Contact Information Aggregation Engine with Confidence Scoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
The process of gathering information about a contact from multiple sources is time-consuming and inefficient, requiring separate searches across various platforms such as websites, social networks, communications, and enterprise data storage.
Innovation Solution
A system and process that aggregates contact-related information from multiple sources, including social networks, CRM services, cloud storage, and email services, using a contact engine and search proxy to retrieve and display relevant information on mobile devices, with confidence of association values to determine the accuracy of the information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If separate searches are performed across multiple sources (websites, social networks, communications, enterprise data storage), then comprehensive contact information can be gathered, but the process becomes time-consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate information sources (websites, social networks, communications, enterprise data storage) into a unified search system. The contact information system aggregates data from these disparate sources through a centralized platform that performs simultaneous searches across all sources, eliminating the need for manual separate searches and reducing time loss while maintaining information completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact information system is designed as a universal platform that can search and retrieve information from multiple types of sources including public websites, social networks, private communications, and enterprise data storage systems. This multi-functional system handles diverse data types and sources through a single interface, improving efficiency without compromising the comprehensiveness of contact information gathering.
2Loss of information
If information is aggregated from multiple sources, then contact information completeness improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary contact information system that mediates between multiple data sources and the user. This intermediary layer handles the complexity of aggregating data from websites, social networks, communications, and enterprise storage by providing a unified search interface and centralized processing logic, thereby reducing the apparent complexity for users while maintaining comprehensive information gathering capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where search results from multiple sources are continuously refined and updated. The contact information system learns from search outcomes and adjusts its aggregation strategy, improving information completeness while managing system complexity through adaptive processing rather than static complex architecture.
3Measurement precision
If contact information is retrieved from multiple sources, then information accuracy can be improved through confidence values, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs confidence values as a parameter to measure and indicate the accuracy of retrieved contact information. By assigning confidence scores to information from different sources, the system enables users to quickly assess information reliability without extensive manual verification, improving measurement precision while maintaining efficient processing through automated scoring rather than time-consuming validation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial verification by assigning confidence values based on source reliability and data consistency rather than exhaustive validation of every piece of information. This approach provides sufficient accuracy for most purposes while significantly reducing processing time compared to complete verification of all contact information from multiple sources.
Data Source
AI summary
Displaying contact-related information is disclosed. An association between a contact address not specific to a source of contact-related information and an identity of an entity at the source of contact-related information may be determined. Information representing the association between the contact address and the identity of the entity at the source of contact-related information is stored. The information representing the association is stored at a node associated with a service configured to use the information representing the association to retrieve from the source of contact-related information a response data associated with the entity in response to an expression of interest in a contact with which the contact address is associated.