U.S. patent application number 14/325751 was filed with the patent office on 2017-06-29 for ubiquitous trouble management and e-service ecosystem for the internet of things.
This patent application is currently assigned to ORACLE INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION. The applicant listed for this patent is Oracle International Corporation. Invention is credited to VICTOR CHUNG-WAI CHAN.
Application Number | 20170187584 14/325751 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 55068406 |
Filed Date | 2017-06-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170187584 |
Kind Code |
A9 |
CHAN; VICTOR CHUNG-WAI |
June 29, 2017 |
UBIQUITOUS TROUBLE MANAGEMENT AND E-SERVICE ECOSYSTEM FOR THE
INTERNET OF THINGS
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for an
eService ecosystem that provides a common trouble ticket platform
for creating and handling trouble tickets generated by and received
from an "Internet of Things (IoT)." More specifically, many product
vendors are moving to make all of their products internet
connected. This move includes not only products that are typically
considered to be technology-type products such as personal
computers, cellphones, media players, etc., but any and all types
of products including but not limited to household appliances,
automobiles, medical devices, and a variety of other devices which
are increasingly available with processing and communications
abilities. Embodiments of the present invention provide a common
trouble ticket management platform that all Internet of Things
vendors can use.
Inventors: |
CHAN; VICTOR CHUNG-WAI;
(SARATOGA, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Oracle International Corporation |
Redwood Shores |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
ORACLE INTERNATIONAL
CORPORATION
REDWOOD SHORES
CA
|
Prior
Publication: |
|
Document Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20160013993 A1 |
January 14, 2016 |
|
|
Family ID: |
55068406 |
Appl. No.: |
14/325751 |
Filed: |
July 8, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61847179 |
Jul 17, 2013 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 41/5064 20130101;
H04L 67/125 20130101; G06Q 30/016 20130101; H04L 41/5074
20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04L 12/24 20060101
H04L012/24; G06Q 30/00 20060101 G06Q030/00; H04L 29/08 20060101
H04L029/08 |
Claims
1. A method for creating and handling trouble tickets in a common
trouble ticket platform, the method comprising: receiving, by a
computer system executing a catcher service, a trouble ticket from
an Internet-enabled consumer product, the trouble ticket received
from a device agent executing on the Internet-enabled consumer
product and comprising a set of predefined content in a predefined
format based on a type of the consumer product; processing, by the
computer system executing the catcher service, the received trouble
ticket; and forwarding, by the computer system executing the
catcher service, the trouble ticket to a Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) application.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the device agent is generated
through one of a plurality of different toolkits, each of the
plurality or different toolkits directed to a different type of
consumer product and wherein the set of predefined content in the
predefined format of the trouble ticket is defined, at least in
part, by the toolkit.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: monitoring, by the
device agent, the consumer product for one or more conditions or
events; detecting, by the device agent, an occurrence of the one or
more conditions or events; in response to detecting the occurrence
of the one or more conditions or events, generating the trouble
ticket and sending the trouble ticket to the catcher service.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein generating the trouble ticket
comprises generating the set of predefined content, the set of
predefined content comprising one or more of an error log, one or
more images, a serial number of the consumer product, a model
number of the consumer product, a version number of the consumer
product, or a build number of the consumer product.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein generating the trouble ticket
further comprises generating a set of custom content defined by a
producer of the consumer product.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the trouble ticket
comprises identifying a vendor of the consumer product to which the
trouble ticket relates from a plurality of vendors and wherein
forwarding the trouble ticket to the CRM application comprises
forwarding the trouble ticket to a CRM application associated with
the identified vendor.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the trouble ticket
comprises filtering the received trouble ticket based on a set of
criteria provided by a vendor of the consumer product.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the trouble ticket
comprises aggregating the trouble ticket with one or more other
trouble tickets based on a customer, a product, or a vendor of the
consumer product related to the trouble ticket.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the trouble ticket
comprises maintaining one or more metrics related to received
trouble tickets, the metrics comprising at least a count per
product or a count per vendor.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by a
computer system executing the CRM application, the trouble ticket
from the catcher service; and processing, by the computer system
executing the CRM application, the received trouble ticket, wherein
processing the received trouble ticket comprises assigning the
trouble ticket to an automated process or a human agent for
handling problems with the consumer product represented by the
trouble ticket.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing, by a
computer system executing an eService marketplace, analytics
services based on received trouble tickets.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: receiving, by the
computer system executing the eService marketplace, a request from
a consumer related to the trouble ticket, the request comprising a
request for bids for service of the consumer product; providing, by
the computer system executing the eService marketplace, access to
the trouble ticket to a plurality of service providers in response
to the request from the consumer; receiving, by the computer system
executing the eService marketplace, one or more bids for service of
the consumer product from one or more of the plurality of service
providers; and providing, by the computer system executing the
eService marketplace, information related to the received bids to
the consumer.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the information related to the
received bids comprises one or more of cost of each bid, a customer
rating or each service provider from which one or more of the bids
is received, or analytics information about performance of each
service provider from which one or more of the bids is
received.
14. The method of claim 12, further comprising receiving, by the
computer system executing the eService marketplace, a rating of one
or the service providers from the consumer, the rating based on
performance of service directed to the trouble ticket by the
service provider.
15. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing, by the
computer system executing the eService marketplace, one or more of
notification of product issues or recalls, access to information
related to issue resolution, information or an interface for
arranging for repairs, or access to technical information related
to the consumer product.
16. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing, by the
computer system executing the eService marketplace, an automatic
registration process.
17. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing, by the
computer system executing the eService marketplace, one or more of
automatic product updates, automatic product alters, or
personalized identification of trouble tickets by customer.
18. A method for creating and handling trouble tickets in a common
trouble ticket platform, the method comprising: monitoring, by a
device agent executing on an Internet-enabled consumer product, the
consumer product for one or more conditions or events, wherein the
device agent is generated through one of a plurality of different
toolkits, each of the plurality or different toolkits directed to a
different type of consumer product; detecting, by the device agent
executing on the consumer device, an occurrence of one or more
conditions or events on the consumer device; in response to
detecting the occurrence of the one or more conditions or events,
generating, by the device agent executing on the consumer device, a
trouble ticket and sending the trouble ticket to a catcher service,
wherein the trouble ticket comprises a set of predefined content in
a predefined format based on a type of the consumer product and
wherein the set of predefined content in the predefined format of
the trouble ticket is defined, at least in part, by the
toolkit.
19. A system comprising: an Internet-enabled consumer device
comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing therein a
set of instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes
the processor to execute a device agent and create trouble tickets
in a common trouble ticket platform by: monitoring by the device
agent for one or more conditions or events, wherein the device
agent is generated through one of a plurality of different
toolkits, each of the plurality or different toolkits directed to a
different type of consumer product, detecting, by the device agent,
an occurrence of one or more conditions or events on the consumer
device, and in response to detecting the occurrence of the one or
more conditions or events, generating, by the device agent, a
trouble ticket and sending the trouble ticket over a network,
wherein the trouble ticket comprises a set of predefined content in
a predefined format based on a type of the consumer product and
wherein the set of predefined content in the predefined format of
the trouble ticket is defined, at least in part, by the toolkit or
by a catcher web service interface; and a server comprising a
processor and a memory, the memory storing therein a set of
instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes the
processor to execute a catcher service, the catcher service
handling the trouble ticket by: receiving the trouble ticket from
the consumer product, processing the received trouble ticket, and
forwarding the trouble ticket to a Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) application.
20. The system of claim 19, further comprising a server comprising
a processor and a memory, the memory storing therein a set of
instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes the
processor to execute an eService marketplace, the eService
marketplace further handling the trouble ticket by: receiving, by
the computer system executing the eService marketplace, a request
from a consumer related to the trouble ticket, the request
comprising a request for bids for service of the consumer product;
providing, by the computer system executing the eService
marketplace, access to the trouble ticket to a plurality of service
providers in response to the request from the consumer; receiving,
by the computer system executing the eService marketplace, one or
more bids for service of the consumer product from one or more of
the plurality of service providers; and providing, by the computer
system executing the eService marketplace, information related to
the received bids to the consumer.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims benefit under 35 USC 119(e)
of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/847,179, filed on Jul. 17,
2014 by Chan. and entitled "Ubiquitous Trouble Management and
E-Service Ecosystem for the Internet of Things," of which the
entire disclosure is incorporated herein by reference for all
purposes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to
methods and systems for creating, reporting, and handling trouble
tickets in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and more
particularly to an eService ecosystem that provides a common
trouble ticket platform for creating and handling trouble tickets
generated by and received from an Internet of Things.
[0003] A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application is one
type of enterprise application that can provide support for
customers of a product or service by allowing those users to make
requests for service or otherwise report problems with those
products or services. When a request or other report is received,
the CRM application typically creates what is commonly referred to
as a trouble ticket which is a record of the issue. This trouble
ticket is then used by the CRM application as the system attempts
to address the request or report, for example by assigning the
trouble ticket to an automated process and/or human agent for
answering the question or handling the problem.
[0004] Today, there is a ton of waste and inefficiency in how
trouble tickets are created and reported. Typically, a consumer
detects an issue with their appliance, car, gadget, software
application, etc. and then they have to manually report the issue
to an agent, who then tries to trouble-shoot the problem. A lot of
information is lost in this manual process. Even some routine
information such as a product serial number or even model number,
are difficult to locate and awkward to communicate over the phone
line. Reporting issues after-the-fact often also means that the
problem may not be reproducible (e.g. an intermittent car failure)
and/or major consequences could not be averted (e.g. refrigerator
issue causing all the food to go bad). Today's manual approach to
trouble ticket reporting is expensive for the product vendor and
frustrating to the consumer. Hence, there is a need for improved
methods and systems for creating, reporting, and handling trouble
tickets in a CRM system.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for
an eService ecosystem that provides a common trouble ticket
platform for creating and handling trouble tickets generated by and
received from an Internet of Things. According to one embodiment,
the trouble ticket can be generated by a device agent executing on
the Internet-enabled consumer product and can comprise a set of
predefined content in a predefined format based on a type of the
consumer product. The device agent can be generated through one of
a plurality of different toolkits, each of the plurality or
different toolkits directed to a different type of consumer product
and the set of predefined content in the predefined format of the
trouble ticket can be defined, at least in part, by the toolkit.
Such a device agent can monitor the consumer product for one or
more conditions or events, detect an occurrence of the one or more
conditions or events, and in response to detecting the occurrence
of the one or more conditions or events, generating the trouble
ticket and sending the trouble ticket to a catcher service.
Generating the trouble ticket can comprise generating the set of
predefined content. For example, the set of predefined content can
comprise one or more of an error log, one or more images, a serial
number of the consumer product, a model number of the consumer
product, a version number of the consumer product, or a build
number of the consumer product. In some cases, generating the
trouble ticket can further comprise generating a set of custom
content defined by a producer of the consumer product.
[0006] A computer system executing the catcher service can receive
the trouble ticket from the device agent of the consumer product,
process the received trouble ticket, and forward the trouble ticket
to a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application. For
example, processing the trouble ticket can comprise identifying a
vendor of the consumer product to which the trouble ticket relates
from a plurality of vendors and forwarding the trouble ticket to
the CRM application can comprise forwarding the trouble ticket to a
CRM application associated with the identified vendor. The computer
system executing the CRM application can receive the trouble ticket
from the catcher service and process the received trouble ticket.
Processing the received trouble ticket can comprise assigning the
trouble ticket to an automated process or a human agent for
handling problems with the consumer product represented by the
trouble ticket.
[0007] In some cases, processing the trouble ticket can comprise
filtering the received trouble ticket based on a set of criteria
provided by a vendor of the consumer product. Additionally or
alternatively, processing the trouble ticket can comprise
aggregating the trouble ticket with one or more other trouble
tickets based on a customer, a product, or a vendor of the consumer
product related to the trouble ticket. In some cases, processing
the trouble ticket can additionally or alternatively comprise
maintaining one or more metrics related to received trouble
tickets, the metrics comprising at least a count per product or a
count per vendor.
[0008] In some cases, a computer system executing an eService
marketplace can provide a number of additional services including
but not limited to analytics services based on received trouble
tickets. For example, the eService marketplace can receive a
request from a consumer related to the trouble ticket. The request
can comprise a request for bids for service of the consumer
product. The eService marketplace can provide access to the trouble
ticket to a plurality of service providers in response to the
request from the consumer and can receive one or more bids for
service of the consumer product from one or more of the plurality
of service providers. Information related to the received bids can
then be provided to the consumer. For example, the information
related to the received bids can comprise one or more of cost of
each bid, a customer rating or each service provider from which one
or more of the bids is received, or analytics information about
performance of each service provider from which one or more of the
bids is received. In some cases, a rating of one or the service
providers can be received by the eService marketplace from the
consumer. The rating can be based on performance of service
directed to the trouble ticket by the service provider.
[0009] Other services provided by the eService marketplace can
include, for example, providing one or more of notification of
product issues or recalls, access to information related to issue
resolution, information or an interface for arranging for repairs,
or access to technical information related to the consumer product.
Additionally or alternatively, the eService marketplace can provide
an automatic registration process. In some cases, the eService
marketplace can additionally or alternatively provide one or more
of automatic product updates, automatic product alters, or
personalized identification of trouble tickets by customer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of an
exemplary distributed system in which various embodiments of the
present invention may be implemented.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a
system environment by which services provided by embodiments of the
present invention may be offered as cloud services.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer
system in which embodiments of the present invention may be
implemented.
[0013] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a trouble management
and e-service ecosystem according to one embodiment of the present
invention.
[0014] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process for creating
and handling trouble tickets in a common trouble ticket platform
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for handling
trouble tickets in an eService marketplace according to one
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] In the following description, for the purposes of
explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to
provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the
present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in
the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced
without some of these specific details. In other instances,
well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram
form.
[0017] The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only,
and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or
configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of
the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art
with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary
embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be
made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the
appended claims.
[0018] Specific details are given in the following description to
provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it
will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the
embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For
example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other
components may be shown as components in block diagram form in
order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In
other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms,
structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail
in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
[0019] Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be
described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow
diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block
diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a
sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in
parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations
may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are
completed, but could have additional steps not included in a
figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a
procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process
corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a
return of the function to the calling function or the main
function.
[0020] The term "machine-readable medium" includes, but is not
limited to portable or fixed storage devices, optical storage
devices, and various other mediums capable of storing, containing
or carrying instruction(s) and/or data. A code segment or
machine-executable instructions may represent a procedure, a
function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a
module, a software package, a class, or any combination of
instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code
segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware
circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments,
parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters,
data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any
suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token
passing, network transmission, etc.
[0021] Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware,
software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description
languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in
software, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program code or
code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a
machine readable medium. A processor(s) may perform the necessary
tasks.
[0022] Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for
an eService ecosystem that provides a common trouble ticket
platform for creating and handling trouble tickets generated by and
received from an Internet of Things. More specifically, many
product vendors are moving to make all of their products internet
connected. This move includes not only products that are typically
considered to be technology-type products such as personal
computers, cellphones, media players, etc., but any and all types
of products including but not limited to household appliances,
automobiles, medical devices, and a variety of other devices which
are increasingly available with processing and communications
abilities. This trend can be seen as a rise of an "Internet of
Things (IoT)" which expands what has become the traditional
Internet of servers and client computers to include an ever
increasing array of different types of products.
[0023] As the IoT grows, opportunities exist to improve upon the
customer experiences provided by CRM applications and systems. Left
to their own, product vendors may create their own proprietary
mechanism for creating trouble tickets, managing them, alerting
customers, and coordinating repairs with their service partner
network. But, the likely outcome of these efforts will be that each
vendor will spend a significant amount on R&D, and the end
result will be an inefficient new ocean of proprietary and
disconnected solutions. Embodiments of the present invention
provide a common trouble ticket management platform that all
Internet of Things vendors can use. The widespread adoption of a
common trouble ticket standard during this IoT revolution would
allow a new efficiency to emerge. Various additional details of
embodiments of the present invention will be described below with
reference to the figures.
[0024] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of an
exemplary distributed system in which various embodiments of the
present invention may be implemented. In the illustrated
embodiment, distributed system 100 includes one or more client
computing devices 102, 104, 106, and 108, which are configured to
execute and operate a client application such as a web browser,
proprietary client (e.g., Oracle Forms), or the like over one or
more network(s) 110. Server 112 may be communicatively coupled with
remote client computing devices 102, 104, 106, and 108 via network
110.
[0025] In various embodiments, server 112 may be adapted to run one
or more services or software applications provided by one or more
of the components of the system. In some embodiments, these
services may be offered as web-based or cloud services or under a
Software as a Service (SaaS) model to the users of client computing
devices 102, 104, 106, and/or 108. Users operating client computing
devices 102, 104, 106, and/or 108 may in turn utilize one or more
client applications to interact with server 112 to utilize the
services provided by these components.
[0026] In the configuration depicted in the figure, the software
components 118, 120 and 122 of system 100 are shown as being
implemented on server 112. In other embodiments, one or more of the
components of system 100 and/or the services provided by these
components may also be implemented by one or more of the client
computing devices 102, 104, 106, and/or 108. Users operating the
client computing devices may then utilize one or more client
applications to use the services provided by these components.
These components may be implemented in hardware, firmware,
software, or combinations thereof. It should be appreciated that
various different system configurations are possible, which may be
different from distributed system 100. The embodiment shown in the
figure is thus one example of a distributed system for implementing
an embodiment system and is not intended to be limiting.
[0027] Client computing devices 102, 104, 106, and/or 108 may be
portable handheld devices (e.g., an iPhone.RTM., cellular
telephone, an iPad.RTM., computing tablet, a personal digital
assistant (PDA)) or wearable devices (e.g., a Google Glass.RTM.
head mounted display), running software such as Microsoft Windows
Mobile.RTM., and/or a variety of mobile operating systems such as
iOS, Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry 10, Palm OS, and the like,
and being Internet, e-mail, short message service (SMS),
Blackberry.RTM., or other communication protocol enabled. The
client computing devices can be general purpose personal computers
including, by way of example, personal computers and/or laptop
computers running various versions of Microsoft Windows.RTM., Apple
Macintosh.RTM., and/or Linux operating systems. The client
computing devices can be workstation computers running any of a
variety of commercially-available UNIX.RTM. or UNIX-like operating
systems, including without limitation the variety of GNU/Linux
operating systems, such as for example, Google Chrome OS.
Alternatively, or in addition, client computing devices 102, 104,
106, and 108 may be any other electronic device, such as a
thin-client computer, an Internet-enabled gaming system (e.g., a
Microsoft Xbox gaming console with or without a Kinect.RTM. gesture
input device), and/or a personal messaging device, capable of
communicating over network(s) 110.
[0028] Although exemplary distributed system 100 is shown with four
client computing devices, any number of client computing devices
may be supported. Other devices, such as devices with sensors,
etc., may interact with server 112.
[0029] Network(s) 110 in distributed system 100 may be any type of
network familiar to those skilled in the art that can support data
communications using any of a variety of commercially-available
protocols, including without limitation TCP/IP (transmission
control protocol/Internet protocol), SNA (systems network
architecture), IPX (Internet packet exchange), AppleTalk, and the
like. Merely by way of example, network(s) 110 can be a local area
network (LAN), such as one based on Ethernet, Token-Ring and/or the
like. Network(s) 110 can be a wide-area network and the Internet.
It can include a virtual network, including without limitation a
virtual private network (VPN), an intranet, an extranet, a public
switched telephone network (PSTN), an infra-red network, a wireless
network (e.g., a network operating under any of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics (IEEE) 802.11 suite of protocols,
Bluetooth.RTM., and/or any other wireless protocol); and/or any
combination of these and/or other networks.
[0030] Server 112 may be composed of one or more general purpose
computers, specialized server computers (including, by way of
example, PC (personal computer) servers, UNIX.RTM. servers,
mid-range servers, mainframe computers, rack-mounted servers,
etc.), server farms, server clusters, or any other appropriate
arrangement and/or combination. In various embodiments, server 112
may be adapted to run one or more services or software applications
described in the foregoing disclosure. For example, server 112 may
correspond to a server for performing processing described above
according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0031] Server 112 may run an operating system including any of
those discussed above, as well as any commercially available server
operating system. Server 112 may also run any of a variety of
additional server applications and/or mid-tier applications,
including HTTP (hypertext transport protocol) servers, FTP (file
transfer protocol) servers, CGI (common gateway interface) servers,
JAVA.RTM. servers, database servers, and the like. Exemplary
database servers include without limitation those commercially
available from Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, IBM (International
Business Machines), and the like.
[0032] In some implementations, server 112 may include one or more
applications to analyze and consolidate data feeds and/or event
updates received from users of client computing devices 102, 104,
106, and 108. As an example, data feeds and/or event updates may
include, but are not limited to, Twitter.RTM. feeds, Facebook.RTM.
updates or real-time updates received from one or more third party
information sources and continuous data streams, which may include
real-time events related to sensor data applications, financial
tickers, network performance measuring tools (e.g., network
monitoring and traffic management applications), clickstream
analysis tools, automobile traffic monitoring, and the like. Server
112 may also include one or more applications to display the data
feeds and/or real-time events via one or more display devices of
client computing devices 102, 104, 106, and 108.
[0033] Distributed system 100 may also include one or more
databases 114 and 116. Databases 114 and 116 may reside in a
variety of locations. By way of example, one or more of databases
114 and 116 may reside on a non-transitory storage medium local to
(and/or resident in) server 112. Alternatively, databases 114 and
116 may be remote from server 112 and in communication with server
112 via a network-based or dedicated connection. In one set of
embodiments, databases 114 and 116 may reside in a storage-area
network (SAN). Similarly, any necessary files for performing the
functions attributed to server 112 may be stored locally on server
112 and/or remotely, as appropriate. In one set of embodiments,
databases 114 and 116 may include relational databases, such as
databases provided by Oracle, that are adapted to store, update,
and retrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands.
[0034] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a
system environment by which services provided by embodiments of the
present invention may be offered as cloud services. In the
illustrated embodiment, system environment 200 includes one or more
client computing devices 204, 206, and 208 that may be used by
users to interact with a cloud infrastructure system 202 that
provides cloud services. The client computing devices may be
configured to operate a client application such as a web browser, a
proprietary client application (e.g., Oracle Forms), or some other
application, which may be used by a user of the client computing
device to interact with cloud infrastructure system 202 to use
services provided by cloud infrastructure system 202.
[0035] It should be appreciated that cloud infrastructure system
202 depicted in the figure may have other components than those
depicted. Further, the embodiment shown in the figure is only one
example of a cloud infrastructure system that may incorporate an
embodiment of the invention. In some other embodiments, cloud
infrastructure system 202 may have more or fewer components than
shown in the figure, may combine two or more components, or may
have a different configuration or arrangement of components.
[0036] Client computing devices 204, 206, and 208 may be devices
similar to those described above for 102, 104, 106, and 108.
[0037] Although exemplary system environment 200 is shown with
three client computing devices, any number of client computing
devices may be supported. Other devices such as devices with
sensors, etc. may interact with cloud infrastructure system
202.
[0038] Network(s) 210 may facilitate communications and exchange of
data between clients 204, 206, and 208 and cloud infrastructure
system 202. Each network may be any type of network familiar to
those skilled in the art that can support data communications using
any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, including
those described above for network(s) 110.
[0039] Cloud infrastructure system 202 may comprise one or more
computers and/or servers that may include those described above for
server 112.
[0040] In certain embodiments, services provided by the cloud
infrastructure system may include a host of services that are made
available to users of the cloud infrastructure system on demand,
such as online data storage and backup solutions, Web-based e-mail
services, hosted office suites and document collaboration services,
database processing, managed technical support services, and the
like. Services provided by the cloud infrastructure system can
dynamically scale to meet the needs of its users. A specific
instantiation of a service provided by cloud infrastructure system
is referred to herein as a "service instance." In general, any
service made available to a user via a communication network, such
as the Internet, from a cloud service provider's system is referred
to as a "cloud service." Typically, in a public cloud environment,
servers and systems that make up the cloud service provider's
system are different from the customer's own on-premises servers
and systems. For example, a cloud service provider's system may
host an application, and a user may, via a communication network
such as the Internet, on demand, order and use the application.
[0041] In some examples, a service in a computer network cloud
infrastructure may include protected computer network access to
storage, a hosted database, a hosted web server, a software
application, or other service provided by a cloud vendor to a user,
or as otherwise known in the art. For example, a service can
include password-protected access to remote storage on the cloud
through the Internet. As another example, a service can include a
web service-based hosted relational database and a script-language
middleware engine for private use by a networked developer. As
another example, a service can include access to an email software
application hosted on a cloud vendor's web site.
[0042] In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 202 may
include a suite of applications, middleware, and database service
offerings that are delivered to a customer in a self-service,
subscription-based, elastically scalable, reliable, highly
available, and secure manner. An example of such a cloud
infrastructure system is the Oracle Public Cloud provided by the
present assignee.
[0043] In various embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 202 may
be adapted to automatically provision, manage and track a
customer's subscription to services offered by cloud infrastructure
system 202. Cloud infrastructure system 202 may provide the cloud
services via different deployment models. For example, services may
be provided under a public cloud model in which cloud
infrastructure system 202 is owned by an organization selling cloud
services (e.g., owned by Oracle) and the services are made
available to the general public or different industry enterprises.
As another example, services may be provided under a private cloud
model in which cloud infrastructure system 202 is operated solely
for a single organization and may provide services for one or more
entities within the organization. The cloud services may also be
provided under a community cloud model in which cloud
infrastructure system 202 and the services provided by cloud
infrastructure system 202 are shared by several organizations in a
related community. The cloud services may also be provided under a
hybrid cloud model, which is a combination of two or more different
models.
[0044] In some embodiments, the services provided by cloud
infrastructure system 202 may include one or more services provided
under Software as a Service (SaaS) category, Platform as a Service
(PaaS) category, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) category, or
other categories of services including hybrid services. A customer,
via a subscription order, may order one or more services provided
by cloud infrastructure system 202. Cloud infrastructure system 202
then performs processing to provide the services in the customer's
subscription order.
[0045] In some embodiments, the services provided by cloud
infrastructure system 202 may include, without limitation,
application services, platform services and infrastructure
services. In some examples, application services may be provided by
the cloud infrastructure system via a SaaS platform. The SaaS
platform may be configured to provide cloud services that fall
under the SaaS category. For example, the SaaS platform may provide
capabilities to build and deliver a suite of on-demand applications
on an integrated development and deployment platform. The SaaS
platform may manage and control the underlying software and
infrastructure for providing the SaaS services. By utilizing the
services provided by the SaaS platform, customers can utilize
applications executing on the cloud infrastructure system.
Customers can acquire the application services without the need for
customers to purchase separate licenses and support. Various
different SaaS services may be provided. Examples include, without
limitation, services that provide solutions for sales performance
management, enterprise integration, and business flexibility for
large organizations.
[0046] In some embodiments, platform services may be provided by
the cloud infrastructure system via a PaaS platform. The PaaS
platform may be configured to provide cloud services that fall
under the PaaS category. Examples of platform services may include
without limitation services that enable organizations (such as
Oracle) to consolidate existing applications on a shared, common
architecture, as well as the ability to build new applications that
leverage the shared services provided by the platform. The PaaS
platform may manage and control the underlying software and
infrastructure for providing the PaaS services. Customers can
acquire the PaaS services provided by the cloud infrastructure
system without the need for customers to purchase separate licenses
and support. Examples of platform services include, without
limitation, Oracle Java Cloud Service (JCS), Oracle Database Cloud
Service (DBCS), and others.
[0047] By utilizing the services provided by the PaaS platform,
customers can employ programming languages and tools supported by
the cloud infrastructure system and also control the deployed
services. In some embodiments, platform services provided by the
cloud infrastructure system may include database cloud services,
middleware cloud services (e.g., Oracle Fusion Middleware
services), and Java cloud services. In one embodiment, database
cloud services may support shared service deployment models that
enable organizations to pool database resources and offer customers
a Database as a Service in the form of a database cloud. Middleware
cloud services may provide a platform for customers to develop and
deploy various business applications, and Java cloud services may
provide a platform for customers to deploy Java applications, in
the cloud infrastructure system.
[0048] Various different infrastructure services may be provided by
an IaaS platform in the cloud infrastructure system. The
infrastructure services facilitate the management and control of
the underlying computing resources, such as storage, networks, and
other fundamental computing resources for customers utilizing
services provided by the SaaS platform and the PaaS platform.
[0049] In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 202 may
also include infrastructure resources 230 for providing the
resources used to provide various services to customers of the
cloud infrastructure system. In one embodiment, infrastructure
resources 230 may include pre-integrated and optimized combinations
of hardware, such as servers, storage, and networking resources to
execute the services provided by the PaaS platform and the SaaS
platform.
[0050] In some embodiments, resources in cloud infrastructure
system 202 may be shared by multiple users and dynamically
re-allocated per demand. Additionally, resources may be allocated
to users in different time zones. For example, cloud infrastructure
system 230 may enable a first set of users in a first time zone to
utilize resources of the cloud infrastructure system for a
specified number of hours and then enable the re-allocation of the
same resources to another set of users located in a different time
zone, thereby maximizing the utilization of resources.
[0051] In certain embodiments, a number of internal shared services
232 may be provided that are shared by different components or
modules of cloud infrastructure system 202 and by the services
provided by cloud infrastructure system 202. These internal shared
services may include, without limitation, a security and identity
service, an integration service, an enterprise repository service,
an enterprise manager service, a virus scanning and white list
service, a high availability, backup and recovery service, service
for enabling cloud support, an email service, a notification
service, a file transfer service, and the like.
[0052] In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 202 may
provide comprehensive management of cloud services (e.g., SaaS,
PaaS, and IaaS services) in the cloud infrastructure system. In one
embodiment, cloud management functionality may include capabilities
for provisioning, managing and tracking a customer's subscription
received by cloud infrastructure system 202, and the like.
[0053] In one embodiment, as depicted in the figure, cloud
management functionality may be provided by one or more modules,
such as an order management module 220, an order orchestration
module 222, an order provisioning module 224, an order management
and monitoring module 226, and an identity management module 228.
These modules may include or be provided using one or more
computers and/or servers, which may be general purpose computers,
specialized server computers, server farms, server clusters, or any
other appropriate arrangement and/or combination.
[0054] In exemplary operation 234, a customer using a client
device, such as client device 204, 206 or 208, may interact with
cloud infrastructure system 202 by requesting one or more services
provided by cloud infrastructure system 202 and placing an order
for a subscription for one or more services offered by cloud
infrastructure system 202. In certain embodiments, the customer may
access a cloud User Interface (UI), cloud UI 212, cloud UI 214
and/or cloud UI 216 and place a subscription order via these UIs.
The order information received by cloud infrastructure system 202
in response to the customer placing an order may include
information identifying the customer and one or more services
offered by the cloud infrastructure system 202 that the customer
intends to subscribe to.
[0055] After an order has been placed by the customer, the order
information is received via the cloud UIs, 212, 214 and/or 216.
[0056] At operation 236, the order is stored in order database 218.
Order database 218 can be one of several databases operated by
cloud infrastructure system 218 and operated in conjunction with
other system elements.
[0057] At operation 238, the order information is forwarded to an
order management module 220. In some instances, order management
module 220 may be configured to perform billing and accounting
functions related to the order, such as verifying the order, and
upon verification, booking the order.
[0058] At operation 240, information regarding the order is
communicated to an order orchestration module 222. Order
orchestration module 222 may utilize the order information to
orchestrate the provisioning of services and resources for the
order placed by the customer. In some instances, order
orchestration module 222 may orchestrate the provisioning of
resources to support the subscribed services using the services of
order provisioning module 224.
[0059] In certain embodiments, order orchestration module 222
enables the management of business processes associated with each
order and applies business logic to determine whether an order
should proceed to provisioning. At operation 242, upon receiving an
order for a new subscription, order orchestration module 222 sends
a request to order provisioning module 224 to allocate resources
and configure those resources needed to fulfill the subscription
order. Order provisioning module 224 enables the allocation of
resources for the services ordered by the customer. Order
provisioning module 224 provides a level of abstraction between the
cloud services provided by cloud infrastructure system 200 and the
physical implementation layer that is used to provision the
resources for providing the requested services. Order orchestration
module 222 may thus be isolated from implementation details, such
as whether or not services and resources are actually provisioned
on the fly or pre-provisioned and only allocated/assigned upon
request.
[0060] At operation 244, once the services and resources are
provisioned, a notification of the provided service may be sent to
customers on client devices 204, 206 and/or 208 by order
provisioning module 224 of cloud infrastructure system 202.
[0061] At operation 246, the customer's subscription order may be
managed and tracked by an order management and monitoring module
226. In some instances, order management and monitoring module 226
may be configured to collect usage statistics for the services in
the subscription order, such as the amount of storage used, the
amount data transferred, the number of users, and the amount of
system up time and system down time.
[0062] In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 200 may
include an identity management module 228. Identity management
module 228 may be configured to provide identity services, such as
access management and authorization services in cloud
infrastructure system 200. In some embodiments, identity management
module 228 may control information about customers who wish to
utilize the services provided by cloud infrastructure system 202.
Such information can include information that authenticates the
identities of such customers and information that describes which
actions those customers are authorized to perform relative to
various system resources (e.g., files, directories, applications,
communication ports, memory segments, etc.) Identity management
module 228 may also include the management of descriptive
information about each customer and about how and by whom that
descriptive information can be accessed and modified.
[0063] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer
system in which embodiments of the present invention may be
implemented. The system 300 may be used to implement any of the
computer systems described above. As shown in the figure, computer
system 300 includes a processing unit 304 that communicates with a
number of peripheral subsystems via a bus subsystem 302. These
peripheral subsystems may include a processing acceleration unit
306, an I/O subsystem 308, a storage subsystem 318 and a
communications subsystem 324. Storage subsystem 318 includes
tangible computer-readable storage media 322 and a system memory
310.
[0064] Bus subsystem 302 provides a mechanism for letting the
various components and subsystems of computer system 300
communicate with each other as intended. Although bus subsystem 302
is shown schematically as a single bus, alternative embodiments of
the bus subsystem may utilize multiple buses. Bus subsystem 302 may
be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or
memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a
variety of bus architectures. For example, such architectures may
include an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel
Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics
Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component
Interconnect (PCI) bus, which can be implemented as a Mezzanine bus
manufactured to the IEEE P1386.1 standard.
[0065] Processing unit 304, which can be implemented as one or more
integrated circuits (e.g., a conventional microprocessor or
microcontroller), controls the operation of computer system 300.
One or more processors may be included in processing unit 304.
These processors may include single core or multicore processors.
In certain embodiments, processing unit 304 may be implemented as
one or more independent processing units 332 and/or 334 with single
or multicore processors included in each processing unit. In other
embodiments, processing unit 304 may also be implemented as a
quad-core processing unit formed by integrating two dual-core
processors into a single chip.
[0066] In various embodiments, processing unit 304 can execute a
variety of programs in response to program code and can maintain
multiple concurrently executing programs or processes. At any given
time, some or all of the program code to be executed can be
resident in processor(s) 304 and/or in storage subsystem 318.
Through suitable programming, processor(s) 304 can provide various
functionalities described above. Computer system 300 may
additionally include a processing acceleration unit 306, which can
include a digital signal processor (DSP), a special-purpose
processor, and/or the like.
[0067] I/O subsystem 308 may include user interface input devices
and user interface output devices. User interface input devices may
include a keyboard, pointing devices such as a mouse or trackball,
a touchpad or touch screen incorporated into a display, a scroll
wheel, a click wheel, a dial, a button, a switch, a keypad, audio
input devices with voice command recognition systems, microphones,
and other types of input devices. User interface input devices may
include, for example, motion sensing and/or gesture recognition
devices such as the Microsoft Kinect.RTM. motion sensor that
enables users to control and interact with an input device, such as
the Microsoft Xbox.RTM. 360 game controller, through a natural user
interface using gestures and spoken commands. User interface input
devices may also include eye gesture recognition devices such as
the Google Glass.RTM. blink detector that detects eye activity
(e.g., `blinking` while taking pictures and/or making a menu
selection) from users and transforms the eye gestures as input into
an input device (e.g., Google Glass.RTM.). Additionally, user
interface input devices may include voice recognition sensing
devices that enable users to interact with voice recognition
systems (e.g., Siri.RTM. navigator), through voice commands.
[0068] User interface input devices may also include, without
limitation, three dimensional (3D) mice, joysticks or pointing
sticks, gamepads and graphic tablets, and audio/visual devices such
as speakers, digital cameras, digital camcorders, portable media
players, webcams, image scanners, fingerprint scanners, barcode
reader 3D scanners, 3D printers, laser rangefinders, and eye gaze
tracking devices. Additionally, user interface input devices may
include, for example, medical imaging input devices such as
computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, position emission
tomography, medical ultrasonography devices. User interface input
devices may also include, for example, audio input devices such as
MIDI keyboards, digital musical instruments and the like.
[0069] User interface output devices may include a display
subsystem, indicator lights, or non-visual displays such as audio
output devices, etc. The display subsystem may be a cathode ray
tube (CRT), a flat-panel device, such as that using a liquid
crystal display (LCD) or plasma display, a projection device, a
touch screen, and the like. In general, use of the term "output
device" is intended to include all possible types of devices and
mechanisms for outputting information from computer system 300 to a
user or other computer. For example, user interface output devices
may include, without limitation, a variety of display devices that
visually convey text, graphics and audio/video information such as
monitors, printers, speakers, headphones, automotive navigation
systems, plotters, voice output devices, and modems.
[0070] Computer system 300 may comprise a storage subsystem 318
that comprises software elements, shown as being currently located
within a system memory 310. System memory 310 may store program
instructions that are loadable and executable on processing unit
304, as well as data generated during the execution of these
programs.
[0071] Depending on the configuration and type of computer system
300, system memory 310 may be volatile (such as random access
memory (RAM)) and/or non-volatile (such as read-only memory (ROM),
flash memory, etc.) The RAM typically contains data and/or program
modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being
operated and executed by processing unit 304. In some
implementations, system memory 310 may include multiple different
types of memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) or
dynamic random access memory (DRAM). In some implementations, a
basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines
that help to transfer information between elements within computer
system 300, such as during start-up, may typically be stored in the
ROM. By way of example, and not limitation, system memory 310 also
illustrates application programs 312, which may include client
applications, Web browsers, mid-tier applications, relational
database management systems (RDBMS), etc., program data 314, and an
operating system 316. By way of example, operating system 316 may
include various versions of Microsoft Windows.RTM., Apple
Macintosh.RTM., and/or Linux operating systems, a variety of
commercially-available UNIX.RTM. or UNIX-like operating systems
(including without limitation the variety of GNU/Linux operating
systems, the Google Chrome.RTM. OS, and the like) and/or mobile
operating systems such as iOS, Windows.RTM. Phone, Android.RTM. OS,
BlackBerry.RTM. 10 OS, and Palm.RTM. OS operating systems.
[0072] Storage subsystem 318 may also provide a tangible
computer-readable storage medium for storing the basic programming
and data constructs that provide the functionality of some
embodiments. Software (programs, code modules, instructions) that
when executed by a processor provide the functionality described
above may be stored in storage subsystem 318. These software
modules or instructions may be executed by processing unit 304.
Storage subsystem 318 may also provide a repository for storing
data used in accordance with the present invention.
[0073] Storage subsystem 300 may also include a computer-readable
storage media reader 320 that can further be connected to
computer-readable storage media 322. Together and, optionally, in
combination with system memory 310, computer-readable storage media
322 may comprehensively represent remote, local, fixed, and/or
removable storage devices plus storage media for temporarily and/or
more permanently containing, storing, transmitting, and retrieving
computer-readable information.
[0074] Computer-readable storage media 322 containing code, or
portions of code, can also include any appropriate media known or
used in the art, including storage media and communication media,
such as but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile, removable
and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for
storage and/or transmission of information. This can include
tangible computer-readable storage media such as RAM, ROM,
electronically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory or
other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD), or
other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic
disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or other tangible
computer readable media. This can also include nontangible
computer-readable media, such as data signals, data transmissions,
or any other medium which can be used to transmit the desired
information and which can be accessed by computing system 300.
[0075] By way of example, computer-readable storage media 322 may
include a hard disk drive that reads from or writes to
non-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media, a magnetic disk drive
that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic
disk, and an optical disk drive that reads from or writes to a
removable, nonvolatile optical disk such as a CD ROM, DVD, and
Blu-Ray.RTM. disk, or other optical media. Computer-readable
storage media 322 may include, but is not limited to, Zip.RTM.
drives, flash memory cards, universal serial bus (USB) flash
drives, secure digital (SD) cards, DVD disks, digital video tape,
and the like. Computer-readable storage media 322 may also include,
solid-state drives (SSD) based on non-volatile memory such as
flash-memory based SSDs, enterprise flash drives, solid state ROM,
and the like, SSDs based on volatile memory such as solid state
RAM, dynamic RAM, static RAM, DRAM-based SSDs, magnetoresistive RAM
(MRAM) SSDs, and hybrid SSDs that use a combination of DRAM and
flash memory based SSDs. The disk drives and their associated
computer-readable media may provide non-volatile storage of
computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules,
and other data for computer system 300.
[0076] Communications subsystem 324 provides an interface to other
computer systems and networks. Communications subsystem 324 serves
as an interface for receiving data from and transmitting data to
other systems from computer system 300. For example, communications
subsystem 324 may enable computer system 300 to connect to one or
more devices via the Internet. In some embodiments communications
subsystem 324 can include radio frequency (RF) transceiver
components for accessing wireless voice and/or data networks (e.g.,
using cellular telephone technology, advanced data network
technology, such as 3G, 4G or EDGE (enhanced data rates for global
evolution), WiFi (IEEE 802.11 family standards, or other mobile
communication technologies, or any combination thereof), global
positioning system (GPS) receiver components, and/or other
components. In some embodiments communications subsystem 324 can
provide wired network connectivity (e.g., Ethernet) in addition to
or instead of a wireless interface.
[0077] In some embodiments, communications subsystem 324 may also
receive input communication in the form of structured and/or
unstructured data feeds 326, event streams 328, event updates 330,
and the like on behalf of one or more users who may use computer
system 300.
[0078] By way of example, communications subsystem 324 may be
configured to receive data feeds 326 in real-time from users of
social networks and/or other communication services such as
Twitter.RTM. feeds, Facebook.RTM. updates, web feeds such as Rich
Site Summary (RSS) feeds, and/or real-time updates from one or more
third party information sources.
[0079] Additionally, communications subsystem 324 may also be
configured to receive data in the form of continuous data streams,
which may include event streams 328 of real-time events and/or
event updates 330, that may be continuous or unbounded in nature
with no explicit end. Examples of applications that generate
continuous data may include, for example, sensor data applications,
financial tickers, network performance measuring tools (e.g.
network monitoring and traffic management applications),
clickstream analysis tools, automobile traffic monitoring, and the
like.
[0080] Communications subsystem 324 may also be configured to
output the structured and/or unstructured data feeds 326, event
streams 328, event updates 330, and the like to one or more
databases that may be in communication with one or more streaming
data source computers coupled to computer system 300.
[0081] Computer system 300 can be one of various types, including a
handheld portable device (e.g., an iPhone.RTM. cellular phone, an
iPad.RTM. computing tablet, a PDA), a wearable device (e.g., a
Google Glass.RTM. head mounted display), a PC, a workstation, a
mainframe, a kiosk, a server rack, or any other data processing
system.
[0082] Due to the ever-changing nature of computers and networks,
the description of computer system 300 depicted in the figure is
intended only as a specific example. Many other configurations
having more or fewer components than the system depicted in the
figure are possible. For example, customized hardware might also be
used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware,
firmware, software (including applets), or a combination. Further,
connection to other computing devices, such as network input/output
devices, may be employed. Based on the disclosure and teachings
provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art will
appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the various
embodiments.
[0083] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a trouble management
and e-service ecosystem according to one embodiment of the present
invention. As illustrated here, the system 400 can include any
number and variety of different consumer products 405-415, i.e.,
the "Internet of Things" introduced above. As noted, these products
405-415 can comprise technology-type products such as personal
computers, cellphones, media players, etc., but also any and all
types of products including but not limited to household
appliances, automobiles, medical devices, and a variety of other
devices. Generally speaking, these products 405-415 can include any
product that includes a memory, processor, and communications
components to allow that product to perform the functions described
herein.
[0084] According to one embodiment, lightweight toolkits can be
provided for vendors of these products 405-415 to allow them to
easily create and embed trouble ticket creation applications
420-430 into their products. Generally speaking, these trouble
ticket creation applications 420-430 can comprise a small
application stored on and executed by the various products 405-415.
There may be multiple versions of toolkits and/or trouble ticket
creation applications 420-430 for different target environments,
such as appliances, cars, gadgets, enterprise apps, mobile apps,
etc. However, each of the different versions can perform operations
to monitor the product 405-415 and, upon the detection of
particular conditions, create a trouble ticket 435-445 at the
source of the problems.
[0085] Generally speaking, these trouble tickets 435-445 can follow
a particular set of standards for format and contents but may
include, for example, information such as an error log,
screenshots, a serial number of the product, model/version/build
number of the product, etc. However, it should also be understood
that the exact implementations of trouble tickets 435-445 and the
trouble ticket creation applications 420-430 may expand the
contents of the tickets 435-445 beyond any pre-defined standard to
include additional information relevant to that particular product
or how the information from the ticket might eventually be used by
other services. In other words, while the trouble tickets 435-445
may be instances of a pre-defined object with certain properties
inherited from a standard object, the properties of a ticket for a
particular product should also be customizable so that a vendor of
that product can add additional information to the ticket 435-445
as that vendor decides is appropriate. Once generated by the
trouble ticket creation application 420 on a particular product
405, the trouble ticket can be transmitted over the Internet or
other communications network using any of a variety of wired and/or
wireless communications channels that may be implemented in that
particular device.
[0086] According to one embodiment, the system 400 can also include
a server or other computer system hosting a "catcher" service 450
which allows the products 435-445 to log trouble tickets 435-445
over the Internet. Generally speaking, the catcher service 450 can
receive the trouble tickets 435-445 from the various products and
perform a variety of different functions such as identifying which
vendor they relate to and forwarding those tickets 455 to a
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system 460 for that vendor.
Other functions performed by the catcher service 450 may include,
for example, filtering received tickets 435-445 based on a set of
criteria for the service, perhaps provided by the various product
vendors, aggregating tickets 435-445 by customer, product, vendor,
etc., and/or maintaining metrics related to the received tickets
435-445 such as a count per product, vendor, etc. Other functions
of the catcher system 450, some of which will be described below,
are contemplated and considered to be within the scope of the
present invention.
[0087] According to one embodiment, rather than or in addition to
providing toolkits to generate and embed the trouble ticket
creation applications 420-430 into the various products 405-415,
the catcher service 450 may be implemented as a web service, i.e.,
a catcher web service. Such a catcher web service can provide an
interface accessible to any Internet-connected device and through
which these devices can report errors. That is, the interface of
the catcher web service can provide for receiving trouble
information from the various products 405-415 and generating the
trouble tickets based on the received information.
[0088] As noted above, the system 400 can also include any number
of CRM systems 460 for various product vendors. Each CRM system 460
can execute an instance of a CRM application 465 which may in turn
utilize and maintain a set of customer information 470 for and
related to the customers of the various products 405-415 for that
particular vendor. The CRM system 460 can receive trouble tickets
455 from the catcher service 450 and the received tickets can then
be used by the CRM application 465 as the system attempts to
address the issues represented by the tickets, for example by
assigning the trouble tickets to automated processes and/or human
agents for answering the questions or handling the problems
represented by the trouble tickets 455. It should be noted that,
while the catcher service 450 and CRM system 460 are illustrated
and described here as separate, in some implementations the catcher
service 450 might in fact be implemented as part of the CRM system
without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0089] According to one embodiment, any number of additional
services 475-495 may be built around and/or supported by the
functions of the catcher service 450 and/or CRM system 460. These
services 475-495 may be implemented on and executed by either or
both of the catcher service 450 and/or CRM system 460 or may be
implemented on and executed by remote servers (not shown here)
which may, in some cases, be operated by third-party service
providers. These services 475-495 can perform a wide variety of
functions based on the information provided by the products 405-415
in the trouble tickets 435-445. For example, one or more services
may offer analytics based on the trouble tickets. In another
example, services may be provided that, together with the catcher
service 450 and/or CRM system 460, implement an eService
marketplace where consumers can be automatically notified of
product issues and can easily access a resolution or arrange for a
repair, and vendors can easily share technical information with
their outsourced service partners. In such implementations, the CRM
applications could facilitate their workflows from customer
notification to incident management to cross-channel support to
dispatch to RMA. Additionally or alternatively, one or more
services may work with eCommerce providers to implement an
end-to-end product registration experience whereby products can be
automatically registered to the owner at or near the time of
purchase. Through such a registration process, an online retailer
(e.g. Amazon, BestBuy, etc.) can, leveraging the information they
already have about the consumer, automatically register a purchased
product on the consumer's behalf, saving the consumer the extra
effort of registering afterwards and insuring that the consumer can
be successfully contacted when there is an error. Further, based on
this registration process, the buyer can get product updates and
proactive alerts and generated trouble tickets can be identified by
customer for proper handling and resolution by the CRM system
and/or other services. One or more services may additionally or
alternatively offer remote diagnostics technologies to help vendors
trouble-shoot problems that were reported. Other services built
upon and leveraging the information of trouble tickets generated
automatically by the individual products 405-415 are contemplated
and considered to be within the scope of the present invention.
[0090] As a result of implementing a system 400 as described here,
product vendors large and small can create and manage trouble
tickets professionally with minimal upfront and on-going R&D
investment. By adopting a standard trouble ticket platform, the
vendors can participate in a new eService ecosystem where their
consumers and partners (e.g. outsourced service partners, parts
suppliers, etc.) can exchange information and coordinate service
actions seamlessly and efficiently. Consumers can get immediate
notification of product issues and can easily access service. They
have ready access to a service network that is well informed and
ready to help them.
[0091] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process for creating
and handling trouble tickets in a common trouble ticket platform
according to one embodiment of the present invention. As
illustrated in this example, creating trouble tickets in a common
trouble ticket platform can begin with monitoring 505 by an
Internet-enabled consumer product for one or more conditions or
events by a device agent installed thereon. In response to
detecting 510 the occurrence of the one or more conditions or
events, the device agent can generate 515 a trouble ticket and send
520 the trouble ticket to a catcher service. The trouble ticket can
comprise a set of predefined content in a predefined format based
on a type of the consumer product. Generating 515 the trouble
ticket can comprise generating the set of predefined content. For
example, the set of predefined content can comprise one or more of
an error log, one or more images, a serial number of the consumer
product, a model number of the consumer product, a version number
of the consumer product, or a build number of the consumer product.
In some cases, generating 515 the trouble ticket can further
comprise generating a set of custom content defined by a producer
of the consumer product.
[0092] Once generated 515 and sent 520, handling trouble tickets in
a common trouble ticket platform can comprise receiving 525 and
processing 530 the trouble ticket by a computer system executing a
catcher service. The computer system executing the catcher service
can then forward 535 the processed trouble ticket to a Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) application. For example, processing
530 the trouble ticket can comprise identifying a vendor of the
consumer product to which the trouble ticket relates from a
plurality of vendors and forwarding 535 the trouble ticket to the
CRM application can comprise forwarding the trouble ticket to a CRM
application associated with the identified vendor. In another
example, processing 530 the trouble ticket can comprise filtering
the received trouble ticket based on a set of criteria provided by
a vendor of the consumer product. Additionally or alternatively,
processing 530 the trouble ticket can comprise aggregating the
trouble ticket with one or more other trouble tickets based on a
customer, a product, or a vendor of the consumer product related to
the trouble ticket. Processing 530 the trouble ticket can
additionally or alternatively comprise maintaining one or more
metrics related to received trouble tickets. For example, the
metrics can comprise a count per product or a count per vendor.
[0093] A computer system executing the CRM application can receive
540 the trouble ticket from the catcher service and process 545 the
received trouble ticket. For example, processing 545 the received
trouble ticket can comprise assigning the trouble ticket to an
automated process or a human agent for handling problems with the
consumer product represented by the trouble ticket. While not
illustrated here for the sake of clarity, handling the trouble
tickets can additionally or alternatively comprise the catcher
service, the CRM application, another application or system, or
some combination thereof providing one or more other services
related to the trouble ticket. For example, the one or more
services can comprise providing analytics based on the trouble
ticket. Additionally or alternatively, the one or more services can
comprise providing an eService marketplace providing one or more of
notification of product issues or recalls, access to information
related to issue resolution, information or an interface for
arranging for repairs, or access to technical information related
to the consumer product. In another example, the one or more
services can additionally or alternatively comprise an automatic
registration process. In some cases, the service can comprise
providing one or more of automatic product updates, automatic
product alters, or personalized identification of trouble tickets
by customer. Additionally or alternatively, the one or more
services can comprise providing remote diagnostics of the consumer
product. Other services are contemplated and considered to be
within the scope of the present invention.
[0094] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process for handling
trouble tickets in an eService marketplace according to one
embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in this
example, the eService marketplace can receive 605 a request from a
consumer related to the trouble ticket. For example, the request
may be received through a web site, email, text message, or other
channel. In other cases, the trouble ticket itself may comprise the
request. The request can comprise a request for bids for service of
the consumer product. That is, receiving 605 the trouble ticket
and/or request can comprise a request to address the problems with
the consumer device as represented in the trouble ticket.
[0095] Thus, the trouble ticket and/or request, the eService
marketplace can provide 610 access to the trouble ticket to a
plurality of service providers in response to the trouble ticket
and/or request from the consumer. Providing 610 access to the
trouble ticket can comprise, for example, forwarding the trouble
ticket to the service providers, posting the trouble ticket or a
link thereto on a web page or other interface available to service
providers, etc. At some point thereafter, the eService marketplace
can receive 615 one or more bids for service of the consumer
product from one or more of the plurality of service providers.
That is, one or more of the service providers may respond to the
trouble ticket through the web page or other interface with an
offer to address the problem. Information related to the received
bids can then be provided 620 to the consumer. Again, this
information may be provided 620 to the consumer in the form of a
web page, email, text message, voicemail message, or any other
channel available to the consumer. The information related to the
received bids can comprise, for example, one or more of cost of
each bid, a customer rating or each service provider from which one
or more of the bids is received, or analytics information about
performance of each service provider from which one or more of the
bids is received.
[0096] In some cases, the information provided 620 may include
contact information through which the consumer may contact the
service provider to arrange for service. In other cases, the
consumer may contact the service provider through the eService
marketplace, e.g., through an instant message, chat, email, web
conference, or any other channel that may be available to the
consumer and service provider. In some cases and after the service
provider has attempted to address the trouble ticket, a rating
and/or other feedback on the service provider can be received 625
by the eService marketplace from the consumer. The rating can be
based on performance of service directed to the trouble ticket by
the service provider. This feedback can be received through any of
a number of channels including but not limited to web page or email
presenting a survey, a free-form email from the consumer, an
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) dialog with the consumer, a text
message from the consumer, etc.
[0097] The eService marketplace can provide a number of additional
services including but not limited to analytics services based on
received trouble tickets and/or any feedback received 625. For
example, these analytics may be part of the information provided
620 to the consumer related to the bidding service providers. Other
services provided by the eService marketplace can include, for
example, providing one or more of notification of product issues or
recalls, access to information related to issue resolution,
information or an interface for arranging for repairs, or access to
technical information related to the consumer product. Additionally
or alternatively, the eService marketplace can provide an automatic
registration process based on special trouble tickets generated on
the initial power-up of the device. In some cases, the eService
marketplace can additionally or alternatively provide one or more
of automatic product updates, automatic product alters, or
personalized identification of trouble tickets by customer. Other
services are contemplated and considered to be within the scope of
the present invention.
[0098] In the foregoing description, for the purposes of
illustration, methods were described in a particular order. It
should be appreciated that in alternate embodiments, the methods
may be performed in a different order than that described. It
should also be appreciated that the methods described above may be
performed by hardware components or may be embodied in sequences of
machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a
machine, such as a general-purpose or special-purpose processor or
logic circuits programmed with the instructions to perform the
methods. These machine-executable instructions may be stored on one
or more machine readable mediums or memory devices, such as CD-ROMs
or other type of optical disks, floppy diskettes, ROMs, RAMs,
EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other
types of machine-readable mediums or memory devices suitable for
storing electronic instructions. Alternatively, the methods may be
performed by a combination of hardware and software.
[0099] While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of
the invention have been described in detail herein, it is to be
understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously
embodied and employed, and that the appended claims are intended to
be construed to include such variations, except as limited by the
prior art.
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