Web server replicated mini-filter

Details Web server replicated mini-filter Web server replicated mini-filter

2000-05-16

2004-07-06

Geckil, Mehmet B. (Department: 2142)

Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput

Distributed data processing

Client/server

C709S217000, C715S252000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06760745

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to the installation of software on a computer system. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of replicating customized web pages sourced from a replicated server configuration.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web has changed the manner in which many companies provide information and the customer service function to their clients and customers. Traditionally, a customer needing assistance or information with respect to a product or service provided by a company would call a customer service agent who would provide him the information over the phone and/or mail or fax the customer additional information as necessary. The web, however, has provided companies with another venue to provide customer service information to their customers. In many instances, a customer's problem or question is a common one that the customer can find an answer to by accessing the company's frequently asked questions web page. Many companies also provide up to date customer account information online so that the customer may access and review his account status in between receiving statements by mail.
In most instances, web based customer service has proven beneficial to customers and companies: the companies can be more efficient not requiring as many customer service personnel to spend time answering common questions; and the customers can quickly and easily find answers to the common questions by accessing the companies' web sites and accessing personal account information and other personal information online. However, in certain circumstances, a customer who has accessed a company's web site may have questions about information provided through the web site to which answers are not provided in a frequently-asked-questions page. For instance, the customer may have a question about his/her account statement. In this instance, the customer will typically have to call a customer service agent, explain to the customer service agent about the account information he/she was viewing, direct the customer service agent to the web page containing the account information, and direct the customer service agent to the portion of the page relating to his/her question. In many instances the customer will not have the ability to be online and converse with an agent at the same time, in which case explaining the content of the web page may be more difficult. The result may be a significant portion of time spent by the customer explaining the location and content of the information before the customer service agent is able to understand the customer's problem and help him/her.
Software programs have been developed that facilitate a customer and an agent to simultaneously view the same web page and interact with each other over the Internet. One such product is WebAgent software from Aspect Communications, Inc. Using the WebAgent software, a customer can browse web pages unassisted, but if assistance is needed, it can be requested by clicking a “help” button provided on the web page in question. The customer is then connected with a customer service representative. The customer service representative can concurrently view the same pages as the customer. The two parties can manipulate the concurrently viewed web pages, move from one page to another together, control each others navigation, markup the pages using a whiteboard feature, and chat with each other whether through IP telephony or through a text chat box.
Prior art
FIG. 1
illustrates an architectural overview of an operating environment for utilizing the WebAgent software. A client computer
105
is connected to the Internet
110
. A web server
15
is connected to the Internet
110
. The web server
15
includes a cache
120
that can store requested and delivered pages and other information as necessary. The web server
115
is connected to a WebAgent server
125
. The WebAgent server
125
is connected with a customer service representative's computer
130
. The WebAgent server
125
is the server that handles the interaction between the customer's client computer
105
and the customer service representative's computer
130
.
Prior art
FIG. 2
provides a typical flow chart of the interaction between the client
105
, the servers
115
&
125
, and the customer service representative's computer
130
involved in establishing an interactive WebAgent session. In block
205
, a client
105
requests a web page from a company's web server
115
through an Internet connection
110
. The web page is retrieved by the web server
115
and sent to the client
105
in block
210
. Where the web page is a dynamically-generated “post” type page, the page is customized for the client
105
and a copy is cached within the web server's cache
120
prior to sending the customized dynamically-generated page to the client
105
. The requestor is then able to review the web page at his/her leisure on the client computer
105
. If the requester, however, desires help or assistance in interpreting the page or in the case of a form, filling it out, the requestor may initiate a help session by clicking upon the appropriate icon on the web page as shown in block
215
. In block
220
, the request is retrieved by the WebAgent server
125
, which initiates the sending of java applets to the client
105
necessary for the client
105
to participate in the interactive session. The java applets may be sent to the client
105
from either the web server
115
, or the WebAgent server
125
. In some implementations, a single server may perform the functions of both the web agent server
115
and the WebAgent server
125
. Additionally, where the web page is of the “post” type, the WebAgent server
125
retrieves the copy of the web page stored in the cache
120
. In block
225
, the WebAgent server
225
contacts an available customer service representative's computer
130
and sends the customer service representative's computer
130
the copy of the web page. The customer service client
130
and the client
105
engage in an interactive session through the WebAgent
125
.
In recent years with the rapid increase in the number of people using the World Wide Web, many organizations have found it necessary to have more than one server to meet the demand of people requesting to access their web sites. Accordingly, replicated web server architectures have become common where a number of servers, each having stored content identical as the other servers are interconnected with a load balancing server that receives and routes requests for web pages to the servers for servicing. Typically, the load-balancing server routes the request to the server that is carrying the lowest amount of current load.
The system of caching the “post” type dynamically-generated web pages as described above to establish an interactive session does not work well with replicated server architectures. The WebAgent server
125
, after receiving a help request from the client
105
, is unaware which of the multiple replicated servers was the source of the “post” type dynamically-generated page for which help is desired. Accordingly, the WebAgent server
125
is not able to retrieve the copy of the cached dynamically-generated page stored in the server, which originally serviced the web page request, and send that page to the customer service representative's to establish the interactive session.
The same replicated server problem does not present itself when establishing an interactive help session with regard to static web pages or “get” type dynamically-generated web pages since the content of these types of pages are identified by the content of their URL and can, therefore, be retrieved from any of the replicated servers. Static pages are limited in terms of content to that which is stored on the server for that particular URL, and is therefore not particularly useful to generate customer specific web pages such as those that display

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Web server replicated mini-filter does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Web server replicated mini-filter, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Web server replicated mini-filter will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3233472