Email-to-Task Converter for Automated Assignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Organizations face challenges in tracking and managing task assignments received via electronic mail, leading to potential oversight and missed deadlines due to laborious and error-prone manual processes.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that converts emails into tasks by extracting actionable verbs, due dates, and clients using natural language processing, and assigns these tasks to appropriate agents within a computer program, utilizing a task inbox corresponding to an email address with a domain name.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual tracking of task assignments via electronic mail is used, then flexibility in communication is maintained, but labor intensity increases and errors occur leading to missed deadlines
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by automatically converting incoming emails into structured tasks without requiring manual intervention. The email-to-task converter extracts actionable information from emails and creates tasks autonomously, allowing the system to serve itself in managing task assignments and reducing the need for human effort in tracking.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual process of tracking and assigning tasks with an automated computational system. The email-to-task converter uses natural language processing and pattern recognition to automatically extract task information from emails and create structured task entries, substituting human manual labor with automated mechanical processing.
2Reliability
If manual conversion of emails to tasks is performed, then accuracy can be maintained through human judgment, but labor intensity and error rates increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component called the email-to-task converter that acts as a mediator between incoming emails and the task management system. This intermediary automatically processes emails, extracts relevant information using natural language processing, and converts them into structured tasks, thereby maintaining accuracy while reducing the complexity of manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a copy or representation of the email content in a structured task format. The email-to-task converter extracts key information from the email and generates a standardized task entry that mirrors the essential elements of the original email, ensuring accuracy is preserved while automating the conversion process.
3Productivity
If automated email-to-task conversion is implemented, then productivity and task tracking improve, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the task management system into distinct functional modules: the email-to-task converter, the task inbox, and the task assignment mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, improving overall productivity while managing system complexity through modular design. The converter handles email processing, the inbox stores tasks, and the assignment system distributes tasks to agents.
Data Source
AI summary
A method may include creating a task inbox corresponding to an email address. The email address may include a domain name corresponding to a computer program. The method may further include receiving, at the task inbox, emails from agents of an organization. The agents may include an agent. The emails may include an email from the agent. The method may further include extracting, from the email, a verb, a due date, and a client, determining that the verb is an actionable verb, in response to determining that the verb is an actionable verb, generating, from the email and within the computer program, a task including the due date and the client, and assigning, in the computer program, the task to the agent.