Transaction flow editing tool

Details Transaction flow editing tool Transaction flow editing tool

1997-12-02

2001-06-05

Bayerl, Raymond J. (Department: 2173)

Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system

Display driving control circuitry

Controlling the condition of display elements

C345S215000, C345S960000, C345S960000, C345S215000, C700S083000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06243092

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to improvements in customer transaction processing systems, such as call processing equipment. More particularly, the invention relates to a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for editing transaction flows in a transaction processing system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
During recent years, automated transaction processing systems (e.g., telephone call processing systems) have increased in power and flexibility. Processing systems that are designed to aid direct telephone marketing or other telephone-based service providers have changed the configuration of physical sites. Previously, human agents at a single physical site handled inbound and outbound calls with minimal automation of agent and remote customer transactions. Today, many physical sites have been replaced by a virtual site which may be networked to multiple physical call centers that employ home and in-office workers who initiate and respond to remote customer transactions over different media, while creating and using a large amount of business-specific information.
The transformation of physical call center sites into virtual sites changes the type of business applications that users or developers must create and maintain. Originally, writing a business application for a call router consisted of defining call routing tables for a single site. Each routing table defines a workflow for describing how telephone calls and other transactions are distributed to agents, commonly referred to as automatic call distribution. Today, a business application can span multiple sites, employing distributed workflows that require the coordination of geographically distributed routing tables. Multiple software tools may be used to create various components of such systems. Because different users have different transaction flow requirements, the system for each user may become a confusing mosaic of interdependent applications, each created and maintained by different software tools. Multiple software tools may increase the difficulty in coordinating workflows across distributed execution environments, increase application development time, increase lifecycle maintenance costs, and increase the time required to make changes and enhancements to such systems.
In existing systems, generation of routing tables or routing procedures to control transaction flows requires computer programming skills. Additionally, specific training is generally required to learn how to generate routing tables. This specialized knowledge and training is required both to generate routing tables and to edit or modify existing routing tables.
Therefore, there is a need to minimize potential confusion caused by the use of multiple software tools and simplify the generation of workflow definitions (such as routing tables or routing procedures). There is a further need to coordinate workflows across distributed execution environments, reduce application development time, decrease life cycle maintenance costs, and decrease the time required to make changes to such systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a system, method, and article of manufacture for editing visual primitives of a transaction flow used by a transaction processing system. A visual representation of a transaction flow containing visual primitives is accessed from a storage device by a digital computer. The digital computer is then used to display the visual primitives on the visual display. The visual primitives are then edited such that the system provides for unrestricted placement of the visual primitives.
A particular embodiment of the invention displays a visual alert if the transaction flow is incomplete.
In one embodiment of the invention, alphanumeric text is added to a visual primitive. In other embodiments, alphanumeric text is added anywhere in the transaction flow.
Particular embodiments of the invention automatically establish a connection between a first visual primitive and a second visual primitive when the first and second visual primitives overlap one another.
Another embodiment of the invention provides one or more transaction flow templates that can be selected and modified by the visual editing system.


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