IP Library Granted Patent US 11,257,021
Granted Patent B2
US 11,257,021 · App. 16/786,021 · Granted Feb 22, 2022

Observation platform using structured communications for generating, reporting and creating a shared employee performance library

Inventors: Christopher N. Todd (Dallas, TX); Guy R. VanBuskirk (Grapevine, TX); Ravi Shankar Kumar (Richardson, TX); Shiva Cheedella (Dallas, TX)
Assignee: Theatro Labs, Inc.
G06Q10/06398H04L12/4625H04L51/18H04L67/12H04L67/22H04L67/306
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,257,021
App. No.
16/786,021
Granted
Feb 22, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

An observation platform determines relative responsiveness of enterprise employees to requests by external systems. A computer system of the observation platform monitors responses and actions of users to requests from external systems from a plurality of communication devices routed through a radio access point associated with the computer system. Each of the communication devices is associated with a user who is an employee in an enterprise. Information is extracted from the communications including users' identities. Performance of a plurality of the users is measured based on aspects of the extracted information related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems. The requests are posed by the external systems and responded to via the communications devices. A numerical ranking of the measured performance by each of the plurality of measured users, with respect to others of the plurality of measured users, at responding to the requests is assigned.

Claims (56)

1. A method of using an observation platform to determine relative responsiveness of enterprise employees to requests by external systems, the method comprising:

monitoring, by a computer system of the observation platform, responses and actions of users to requests from external systems from a plurality of communication devices which have been routed through a radio access point associated with the computer system, wherein each of the communication devices is associated with a user who is an employee in an enterprise;

extracting, by the computer system, information from the communications including identities of the users of the communications devices;

measuring, by the computer system, performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems, wherein the requests are posed by the external systems and responded to via the communications devices; and

assigning, by the computer system, a numerical ranking of the measured performance by each of the plurality of measured users, with respect to others of the plurality of measured users, at responding to the requests.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the extracting, by the computer system, information from the communications including identities of the users of the communications devices comprises:

using speech recognition to convert speech in the communications to one of text and a machine-compatible format.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the measuring, by the computer system, performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

measuring, by the computer system, performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to at least one of reaction times and motions of the user to a request posed by at least one of the external systems by objectively measuring urgency to support the request for each of the measured users.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the measuring, by the computer system, performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

measuring, by the computer system, performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to helpfulness to support a request posed by at least one of the external systems by objectively measuring a relative helpfulness metric for each of the measured users.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the measuring, by the computer system, performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

measuring, by the computer system, performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to urgency of inventory verification for a request posed by at least one of the external systems by objectively measuring urgency of actions for inventory verification for each of the measured users.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the measuring, by the computer system, performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

measuring, by the computer system, performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to actions and speed of response to an inventory verification request posed by at least one of the external systems by objectively measuring inventory location knowledge for each of the measured users.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the measuring, by the computer system, performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

measuring, by the computer system, performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to responding to a buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) request posed by at least one of the external systems by objectively measuring a desire to assist in the BOPIS request for each of the measured users.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the measuring, by the computer system, performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems:

measuring, by the computer system, performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to responding to at least one of a pick-up request and a carry out request from at least one of the external systems by objectively measuring a customer satisfaction for each of the measured users.

9. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the measuring, by the computer system, performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems:

measuring, by the computer system, performance of the plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to responding to location based tasks by objectively measuring a willingness to take on new tasks for each of the measured users.

10. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the measuring, by the computer system, performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness and actions to requests from the external systems comprises:

measuring at least one of physical responsiveness and verbal responsiveness to at least one of the requests.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions for causing a computer system of an observation platform to perform method of using an observation platform to determine relative responsiveness of enterprise employees to requests by external systems, the method comprising:

monitoring, by a computer system of the observation platform, responses and actions of users to requests from the external systems from a plurality of communication devices which have been routed through a radio access point associated with the computer system, wherein each of the communication devices is associated with a user who is an employee in an enterprise;

extracting, by the computer system, information from the communications including identities of the users of the communications devices;

measuring, by the computer system, performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems, wherein the requests are posed by external systems and responded to via the communications devices; and

assigning, by the computer system, a numerical ranking of the measured performance by each of the plurality of measured users, with respect to others of the plurality of measured users, at responding to the requests.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the measuring, by the computer system, performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

measuring, by the computer system, performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to at least one of reaction times and motions of the user to a system requests by objectively measuring urgency to support the request for each of the measured users.

13. An observation platform for determining relative responsiveness of enterprise employees to requests by external systems, the observation platform comprising:

a plurality of communication devices, wherein each of the communication devices is associated with a user who is an employee in an enterprise;

a radio access communicatively coupled with the plurality of communications devices; and

a computer system associated with the radio access point and configured to:

monitor communications from and to the plurality of communication devices and external systems which have been routed through the radio access point;

extract information from the communications including identities of the users of the communications devices;

measure performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems, wherein the requests are posed by the external systems and responded to via the communications devices; and

assign a numerical ranking of the measured performance by each of the plurality of measured users, with respect to others of the plurality of measured users, at responding to the requests.

14. The observation platform of claim 13 , further comprising:

an external computer system, of the external computer systems, coupled via a network to the computer system and configured to generate one of indicators and requests for one or more of the users of the communication devices.

15. The observation platform of claim 13 , wherein a portion of the extracted information comprises:

text converted, using speech recognition, from speech in the communications.

16. The observation platform of claim 13 , wherein the computer system configured to measure performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

the computer system configured to measure performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to responsiveness to requests within the enterprise comprises by objectively measuring responsiveness of each of the measured users.

17. The observation platform of claim 13 , wherein the computer system configured to measure performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

the computer system configured to measure the performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to responsiveness to requests within the enterprise comprises by objectively measuring urgency of response for each of the measured users.

18. The observation platform of claim 13 , wherein the computer system configured to measure performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

the computer system configured to measure performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to responding to a buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) request posed by at least one of the external systems by objectively measuring a desire to assist in the BOPIS request for each of the measured users.

19. The observation platform of claim 13 , wherein the computer system configured to measure performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

the computer system configured to measure performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to responding to at least one of a pick-up request and a carry out request from at least one of the external systems by objectively measuring a customer satisfaction for each of the measured users by objectively measuring a customer satisfaction score for each of the measured users.

20. The observation platform of claim 13 , wherein the computer system configured to measure performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

the computer system, configured to measure performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to responding to location based tasks by objectively measuring a willingness to take on new tasks for each of the measured users.

21. The observation platform of claim 13 , wherein the computer system configured to measure performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

the computer system configured to measure performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to urgency of inventory verification for a request posed by at least one of the external systems by objectively measuring urgency of actions for inventory verification for each of the measured users.

22. The observation platform of claim 13 , wherein the computer system configured to measure performance of a plurality of the users based on aspects of the extracted information which are related to the relative responsiveness to requests from the external systems comprises:

the computer system configured to measure performance of the plurality of the users based on those of the aspects of the extracted information which are related to actions and speed of response to inventory verification requests by objectively measuring inventory location knowledge for each of the measured users.

Assignments (7)
RELEASE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 9, 2025
From: SILICON VALLEY BANK, A DIVISION OF FIRST-CITIZENS BANK AND TRUST COMPANY
To: THEATRO LABS, INC.
Reel/Frame 070779/0538 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 8, 2024
From: THEATRO LABS, INC.
To: SILICON VALLEY BANK, A DIVISION OF FIRST-CITIZENS BANK & TRUST COMPANY
Reel/Frame 066524/0950 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 8, 2024
From: THEATRO LABS, INC.
To: SILICON VALLEY BANK, A DIVISION OF FIRST-CITIZENS BANK & TRUST COMPANY
Reel/Frame 066524/0966 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Feb 18, 2022
From: THEATRO LABS, INC.
To: SILICON VALLEY BANK
Reel/Frame 059051/0030 →
FIRST AMENDMENT TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 18, 2022
From: THEATRO LABS, INC.
To: SILICON VALLEY BANK
Reel/Frame 059232/0505 →
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 18, 2021
From: THEATRO LABS, INC.
To: SILICON VALLEY BANK
Reel/Frame 055334/0321 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 30, 2021
From: TODD, CHRISTOPHER N.; VANBUSKIRK, GUY R.; KUMAR, RAVI SHANKAR; CHEEDELLA, SHIVA
To: THEATRO LABS, INC.
Reel/Frame 055088/0720 →
Continuity (12)
Continuation 16195555 · Nov 19, 2018
Continuation 15470235 · Mar 27, 2017
Continuation In Part 14869167 · Sep 29, 2015
Continuation In Part 15375725 · Dec 12, 2016
Continuation 14320356 · Jun 30, 2014
Continuation In Part 13401146 · Feb 21, 2012
Continuation In Part 13665527 · Oct 31, 2012
Continuation In Part 13665527 · Oct 31, 2012
Provisional Application 62314106 · Mar 28, 2016
Provisional Application 61445504 · Feb 22, 2011
Provisional Application 61487432 · May 18, 2011
Related Publication 20200175454A1 · Jun 4, 2020
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