Application usage and process monitoring in an enterprise environment having agent session recording for process definition
A real-time activity monitor (RTAM) operates within or in association with a machine (such as a desktop) within a back office environment to automatically track and record desktop processing activities, application usage, as well as manual processing. The real-time activity monitor provides visibility into real-time task processing at the client desktop to enable an enterprise to address back office operational inefficiencies that are exposed by the data. According to a further feature, a recording approach is used to enable a user of the system to automatically define processes and tasks to be monitored. The approach obviates manual configuration by recording application usage actions and then using these interactions as a template for a new process object to be monitored. In an alternative embodiment, the process recorder captures screenshots and enables screen element bookmarking.
1. A method for generating a process object for monitoring one or more computer applications during use, performed on a computing device having a processor and memory, the method comprising:
initiating, by the processor, recording of a computer session when one or more computer applications are running;
as the computer session is being recorded, continuously capturing, by the processor, a set of events associated with the computer session based on the recorded computer session, at least one of the set of events being a screen activation event having an associated agent-generated screenshot;
generating, by the processor, a process tree based on the captured set of events including the screen activation event;
wherein the process tree is generated automatically as the computer session is being recorded and without requiring additional user input to define the process tree;
wherein the process tree further comprises an associated monitoring model, the monitoring model comprising a plurality of database objects; and
wherein a database object comprises at least one of a process having a process dimension, a task having a task dimension, and a desktop/agent state having a desktop/agent state dimension, each of the process dimension, the task dimension, and the desktop/agent state dimension comprising a plurality of self-defined attributes of defined business processes;
instantiating, by the processor, the process tree into an application monitoring process object;
using, by the processor, the application monitoring process object for a subsequent monitoring of the one or more applications; and
providing, by the processor, data generated from the subsequent monitoring activity using the application monitoring process object to improve one of: a workforce management system, a back office system, a performance management system, and a quality management system.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
for at least one event in the set of events, receiving, by the processor, first data classifying the event.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first data is data indicative of one of: a process start, a process stop, a task start, a task pause, a task resume, and a task stop.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the data processing system is further directed to display a table of the set of events, wherein a row in the table is associated with a given event.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the table comprises a set of columns.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the set of columns includes one of: an application column specifying a name of an application then in focus, a window title column specifying given information as shown in a window title bar for the application in focus; and a browser URL column specifying a URL if the application in focus is a browser opened to the URL.
7. The method of claim 5 wherein the set of columns includes a column that indicates a type of event.
8. The method of claim 5 wherein the set of columns includes one of: a time column that specifies a start time for the event, and a duration column that specifies duration of the event.
9. The method of claim 5 wherein the set of columns includes a trigger type.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the trigger type is one of: a process start, a process stop, a task start, a task pause, a task resume, and a task stop.
11. The method of claim 4 wherein the data processing system is further directed to display a filter pane by which data displayed in one or more rows of the table are filtered against user-defined criteria.
12. The method of claim 4 wherein the data processing system is further directed to display a recorded event pane by which data displayed in a given row of the table is modified.
13. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
capturing, by the processor, the screenshot; and
receiving, by the processor, data classifying a screen element associated with an active application or page.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the data classifying the screen element comprises a property having a condition parameter, or an event.
15. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
receive real-time data about processes and active applications from a plurality of client computers;
store the real-time data within an associated server database;
package the real-time data; and
send historical feeds to populate queue history on a workforce management system.
16. The method as in claim 15 , wherein each of the plurality of client computers is configured to send the real-time data to an aggregator.
17. The method as in claim 16 , further comprising:
consolidating by the aggregator the real-time data from the plurality of client computers into a single real-time feed; and
populating with the real-time feed one or more real-time enabled display views exported by the workforce management system.
18. The method as in claim 17 , further comprising analyzing the real-time feed in a real-time adherence view in a workforce management display tool.