Conveying requests to service persons using avatars acting as proxies

1. A method performed by a server, the method comprising:

defining, by the server, a plurality of avatars associated with a plurality of contacts,

each avatar, of the plurality of avatars, being defined by information related to a workload, skills, an availability, and at least one of communication, responsibilities, experience, a physical location, or a history of work success of a contact of the plurality of contacts,

each avatar representing an image of at least one of the skills or the responsibilities of the contact;

registering, by the server, the plurality of avatars in an enterprise;

receiving, at the server, a work item;

identifying, by the server and based on a set of rules used to evaluate the work item, a group of contacts, of the plurality of contacts, based on availability and skills of the contacts of the group of contacts,

the group of contacts including more than one contact,

each contact, of the group of contacts, performing a different role with respect to the work item,

each contact, of the group of contacts, being from a different organization within the enterprise;

interacting, by the server, with each contact, of the group of contacts, based on the information defining the avatar associated with each contact, of the group of contacts and based on receiving the work item,

the interacting with each contact, of the group of contacts, comprising:

receiving, at the server, a request for the contact to participate with the work group,

the request being based on the communication, the skills, the responsibilities, the experience, the physical location, the availability, the workload, or the history of work success of the contact,

the contact being a service person; and

conveying, by the server, the request to the contact using the communication information,

the conveying the request comprising:

 binding, by the server, the request to a work item representing work being addressed by the work group;

 binding, by the server, a proxy avatar for the avatar to the work item;

 communicating, by the server, the conveying the request and at least some information pertaining to the work being addressed by the work group to the contact using the proxy avatar; and

updating, by the server, the workload information to reflect a response to the request; and

updating, by the server, the avatars corresponding to the contacts, of the group of contacts, to reflect the workload of the contacts and an outcome of participating with the work group.

2. The method recited in claim 1 , where interacting with each contact, of the group of contacts, further comprises:

conveying the request to the contact using the communication information; and

declining the request for the contact to participate based on a negative response to the request from the contact.

3. The method recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

updating the skills and the history of work success information for the avatars corresponding to the contacts, of the group of contacts, based on completion of participation with the work group.

4. The method recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

deploying an avatar service in the enterprise, the plurality of avatars being contained within the avatar service.

5. The method recited in claim 4 , where registering the plurality of avatars in the enterprise further comprises:

registering the plurality of avatars with a registrar within the enterprise, registering being performed by the avatar service; and

requesting an enterprise lease for the plurality of avatars from the registrar, the requesting an enterprise lease being performed by the avatar service.

6. A data processing system including instructions executable by one or more processors, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to define a plurality of avatars associated with a plurality of contacts, each avatar, of the plurality of avatars, being defined by information related to a workload, skills, an availability, and at least one of communication, responsibilities, experience, a physical location, or a history of work success of a contact of the plurality of contacts, each avatar representing an image of at least one of the skills or responsibilities of the contact;

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to register the plurality of avatars in the enterprise;

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to receive a work item;

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to identify, based on a set of rules that evaluate the work item, a group of contacts, of the plurality of contacts, based on availability and skills of the contacts of the group of contacts,

the group of contacts including more than one contact,

each contact, of the group of contacts, performing a different role with respect to the work item,

each contact, of the group of contacts, being from a different organization;

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to interact with each contact, of the group of contacts, based on the information defining the avatar associated with each contact, of the group of contacts and based on receiving the work item,

the one or more instructions that cause the one or more processors to interact with each contact, of the group of contacts, comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to receive a request for the contact to participate with the work group, the request being based on the communication, skill, responsibilities, experience, physical location, availability, workload or history of work success of the contact, the contact being a service person; and

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to convey the request to the contact using the communication information, the one or more instructions that cause the one or more processors to convey the request to the contact comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to bind the request to a work item representing work being addressed by the work group;

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to bind a proxy avatar for the avatar to the work item;

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to communicate the conveying the request and information pertaining to the work being addressed by the work group to the contact using the proxy avatar; and

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to update the workload information to reflect a response to the request; and

one or more instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to update the avatars corresponding to the contacts, of the group of contacts, to reflect the workload of the contacts and an outcome of participating with the work group.

7. The data processing system recited in claim 6 , where the one or more instructions that cause the one or more processors to interact with each contact, of the group of contacts, further comprise:

one or more instructions that cause the one or more processors to convey the request to the contact using the communication information; and

one or more instructions that cause the one or more processors to decline the request for the contact to participate based on a negative response to the request from the contact.

8. The data processing system recited in claim 6 , further comprising:

one or more instructions that cause the one or more processors to update the skills and the history of work success information for the avatars corresponding to the contacts, of the group of contacts, based on completion of the participation with the work group.

9. The data processing system recited in claim 6 , where the instructions further comprise:

one or more instructions that cause the one or more processors to deploy an avatar service in the enterprise, the plurality of avatars being contained within the avatar service.

10. The data processing system recited in claim 9 , where the one or more instructions to cause the one or more processors to register the plurality of avatars in the enterprise further comprise:

one or more instructions that cause the one or more processors to register the plurality of avatars with a registrar within the enterprise, the registering being performed by the avatar service; and

one or more instructions that cause the one or more processors to register an enterprise lease for the plurality of avatars from the registrar, the requesting the enterprise lease being performed by the avatar service.