U.S. patent application number 15/662597 was filed with the patent office on 2018-01-04 for task-oriented messaging system.
The applicant listed for this patent is International Business Machines Corporation. Invention is credited to Jonathan F. Brunn, Jonathan T. Coffey, Mark A. DuFresne, Marit L. Imsdahl, Christopher D. Johnson, Asima Silva, James J. Stadtmiller, Razeyah Stephen, Yuriy B. Veytsman.
Application Number | 20180004732 15/662597 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 60807533 |
Filed Date | 2018-01-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180004732 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Brunn; Jonathan F. ; et
al. |
January 4, 2018 |
TASK-ORIENTED MESSAGING SYSTEM
Abstract
Task-oriented messages are presented to a user in an interactive
format for disposition. Natural language processing techniques
parse task-oriented messages for individual tasks, such as
assignments, information requests, and requests for approval or
authorization. A user interface provides a recipient of a
task-oriented message with selectable tasks for individual, or
group, disposition, such as respond, defer, delegate, mark
answered, and ignore. Recipients are notified if an incomplete
response is generated, such as when an identified task is not
dispositioned.
Inventors: |
Brunn; Jonathan F.; (Logan,
UT) ; Coffey; Jonathan T.; (Brockton, MA) ;
DuFresne; Mark A.; (New Ipswich, NH) ; Imsdahl; Marit
L.; (Cary, NC) ; Johnson; Christopher D.;
(Ayer, MA) ; Silva; Asima; (Holden, MA) ;
Stadtmiller; James J.; (Hudson, NH) ; Stephen;
Razeyah; (Marlboro, MA) ; Veytsman; Yuriy B.;
(Newton, MA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
International Business Machines Corporation |
Armonk |
NY |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
60807533 |
Appl. No.: |
15/662597 |
Filed: |
July 28, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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15197873 |
Jun 30, 2016 |
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15662597 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 51/046 20130101;
G06F 40/42 20200101; G06F 3/04847 20130101; H04L 51/32 20130101;
G06F 3/0482 20130101; H04L 51/04 20130101; H04L 51/22 20130101;
H04L 51/34 20130101; G06F 3/0484 20130101; G06Q 10/1097 20130101;
G06F 40/279 20200101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/28 20060101
G06F017/28; G06Q 10/10 20120101 G06Q010/10; G06F 17/27 20060101
G06F017/27; G06F 3/0484 20130101 G06F003/0484; H04L 12/58 20060101
H04L012/58; G06F 3/0482 20130101 G06F003/0482 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method comprising: monitoring, according
to a pre-defined schedule, an email program stored on a mobile
device for electronic messages directed to a first recipient;
intercepting an electronic message directed to the first recipient
before the electronic message is available to the first recipient;
analyzing, with natural language processing (NLP) software, the
electronic message for a request to perform a task; responsive to
identifying the request to perform the task, composing, with NLP
software, a natural language task statement that summarizes the
request to perform the task; sending, to the first recipient, the
electronic message and the natural language task statement via the
email program; receiving a reply message from the first recipient;
determining, with NLP software, that the task is not addressed in
the reply message; generating an interactive interface including
the natural language task statement and a corresponding set of
selectable disposition actions including a disposition action to
respond later; displaying to the first recipient the interactive
interface; responsive to selection of the disposition action to
respond later, requesting from the first recipient a date and time
for responding to the task; retrieving a user credential for access
by the first recipient to a calendaring program; logging into the
calendaring program using the user credential; and recording on a
calendar, for the specified date and time, the natural language
task statement.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of
communications, and more particularly to processing certain
communications as a set of tasks.
[0002] Electronic messaging via mobile devices and personal
computers has rapidly become a primary communications tool. Many
web applications, whether social media or e-mail services, provide
for electronic communications in the form of instant messaging
(IM), electronic mail (e-mail), and other messaging platforms
supported by the various applications. While some proprietary email
systems and webmail systems are in use, many use simple mail
transfer protocol (SMTP), an Internet standard for email. Further,
instant messaging generally uses proprietary protocols over
technical architectures such as peer-to-peer and client-server
configurations. Accessing electronic messaging applications for a
given user generally requires entering user login credentials for
security reasons.
[0003] Natural language processing (NLP) is a field of computer
science, artificial intelligence, and linguistics concerned with
the interactions between computers and human (natural) languages.
Generally speaking, NLP systems use machine learning to analyze and
derive meaning from textual corpora (that is, sets of textual
content), as used herein electronic messages are the textual
corpora. Natural language dialog systems create natural interaction
mechanisms for human-computer interactions. State of the art
rule-based dialog systems rely on manually-developed rules.
[0004] Advances in communication technology include identifying an
originator of an outgoing message and making assignments and/or
tracking ownership of marked questions within the outgoing message
and parsing text of an electronic communication to determine
questions presented within the text or to identify question-answer
pairs within electronic communication chains, or related
communications. It is also known to generate an answer-required
field in an e-mail message and determining whether an answer to the
answer-required field is included in a response.
SUMMARY
[0005] In one aspect of the present invention, a method, a computer
program product, and a system includes: monitoring, according to a
pre-defined schedule, an email program stored on a mobile device
for electronic messages directed to a first recipient; intercepting
an electronic message directed to the first recipient before the
electronic message is available to the first recipient; analyzing,
with natural language processing (NLP) software, the electronic
message for a request to perform a task; responsive to identifying
the request to perform the task, composing, with NLP software, a
natural language task statement that summarizes the request to
perform the task; sending, to the first recipient, the electronic
message and the natural language task statement via the email
program; receiving a reply message from the first recipient;
determining, with NLP software, that the task is not addressed in
the reply message; generating an interactive interface including
the natural language task statement and a corresponding set of
selectable disposition actions including a disposition action to
respond later; displaying to the first recipient the interactive
interface; responsive to selection of the disposition action to
respond later, requesting from the first recipient a date and time
for responding to the task; retrieving a user credential for access
by the first recipient to a calendaring program; logging into the
calendaring program using the user credential; and recording on a
calendar, for the specified date and time, the natural language
task statement.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of a system
according to the present invention;
[0007] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a method performed, at least
in part, by the first embodiment system;
[0008] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a machine logic (for example,
software) portion of the first embodiment system;
[0009] FIG. 4 is a first screenshot view generated by the first
embodiment system
[0010] FIG. 5 is a first screenshot view generated by the first
embodiment system;
[0011] FIG. 6 is a flowchart view of a second embodiment of a
method according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] Task-oriented messages are presented to a user in an
interactive format for disposition. Natural language processing
techniques parse task-oriented messages for individual tasks, such
as assignments, information requests, and requests for approval or
authorization. A user interface provides a recipient of a
task-oriented message with selectable tasks for individual, or
group, disposition, such as respond, defer, delegate, mark
answered, and ignore. Recipients are notified if an incomplete
response is generated, such as when an identified task is not
dispositioned. The present invention may be a system, a method,
and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may
include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having
computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a
processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.
[0013] The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible
device that can retain and store instructions for use by an
instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium
may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage
device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an
electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or
any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of
more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium
includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk,
a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable
programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static
random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only
memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a
floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or
raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon,
and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable
storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being
transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely
propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves
propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g.,
light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical
signals transmitted through a wire.
[0014] Computer readable program instructions described herein can
be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a
computer readable storage medium, or to an external computer or
external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a
local area network, a wide area network, and/or a wireless network.
The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical
transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls,
switches, gateway computers, and/or edge servers. A network adapter
card or network interface in each computing/processing device
receives computer readable program instructions from the network,
and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage
in a computer readable storage medium within the respective
computing/processing device.
[0015] Computer readable program instructions for carrying out
operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions,
instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine
instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware
instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object
code written in any combination of one or more programming
languages, including an object oriented programming language such
as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural
programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or
similar programming languages. The computer readable program
instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on
the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on
the user's computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on
the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote
computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type
of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area
network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external
computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet
Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry
including, for example, programmable logic circuitry,
field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays
(PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by
utilizing state information of the computer readable program
instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to
perform aspects of the present invention.
[0016] Aspects of the present invention are described herein with
reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of
methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products
according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood
that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block
diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations
and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable
program instructions.
[0017] These computer readable program instructions may be provided
to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose
computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to
produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via
the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing
apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts
specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in
a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a
programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to
function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable
storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an
article of manufacture, including instructions which implement
aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block
diagram block or blocks.
[0018] The computer readable program instructions may also be
loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing
apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps
to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or
other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that
the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable
apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified
in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0019] The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate
the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible
implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products
according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this
regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent
a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one
or more executable instructions for implementing the specified
logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the
functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in
the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in
fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may
sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the
functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of
the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations
of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can
be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that
perform the specified functions, or acts, or carry out combinations
of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
[0020] The present invention will now be described in detail with
reference to the Figures. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram
illustrating various portions of networked computers system 100, in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, including:
task manager sub-system 102; e-mail client sub-system 104; social
messaging client sub-system 106; social media client sub-system
108; smartphone sub-system 110; correspondence applications 109,
113; calendar application 111; tablet sub-system 112; communication
network 114; task manager computer 200; communication unit 202;
processor set 204; input/output (I/O) interface set 206; memory
device 208; persistent storage device 210; display device 212;
external device set 214; random access memory (RAM) devices 230;
cache memory device 232; task manager program 300; user credential
store 302; and NLP engine 304.
[0021] Sub-system 102 is, in many respects, representative of the
various computer sub-system(s) in the present invention.
Accordingly, several portions of sub-system 102 will now be
discussed in the following paragraphs.
[0022] Sub-system 102 may be a laptop computer, tablet computer,
netbook computer, personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, a
personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, or any
programmable electronic device capable of communicating with the
client sub-systems via network 114. Program 300 is a collection of
machine readable instructions and/or data that is used to create,
manage, and control certain software functions that will be
discussed in detail below.
[0023] Sub-system 102 is capable of communicating with other
computer sub-systems via network 114. Network 114 can be, for
example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such
as the Internet, or a combination of the two, and can include
wired, wireless, or fiber optic connections. In general, network
114 can be any combination of connections and protocols that will
support communications between server and client sub-systems.
[0024] Sub-system 102 is shown as a block diagram with many double
arrows. These double arrows (no separate reference numerals)
represent a communications fabric, which provides communications
between various components of sub-system 102. This communications
fabric can be implemented with any architecture designed for
passing data and/or control information between processors (such as
microprocessors, communications and network processors, etc.),
system memory, peripheral devices, and any other hardware component
within a system. For example, the communications fabric can be
implemented, at least in part, with one or more buses.
[0025] Memory 208 and persistent storage 210 are computer readable
storage media. In general, memory 208 can include any suitable
volatile or non-volatile computer readable storage media. It is
further noted that, now and/or in the near future: (i) external
device(s) 214 may be able to supply, some or all, memory for
sub-system 102; and/or (ii) devices external to sub-system 102 may
be able to provide memory for sub-system 102.
[0026] Program 300 is stored in persistent storage 210 for access
and/or execution by one or more of the respective computer
processors 204, usually through one or more memories of memory 208.
Persistent storage 210: (i) is at least more persistent than a
signal in transit; (ii) stores the program (including its soft
logic and/or data), on a tangible medium (such as magnetic or
optical domains); and (iii) is substantially less persistent than
permanent storage. Alternatively, data storage may be more
persistent and/or permanent than the type of storage provided by
persistent storage 210.
[0027] Program 300 may include both machine readable and
performable instructions, and/or substantive data (that is, the
type of data stored in a database). In this particular embodiment,
persistent storage 210 includes a magnetic hard disk drive. To name
some possible variations, persistent storage 210 may include a
solid state hard drive, a semiconductor storage device, read-only
memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash
memory, or any other computer readable storage media that is
capable of storing program instructions or digital information.
[0028] The media used by persistent storage 210 may also be
removable. For example, a removable hard drive may be used for
persistent storage 210. Other examples include optical and magnetic
disks, thumb drives, and smart cards that are inserted into a drive
for transfer onto another computer readable storage medium that is
also part of persistent storage 210.
[0029] Communications unit 202, in these examples, provides for
communications with other data processing systems or devices
external to sub-system 102. In these examples, communications unit
202 includes one or more network interface cards. Communications
unit 202 may provide communications through the use of either, or
both, physical and wireless communications links. Any software
modules discussed herein may be downloaded to a persistent storage
device (such as persistent storage device 210) through a
communications unit (such as communications unit 202).
[0030] I/O interface set 206 allows for input and output of data
with other devices that may be connected locally in data
communication with computer 200. For example, I/O interface set 206
provides a connection to external device set 214. External device
set 214 will typically include devices such as a keyboard, keypad,
a touch screen, and/or some other suitable input device. External
device set 214 can also include portable computer readable storage
media such as, for example, thumb drives, portable optical or
magnetic disks, and memory cards. Software and data used to
practice embodiments of the present invention, for example, program
300, can be stored on such portable computer readable storage
media. In these embodiments the relevant software may (or may not)
be loaded, in whole or in part, onto persistent storage device 210
via I/O interface set 206. I/O interface set 206 also connects in
data communication with display device 212.
[0031] Display device 212 provides a mechanism to display data to a
user and may be, for example, a computer monitor or a smart phone
display screen.
[0032] The programs described herein are identified based upon the
application for which they are implemented in a specific embodiment
of the present invention. However, it should be appreciated that
any particular program nomenclature herein is used merely for
convenience, and thus the present invention should not be limited
to use solely in any specific application identified and/or implied
by such nomenclature.
[0033] Task manager program 300 operates to monitor a set of
communications tools for received messages. When messages are
received, the task manager program determines if tasks are
associated with the message, referred to herein as task-oriented
messages. For task-oriented messages, a user interface is generated
to present a use with various disposition options, such as respond
now, delegate to another user, schedule a time to respond, and
ignore task. Some embodiments of the present invention track
disposition decisions and reminders are recorded for follow-up when
some tasks are not dispositioned.
[0034] Some embodiments of the present invention recognize the
following facts, potential problems and/or potential areas for
improvement with respect to the current state of the art: (i) an
e-mail may contain several actionable requests and/or questions;
(ii) it is easy to fail to address all actionable items in an
e-mail; and/or (iii) oftentimes, a sender engages in a
back-and-forth email exchange to get a response to each action item
in an initial communication.
[0035] FIG. 2 shows flowchart 250 depicting a first method
according to the present invention. FIG. 3 shows program 300 for
performing at least some of the method steps of flowchart 250. This
method and associated software will now be discussed, over the
course of the following paragraphs, with extensive reference to
FIG. 2 (for the method step blocks) and FIG. 3 (for the software
blocks). FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate screenshots generated by some
embodiments of the present invention and helpful in understanding
the process depicted in flowchart 250.
[0036] Processing begins at step S255, where monitor module ("mod")
355 monitors electronic communication tools for a received message.
Electronic communication tools are diverse in their application and
widely used on various platforms. Essentially, an electronic
communications tool provides a user with an environment for
exchanging electronic messages, such as email and instant messages,
with other users over a networked computers system, such as system
100 in FIG. 1. Examples of communication tools include: (i) instant
messaging (IM) servers; (ii) short messaging services (SMS); (iii)
web blog; (iv) website; (v) online community, whether public
communities, such as FACEBOOK and LINKEDIN, or internal corporate
communities operating on an intranet; (vi) news feeds; (vii) email;
(viii) VoIP; and (ix) software phones, such as SKYPE and GOOGLE
VOICE. (Note: the term(s) "FACEBOOK," "LINKEDIN," "SKYPE," and
"GOOGLE VOICE" may be subject to trademark rights in various
jurisdictions throughout the world and are used here only in
reference to the products or services properly denominated by the
marks to the extent that such trademark rights may exist.)
[0037] For example, a user may access social messaging client 106
with smartphone 110 over network 114 (FIG. 1). Access is restricted
by user credentials, a username and corresponding password, which
are stored in user credential store 302 (FIG. 1). The monitor mod
accesses the social messaging client using the store user
credentials. With that access, the monitor mod checks for messages
received from other user using the social messaging client.
Similarly, monitor mod accesses other electronic communication
tools by using the stored user credentials for the other tools,
such as email client 104 (FIG. 1). In this example, monitor module
accesses electronic messaging tools on a rotating basis every 10
minutes. This may be illustrated where the e-mail client is
accessed at Noon, then the social messaging client is accessed at
12:10 pm, and social media client 108 is accessed at 12:20 pm, and
so forth, repeating the pattern of checking the communication
tools. Alternatively, monitor mod 355 remains logged into the
various tools and receives push notifications from the various
communication tools when a message arrives. In that way, task
manager program 300 operates to intercept electronic messages as
they are received by the various communication tools.
Alternatively, a user directs monitor mod 355 to access one or more
communication tools to check for received messages. The received
messages may be processed in batches each time the monitor mod is
directed to access a communication tool.
[0038] In some embodiments of the present invention, task manager
program operates to receive messages directed to a user from a
communication tool and to present the user with the message and any
additional checklists or itemized task notice generated according
to embodiments of the present invention. In that way, the user only
receives messages from certain communication tools after processing
is performed by the task manager program. Additionally, filters may
employ to quickly handle certain messages based on sender, subject
line, etc. The filtering may be established by policy or
individually by the user.
[0039] Processing proceeds to step S260, where access mod 360
identifies message information in the received message via the
corresponding communications tool. In this example, message
information includes: (i) the sender identity; (ii) the subject
line of the message; and (iii) the body of the message. Other
additional information may be obtained including: (i) time of
receipt; (ii) recipients; (iii) communication tool that received
the message; (iv) message importance indicator; and/or (v) message
priority indicator. Message information may be available as
meta-data or may be identified through the use of natural language
processing (NPL) or may be identified according to certain fields
populated in the electronic message, such as the subject line.
[0040] Processing proceeds to step S265, where message type mod 365
determines a message type for the received message. Messages that
are processed further are those messages qualifying as a particular
message type. While the message type of interest is referred to
herein as a "task-oriented" message, the filter applied by the
message type mod may include criteria specific to the user, such as
certain senders may be blocked from further processing or
electronic messages having particular importance indicator may be
blocked or, alternatively, caused to be processed further. This
aspect of the process is highly customizable to the user's needs;
however, corporate policy or other requirements may drive the
criteria for determining the message type. In this example, a
task-oriented message is determined when one or more tasks are
identified in the body of the message, as shown in screenshot 400
of FIG. 4. It should be noted that the subject line states "Loader
code Question." Some embodiments of the present invention recognize
the term "question" in the subject line and for that reason
determine that the message type is "task-oriented." Some
embodiments of the present invention identify a "task-oriented"
message as a message that the sender has indicated as containing
tasks to be addressed.
[0041] Processing proceeds to step S270, where interface mod 370
generates, for a task-oriented message type, a task selection
interface. Natural language processing (NLP) is useful in
determining precisely what tasks are included in the task-oriented
message. In this example, NLP engine 304 (FIG. 1) processes the
message information identified in step S260 to identify what tasks
are to be presented via the task selection interface.
Alternatively, for a task-oriented message, each paragraph is
considered individually as a single "task" to be presented as such
on the task selection interface. Alternatively, for a task-oriented
message, each sentence is identified for separate processing via
the task selection interface. Alternatively, the sender indicates
what tasks in the communication are to be addressed and the
interface mod generates a task selection interface according or to
the sender's indication. Some embodiments of the present invention
extract from a message only those tasks that may be directed to the
user for whom interface mod is generating the task selection
interface. By recognizing, for example, the term "Alice" in the
last question of FIG. 4, interface mod 370 does not include that
question when generating a selection interface for Baker.
[0042] When each "task" is identified, whether through NLP or by
other specified rules, the task is associated with selection
options. In this example, as shown in FIG. 5, the task selection
interface offers the user the option to select "respond," "defer,"
or "ignore" for each identified task. Additional, fewer, or
different options are made available according to user preference,
corporate policy, or designer's choice. Other options include: (i)
delegate; (ii) open interactive message (answer directly); (iii) to
respond via alternative communication tool; and/or (iv) already
answered (for example, a face-to-face discussion provided the
response).
[0043] Oftentimes, identifying the task does not immediately result
in a concise statement of the task. In the examples provided
herein, such as those shown in FIG. 4, the sender makes statements
such as "what is the directory intended for?". Where NLP engine 304
is used to identify tasks in the message, a concise statement of
the question may be readily prepared. Accordingly, when preparing
the task-selection interface, a statement of the task may not read
directly as shown in the electronic message, but may be modified to
read more precisely or in a simplified manner. Whether restated or
not, the task-selection interface serves to present the user with a
summary of the tasks identified within a potentially larger text
body found in the original message.
[0044] Processing proceeds to step S275, where display mod 375
displays the task selection interface on a user device. In the
example screenshots 400 and 500, an email communication is received
with the subject line Loader Code Question. The email is addressed
to Baker, Charlie, and Alice. As shown in FIG. 5, there are five
questions asked of the recipients. This is one example display of
the task selection interface according to the present invention. In
this example, the user is Baker.
[0045] Baker selects "respond" for the first two questions. The
selection of "respond" may open the native application for entering
a response. However, in this example, correspondence application
109 opens a new window (not shown) containing text entry fields for
each task selected as "respond" so the user may enter responses,
which are then transmitted over network 114 by the correspondence
application to task manager program 300 to be processed by
disposition mod 385, discussed below. Similar to the "respond"
selection, some disposition options provided to the user via the
task selection interface cause additional fields to appear, or to
be required, such as when "defer" is selected and an interactive
calendar from, for example, calendar 111 in FIG. 1, is presented to
the user to select a date for deferral of the response. Baker has
selected the next two questions to be deferred. In this example, a
reminder is recorded (not shown) in calendar application 111 to
prompt the user later to respond to the deferred question. Baker is
not going to respond to the last question specifically directed to
Alice, so "ignore" is selected. The option "ignore" is useful for
some embodiments of the present invention because it is recorded as
addressed, which prevents later requests that the task be
addressed. Addressing each task is discussed in more detail below
and with respect to FIG. 6.
[0046] Additional windows or fields are presented to the user
according to the selected disposition of a given task. For a
further example, when delegate is selected for a task, a drop-down
menu is made available for the user to select to whom to delegate
the question. In some examples, the drop down menu lists only the
other recipients of the communication. Alternatively, the selection
of a delegate is made from a corporate address directory or a list
of correspondence tool contacts.
[0047] Processing proceeds to step S280, where response mod 380
receives task disposition responses via the task selection
interface. In this example, when a user completes disposition
selections from the options presented in the task selection
interface, a submit button is selected and actions are taken
according to the selected disposition selections. Alternatively,
upon selection of a disposition for each task, the response mod
begins to process the dispositions and to present secondary
selection fields and/or text boxes for certain tasks.
[0048] Processing ends at step S285, where disposition mod 385
takes task disposition action(s). When the task dispositions are
determined and secondary data is collected based on the various
dispositions selected, the disposition mod takes the action
corresponding to each disposition. Actions taken at task
disposition vary greatly according to the selected disposition, the
user preferences, and/or governing policies. In this example, text
entries received from Baker for the first two questions are sent
back to the sender via a reply communication through the
corresponding communication tool. Further, the two questions that
are selected to be deferred are placed on Baker's calendar by
disposition mod 385 on calendar application 111 with a reminder set
2 hours before the deferred date and time.
[0049] Some embodiments of the present invention, as discussed in
more detail below, monitor an electronic message for complete
responses. When a reply is sent to the sender, any questions that
are deferred, ignored, or otherwise not responded to in the reply
are flagged to the recipient as not addressed. The recipient may
then consider whether or not this is acceptable and send the reply
or see that additional responses are entered. In some embodiments
of the present invention, messages not deemed to be "task-oriented
messages" may prompt an inquiry as described in more detail below
and with respect to FIG. 6.
[0050] Further embodiments of the present invention are discussed
in the paragraphs that follow and later with reference to FIG.
6.
[0051] Some embodiments of the present invention parse electronic
correspondence to identify tasks from the text of the
correspondence such as questions and requests for action. The
recipient is alerted during reply to the correspondence which, if
any, of the identified tasks are unaddressed. Any remaining
unaddressed tasks are reported as such to the sender upon receipt
of the response from the recipient. Additionally, some embodiments
of the present invention extract the task from the text and a user
interface is generated presenting the tasks as a selectable list of
tasks for addressing.
[0052] Some embodiments of the present invention analyze a reply to
an electronic message for responses to each question in the
received communication. In that way, users are able to keep better
track of which questions from another person's email they have
answered and which they still need to address.
[0053] Some embodiments of the present invention provide for a
sender to mark certain tasks in an electronic message as required
to be addressed so that a recipient is prompted to address those
tasks prior to replying to the message. Alternatively, a review
checklist is provided to the recipient that identifies which
required tasks are not recognized as being addressed.
[0054] Some embodiments of the present invention inform the
recipient of the electronic message the number of tasks identified
in the message and an interactive query as to what action to take
with regard to each identified task. In some embodiments, the
information is provided to the recipient when the recipient begins
drafting a reply to the message. In some embodiments, the
information is provided to the recipient upon receipt of the
message.
[0055] Some embodiments of the present invention use NLP to
identify potential questions within the text of an electronic
message. Some examples of NLP in this environment include: (i)
searching for question marks; (ii) finding sentences including a
recipients name; (iii) identifying interrogative words in the text;
(iv) searching for the terms who, what, when, where, and how;
and/or (v) searching for phrases such as "do you/I" and "can
you/I."
[0056] The following example scenario is provided to illustrate the
operation of some embodiments of the present invention. While
questions in an email are described in this example, it should be
understood by persons skilled in the art that the questions are one
example of tasks and that the electronic messaging may be achieved
with communication tools other than an email application. This
example will also provide context for the discussion of the process
shown in FIG. 6, below. In this example, Brian has four questions
about the task he is currently working on for his job. Brian
decides to send an email to his co-worker, Tom, seeking help by
stating his questions. When the email is sent, it is intercepted by
a question manager system. A record is generated to indicate that
the email contains four questions and a checklist is produced to
highlight the four questions. In this example, natural language
processing (NLP) is used to determine that there are four
questions. As discussed in detail above, there are other
alternative methods for determining the count and the text of
questions in the email.
[0057] The question manager system then allows the email to
continue to reach Tom's inbox. When Tom reviews the email, he only
answers the first two questions and the last question, not noticing
that there is another question in the email. Tom sends a reply
email, but it is intercepted by the question manager system. In
this example, the question manager sends Tom the checklist for
review to confirm that each question is answered. Alternatively,
the question manager applies NLP to determine if each of the four
documented questions are answered. While in this alternative NLP is
used, other techniques may be used to reach the result of
identifying whether or not the identified questions are answered in
the reply email. When reviewing the checklist, Tom realizes he
didn't respond to the third question. In this example, Tom modifies
his reply email to include a response to the third question and
sends the email again. This time, the question manager system
recognizes that the checklist was already provided and sends the
email to Brian. In addition to Tom's email, the question manager
system sends Brian a confirmation that Tom answered each of the
four questions.
[0058] In an alternative example, when Tom is shown the checklist
he knows that he did not answer the third question because he did
not know the answer. Tom sends the same reply, but this time, he
checks off the third question as not being answered. In this
alternative example, the question manager system sends the reply
email to Brian and notifies Brian that the third question is not
answered.
[0059] FIG. 6 shows flowchart 600 depicting a second method
according to an embodiment of the present invention for reminding a
sender to reply to each question presented in an email. Within
flowchart 600 are three system components, client application 604,
server program 602, and desktop sub-system 606. These components
may communicate over a network (network 114 of FIG. 1) as
individual nodes, but, alternatively, the server program may reside
locally with the client application or within the desktop
sub-system. This process and associated software will now be
discussed, over the course of the following paragraphs. A program
to perform the depicted process may be implemented on any operating
system, for example: the operating system active on a partition, on
the hardware management console, on a network switch, or on a
storage controller.
[0060] Processing begins at step S620, where a message with a
question is sent from the client application and, as shown, is
intercepted by the server program. As suggested above, some
embodiments of the present invention apply rules to determine when
to send a particular message to the server for processing. The rule
may be based simply on the subject line of the message including
the work "question" as shown in FIG. 4, screenshot 400.
Alternatively, all messages are intercepted by the server, but only
those having questions are processed according to flowchart 600,
while the others are sent to the user via the communication tool.
In some embodiments of the present invention, the server accesses
the communication tool to identify any correspondence having
questions, processes any identified messages, and sends a selection
interface to the user via a correspondence application, such as
application 109 (FIG. 1).
[0061] Processing proceeds to step S622, where the server program
determines a question count and records the count for future
reference.
[0062] Processing proceeds to step S624, where the server program
generates a question checklist for the intercepted email. The
question checklist operates to highlight the questions within the
text of the email. In some embodiments of the present invention,
the checklist offers an interactive user interface of selecting
and/or marking complete the individual questions.
[0063] Processing proceeds to step S626, where the server program
releases the intercepted email so that it is sent to the desktop
sub-system.
[0064] Processing proceeds to step S628, where a user reads the
email received from the client application and prepares a reply
email including some answers to the questions within the email
message.
[0065] Processing proceeds to step S630, where the reply email is
sent from the desktop sub-system addressed to the client
application. As shown, the server program intercepts the reply
email.
[0066] Processing proceeds to step S632, where answers in the text
of the reply message are identified and matched to the questions
identified and processed in steps S622 and S624.
[0067] Processing proceeds to step S634 when at least one question
does not appear to be answered, where the server program sends the
question checklist prepared at step S624 to the desktop sub-system
for review.
[0068] Processing proceeds to step S636, where the user reviews the
checklist and prepares an appropriate response. In some embodiments
of the present invention, the user notices a question that was
overlooked and revises the original email. In other embodiments of
the present invention, the user notices a question that was
overlooked and provides a response via the checklist, which is
later added to the email by the server program. As discussed
herein, occasionally a question goes unanswered on purpose. In that
case, the user simply marks the question of the checklist as
addressed, or otherwise indicates that there are no questions
remaining to be answered.
[0069] Processing proceeds to step S638, where a response to the
checklist is sent from the desktop sub-system to the server
program. Again, as stated above, where the server program operates
to update the earlier-received email message, the message is
updated. Otherwise, upon receipt of the response to the checklist,
the server program prepares the email to be sent as well as a
report documenting which questions are answered and which questions
are not answered.
[0070] Processing ends at step S640, where the server program send
the reply email and a notice as to unanswered questions to the
client application.
[0071] Some embodiments of the present invention are directed to a
method to encourage a user to address all questions or requests
(referred to herein collectively as "tasks") in electronic
correspondence. The method includes: (i) receiving a correspondence
from a sender by a recipient of the correspondence in a social
networking system; (ii) applying natural language processing (NLP)
to the correspondence to identify questions [requests]; (iii)
responsive to detecting the recipient preparing a response to the
correspondence, providing a user interface (UI) to the recipient
requesting the recipient to set an answering mode identifying
questions to answer including none, some, and all; and (iv)
responsive to the recipient setting the answering mode, interacting
with the user based on the answering mode.
[0072] Some embodiments of the present invention are further
directed to a user interface (UI) that provides the recipient with
options including answer, defer, delegate, mark answered, and/or
ignore.
[0073] Some embodiments of the present invention are directed to a
method to remind a user to address all questions or requests in
electronic correspondence. The method includes: (i) applying
natural language processing (NLP) a correspondence from a sender to
a recipient in a social networking system to identify questions
[requests]; (ii) applying a template to the correspondence to allow
a selection for specific questions to be answered; and (iii)
responsive to detecting a response to the correspondence without an
answer to a question with the selection, prompting the responder to
answer the question.
[0074] Some embodiments of the present invention are further
directed to the selection of specific questions to be answered
being performed by the sender.
[0075] Some embodiments of the present invention are further
directed to the selection of specific questions to be answered
being performed by the recipient.
[0076] Some embodiments of the present invention are directed to
electronic messages communicated via social networking systems
including: instant messaging (IM), short message services (SMS),
blog, web site, Internet-based community [for example, LinkedIn and
Facebook], news feed, email, VoIP, and software phones [for
example, Skype, Google Voice].
[0077] Some embodiments of the present invention may include one,
or more, of the following features, characteristics and/or
advantages: (i) ensures recipients of correspondence address all
action items; (ii) enumerates the requests in a correspondence and
prompts the recipient to address each request; (iii) provides for a
user to efficiently process task-oriented communications by
highlighting actionable requests (tasks) contained in electronic
correspondence, such as e-mail; (iv) improves the likelihood that
requests in electronic correspondence are fully answered or
addressed; (v) action items are clearly identified for each
electronic communication; (vi) completed responses are returned to
a requester without requiring follow-up communication from the
requester; (vii) identifies, for the requester, which questions, or
tasks, are addressed by the recipient; (viii) improves
communication between task assignee and assignor; (ix) presents
questions to a user in such a way that all questions are addressed;
and/or (x) automatically identifies questions presented in an
electronic communication to be addressed by a particular
recipient.
[0078] Some helpful definitions follow:
[0079] Present invention: should not be taken as an absolute
indication that the subject matter described by the term "present
invention" is covered by either the claims as they are filed, or by
the claims that may eventually issue after patent prosecution;
while the term "present invention" is used to help the reader to
get a general feel for which disclosures herein that are believed
as maybe being new, this understanding, as indicated by use of the
term "present invention," is tentative and provisional and subject
to change over the course of patent prosecution as relevant
information is developed and as the claims are potentially
amended.
[0080] Embodiment: see definition of "present invention"
above--similar cautions apply to the term "embodiment."
[0081] and/or: inclusive or; for example, A, B "and/or" C means
that at least one of A or B or C is true and applicable.
[0082] User/subscriber: includes, but is not necessarily limited
to, the following: (i) a single individual human; (ii) an
artificial intelligence entity with sufficient intelligence to act
as a user or subscriber; and/or (iii) a group of related users or
subscribers.
[0083] Module/Sub-Module: any set of hardware, firmware and/or
software that operatively works to do some kind of function,
without regard to whether the module is: (i) in a single local
proximity; (ii) distributed over a wide area; (iii) in a single
proximity within a larger piece of software code; (iv) located
within a single piece of software code; (v) located in a single
storage device, memory or medium; (vi) mechanically connected;
(vii) electrically connected; and/or (viii) connected in data
communication.
[0084] Computer: any device with significant data processing and/or
machine readable instruction reading capabilities including, but
not limited to: desktop computers, mainframe computers, laptop
computers, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) based devices,
smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), body-mounted or
inserted computers, embedded device style computers,
application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) based devices.
[0085] Natural Language: any language used by human beings to
communicate with each other.
[0086] Natural Language Processing (NLP): any derivation of meaning
from natural language performed by a computer.
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