System and method for advanced rule creation and management within an integrated virtual workspace

Abstract

A conflict detection and resolution system and method are described for detecting and resolving conflicts between filtering and / or routing rules within an integrated messaging / document management system. One embodiment of the method comprises evaluating a plurality of rules for routing, filtering and / or storing messages and / or documents to determine whether a conflict exists between two or more of the plurality of rules; detecting a conflict between two or more of the plurality of rules; determining a severity level associated with the detected conflict; and identifying a resolution to the conflict resolution if the severity level associated with the conflict is below a predetermined threshold value.

Description

PRIORITY [0001] The present application claims priority from a U.S. provisional application entitled “Integrated Message and Document Management”, Application No. 60 / 486,166, filed Jul. 11, 2003.BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] This invention relates generally to the field of information management systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for creating and managing an advanced rule set within an integrated WorkSpace. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] The average individual accesses and manages a surprisingly large number of messages and documents every day. In a typical business environment, the number of legitimate messages received and sent in the course of a day averages roughly fifty. These include emails, faxes, voice messages, voice calls, text messages, and instant messages. The number of devices that individuals use for communications and messaging has also multiplied. Such devices include computers, fax machines...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Once users are allowed to specify routing rules and filtering rules, conflicts between and among such rules are inevitable, especially as message and document types and rule-triggering conditions multiply.

These requirements make the use of routing and filtering rules less appealing.

It is difficult to anticipate the possibility of the above conflict when the user is entering their call routing rules.

However, when creating a rule, it is difficult for users to determine if one rule may conflict with another.

When users create filtering rules, they may create conflicts between these rules.

Due to unintended interplay between rules, the behavior of a message or document management system may not conform to a user's expectations.

There are situations where rule interpretation does not produce correct message or document management solutions.

Often users have difficulty understanding such interplays in rule execution order.

Here again users have trouble understanding the interactions of various rules.

ne. But there is no interpretation of what to do at 5:02 p.m. and at 5:58 p.m. even though there are reasonable solutions in both situa

When multiple pieces of evidence are considered in user-created rules, conflicts may also be present.

Service providers usually filter only messages that are generally accepted to be promotional “junk” mail since it is hard for them to determine the value of each type of content.

When users create filtering rules, it is hard for them to assess and anticipate the potential conflicts between rules and their resultant actions.

The following are some of the conflicts in filtering rules that may result in unintended consequences while applying rules.

Such conflicts in user-created filtering rules arise especially when multiple conditions need to be considered.

This produces unintended results since earlier rules have precedence, a fact that may not be clear to users especially if the earlier rules are “legacy” rules.

Filtering rules often do not cover all situations.

This leads to further conflicts as users try to create rules without sufficient consideration of potential conflicts.

This is often a problem for example in unsolicited email filtering (including rules created by service providers).

Since filtering rules are hard to write, users often combine rules created by others.

This combination is done without understanding the situation when the rules were created and results in unintended consequences.

This situation is often seen when Internet Service Providers combine lists of suspect sites, resulting in unintentionally blocking legitimate sites included within the general domain.

Rules specified by users may involve conflicts.

One problem that is common among many unified communications solutions today is the need to manage messages at least twice when different access methods to messages are permitted or when messages are routed to non-system locations.

The cause of this problem is the fact that equivalent messages are produced in various devices and locations.

For the majority of users, however, the requirement of double management is a minor nuisance.

Thus, a user who specifies that they do not want to double manage their voicemail messages would not have available to them a voicemail that was previously accessed over the Internet and deleted.

The problem of multiple message management is more difficult to resolve in a context where the message itself has been forwarded or otherwise sent to a device or location outside the message management system.

Most Interactive Voice Response (“IVR”) systems have a limitation that can be a significant nuisance for many users.

Such distribution lists, however, do not take into account the messaging preferences of message recipients.

Users may wish to limit the individuals with whom they communicate through these methods because of the invasive and pervasive nature of such communications.

They are invasive because they intrude into an individual's privacy in a written and recorded form.

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