Communications-enabled dynamic social network routing utilizing presence
The present invention is directed to architectures for receiving, from requestors, requests for information, identifying appropriate responders, unknown to the requestors, to provide the requested information, and effecting interactions between the requestors and responders.
1. A method, comprising:
(a) an enterprise network receiving, from a communication device of a requestor, an electronic request for a meeting with an unspecified enterprise resource;
(b) in response, the enterprise network automatically detecting presence of a set of possible enterprise resources and selecting, from among the set of possible enterprise resources, a preferred subset of enterprise resources to interact with the requestor, the selection being based on information contained in the electronic request and presence information obtained from a presence service, wherein the presence information indicates a communication context for detecting the set of possible enterprise resources and a suggested communication modality to successfully reach the enterprise resources;
(c) transmitting, by the enterprise network, to the communication device of the requestor a message containing a ranked list of members of the preferred subset of enterprise resources and one or more possible meeting times between the requestor and each respective subset member in the ranked list, the one or more possible meeting times being determined at least in part by reference to the presence information; and
(d) receiving, at the enterprise network and from the communication device of the requestor, a selection of one or more members of the ranked list of members and a selected meeting time for a meeting with the selected one or more members.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subset members are selected by the enterprise network based on one or more of resource skills, resource availability, resource preferences, a role identifier of the resource in the enterprise, prior interaction between the requestor and resource, a group identifier of the resource, requestor importance to the enterprise, and a need of the requestor in the request.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request is generated by an electronic calendar module of the requestor and the selected meeting time is transmitted by the requestor's electronic calendar module to the enterprise network.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ranking is based on one or more of a similarity of a member profile of each member of the preferred subset of enterprise resources to a requestor profile of the requestor; an urgency of the electronic request;
and a level of importance of the electronic request.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request comprises a plurality of requested meeting time(s), meeting type, requestor contact information, requestor identification, and meeting purpose, and wherein the message returned to the requestor in step (c) comprises a plurality of meeting type, selected resource qualification(s), and selected resource contact information.
6. A server, comprising:
a microprocessor; and
a computer readable medium, coupled to the microprocessor, comprising instructions that program the microprocessor to:
receive, from a communication device of a requestor, an electronic request for a meeting with an unspecified enterprise resource;
in response, automatically detect presence of a set of possible enterprise resources;
select, from among the set of possible enterprise resources and based on information contained in the electronic request and presence information obtained from a presence service, a preferred subset of enterprise resources to interact with the requestor, wherein the presence information indicates a communication context for detecting the set of possible enterprise resources and a suggested communication modality to successfully reach the enterprise resources; and
transmit to the communication device of the requestor a message containing a ranked list of members of the preferred subset of enterprise resources and one or more possible meeting times between the requestor and each respective subset member in the ranked list, the one or more possible meeting times being determined at least in part by reference to the presence information; and
receive, from the communication device of the requestor, a selection of one or more members of the ranked list of members and a selected meeting time for a meeting with the selected one or more members.
7. The server of claim 6 , wherein the micprocessor bases the selection on information contained in the electronic request.
8. The server of claim 6 , wherein the microprocessor receives the possible meeting times from an electronic calendar module at an enterprise network and wherein the possible meeting times are based on an electronic calendar of each member of the preferred subset of enterprise resources.
9. The server of claim 8 , wherein the ranked list further comprises one or more available communication modalities for each respective subset member in the ranked list.
10. The server of claim 9 , wherein the microprocessor selects the subset members based on one or more of resource skills, resource availability, resource preferences, a role identifier of the resource in the enterprise, prior interaction between communication devices of the requestor and resource, a group identifier of the resource, requestor importance to the enterprise, and a need of the requestor in the request.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the server receives the request from an electronic calendar module of the requestor and the selected meeting time is transmitted by the requestor's electronic calendar module to the server.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the request comprises a plurality of requested meeting time(s), meeting type, requestor communication device contact information, requestor identification, and meeting purpose, and wherein the message transmitted to the communication device of the requestor comprises a plurality of meeting type, selected resource qualification(s), and selected resource contact information.
13. A server comprising:
a microprocessor; and
a computer readable medium, coupled to the microprocessor, comprising instructions that cause the microprocessor to:
receive, from a communication device of a requestor, an electronic request for a meeting with an unspecified enterprise resource;
select, from among the set of possible enterprise resources and based on presence information obtained from a presence service, a preferred subset of enterprise resources to interact with the requestor, wherein the presence information indicates a communication context for detecting the set of possible enterprise resources;
determine, based on the presence information, one or more possible meeting times between the requestor and each respective subset member;
transmit a ranked list of members of the preferred subset of enterprise resources, together with the one or more possible meeting times, to the communication device of the requestor; and
receive, from the communication device of the requestor, a selection of one or more members of the ranked list of members and a selected meeting time for a meeting with the selected one or more members.
14. The server of claim 13 , wherein the micprocessor further bases the selection on information contained in the electronic request.
15. The server of claim 14 , wherein the microprocessor receives the possible meeting times from an electronic calendar module at an enterprise network and wherein the possible meeting times are based on an electronic calendar of each member of the preferred subset of enterprise resources.
16. The server of claim 14 , wherein the ranked list further comprises one or more available communication modalities for each respective subset member in the ranked list.
17. The server of claim 13 , wherein the microprocessor selects the subset members based on one or more of resource skills, resource availability, resource preferences, a role identifier of the resource in the enterprise, prior interaction between communication devices of the requestor and resource, a group identifier of the resource, requestor importance to the enterprise, and a need of the requestor in the request.
18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the server receives the request from an electronic calendar module of the requestor and the meeting time is transmitted by the requestor's electronic calendar module to the server.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the request comprises a plurality of requested meeting time(s), meeting type, requestor communication device contact information, requestor identification, and meeting purpose, and wherein the message transmitted to the communication device of the requestor comprises a plurality of meeting type, selected resource qualification(s), and selected resource contact information.