Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-25
2002-07-09
Trammell, James P. (Department: 2175)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C704S002000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06418434
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electronic messaging system and method of use and, more particularly, to an electronic messaging system that automatically and accurately responds to user queries (e.g., input documents) using a two stage searching and retrieval system.
2. Background Description
Electronic commerce (e.g., the electronic sale of products and customer services relating to those products) over the Internet and more importantly the World Wide Web (WWW) portion of the Internet is becoming increasingly more important to a business' viability and economic health. However, in order to effectively conduct business over the Internet or any other electronic means it is imperative that the user (e.g., customers) have easy access to the information that is available through the Internet (or other electronic means), and in particular, product and service information contained in a content rich web site sponsored by a particular entity (such as, for example, a company, business, institution and the like). It is equally important that the user have access to the required information via a proprietary database accessed via an intranet, LAN, single use computer, or other similar system.
In order to be an active and competitive participant in the field of electronic commerce, it is critical that the business be responsive to electronic user queries, as well as providing pertinent information in response to those queries, via the content rich web site (or off-line help desk). This provides an avenue for the user to obtain timely information about services and products offered by the business of concern, and further provides a cost efficient method for the entity to disseminate such information to the user.
There are several means of providing pertinent information in response to user queries, such as electronic mail (email), frequently asked question (FAQ) databases and on-line/off-line help desks. These methods permit the user to become more familiar with the company or entity it is doing business with, and thus more comfortable with purchasing products and/or services and/or requesting information over the Internet or other electronic means from the business. This, in turn, may translate into increased traffic on the web site (e.g., the customer again revisiting the web site) or proprietary database (or other electronic system) which is instrumental in increasing revenue growth of the business via its electronic commerce activities. This same interaction also provides a valuable service to the entity of concern by allowing the business or other entity to better serve its customers in a more cost efficient manner.
It is also important to note that such systems may also be instrumental in assisting employees of a company or institution in obtaining internal and/or confidential information that would otherwise be difficult or time consuming to obtain, and which is not accessible to the general public. This information may be accessed via an intranet, LAN or other similar system, and would allow employees to readily obtain information that may be needed in the performance of their employment. By way of example, a customer representative may need to access a help-desk database in order to assist a customer regarding a certain topic.
When using email, the user simply requests certain information and forwards that information via electronic means to the business entity or other concerned party. To this end, businesses, for example, receive and generate many electronic messages in the course of their commerce and activities, which are routed, via a mail system (e.g., server), to a specific individual or individuals, or a general inquiry center. Once the specific individual or individuals receive the message, it is opened, read, and an appropriate action is taken, such as, for example, forwarding the message to another individual, responding to the message or performing countless other actions, and the like. Typically, this is a time consuming and inefficient use of resources and, in many instances, does not adequately address the user's query in a timely manner.
For example, in large institutions, such as banks, electronic messages are routed to the institution generally, and not to any specific individual. In these instances, several individuals may have the sole function of opening and reading the incoming messages, and to properly route the messages so that, for example, an appropriate action by a qualified specialist can be performed on the message. As can be imagined, this is very time consuming and inefficient, especially when messages need expert attention in several divergent fields.
A more time efficient but less accurate manner of responding to a user's query is to provide a FAQ database which allows the user to query the database for certain information. In these “auto-response” systems, the user asks a general or specific question and a “weak” search engine performs, for example, a keyword matching or nearest neighbor determination, to return a list of potentially relevant documents (responses or answers). However, these searching techniques do not make definite decisions regarding whether a document or answer is relevant to the user query, or present the answers in a manner that is intuitive to the user. Accordingly, the user is typically required to search through a possibly large set of documents in order to find the appropriate answer to the user query. This is especially true when the database of answer documents is large, and such nearest neighbor or other similar known search technologies return a large set of potentially relevant documents or answers.
The FAQ database is a simple and cost efficient means for providing responses to user queries. It is also easy to maintain and update, simply by adding more answers to the database. However, as discussed above, the database becomes less accurate when more answers are placed in the database. Another compromise in the use of FAQ databases is the fact that a large number of responses may be returned, but none of which are responsive to the customer query. This is a result of the “weak” search engine used by the FAQ databases. Thus, although there is a low barrier to entry, some users may become frustrated by (i) the many returned responses that must be read prior to obtaining a correct answer or (ii) not receiving a response that is responsive to the user's query.
An off-line help desk is another way of disseminating information to a user. In this case, the user calls via telephone or requests via email (or other electronic means) certain information which is then routed to an operator. The operator then queries a database of answers in order to appropriately answer the user's query. This may be performed in the same manner as a FAQ database, to wit a “weak” search engine which performs, for example, a keyword matching or nearest neighbor determination. However, the off-line help desk may instead use machine learning techniques which require sample training data. While more accurate than weaker search techniques, current machine learning techniques, alone, suffer from the fact that they are costly to develop and maintain and have a low performance speed.
It is desirable, however, to have an electronic response system that effectively and efficiently responds to a user's query. This includes providing timely and accurate responses to the user query without the assistance of a qualified specialist or other individual having to read and respond to the incoming message.
In order to effectively and efficiently respond to a user's query, a two stage messaging system is required. This system would preferably combine a “weak” search engine with a machine learning technique in order to respond to the user's query in an accurately and timely manner. This two stage messaging system would be cost efficient, easy to maintain, and provide a high speed and accurate response system. The general applications would include email syste
Johnson David E.
Vortman Pnina
Kaufman Stephen C.
McGuireWoods LLP
Trammell James P.
Wang Mary
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