; and

updating the file list maintained by the middleware server.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting task sheets comprising quality information about the organization to a plurality of wireless handheld computers via a wireless network.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a scoring report based on the input received by the wireless handheld computer.

7. A system for monitoring quality of an organization comprising:

a wireless handheld computer for receiving input comprising quality information, the wireless handheld computer generating a file index that identifies a first set of files ready for uploading to a server, the first set of files being associated with a unique identifier and comprising information on quality for the organization, the file index comprising a list of files available for upload from the wireless handheld computer to the middleware server; and

the server coupled to the wireless handheld computer via a wireless network, the server preparing a plurality of a second set of files in advance of receiving a synchronization request from the wireless handheld computer, the synchronization request comprising a unique identifier;

the server receiving the file index from the wireless handheld computer and comparing the file index to a file list;

the server in response to the comparing the file index step, transmitting a message from the middleware server to the wireless handheld computer that indicates which files the wireless handheld computer should transmit to the middleware server;

in response to receiving the message, the wireless handheld computer transmitting the plurality of the first set of files that have not been previously received by the server via the wireless network;

the server transmitting a plurality of the second set of files associated with the unique identifier and comprising information on quality for the organization to the handheld device via the wireless network.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the wireless handheld computer runs software comprising tests on quality information corresponding to the organization.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the server creates a scoring report based on the input received by the wireless handheld computer.

10. The system of claim 7, further comprising a client coupled to the server, the client requesting access to the files stored by the server.

11. The system of claim 7, further comprising a database coupled to the server and accessible by members of the organization.

12. The system of claim 7, further comprising a database coupled to the server and accessible only by a members of a single location of the organization.

13. The system of claim 7, further comprising first and second databases, the first database comprising a data store coupled to the server and accessible by members of the organization, the second database comprising a data store coupled to the server and accessible only by a members of a single location of the organization.

14. A method for monitoring quality of an organization comprising the steps of:

defining a task sheet type for monitoring the quality of the organization;

selecting a question from a list of questions for insertion into the task sheet;

inserting the question into the task sheet;

preparing the task sheet advance of receiving a synchronization request;

receiving a synchronization request containing a unique identifier from a wireless handheld computer at a middleware server, the file index comprising a list of files available for upload from the wireless handheld computer to the middleware server;

receiving a file index from the wireless handheld computer with a middleware server;

comparing the file index to a file list at the middleware server;

in response to the comparing the file index step, transmitting a message from the middleware server to the wireless handheld computer that indicates which files the wireless handheld computer should transmit to the middleware server;

in response to receiving the message, transmitting a plurality of files from the wireless handheld computer that have not been previously received by the middleware server via a wireless network; and

transmitting the task sheet from the server to the wireless handheld computer via the wireless network.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving input for creating a new question for the list of questions.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising tracking at least one of a version number, date, and time for each question in the list of questions.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising conducting an integrity check prior to transmitting the task sheet to the wireless handheld computer.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising storing the files received from wireless handheld computer in a database that is accessible by all members of the organization.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising storing the files received from wireless handheld computer in a database that is accessible by only members of a single location of the organization.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising creating a scoring report based on the files received from the wireless handheld computer.