Cloud-based broker service for digital assistants

• US 9,195,968 B2
• Filed: 09/09/2011
• Issued: 11/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Caldwell, Gary L., Geffner, Steven Paul, Coplen, C. Joe, Pratley, Christopher Hugh, Ammerlaan, Michael H., Zaske, Steven Todd
• Primary Examiner(s): Hirl, Joseph P
• Assistant Examiner(s): BEHESHTI SHIRAZI, SAYED ARESH
• Application Number:
  US13/229,042
• Publication Number:
  US 20130067549A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,537 Days
• Field of Search: 726/7, 713/155
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0815 providing single-sign-on or federations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/562 Brokering proxy services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security

Abstract

A cloud-based broker service may be provided for computing devices in a distributed computing environment. The broker service may aggregate user accounts and user account credentials utilized for accessing online services by the computing devices. The broker service may monitor a context of the computing devices associated with the user accounts. The broker service may then utilize the context, data associated with the user accounts and data associated with the user account credentials to automate tasks and/or provide alerts associated with the data.

Claims

1. A method for providing a broker service to computing devices in a distributed computing environment, comprising:

aggregating, in the distributed computing environment, a plurality of accounts and a plurality of account credentials utilized for accessing online services, wherein plurality of users each haying plurality of accounts, and one or more of the plurality of accounts having enterprise-only data and non-enterprise data;

monitoring, by the distributed computing environment, a context of at least one computing device associated with the plurality of accounts; and

utilizing, by the distributed computing environment, the context of the at least one computing device and data associated with the plurality of accounts and the plurality of account credentials for at least one of automating tasks and providing alerts associated with the data, the automated tasks comprising scheduling a new calendar appointment for users associated with the plurality of accounts, the new calendar appointment being associated with a priority, wherein the scheduling of the new calendar appointment is based on the following steps;

receiving a request to schedule the new calendar appointment, the request identifying a start time and an end time for the new calendar appointment and identifying invitees to the calendar appointment, the invitees having accounts in the plurality of accounts;

identifying enterprise-only data associated with calendar items;

determining, based on the enterprise-only data, whether the calendar appointment conflicts with one or more existing calendar events for one or more invitees;

determining whether any priorities are associated with the one or more existing calendar events;

upon determining that at least one priority is associated one or more of the one or more existing calendar events, determining whether the priority associated with the one or more existing calendar events is lower than the priority associated with the new calendar appointment; and

upon determining that the priority associated with the one or more of the existing calendar events is lower than the priority associated with the new calendar appointment, automatically rearranging the one or more of the existing scheduled calendar events across multiple user calendars associated with the plurality of accounts.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregating, in the distributed computing environment, a plurality of accounts and a plurality of account credentials utilized for accessing online services comprises collecting and storing a plurality of user credentials for accessing one or more of the following:

a calendar service, an e-mail service and a web service.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein monitoring, by the distributed computing environment, a context of at least one computing device associated with the plurality of accounts comprises monitoring signals received by a mobile computing device, the signals corresponding to a current physical location of the mobile computing device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein utilizing, by the distributed computing environment, the context of the at least one computing device and data associated with the plurality of accounts and the plurality of account credentials for at least one of automating tasks and providing alerts associated with the data comprises at least one of the following:

showing documents to one or more members of a team that were at least one of read and created by other members of the team;

surfacing documents to members of the team for review within a short amount of time;

surfacing e-mail messages to one or more members of the team from the other members of the team; and

surfacing unread e-mail messages to one or more members of the team which have been read by the other members of the team.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising utilizing the e-mail service to send a message regarding the scheduling of a new appointment to other user accounts which are not associated with the calendar service or the enterprise.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein utilizing, by the distributed computing environment, the context of the at least one computing device and data associated with the plurality of accounts and the plurality of account credentials for at least one of automating tasks and providing alerts associated with the data comprises:

accessing the calendar service to determine a scheduled appointment associated with the mobile computing device; and

sending a calendar alert for the scheduled appointment to the mobile computing device based on the current physical location of the mobile computing device, the alert comprising one or more of the following;

an estimated travel time to the scheduled appointment, a traffic alert, and routing guidance to the scheduled appointment.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein aggregating, in the distributed computing environment, a plurality of accounts and a plurality of account credentials utilized for accessing online services comprises aggregating a plurality of restricted access accounts and a plurality of restricted access credentials for accessing federation online services.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising executing at least one bot for aggregating at least one of additional context, data and data analysis for accessing the online services.

9. A distributed computing environment for providing a broker service to client computing devices, comprising:

a cloud component comprising a plurality of computing devices, each of the plurality computing devices comprising a memory for storing executable program code and a processor, the processor functionally coupled to the memory and responsive to computer-executable instructions contained in the program code, the cloud component operative to;

aggregate a plurality of accounts and a plurality of account credentials utilized for accessing online services, wherein plurality of users each having plurality of accounts, and one or more of the plurality of accounts having enterprise-only data and non-enterprise data;

monitor a context associated with the plurality of accounts; and

utilize the context and data associated with the plurality of accounts and the plurality of account credentials for at least one of automating tasks and providing alerts associated with the data, the automated tasks comprising scheduling a new calendar appointment for users associated with the plurality of accounts, the new calendar appointment being associated with a priority, wherein the scheduling of the new calendar appointment is based on the cloud component being operative to;

receive a request to schedule the new calendar appointment, the request identifying a start time and an end time for the new calendar appointment and identifying invitees to the calendar appointment, the invitees having accounts in the plurality of accounts;

identifying enterprise-only data associated with calendar items;

determine, based on the enterprise-only data, whether the calendar appointment conflicts with one or more existing calendar events for one or more invitees;

determine whether any priorities are associated with each of a plurality of existing calendar events;

upon a determination that at least one priority is associated one or more of the one or more existing calendar events, determine whether the priority associated with the one or more existing calendar events is lower than the priority associated with the new calendar appointment; and

upon a determination that the priority associated with the one or more of the existing calendar events is lower than the priority associated with the new calendar appointment, automatically rearrange the one or more of the existing calendar events across multiple user calendars associated with the plurality of accounts; and

at least one client computing device in communication with the cloud component and operative to;

receive signals corresponding to a current physical location of a user of the at least one client computing device; and

display notifications for sending the alerts to the user of the at least one client computing device regarding the new calendar appointment.

10. The distributed computing environment of claim 9, further comprising a federation component in communication with the cloud component and the at least one computing device, the federation component operative to restrict access to the plurality of access accounts and the plurality of access credentials in association with federation online services.

11. The distributed computing environment of claim 9, wherein the cloud component, in aggregating a plurality of accounts and a plurality of account credentials utilized for accessing online services is operative to collect and store a plurality of user credentials for accessing one or more of the following:

a calendar service, an e-mail service and a web service.

12. The distributed computing environment of claim 11, wherein the cloud component is further operative to:

utilize the e-mail service to send a message regarding the scheduling of a new appointment to other user accounts which are not associated with the calendar service and the enterprise.

13. The distributed computing environment of claim 11, wherein the cloud component, in utilizing the context and data associated with the plurality of accounts and the plurality of account credentials for at least one of automating tasks and providing alerts associated with the data is operative to:

access the calendar service to determine a scheduled appointment associated with the at least one client computing device; and

send a calendar alert for the scheduled appointment to at least one client computing device based on the current physical location of the at least one client computing device.

14. The distributed computing environment of claim 13, wherein the alert comprises one or more of the following:

an estimated travel time to the scheduled appointment, a traffic alert, and routing guidance to the scheduled appointment.

15. The distributed computing environment of claim 14, wherein the cloud component is further operative to execute at least one bot for aggregating at least one of additional context, data and data analysis for accessing the online services.

16. A computer-readable medium that is not a signal, the computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, will cause the computer to perform a method for providing a broker service, the method comprising:

aggregating a plurality of accounts and a plurality of account credentials utilized for accessing online services, wherein plurality of users each having plurality of accounts, and the plurality of account credentials comprising credentials for accessing a calendar service, an e-mail service and a web service, wherein one or more of the plurality of accounts includes enterprise-only data and non-enterprise data;

monitoring signals received by a mobile computing device associated with the plurality of accounts, the signals corresponding to a current physical location of the mobile computing device;

utilizing the current physical location of the mobile computing device and data associated with the plurality of accounts and the plurality of account credentials for at least one of automating tasks and providing alerts associated with the data, the automated tasks comprising scheduling a new calendar appointment for users associated with the plurality of accounts, the new calendar appointment being associated with a priority, wherein the scheduling of the new calendar appointment is based on the following steps;

receiving a request to schedule the new calendar appointment, the request identifying a start time and an end time for the new calendar appointment and identifying invitees to the calendar appointment, the invitees having accounts in the plurality of accounts;

identifying enterprise-only data associated with calendar items;

determining, based on the enterprise-only data, whether the calendar appointment conflicts with one or more existing calendar events for one or more invitees;

determining whether any priorities are associated with the one or more existing calendar events;

upon determining that at least one priority is associated one or more of the one or more existing calendar events, determining whether the priority associated with the one or more existing calendar events is lower than the priority associated with the new calendar appointment; and

upon determining that the priority associated with the one or more of the existing calendar events is lower than the priority associated with the new calendar appointment, automatically rearranging the one or more of the existing calendar events across multiple user calendars associated with the plurality of accounts.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising utilizing a calendar service to send a message regarding the scheduling of a new appointment to other user accounts which are not associated with the calendar service and the enterprise.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein utilizing the current physical location of the mobile computing device and data associated with the plurality of accounts and the plurality of account credentials for at least one of automating tasks and providing alerts associated with the data comprises:

sending a calendar alert for a scheduled appointment to the mobile computing device based on the current physical location of the mobile computing device, the alert comprising an estimated travel time to the scheduled appointment, a traffic alert and routing guidance to the scheduled appointment, the routing guidance being provided, without manual searching on a user'"'"'s behalf, via a map.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein aggregating a plurality of accounts and a plurality of account credentials utilized for accessing online services, the plurality of account credentials comprising credentials for accessing a calendar service, an e-mail service and a web service comprises aggregating a plurality of restricted access accounts and a plurality of restricted access credentials for accessing a federation calendar service, a federation e-mail service and a federation web service.