Project Status Tracking via Automated Email and Calendar Querying
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Team managers in project development teams face challenges in accurately tracking project progress due to obscure communication and meeting activities between team members and clients, leading to time-consuming and ineffective manual inquiries.
Innovation Solution
A system that communicates with a CRM system to automatically identify target and source email addresses, querying an email server for email and meeting activities associated with projects, providing real-time project activity updates without manual data processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If manual inquiries are used to track project communication activities, then team managers can obtain project status information, but the process becomes time-consuming and ineffective
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by automatically querying email servers and calendar systems to retrieve communication activities. The project management system autonomously collects data from multiple sources without requiring manual intervention from team members, thus eliminating time-consuming phone calls and meetings while maintaining accurate project status information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary system that acts as a bridge between communication tools (email servers, calendar systems) and the project management platform. This intermediary automatically collects and processes communication data, transforming scattered email and calendar information into structured project status updates without manual effort.
2Measurement precision
If individual team members are asked about their communication activities, then project status can be tracked, but the approach is inaccurate and ineffective
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements automated feedback loops by continuously querying email servers and calendar systems for new communication activities. This feedback mechanism ensures that project status information is automatically updated with the latest communication data, providing accurate and real-time visibility into project progress without relying on manual reporting.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of manual inquiry with an automated electronic system. Instead of team members verbally reporting their activities, the system electronically queries communication platforms, parses data, and automatically updates project status, significantly improving both accuracy and effectiveness.
3Productivity
If automated systems are implemented to track email and calendar activities, then real-time project monitoring is achieved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves multi-functionality by integrating multiple capabilities into a single platform: querying email servers, accessing calendar systems, parsing communication data, and updating project status. This universal approach consolidates what would otherwise require separate tools and processes, managing complexity through integration rather than proliferation of separate systems.
Data Source
AI summary
According to one embodiment, a customer relationship management (CRM) system is queried to obtain a project that is associated with an entity (e.g., a user, a group of users, a client). A first list of one or more contacts (e.g., contact persons, referred to herein target contacts) associated with the project from the CRM system. For each of the contacts in the first list, a domain name is determined based on contact information of the contacts (e.g., emails, Web addresses, name of an account associated with the contacts). A first set of email addresses, referred to as target email addresses, is determined based on the domain name and contacts using a set of email identification rules. An email server is queried to retrieve a list of one or more emails and/or calendar events based on the first set of email addresses.