Data processing: measuring – calibrating – or testing – Measurement system – Performance or efficiency evaluation
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-19
2002-05-28
Hoff, Marc S. (Department: 2857)
Data processing: measuring, calibrating, or testing
Measurement system
Performance or efficiency evaluation
C702S188000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06397167
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable
REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems for recording time expended in performing tasks and, more particularly, to systems for automatically recording time and work performed on a computer by monitoring file activity and by monitoring various input devices.
2. Description of the Background Art
Telecommuting refers to work being done at locations other than a central location. Telecommuters are typically knowledge workers who work primarily on tasks which require mental or intellectual activity, rather than on tasks which require physical or capital intensive work at a central location. Many Telecommuters use personal computers at their remote work site. One of the biggest obstacles to implementation of telecommuting is that managers would not be able to tell if their telecommuting employees were actually working. Another obstacle is the problem of how to measure the productivity of telecommuting employees. A manager needs to trust that a telecommuting employee is working and trust is developed through quality communications between the central site and the remotely located telecommuting worker.
Professional knowledge workers, such as computer programmers, bill their time for work done on their computers. The problem of how to monitor their time and activities on their computer, as well as how to automatically calculate the cost of these activities for accounting purposes, needs to be solved. Many invoicing systems rely on the manual inputting of the billable time and a technique is required to determine the accuracy of that billed time. In the custom software programming business, specifications often change so that more time is expended than is originally projected and a customer needs to receive accurate documentation for additional time to be billed.
A Directive issued by President Clinton on Jul. 11, 1994 on family-friendly work arrangements addressed the subject of expanding family-friendly work arrangements in the executive branch of the U. S. Government. The head of each executive department or agency was directed to establish a program to encourage and support the expansion of flexible family-friendly work arrangements, including: job sharing; career part-time employment; alternative work schedules; telecommuting and satellite work locations. All necessary steps were to be taken to support and encourage the expanded implementation of flexible work arrangements to achieve the goals of the directive.
Telecommuting would have a significant impact on reduction of air pollution. AT&T has estimated that an average employee spends 70 minutes a day commuting and generates 43 pounds of pollution a day. If two million commuters, which is less than 3% of the United States work force, telecommuted, 43,000 tons of pollution would be eliminated every day. The California's Southern Coast Air Quality Management District estimated the annual pollution from cars in 1991 to be 2,064,000 tons of pollutants.
Telecommuting provides a number of benefits. Productivity increase of 10%-20% can be expected. Turnover rates and related new employee recruitment and training costs are reduced. Management by objective rather than management by process is fostered. Specialists for a particular task can be recruited, regardless of geographic location. Organizations can be flexibly organized with faster response times and improved employee morale. Telecommuters can provide greater participation by users in their local activities. A cleaner environment and an increased ability to meet state and federal clean air and employee commuting reduction programs can be provided. The consumption of energy and dependence on fossil fuels is decreased.
Several important business economic concerns are all positively affected by telecommuting, including: maintaining or increasing productivity; decreasing office space needs; attracting or retaining critical skills among the staff; and compliance with air quality or other environmental regulations.
U. S. Pat. No. 5,305,238 dated Apr. 19, 1994, granted to Starr et al. for “Data Input Monitor and Indicator For Managing Work Pace and Rest Periods” discloses a data input monitor for use with a computer keyboard, which measures the amount of data entered into a computer and establishes rest periods based on the measured data input. This patent counts keystrokes but does not provide an indication of what work is accomplished or what projects are being worked on.
U.S. Pat. No.: 4,819,162 dated Apr. 4, 1989, granted to Webb et al. for “Time Clock System Including Scheduling Payroll and Productivity Analysis Capability” discloses a computerized time clock system, which includes a personal computer via which employee, job, and schedule records may be assembled and maintained. This system records only time-in and time-out transactions and does not provide for user-defined data collection and analysis of time expended and work accomplished.
Thus, a need exists for a technique for selectively and automatically measuring the actual amount of work done on various projects on a computer by an operator, such as a telecommuter, either at a local site or at a site on a network where the user has a number of input devices.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of a time tracking system provided according to the invention to produce automatic documentation and unalterable proof of work done on a computer. This will allow managers to feel more comfortable with having their computer-oriented employees telecommute, resulting in economic benefits to the employer, employee, and ecological benefits from reduced vehicle usage and car emissions due to commuting. Self-employed professionals who use a computer to generate income can use this product to document their work and automatically generate invoices that accurately documents the time and work done by the computer professional.
The time tracking system according to the invention has a data analyzer which provides for the exclusion of time where there is no activity on the computer. By accurately measuring the time and work on a computer, productivity can be measured and estimates for future projects can be more accurately forecasted with reduced financial risk. The time tracking system according to the invention provides the ability to track only certain user selected files or directories.
The time tracking system provided according to the invention provides for automatic documenting of time and work performed on a computer. In the past, the tracking of worked time has been done by manual input and not on stand alone personal computers. Anyone working with a personal computer or a computer network can have an automatic, accurate, and reliable means of documenting time and work done with a personal computer. The invention permits selection of the files and directories to be monitored. Multiple customers or employers can be accommodated and all operating system calls can be stored.
The time tracking system according to the invention provides an automatic way of collecting information about computer work, categorizing it by user-definable rules, and in essence, providing proof of exactly how long someone has been working on a specified task. This provides a documentation tool beneficial to both management and workers.
The time tracking system according to the invention provides a technique for selectively and automatically measuring the actual amount of work done on each of various projects on a computer by an operator such as a telecommuter.
The data collected by the system can be encrypted to maintain the integrity of the data. Because the data is encrypted, information about reported time and work performed on the computer is accurate and cannot be altered.
The system provided according to the invention automates the documenting of time and work performed on a computer. In the past, the tracking of worked time has been done by manual input a
Lehman Michael G.
Skinner Gary R.
Discovision Associates
Goldsmith Micah
Hoff Marc S.
Masaki Keiji
Miller Craig Steven
LandOfFree
Time and activity tracker with hardware abstraction layer does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Time and activity tracker with hardware abstraction layer, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Time and activity tracker with hardware abstraction layer will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2885711