Super-object in administering system
Method and system maintaining “super-objects” in a central administering system, where each super-object is associated with corresponding objects in target systems so that editing of that super-object or of one of its associated objects results in conforming edits for all of the associated objects.
1. A method of administering multiple target systems, where a plurality of the target systems share a shared asset entity and where each of the plurality of the target systems represents the shared entity virtually as a respective shared object such that each respective target system has a respective shared object which can be edited locally within the respective target system and at least one shared object of a respective target system has at least one property different from associated respective shared objects of other target systems of the plurality of target systems the method comprising:
maintaining a super-object in a memory of a central administering system, the super-object being associated with each of the respective shared objects of the plurality of the target systems and including all properties of all of the respective shared objects, wherein each of the respective shared objects represents virtually the shared entity and wherein the shared entity comprises at least one of an agent and an agent group and the shared object comprises at least a name, services provided and scheduling information for the shared entity;
editing the super-object in a processor to update information concerning the shared entity wherein the information update is initiated by the editing of the super-object;
transmitting a command to each applicable system of the plurality of the target systems from the central administering system so that the respective shared objects of the applicable systems can be edited to conform with the edited super-object and each applicable target system editing the respective shared objects to conform with the edited super-object in response to the commands using only fields of the super-object applicable to a particular target system's shared object to determine conformity and each applicable target system transmitting the respective edited shared object to the central administering system, the applicable systems comprising the plurality of the target systems other than an initiating system of the plurality of the target systems if the information update was initiated in the initiating system.
2. The method in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving updates of the respective edited objects at the central administering system from the applicable systems;
the central administering system determining whether each received update was sent in response to the transmitted command being initiated from the central administering system; and
confirming whether each of the updates of the respective edited objects received from the applicable systems conforms with the edited super-object if the update was sent in response to the transmitted command and registering receipt of the update if the update conforms with the edited super-object.
3. The method in accordance with claim 2 , the super-object comprising a first set of properties, the first set of properties comprising all properties of all of the respective objects of the plurality of the target systems;
a first one of the respective objects of the applicable systems comprising a second set of properties;
the first set of properties comprising at least one missing property that the second set of properties does not comprise;
the at least one missing property of the super-object not being used in the confirming step when confirming whether the update of the first one of the respective objects conforms with the edited super-object.
4. The method in accordance with claim 2 , further comprising: generating an indication that the update of the object of one of applicable systems does not conform with the edited super-object, if said indication is warranted by results of the confirming step.
5. The method in accordance with claim 2 , further comprising: setting a timer for a predetermined time for receipt of updates in response to the transmitted command and generating an indication that all of the updates of the respective edited objects have not been received from the applicable systems if all of the updates of the respective edited objects have not been received within the predetermined time after performance of the transmitting step.
6. The method in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the information update is initiated in the initiating system, by editing the object of the initiating system and transmitting an update of said edited object to the central administering system so that the super-object can be edited to conform with the update of said edited object of the initiating system.
7. The method in accordance with claim 1 ,
the target systems comprising automatic contact distribution systems;
the entity being of a particular object type, the object type being selected from a group consisting of agents, agent groups, agent super groups, trunk groups, caller numbers, called numbers, supervisor teams, agent supervisors, announcements, categories of contact subject matter, classes of service, clients of the central administering system, system managers, and technicians.
8. The method in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising: translating between a schema of the central administering system and a schema of one of the plurality of the target systems.
9. A central system for administering multiple target systems, where a plurality of the target systems share a shared entity and where each of the plurality of the target systems represents the shared entity virtually as a respective shared object such that each respective target system has a respective shared object which can be edited locally within the respective target system and at least one shared object of a respective target system has at least one property different from associated respective shared objects of other target systems of the plurality of target systems, the central administering system comprising:
a database which stores a super-object, the super-object being associated with each of the respective shared objects of the plurality of the target systems and including all properties of all the respective shared objects, wherein each of the respective shared objects represents the shared entity virtually and wherein the shared entity comprises at least one of an agent and an agent group and the respective shared object comprises at least a name, services provided and schedule information for the shared entity;
a processor which receives and processes edits of the super-object that update information concerning the shared entity wherein the information update is initiated by editing of the super-object;
a communication module which transmits a command from the central administering system to each applicable system of the plurality of the target systems so that the respective shared objects of the applicable systems can be edited to conform with the edited super-object, and each applicable target system editing the respective shared objects to conform with the edited super-object in response to the commands using only fields of the super-object applicable to a particular target system's shared object to determine conformity and each applicable target system transmitting the respective edited shared object to the central administering system, the applicable systems comprising the plurality of the target systems other than an initiating system of the plurality of the target systems if the information update was initiated in the initiating system.
10. The system in accordance with claim 9 , further comprising:
the communication module also can receive updates of the respective edited objects from the applicable systems;
a comparison module for confirming whether each of the updates of the respective edited objects received from the applicable systems conforms with the edited super-object if the update was sent in response to the transmitted command being initiated from the central administering system.
11. The system in accordance with claim 10 ,
the super-object comprising a first set of properties, the first set of properties comprising all properties of all of the respective objects of the plurality of the target systems;
a first one of the respective objects of the applicable systems comprising a second set of properties;
the first set of properties comprising at least one missing property that the second set of properties does not comprise;
the at least one missing property of the super-object not being used by the comparison module in confirming whether the update of the first one of the respective objects conforms with the edited super-object.
12. The system in accordance with claim 10 , further comprising: an alert module for generating an indication that the update of the object of one of applicable systems does not conform with the edited super-object, if said indication is warranted by a signal from the comparison module.
13. The system in accordance with claim 10 , further comprising: an alert module for generating an indication that all of the updates of the respective edited objects have not been received from the applicable systems if all of the updates of the respective edited objects have not been received within a predetermined time after transmission by the communication module of the commands to the applicable systems of the plurality of the target systems.
14. The system in accordance with claim 9 ,
the target the systems comprising automatic contact distribution systems;
the entity being of a particular object type, the object type being selected from a group consisting of agents, agent groups, agent super groups, trunk groups, caller numbers, called numbers, supervisor teams, agent supervisors, announcements, categories of contact subject matter, classes of service, clients of the central administering system, system managers, and technicians.
15. The system in accordance with claim 9 , further comprising: a translator designed to translate between a schema of the central administering system and a schema of one of the plurality of the target systems.
16. A central system for administering multiple target systems, where a plurality of the target systems share a shared entity and where that each of the plurality of the target systems represents the shared entity virtually as a respective shared object such that each respective target system has a respective shared object which can be edited within the respective target system and at least one shared object of a respective target system has at least one property different from associated respective shared objects of other target systems of the plurality of target systems, the central administering system comprising:
means for maintaining a super-object in the central administering system, the super-object being associated with each of the respective shared objects of the plurality of the target systems and including all properties of all of the respective shared objects, wherein each of the respective shared objects represent virtually the shared entity and wherein the shared entity comprises at least one of an agent and an agent group and the respective shared object comprises at least a name, services provided and scheduling information for the shared entity;
means for processing edits of the super-object to update information concerning the shared entity wherein the update of information is initiated by editing of the super-object;
means for transmitting a command from the central administering system to each applicable system of the plurality of the target systems so that the respective shared objects of the applicable systems can be edited to conform with the edited super-object, and each applicable target system editing the respective shared objects to conform with the edited super-object in response to the commands using only fields of the super-object applicable to a particular target system's shared object to determine conformity and each applicable target system transmitting the respective edited shared object to the central administering system, the applicable systems comprising the plurality of the target systems other than an initiating system of the plurality of the target systems if the information update was initiated in the initiating system.
17. The system in accordance with claim 16 , further comprising:
means for receiving updates of the respective edited objects at the central administering system from the applicable systems;
means for determining whether each received update was sent in response to the transmitted command being initiated from the central administering system; and
means for confirming whether each of the updates of the respective edited objects received from the applicable systems conforms with the edited super-object if the update was sent in response to the transmittal command being initiated from the central administering system.
18. The system in accordance with claim 17 , further comprising: means for generating an indication that the update of the object of one of applicable systems does not conform with the edited super-object, if said indication is warranted by a signal from the confirming means.
19. The system in accordance with claim 17 , further comprising: means for generating an indication that all of the updates of the respective edited objects have not been received from the applicable systems if all of the updates of the respective edited objects have not been received within a predetermined time after transmission by the transmitting means of the commands to the applicable systems of the plurality of the target systems.
20. The system in accordance with claim 16 ,
the target systems comprising automatic contact distribution systems;
the entity being of a particular object type, the object type being selected from a group consisting of agents, agent groups, agent super groups, trunk groups, caller numbers, called numbers, supervisor teams, agent supervisors, announcements, categories of contact subject matter, classes of service, clients of the central administering system, system managers, and technicians.
21. The system in accordance with claim 16 , further comprising: means for translating between a schema of the central administering system and a schema of one of the plurality of the target systems.