Granted Patent B2

US 7,961,344 · App. 12/535,606 · Granted Jun 14, 2011

Abstract

Claims (59)

1. A method of facilitating delivery of a document from a source to a destination over a network when an initial delivery attempt has been unsuccessful, comprising:

initiating a rule-based process to determine a next action based on a time variable set of input conditions to the rule-based process.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input conditions are determined from one or more of:

the destination;

the source;

a database of past delivery attempts to the destination;

a human analyst.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the next action causes a next delivery attempt, further comprising:

repeating the rule-based process if the next delivery attempt is not successful.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input conditions include information on a previous delivery attempt to the destination.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the next action includes one or more of:

resubmitting the document for a next delivery attempt;

canceling the delivery of the document;

sending a request to the source for additional delivery information;

sending a request to the destination for additional delivery information;

identifying the destination as having a technical problem.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input conditions include an identification of non-business days at the destination.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the identification of non-business days is categorized by one or more of country, region and destination number.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input conditions include an identification of non-business hours at the destination.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input conditions include alternative delivery instructions at the destination.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the alternative delivery instructions are categorized by one or more of country, region and destination.

11. An integrated and automated document handling system for facilitating delivery of a document from a source to a destination in a network, the system comprising:

a computer running an automated rule-based process for determining an action based on a set of time variable input conditions;

the input conditions being derived from one or more of:

the destination;

the source;

a database of past delivery attempts;

a human analyst; and

an output from the rule-based process which causes a predetermined action based on a predetermined set of input conditions.

12. A method for automated and integrated document handling to facilitate delivery of a document from a source to a destination over a network, the method comprising:

attempting a standard delivery of the document over the network from the source to the destination;

if the standard delivery is not successful, initiating a rule-based process which determines an action based on time variable conditions;

determining a first set of time variable conditions for the delivery of the document based on input from one or more of:

the destination;

the source;

a database of past delivery attempts to the destination;

a human analyst;

the rule-based process determining a first action from the first set of time variable conditions;

implementing the first action determined by the rule-based process;

if delivery is still not successful, determining a second set of time variable conditions for the delivery of the document based on the one or more inputs;

the rule-based process determining a second action from the second set of time variable conditions;

implementing the second action determined by the rule-based process; and

repeating the above steps of determining conditions and implementing actions until the document is delivered or declared undeliverable.

13. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions translatable by at least one computer processing unit to facilitate delivery of a document from a source to a destination over a network when an initial delivery attempt has been unsuccessful, the instructions further translatable by the at least one computer processing unit to perform:

initiating a rule-based process to determine a next action based on input conditions to the rule-based process;

implementing the next action; and

repeating the rule-based process until the document is delivered to the destination or declared undeliverable.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the input conditions include information on a previous delivery attempt to the destination.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the next action includes one or more of:

resubmitting the document for a next delivery attempt;

canceling the delivery of the document;

sending a request to the source for additional delivery information;

sending a request to the destination for additional delivery information;

identifying the destination as having a technical problem.

16. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the input conditions include an identification of non-business days at the destination.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the identification of non-business days is categorized by one or more of country, region and destination number.

18. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the input conditions include an identification of non-business hours at the destination.

19. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the input conditions include alternative delivery instructions at the destination.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein the alternative delivery instructions are categorized by one or more of country, region and destination.

Assignments (10)