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What is claimed is:
1. In a computer system, a method for distributing information among members of an organization, the method comprising:
defining a logical set of recipients, said logical set including at least some of the members of the organization on a basis other than a member's identify as an individual;
defining a distribution specifying information which is to be distributed to the logical group of recipients; and
based on the defined distribution, distributing the information to recipients of the organization by:
(i) determining a target distribution list by identifying those individuals of the organization currently within the logical set of recipients, and
(ii) transmitting the information to those individuals identified on the target distribution list.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said logical set of recipients includes individuals, groups, and roles.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein a given individual is a particular member of the group identified by that member's name.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein a member's name is based, at least in part, on the member's given name.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein a given group is a particular collection of individuals, the given group being collectively identified by a user-provided group name.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein a given group name is based, at least in part, on a descriptive purpose for the group.
7. The method of claim 2, wherein a given group is a particular collection of individuals, roles, or other groups, the given group being collectively identified by a user-provided group name.
8. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
modifying a selected group, so that at least one individual is automatically removed from the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
9. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
modifying a selected group, so that at least one individual is automatically added to the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
10. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
modifying a particular group so that at least one individual is no longer a member of the particular group for the distribution, yet said at least one individual continuing as an individual within the logical set of recipients and thereby
remaining on the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
11. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
modifying a particular group so that at least one individual is no longer a member of the particular group for the distribution, yet said at least one individual continuing as an individual fulfilling a role within the logical set of recipients
and thereby remaining on the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
12. The method of claim 2, wherein a given role is a particular function fulfilled by at least one individual of the organization, the given role being identified by a role name descriptive of what functions said at least one individual performs
for the organization in that given role.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein a given role name is based, at least in part, on an organizational title for the role within the organization.
14. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
modifying a selected role, so that at least one individual is automatically removed from the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
15. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
modifying a selected role, so that at least one individual is automatically added to the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
16. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
modifying a particular role so that at least one individual is no longer a member of the particular role for the distribution, yet said at least one individual continuing as an individual within the logical set of recipients and thereby remaining
on the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
17. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
modifying a particular role so that at least one individual is no longer a member of the particular role for the distribution, yet said at least one individual continuing as an individual fulfilling another role within the logical set of
recipients and thereby remaining on the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
18. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
modifying a particular role so that at least one individual is no longer a member of the particular role for the distribution, yet said at least one individual continuing as an individual fulfilling another role within the logical set of
recipients and thereby remaining on the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
19. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
modifying a particular role so that at least one individual is no longer a member of the particular role for the distribution, yet said at least one individual continuing as an individual who is a member of a group within the logical set of
recipients and thereby remaining on the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
selecting a default format for distributing the information.
21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
additionally selecting an alternate format for distributing the information.
22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
selecting for each recipient, a preferred format for distributing the information.
23. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
selecting for each recipient, a preferred delivery address for sending the information.
24. The method of claim 23, wherein said delivery address is a selected one of an e-mail address, a facsimile device destination, and a pager destination.
25. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
when defining the logical set of recipients, also defining a policy for each recipient specifying how the recipient is to receive the information.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein a given policy specifies that a recipient is to be notified when information of a distribution is made available.
27. The method of claim 25, wherein a given policy specifies that a recipient is to immediately receive information of a distribution when such information is made available.
28. The method of claim 25, wherein a given policy specifies that information of a distribution is to be made available to a recipient, without sending the information to the recipient and without notifying the recipient that the information is
available.
29. The method of claim 25, wherein a given individual has multiple memberships in the logical set of recipients and wherein the system distributes information to the given individual based on that individual's greatest access policy.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein the system resolves a given recipient's access policy when the given recipient has multiple memberships in the logical set of recipients according to a precedence order of individual>role>group.
31. An adaptive information delivery system for distributing information among members of an organization comprising:
a plurality of client computers in communication with a server computer;
a transport layer for transmitting requests from the client computers to the server computer and for transmitting information from the server computer to the client computers;
means for defining a logical set of recipients, said logical set including at least some of the members of the organization on a basis other than a member's identify as an individual;
means for defining at one of said client computer a distribution specifying information which is to be distributed to the logical group of recipients present at other client computers and transmitting the defined distribution to the server
computer; and
means for distributing, based on the defined distribution, the information to recipients of the organization, said means including;
adaptive means for determining at the server computer a target distribution list by identifying those individuals of the organization currently within the logical set of recipients, said system adapting the distribution in response to any new
individuals added to the logical set of recipients and any existing individuals removed from lo the logical set of recipients, and
means for transmitting from the server computer the information to the client computers of those individuals identified on the target distribution list.
32. The system of claim 31, wherein said logical set of recipients includes individuals, groups, and roles.
33. The system of claim 32, wherein a given group is a particular collection of individuals, roles, or other groups, the given group being collectively identified by a user-provided group name.
34. The system of claim 31, wherein said adaptive means includes:
removal means for automatically removing from the target distribution list any individual who is no longer within the logical set of recipients.
35. The system of claim 34, wherein said removal means includes:
means for automatically removing from the target distribution list any individual who is no longer an individual, a group, or a role within the logical set of recipients.
36. The system of claim 31, wherein said definition means includes:
means for issuing new versions of the information.
37. The system of claim 36, wherein said issuing means includes:
means for setting a version depth of the information, for establishing how many prior versions of the information the server computer is to retain.
38. The system of claim 32, further comprising:
means for modifying a selected role, so that at least one individual is automatically removed from the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
39. The system of claim 32, further comprising:
means for modifying a particular role so that at least one individual is no longer a member of the particular role for the distribution, yet said at least one individual continuing as an individual within the logical set of recipients and thereby
remaining on the target distribution list when the information is distributed.
40. The system of claim 32, wherein said adaptive means includes:
means for mapping, prior to each distribution, said individuals, groups, and roles into a final set of individuals who are to receive the distribution. |
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Description |
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The present application claims
priority from commonly-owned provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/027,567, filed Sep. 27, 1996, and entitled INTRANET-BASED SYSTEM WITH METHODS FOR CO-ACTIVE DELIVERY OF INFORMATION TO MULTIPLE USERS, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated
by reference.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it
appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the area of information processing and, more particularly, to system and methods for managing delivery of time-sensitive, business-critical information to multiple individuals located at various
locations.
The Internet is a new common carrier for information which has already signaled major transformations in virtually all segments of society, in virtually every corner of the globe. At this early and fervent stage of development, Internet usage is
in widespread corporate trial and deployment. There can be little doubt that the Internet, including its internal corporate version (i.e., "Intranets"), will fundamentally transform the nature of corporate communication.
New carriers for information do not happen often, and have historically fundamentally altered basic business and social processes. A "common carrier" is a conduit for information that is not specific to a particular task or kind of information
and can carry that information independent of ultimate purpose. It is insightful to explore how the telephone, the last common carrier, evolved.
At the outset of its deployment as a communication carrier, telephone "applications" required significant manual control and intervention and carried rather simple interpersonal voice communication. While the handset and basic instrumentation
have changed little, the "back office" requirement of a manual switchboard and operator patch panel needed to bring the telephone into a community was a very significant investment and ongoing resource commitment. All call origination and completion
were manual activities.
In fact, the telephone network took many decades to evolve as a common carrier for all types of information, involving more applications than the literal use of a telephone handset held to the ear. Over this period, the telephone evolved into a
carrier for voice and data and has been used for embedded communication and coordination with a vast array of applications, such as fax machines, burglar alarm systems, voice mail, and the like. As the uses and types of information carried on the
telephone evolved, the telephone realized its more complete purpose as a common carrier of information.
The Internet is in its early, literal phase. Today, most activity is focused on the carrier-level development and deployment--in effect, basic plumbing and tools. This is very similar to the first literal phase for the telephone, concentrating
on developing and deploying the community switchboards and its first application for interactive voice. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) lines, routers and firewalls are the equivalent of telephone wiring, while the Web Server
and Mail Servers correspond to the telephone switchboard, with Web browsers and e-mail readers analogous to the first literal use of the telephone. As it matures, the Internet will begin to realize its full potential as a common carrier of
information--carrying all kinds of data for different purposes, and for use within a variety of information-centric applications.
It is useful to review what the Internet actually constitutes. At its core, the Internet is an open standard for communicating and interconnecting packets of information represented digitally, regardless of the type or format of the information
or originating source or destination. Every computing device on the Internet has a unique address, the IP (Internet Protocol) address, and can direct its flow of packets to a specific application or process at the destination (the port). The Internet
too can server as a common carrier. It is platform independent, application independent, and format independent. Its strength lies in exactly this generality.
For fifteen years, the Internet was primarily used by academic researchers. Common applications employed with the Internet included: Electronic mail (SMTP application programs communicating with each other to exchange delivered mail);
Client/Server terminal access to a remote application (Telnet); and File transfer between sites (FTP--File Transport Protocol). The majority of information flowing was textual information or proprietary data formats. Text was, in effect, the "lingua
franca" of the Internet.
The World Wide Web has injected fundamental vibrancy and urgency to the Internet. In addition to adding multimedia richness, the World Wide Web breaks through the rather esoteric user interfaces formerly used by academics. The Web is a specific
client and server Internet application that uses the capabilities of the Internet for cataloging, browsing, retrieving and displaying multimedia information. Specifically, it contributes a new application protocol--HTTP (HyerText Transport
Protocol)--and a specific Web server application to use it, for information retrieval and processing. A new application, the "Web Browser," was introduced which understands how to interact using HTTP and how to interpret and richly display the content
received via HTTP. A new "lingua franca" data format, HTML, arose--a format that is dramatically richer in layout and formatting capability than text. The Internet today overwhelmingly consists of Web servers, Web browsers, mail servers and mail reader
applications tied together on the common carrier.
Virtually the only applications today that understand the HTTP protocol are Web servers and interactive Web browsers. There are few, if any, other types of applications that have built-in use of Internet and Web protocols other than the literal
interactive application for which it was conceived. This is very similar to the early telephone usage described earlier where the telephone instrument is used solely by people for interactive voice communication. Control of the telephone common carrier
for data communications and automated inter-application coordination and information flow came later.
The "Intranet," as popularly defined, is the usage of the Internet protocols, tools and applications within a corporate environment. The target purpose is as a common carrier of business-critical information for and between people and business
systems. At a plumbing and tool level, the Intranet is essentially the same as the Internet. However, at an application level, the two differ substantially. Intranet applications, as they evolve, will be information-centric solutions to corporate
business problems. Intranet application solutions will be different from general Internet solutions for the simple reason that corporate information needs are different from the needs of the general public.
Thus far, Internet applications and Intranet applications, as available from various Internet vendors, have not been distinguished. Applications have been underlying tools for customization and development by the corporate customer. The
customer, or an outside consultant, must invest further to create Intranet applications for business critical needs.
Undoubtedly, the core elements of today's Internet applications and tools will survive, but the general Internet landscape of the future will barely resemble that of today. New applications will use common Internet protocols and formats but take
the shape of business application solutions rather than that of the underlying technical platform. Web Servers, as known today, may disappear. Web browsers and e-mail readers will likely continue to evolve as universal clients, while new types of
applications will build in Web-browser-like access within specialized application interfaces. The Internet and Intranet landscape in the future will consist of specialized business applications which are full participants on the Internet in providing
information, participating in wide-area transactions, and seamlessly retrieving information from the Internet whenever needed for its processing.
The kind of specialized business application servers that will exist include, firstly, all or most of the current client/server business applications such as customer support systems, order entry systems, data warehousing and data mining,
document management, configurators, inventory planners, sales lead tracking and opportunity management, and the like. All of these will be specialized application servers present and addressable on the Internet. All will make their data and
transactions available from a Web browser. On the other hand, many new applications will be created that are either new specialized servers for outstanding business problems that cross departmental boundaries--applications that could not have easily
been handled by previous dedicated client-server or groupware systems without massive coordination and changes in business structure and process. It is the common carrier status of the Internet and its ability to allow data and application communication
to cross people, tasks, data formats, and vendor boundaries that empowers this change. This transformation of the nature of Internet applications will be equivalent of the telephone network reaching common carrier status.
It is useful to divide the types of information present within a corporate setting into "static information" and "dynamic information." Static information is information of general interest, that is, information that does not have a high
time-value but is useful for general reference. Dynamic information, on the other hand, is information that has a high time value; here, changes or updates have immediate impact. In general, dynamic information is business-critical information for
which communication on a timely basis can have business revenue and productivity impact. This is the information that runs the company and reflects the corporate response to changing events. Examples of this includes: Pricing updates or modifications
that occur based on market pressure or competitive announcements; Emerging market or industry analyst reports that are competitive weapons for or against one's company and must be known by employees and partners in advance of the customers; Presentations
of new products and update bulletins to be used by sales representatives and outside partners as a critical sales tool; and Reports and Flash Updates of sales forecasting and sell-through.
The Internet and the World Wide Web today are best suited for static information and as an archive for dynamic information. Business critical, dynamic information must be targeted to the right people for immediate impact. This is performed
today, even in the most highly technologically advanced companies, by combinations of electronic interpersonal mail, fax blasters, Federal Express packages, and hastily dispatched voice mails. In most companies, all of the these methods are used in
order to try to guarantee business critical information reaches the right parties at the right time. Unfortunately, such an approach is a significant burden which relies on mostly manual ad hoc practices to "get the word out." Specifically, the approach
produces information overload for the recipients and causes the most critical information to be often overlooked. It is this business-critical target information flow that the Internet can provide a solution for. This is not addressed with present-day
Internet tools and applications. What is needed are system and methods which provide for management and delivery of time-sensitive, business-critical information to multiple individuals located at various locations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An Intranet-based system with methods for co-active information delivery is described. The system allows users to manage the distribution and delivery of information across an enterprise Intranet, the Internet, and common communication channels
(e.g., printers, fax, pager and e-mail). The system provides a wizard-like user interface which intuitively walks users through various tasks, including distribution of new documents, updating of existing documents, modifying profiles of documents,
groups, roles and individuals.
As organizational changes occur, the system of the present invention ensures that the most current, relevant information is always made available to the appropriate eligible subscribers. No additional effort is required from either the
subscribers or the distributors. "Adaptive Distribution" support causes subscriber lists to automatically respond to changes in group composition, accommodating new or departing individuals within the organization, as well as accommodating changing
organizational roles. As an organization changes, newly eligible recipients are electronically contacted with their new profile. At the same time, newly ineligible people are automatically cut off from the information flow. In this manner, the
adaptive methodology of the present invention ensures that all of these profiles are contextually linked together and changed automatically as new information or context for any part of the profile is updated.
Using an Intranet architecture, the present invention provides a co-active information delivery system which provides a practical solution to information delivery and, at the same time, does not require an entire company or community to adopt the
same work practices and software and communications standards. A department and its community of recipients can receive the productivity benefits of increased focused communication while leveraging the existing and emerging infrastructure.
BRIEF
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a computer system in which the present invention may be embodied.
FIG. 1B is a block diagram of a software system of the present invention for controlling the operation of the system of FIG. 1A.
FIG. 1C, is a block diagram providing an overview of the basic organization of a Co-active Information Delivery System of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating internal architecture of the server present in the Co-active Information Delivery System of FIG. 1C.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are bitmap screenshots illustrating "Wizard" dialogs providing by a user interface of the system for assisting the user with user input tasks.
FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E are bitmap screenshots illustrating "Wizard" dialogs of the system for assisting the user with the task of inputing information during specification of a "new distribution," for indicating "what" is to be distributed.
FIGS. 5A and 5B are bitmap screenshots illustrating "Wizard" dialogs of the system for assisting the user with the task of inputing information during specification of a New Distribution, for indicating "who" is to be added to the distribution.
FIGS. 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, and 6E are bitmap screenshots illustrating "Wizard" dialogs of the system for assisting the user with the task of inputing information during specification of a New distribution, for indicating "where"--a location for the
distribution.
FIGS. 7A and 7B are bitmap screenshots illustrating "Wizard" dialogs of the system for assisting the user with the task of inputing information during specification of a New Distribution, for providing a short title and description or summary for
the then-current release and for selecting a particular object for distribution as the current release.
FIG. 8A is a bitmap screenshot illustrating a "Wizard" dialog of the system for assisting the user with the task of inputing information during specification of a New distribution, for indicating "when" a distribution release is to be issued.
FIG. 8B is a bitmap screenshot illustrating a "Wizard" dialog of the system comfirming successful input of information for specifying a New Distribution.
FIGS. 9A and 9B are bitmap screenshots illustrating "Wizard" dialogs of the system for assisting the user with the tasks of inputing information for issuing new releases of a distribution.
FIGS. 10A and 10B are bitmap screenshots illustrating "Wizard" dialogs of the system for assisting the user with the tasks of inputing information for managing distributions.
FIGS. 11A, 11B, 11C, 11D, 11E, 11F, 11G, 11H, and 11I are bitmap screenshots illustrating "Wizard" dialogs of the system for assisting the user with the tasks of inputing information for managing a user's profile.
FIGS. 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D, 12E, 12F, 12G and 12H are bitmap screenshots illustrating "Wizard" dialogs of the system for assisting the user with the tasks of inputing information for managing information made available to the user.
FIG. 13A is a bitmap screenshot illustrating an exemplary e-mail message which includes a "registration" message or certificate for registering a new user with the system.
FIGS. 13B, 13C, 13D, 13E, 13F and 13G are bitmap screenshots illustrating an exemplary e-mail message and accompanying "Wizard" dialogs for receiving and accepting an "offer."
FIGS. 14A and 14B are bitmap screenshots illustrating an exemplary e-mail message and accompanying "Wizard" dialogs for receiving and accepting a "notification."
FIG. 14C is bitmap screenshots illustrating an exemplary Subscription Center dialog.
FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating detailed architecture of the system of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The following description will focus on the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is operative in an end-user application running under the Microsoft.RTM. Windows 95/NT environment. The present invention, however, is
not limited to any particular one application or any particular environment. Instead, those skilled in the art will find that the system and methods of the present invention may be advantageously applied to environments requiring access and management
of time-sensitive, business-critical information, including database management systems, wordprocessors, spreadsheets, and the like. Moreover, the present invention may be embodied on a variety of different platforms, including Macintosh, UNIX,
NextStep, and the like. Therefore, the description of the exemplary embodiments which follows is for purposes of illustration and not limitation.
System Hardware
The invention may be embodied on a computer system such as the system 100 of FIG. 1A, which comprises a central processor 101, a main memory 102, an input/output controller 103, a keyboard 104, a pointing device 105 (e.g., mouse, track ball, pen
device, or the like), a display or screen device 106, a mass storage 107 (e.g., hard or fixed disk, removable floppy disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, or flash memory), a network interface card or controller 111 (e.g., Ethernet), and a modem 112
(e.g., 28.8k baud modem or ISDN modem). Although not shown separately, a real-time system clock is included with the system 100, in a conventional manner. Processor 101 includes or is coupled to a cache memory for storing frequently accessed
information; memory 109 may be an on-chip cache or external cache. One or more input/output device(s) 108, such as a printing device or slide output device, are included in the system 100, as desired. As shown, the various components of the system 100
communicate through a system bus 110 or similar architecture. The system itself communicates with other systems via a network interface card 111 (e.g., available from 3Com) and/or modem 112 (e.g., available from U.S. Robotics). In a preferred
embodiment, the system 100 includes an IBM PC-compatible personal computer, available from a variety of vendors (including IBM of Armonk, N.Y.). I/O device 108 may include a laser printer, such as an HP Laserjet printer, which is available from
Hewlett-Packard of Palo Alto, Calif.
System Software
A. Overview
Illustrated in FIG. 1B, a computer software system 120 is provided for directing the operation of the computer system 100. Software system 120, which is stored in system memory 102 and on storage device (e.g., disk memory) 107, includes a kernel
or operating system (OS) 121 and a windows shell 123. One or more application programs, such as client application software or "programs" 122 may be "loaded" (i.e., transferred from storage 107 into memory 102) for execution by the system 100.
System 120 includes a user interface (UI) 126, preferably a Graphical User Interface (GUI), for receiving user commands and data. These inputs, in turn, may be acted upon by the system 100 in accordance with instructions from operating module
121, windows 123, and/or client application module(s) 122. The UI 126 also serves to display the results of operation from the OS 121, windows 123, and application(s) 122, whereupon the user may supply additional inputs or terminate the session. OS 121
and windows 122 can be provided by Microsoft.RTM. Windows 95, by Microsoft.RTM. Windows NT, or by Microsoft.RTM. Windows 3.x (operating in conjunction with MS-DOS); these are available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. Although shown
conceptually as a separate module, the UI is typically provided by interaction of the application modules with the windows shell, both operating under OS 121.
One application program comprises an Internet/Intranet-based co-active information delivery system 125 of the present invention. The co-active information delivery system 125 provides information management among multiple users connected to the
Internet or to other commercial service providers (e.g., MCI Mail, CompuServe, and America On-line). In an exemplary embodiment, the system 125 comprises IntraExpress.TM., available from Diffusion, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. Typically,
IntraExpress.TM. would be deployed as separate IntraExpress.TM. server and client software components (i.e., running on separate computers), for implementing a "thin client/thick server" system. The construction and operation of the co-active
information delivery system of the present invention, in the exemplary commercial embodiment of IntraExpressTM, will now be described in detail.
Co-active Intranet Applications
A. Introduction
Intranet applications today are typically employed for two fundamental purposes: exchanging interpersonal electronic mail and providing an electronic on-line reference library of documents and reports. Electronic mail applications consist of an
Internet mail server and an interactive mail client. The Web serves as an electronic repository for documents; Web browsers are employed by corporate users to "surf" the internal web servers and hunt for valuable references.
Electronic mail is used today primarily for interpersonal communication. It provides an active "push" model, in that the sender of a message determines who should receive its content and "pushes" the message immediately into the electronic
in-box of the recipient. In effect, the sender makes all of the decisions about who will receive the message and when. Web servers and Web browsers, on the other hand, provide a passive "pull" model. Content is placed within a Web server in
anticipation of users later browsing the Web site to look for relevant content. The anticipated recipient decides whether and when to visit the Web site looking for new or recently updated content. Both "push" and "pull" Internet methods provide forms
of information access and retrieval.
Today, though, a dilemma exists in deciding whether to "push" or "pull" information. If an information owner, perhaps the product marketing manager responsible for competitive analyses, prepares a critical evaluation of a threatening new product
from a competitor, should he or she push the information, for instance, "blasting" the report to everyone by sending it via electronic mail. Certainly such an approach will ensure everyone has the information--but at the same time, not everyone
critically needs it. Further, if everyone adopts a similar approach, "information overload" results, causing the right people to miss (in a sea of other material) what is truly critical for them. Thus, the following issue must be addressed. How can
the information owner know exactly who to send the information to without overloading others? On the other hand, is it sufficient | | |
