WO2017152231A1

WO2017152231A1 - "incident reporting"

Info

Publication number: WO2017152231A1
Application number: PCT/AU2017/050207
Authority: WO
Inventors: Luke ANEAR
Original assignee: Safetyculture Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2016-03-08
Filing date: 2017-03-08
Publication date: 2017-09-14

Abstract

This disclosure relates to mobile communication devices with an app installed thereon for managing incidents. The app generates a first user interface with two user control elements. Upon detecting user interaction with the first user control element, the app creates a second user interface. The second user interface comprises first user input elements allowing a user to enter incident report input data. The app creates and stores a new incident report record comprising the incident report input data as one of multiple incident report records. Upon detecting user interaction with the second user element, the app creates a third user interface. The third user interface comprises a selection element for selecting multiple incident report records and second user input elements for entering incident investigation input data. The app then creates a new incident investigation record associated with the selected incident report record.

Description

"Incident reporting"

Cross-Reference to Related Applications

[0001] The present application claims priority from Australian Provisional Patent Application No 2016900863 filed on 8 March 2016, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

[0002] This disclosure relates to mobile communication devices with apps installed thereon for managing incidents. Apps are different to other software programs as they are closely tied to the device they are running on. In particular, the value of an app often depends on the technical layout of the user interfaces since current mobile communication devices generally have relatively small screens compared to desktop or laptop computers and further have touch screens instead of keyboards or other input devices.

Background

[0003] Most people carry with them a mobile phone, which allows them to take photos of incidents and send them by email to an incident manager. It is difficult, however, for the incident manager to manage the photos and other incident related data in a timely and efficient manner. Solutions that are designed for desktop or laptop computers are impractical since mobile phones have smaller screens and no keyboard and no mouse but touch screens instead.

[0004] Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present disclosure as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application. [0005] Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.

Summary

[0006] A method for managing user input data related to incidents as performed by an app on a first mobile communication device comprises:

generating a first user interface comprising a first user control element and a second user control element;

monitoring user interaction with respect to the first user interface to detect user interaction with respect to the first user control element and the second user control element;

upon detecting user interaction with the first user control element, creating a second user interface, the second user interface comprising first user input elements allowing a user to enter incident report input data;

retrieving the incident report input data entered into the first user input elements;

creating and storing a new incident report record comprising the incident report input data as one of multiple incident report records;

upon detecting user interaction with the second user element, creating a third user interface, the third user interface comprising a selection element allowing the user to select one or more of the multiple incident report records and second user input elements allowing a user to enter incident investigation input data for the selected one or more of the multiple incident report records;

retrieving the incident investigation input data entered into the second user input elements; and

creating and storing a new incident investigation record associated with the selected one or more of multiple incident report records and associated with the incident investigation input data. [0007] It is an advantage that there is a user interface with control elements to switch between reporting and investigation interfaces as this significantly increases the usability on small screens typically found on mobile communication devices. It is a further advantage that a new incident report record is created as one of multiple incident report records as this allows more efficient access to a number of records and allows better collaboration between reporters and investigators.

[0008] Creating and storing the new incident report record may comprise sending the incident report input data to a server to cause the server to create and store an incident report record and cause the server to send an incident notification message to a second mobile communication device executing the app, the incident notification message comprising a link to the new incident report record to allow a user of the second mobile communication device to activate the link and to access the incident report record.

[0009] Accessing the incident report record may comprise adding user input data to the report record. Accessing the report record may comprise entering incident investigation data into the second user input elements associated with the report record.

[0010] The first user input elements may comprise a camera element that allows the user to activate a camera of the first mobile communication device to capture an image of a location associated with the entered incident report input data.

[0011] The method may further comprise generating an electronic document including the entered incident report data and the entered incident investigation data.

[0012] The incident report input data may comprise less than ten individual data items and the incident investigation data comprises more than ten individual data items.

[0013] Creating and storing the new incident report record comprises storing the new incident report record read only to prevent modification of the incident report input data. [0014] Retrieving the incident report input data may comprise retrieving image data of an image captured by the first mobile communication device.

[0015] Creating and storing the new incident report record may comprise accessing meta-data of the image data to determine a timestamp or geographic location data or both and including the timestamp or geographic location data or both in the new incident report record.

[0016] The selection element of the third user interface may comprise a filter to filter the multiple incident report records based on the timestamp or the geographical location data or both.

[0017] Creating and storing the new incident report record may comprise creating and storing a new document record in a document oriented database.

[0018] The method may further comprise determining a group identifier associated with the user entering the incident report input data, wherein storing the new incident report record comprises storing the new incident report record associated with the group identifier.

[0019] The method may further comprise determining a group identifier associated with the user entering the incident investigation input data wherein creating the third user interface comprises creating the selection element by filtering the multiple incident report records by the determined group identifier.

[0020] The first user interface may be a task bar. The taskbar may remain visible when the second and third user interfaces are created.

[0021] Software, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the above method.

[0022] A mobile communication device for managing user input data related to incidents comprises: a touch screen;

a processor communicatively coupled to the touch screen to

generate on the touch screen a first user interface comprising a first user control element and a second user control element;

process signals from the touch screen to monitor user interaction with respect to the first user interface to detect user interaction with respect to the first user control element and the second user control element;

upon detecting user interaction with the first user control element, to create on the touch screen a second user interface, the second user interface comprising first user input elements allowing a user to enter incident report input data;

retrieve the incident report input data entered into the first user input elements;

create and store a new incident report record comprising the incident report input data as one of multiple incident report records;

upon detecting user interaction with the second user element, to create a third user interface on the touch screen, the third user interface comprising a selection element allowing the user to select one or more of the multiple incident report records and second user input elements allowing a user to enter incident investigation data for the selected one or more of the multiple incident report records;

retrieve the incident investigation data entered into the second user input elements; and

create and storing a new incident investigation record associated with the selected one or more of multiple incident report records and associated with the incident investigation data.

[0023] A method for capturing user input data related to incidents as performed by an app on a first mobile communication device comprises:

monitoring user interaction with respect to the first user interface to detect user interaction with respect to the first user control element and the second user control element; upon detecting user interaction with the first user control element, creating a second user interface, the second user interface comprising first user input elements allowing a user to enter incident report input data;

creating and storing a new incident report record comprising the incident report input data as one of multiple incident report records by sending the incident report input data to an incident report sever to cause the incident report server to provide a link to the incident report record in a selection element allowing a user of a second mobile device to select one or more of the multiple incident report records and to enter incident investigation data for the selected one more of the multiple incident report records.

[0024] A method for retrieving user input data related to incidents as performed by an app on a first mobile communication device comprises:

upon detecting user interaction with the second user element, creating a second user interface, the second user interface comprising a selection element allowing the user to select one or more of multiple incident report records and second user input elements allowing a user to enter incident investigation data for the selected one or more of the multiple incident report records, the multiple incident report records being created and stored by an app on a second mobile communication device and comprising incident report input data entered into user input elements generated by an app on a second mobile communication device;

retrieving the incident investigation data entered into the second user input elements; and creating and storing a new incident investigation record associated with the selected one or more of multiple incident report records and associated with the incident investigation data.

[0025] Optional features described of any aspect of method, computer readable medium or computer system, where appropriate, similarly apply to the other aspects also described here.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0026] An example will be described with reference to:

Fig. 1 illustrates a computer system for managing incidences.

Fig. 2 illustrates a method for managing user input data related to incidences.

Fig. 3 illustrates a switcher user interface.

Fig. 4 illustrates a incident list page.

Fig. 5 illustrates a photo page.

Fig. 6 illustrates a data input page.

Fig. 7 illustrates a user interface comprising a list of created incident investigations.

Fig. 8 illustrates a user interface comprising a list of reported incidents associated with the current investigation.

Fig. 9 illustrates a list of incidents that were reported and stored as incident report records.

Fig. 10 illustrates a list of associated incident report records.

Fig. 11 illustrates an investigation details page.

Fig. 12 illustrates an investigation reports page.

Fig. 13 illustrates another example, where the first user interface as illustrated in Fig. 3 is now represented by a tab at the bottom of the screen.

Fig. 14 illustrates another example of an investigation interface.

Fig. 15 illustrates an example details graphical user interface.

Fig. 16 illustrates an example milestones graphical user interface.

Fig. 17 illustrates an example incidents graphical user interface. Fig. 18 illustrates an example elements graphical user interface. Description of Embodiments

[0027] Fig. 1 illustrates a computer system 100, such as a mobile communication device including mobile phones, tablet computers, phablets, etc., for managing incidences. The computer system 100 comprises a processor 102 connected to a program memory 104, a data memory 106, a communication port 108 and a user port 110. The program memory 104 is a non-transitory computer readable medium, such as a hard drive, a solid state disk or CD-ROM. Software, that is, an executable program stored on program memory 104 causes the processor 102 to perform the method in Fig. 2, that is, generates user interfaces, detects user interaction with the user interfaces and generates and updates incident report records.

[0028] The processor 102 may then store the incident report record on data store 106, such as on RAM or a processor register. Processor 102 may also send the generated incident report record via communication port 108 to a server, such as incident reporting server.

[0029] The processor 102 may receive data, such as incident data including photos, from data memory 106 as well as from the communications port 108 and the user port 110, which is connected to a display 112 that shows a visual representation 114 of the to a user 116 . In one example, the processor 102 receives incident data from server 120 via communications port 108, such as by using a Wi-Fi network according to IEEE 802.11. The Wi-Fi network may be a decentralised ad-hoc network, such that no dedicated management infrastructure, such as a router, is required or a centralised network with a router or access point managing the network.

[0030] In one example, the processor 102 receives and processes the incident data in real time. This means that the processor 102 analyses the incident data every time incident data is received and completes the analysis and sends notifications before the next incident data update. [0031] Although communications port 108 and user port 110 are shown as distinct entities, it is to be understood that any kind of data port may be used to receive data, such as a network connection, a memory interface, a pin of the chip package of processor 102, or logical ports, such as IP sockets or parameters of functions stored on program memory 104 and executed by processor 102. These parameters may be stored on data memory 106 and may be handled by-value or by-reference, that is, as a pointer, in the source code.

[0032] The processor 102 may receive data through all these interfaces, which includes memory access of volatile memory, such as cache or RAM, or non- volatile memory, such as an optical disk drive, hard disk drive, storage server or cloud storage. The computer system 100 may further be implemented within a cloud computing environment, such as a managed group of interconnected servers hosting a dynamic number of virtual machines.

[0033] It is to be understood that any receiving step may be preceded by the processor 102 determining or computing the data that is later received. For example, the processor 102 determines an incident location and stores the incident location in data memory 106, such as RAM or a processor register. The processor 102 then requests the data from the data memory 106, such as by providing a read signal together with a memory address. The data memory 106 provides the data as a voltage signal on a physical bit line and the processor 102 receives the incident location via a memory interface.

[0034] It is to be understood that throughout this disclosure unless stated otherwise, nodes, edges, graphs, solutions, variables, incident reports and records and the like refer to data structures, which are physically stored on data memory 106 or processed by processor 102. Further, for the sake of brevity when reference is made to particular variable names, such as "period of time" this is to be understood to refer to values of variables stored as physical data in computer system 100. [0035] Fig. 2 illustrates a method 200 as performed by processor 102 for managing user input data related to incidences. Fig. 2 is to be understood as a blueprint for the software program and may be implemented step-by-step, such that each step in Fig. 2 is represented by a function in a programming language, such as C++, Objective C, Swift, Javascript or Java. The resulting source code is then compiled and stored as computer executable instructions on program memory 104.

[0036] An incident may be an event that deviates from the normal operation of a business. An incident manager may be tasked to prepare a report on an incident to document the details and potential implications of the incident.

[0037] Processor 102 commences to perform method 200 by generating a first user interface 300 shown in Fig. 3. First user interface 300 comprises a first user control element 301 labelled "Report" and a second user control element 302 labelled

"Investigate".

[0038] Creating a user interface may comprise generating html code and writing the html code on a data store of a webserver and accessible by web browser applications. Processor 102 may also execute an app that is installed on mobile device 100 through a software distribution platform, such as Google Play or Apple's App Store. In that case, processor 102 may execute library functions included in the app to cause the processor 102 to generate the user interfaces as instructed.

[0039] A user control element may be any graphical element displayed on screen 112 that allows the user to control the behaviour of the installed software.

[0040] Processor 102 monitors 202 user interaction with respect to the first user interface 300 to detect user interaction with respect to the first user control element 301 and the second user control element 302. In the case of touch screen displays, the user control elements can be activated by the user 116 by tapping the screen at the location of the user control element. That is, processor 102 monitors the activation of the touch screen, such as by providing a interrupt handler, and on activation of the interrupt handler from the touch screen, processor 102 determines the coordinates of the user interaction and if the coordinates coincide with the location of the user control elements, processor 102 determines user interaction with respect to the user control element. Further input devices, such as a mouse or keyboard may also be connected to device 100 and processor 102 may monitor user interaction using those additional input devices.

[0041] Upon detecting user interaction with the first user control element 301, processor 102 creates a second user interface. The second user interface may have multiple pages and in this example, second user interface has three pages as illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

[0042] Fig. 4 illustrates a incident list page 400, comprising a list 401 of reported incidents. The incident list page 400 further comprises an '+' user control element 402 to allow the user to add new incidents. Upon detecting user interaction in relation to the '+' user control element 402, processor 102 generates a photo page to allow the user to add one or more photos to the new incident. Fig. 5 illustrates a photo page 500 listing three photos 501, 502 and 503 that the user has taken. Photo page 500 further comprises a '+' user control element 504 to allow the user to add further photos. For example, when user 116 activates the '+' user control element 504, processor 102 allows the user 116 to select between a camera interface to capture a new photo or a gallery interface to select a previously captured or received photo. Photo page 500 further comprises a 'Next' user control element 505 that brings the user to the next page.

[0043] Fig. 6 illustrates a data input page 600. Processor 102 creates the data input page 600 as part of the second user interface created upon determining user interaction in relation to the first user control element 301 in Fig. 3. The data input page 600 comprises a number of user input elements including a priority selector 601, a tags selector 602, an input text field for an incident description 603, a date & time input field 604 and a location input field 605. [0044] The priority selector 601 allows user 116 to tap on one of the available priorities to instantly set the priority for the new incident. The priority values associated with the respective options may be 'none', 'trivial', 'medium' and 'urgent'.

[0045] The tag selector 602 allows user 116 to instantly select one or more tags by tapping on the desired tag. The tags may be predefined or user 116 may add or manage the tags within a separate user interface.

[0046] The input field for the incident description 603 may be a text input field and when user 116 taps on that field, processor 102 may generate a display of a keyboard to allow user 116 to type an incident description.

[0047] The date & time filed 604 may provide the user 116 with options for different dates and times in the form of a calendar view or a clock displayed in response to user 116 tapping on the input field 604.

[0048] The location filed 605 may comprise a map display and the user 116 may be allowed to select a location by dropping a pin on the map after zooming and panning to the desired location. The location field 605 may also allow user 116 to type a location while processor 102 searches for matches in an external database and the internal address book.

[0049] The user input fields 601-605 allow user 116 to enter incident report input data and upon detecting user interaction in relation to a 'done' button 606, processor 102 retrieves 204 the incident report input data entered into the user input elements 601- 605.

[0050] Processor 102 then creates and stores 205 a new incident report record comprising the incident report input data. In one example, processor 102 stores the incident report data on data memory 106 in a document database, such as Apache CouchDB, in the JSON format. More particularly, the incident report record that processor 102 stores in the database is a series of name-value pairs, such as: [0051] { "type": "report", "reportID": 12, "priority":2, "tags": { "spill", "accident" }, "description": "Milk spilled", "location": { "lat": 47.644548", "lon":-122.326897, "ele": 4.46}, "time": "2009-10-17T18:37:26Z" }

[0052] The advantage of storing the incident report record in a document database over a relational database is that the storage is more efficient and more scalable in cases where a large number of incidents are reported.

[0053] A central server 120 may host the document database in some examples, such as a cloud computing environment such that all report records are stored on one single potentially distributed database.

[0054] In other examples, the incident report may simply be referred to as an incident and the incident report record may be referred to as incident record. In particular, processor 102 may generate the first user control element 301 in Fig. 3 with the label "Incident" instead of "Report".

[0055] A notification may be generated by processor 102 to alert others of the reported incident. Stored on data memory may be a notification policy that maps different types of notifications or different locations or areas to different devices registered with processor 102. This way, it is possible to provide a tailored notification system that quickly and reliably alert the appropriate persons of the incident. The registered devices may be associated with a device category, such as cleaner, paramedic, insurance evaluator, PR manager etc. and the notification policy may store a set of categories for each incident type such that processor 102 sends the notification to the devices in the corresponding set for the category selected in the report record. The devices may also be associated with a particular time period when they should be notified. The devices may also be associated with a flag indicating that they are currently logged in. This way, a staff member using one of the devices, can log in at the beginning of the day or shift and receive appropriate notifications of incidents until the staff member logs out at the end of the day or shift. [0056] A link to the report may be included in the notification by processor 102. This link allows the recipient of the notification to activate the link, such as by tapping on it. This prompts processor 102 to perform method 200 and/or to generate the reporting user interface 500 or 600. This allows the user to add information directly to the report record. The added information represents the completion of the task of the staff member in relation to that incident.

[0057] Referring back to Fig. 3, user interface 300 comprises a second user control element 302. Processor 102 monitors user interaction in relation to the second user control element 302 and upon detecting user interaction in relation to the second user control element 302, processor generates a third user interface that is an investigation user interface as illustrated in Figs. 7 to 12. Again, the second user interface comprises multiple pages as illustrated in the separate figures.

[0058] Processor 102 also generates an investigation identifier when processor 102 generates the third user interface. For example, processor 102 may store a number as the identifier of the last generated investigation and increments that number to generate a new identifier.

[0059] Fig. 7 illustrates a first page 700 of second user interface comprising a list of created incident investigations 701. At this stage, there is no investigation available so the user can activate a '+' user control element 702 to add a new investigation.

[0060] Fig. 8 illustrates a second page 800 of the second user interface comprising a ribbon 801 including an incidents element 802, a details element 803 and a reports element 804. This page 800 further comprises a list 805 of reported incidents associated with, that is, linked to this investigation. Again, the list 805 is empty so the user can activate a '+' user control element 806 to select reported incidents from the records stored as described above with reference to Fig. 6.

[0061] Fig. 9 illustrates a third page 900 comprising a list 901 of incidents that were reported and stored as incident report records. In this example, three incidents were recorded and the user 116 selects the first and second incident as indicated by the filled control elements in Fig. 8. Third page 900 further comprises a submit element 902 and upon the user 116 activating the submit element 902, processor 102 stores an association between the selected incident report records and the newly created investigation record. For example, processor 102 creates an investigation record in the form of another JSON record in the document database and adds the report identifiers as indicated by "report ID" above to that record:

{ "type": "incident", "incidentID":34,"reports":{ 12, 15} }

where it is assumed that the 'Spill' incident report record has a record ID ' 12' and the 'Leak' incident has a record ID ' 15' in this example and the JSON record includes a list of associated incident report IDs 'reports" :{ 12, 15 }.

[0062] Fig. 10 illustrates a fourth page 1000 similar to the first page 700 where the incident element 702 is activated and therefore, fourth page 1000 further comprise a list 1001 of associated incident report records. Now, list 1001 includes the two selected incidents.

[0063] Fig. 11 illustrates an investigation details page 1100 generated by processor 102 when detail tab 703 is activated. Investigation details page 1100 comprises multiple data input fields, such as detailed description of the investigation outcome and allows the user 116 to assemble the multiple reports selected in Fig 8. Investigation details page 1100 may comprise a details selection box 1101 comprising details elements for person 1102, evidence 1103, equipment 1104, drawing 1105, timeline 1106, form 1107, organisation, media and note (not shown). The user can drag and drop these details elements onto the main screen to add the corresponding information to the investigation. In the example of Fig. 11, the user has dragged one instance of the person details element 1102 to create the instance 1110 in the investigation. By activating the person instance 1110, the user can enter investigation input data, such as the name and role of the person involved in the incident.

[0064] Fig. 12 illustrates an investigation reports page 1200 generated by processor 102 when reports tab 704 is activated. Reports page 1200 comprises multiple control elements to control the generation of reports and comprises a list of reports that were generated in the past. Reports page 1200 further comprises a generate control element, which on selection causes processor 102 to generate a report. Processor 102 may have stored on data memory 106 a text template for each of the details elements 1102-1107. When generating the report, processor 102 copies the templates corresponding to selected detail elements into the report and populates the templates with the entered investigation input data. The user may drag the same details element into the investigation multiple times in cases where multiple persons are involved, for example. In one example, generating the report comprises creating an electronic document, such as a pdf document. It is an advantage that the pdf document is not editable or can be made non-editable, such that the pdf document represents a stable snapshot of the current information. In other examples, the report document may be a website, email or a file for a word processing software, such as MS Word..

[0065] Real-time updating of the investigation may be performed by processor 102. This means that processor 102 updates the displayed information of the report records every time a staff member updates or adds to the report record, such as after completion of a task related to the incident or in response to that incident. As soon as the staff member submits the updated or added information, processor 102 receives this information from server 120 and updates the displayed information immediately.

[0066] In one example, processor 102 or server 120 stores a user database and each user is authenticated by corresponding user credentials. Further, each user is associated with a groupID, such as a company ID or department ID. Then, the incident report records are associated with the groupID, that is, the JSON record includes the groupID as a data field. When a new investigation is started, only those incident report records are displayed for selection that are associated with the groupID that is also the groupID associated with the person performing the investigation. This way, a large number of different groups can use the system and the server 120 concurrently and generate a large number of independent incident report records without the list of available records during investigation becoming impractically long. Further, the set of tags 602 can be configured per groupID such that users in one group have the same tags. [0067] In another example, by default any information collected including report records remains private and only stored on the individual users device. To share any report record or investigation record the user performs one or more of the following steps:

[0068] 1. Send the report or part of the report such as an image to another person from the device via an email or text message or via another communication app. For example, the applicable first or second user interface comprises a 'share' user control element and on activation by the user, processor 102 generates a list of installed communication apps. Upon selection of one of the communication apps, the processor 102 activates that app and passes the information that is currently displayed to that app. For example, if the processor 102 detects that the user selects an incident report record and then selects 'share' the processor 102 includes the entire report record into the email as attachment or plain text JSON. Similarly, if the processor 102 detects that the user selects an image and then activates 'share', processor 102 passes only the image to the communication app.

[0069] 2. Sign into a an account on server 120 and share information based on the permission settings in the user account, i.e. a user can configure to share their data with other users or groups of users. In this example, without any user registration processor 102 stores the report records locally on mobile communication device 100. With user registration with server 120, the user can configure privacy options. For example, the user can create and name multiple groups for colleagues, supervisors, staff, etc., which are stored on server 120. The applicable first or second user interfaces further comprise a selection element that allows the user to select a privacy option, such as 'private', 'public', 'group only' . Upon detecting 'group only' selection by the user, processor 102 retrieves names of groups defined by the user from server 120 and generates a selection element comprising a list of groups.

[0070] 3. Inside an incident report the user can create private or public incident reports. For each incident report, processor 102 generates a selection control to allow the user to mark the incident report or investigation as public. If an incident or investigation is marked as public, then server 120 provides the incident report record or investigation record to any other user in the world to allow this user to contribute and access the data contained within the incident or investigation.

[0071] When the user selects to share the incident report, processor 102 may generate a list of registered users that are assigned to the same group as the current user. This way, the user can easily and quickly find the most relevant person for sharing the incident report.

[0072] Upon detecting a selection of one of the multiple privacy options in any of the cases above, processor 102 stores the selected option in the JSON record of that incident report record or investigation record in the database, such as:

"privacy":"group", "grouplist": { "colleagues", "supervisor" }

[0073] The distinction between the reporting user interface and the investigating user interface can be made on multiple levels. As described above, the reporting user interface has minimal details and allows a quick and easy submission of a report. In contrast, the investigation user interface is detailed and guides the investigator through a vast number of detailed information. While the reporting should take only a few seconds, such as up to one minute including providing a description, the investigation may take several hours, days, months or even years. Further, each incident report may be submitted by exactly one person. This means, no other person reporting the incident can see the details provided by other reports. In other words, the reporting user interface is a mere data input user interface that retrieves no data from other reports. In contrast, the investigation user interface allows collaboration. That is, it allows the retrieval of reports as described above by multiple investigators. The investigation user interface may also allow multiple investigators to access the same user interface and edit the same investigation simultaneously. In other words, the investigation user interface performs data retrieval as well as data input by the investigator. In another example, report records are read only and cannot be edited by the reporting user once they are submitted. This way, report records are considered as pieces of evidence that remain unaltered. In contrast, investigation records can be edited during the course of performing the investigation. Read only may mean that the submitted information must remain unaltered but new information can be added, such as by flagging an open issue as resolved or associating the report record with an investigation by adding an investigation identifier to the JSON record of the report.

[0074] Fig. 13 illustrates another example 1300, where the first user interface as illustrated in Fig. 3 is now represented by a tab 1301 at the bottom of the screen generated in step 201 of method 200 in Fig. 2. Tab 1301 comprises user control elements for reporting 1302, investigating 1303, workflow 1304 and more 1305. It is noted that reporting user control element 1302 in Fig. 13 corresponds first user control element 301 in Fig. 3 handled in step 203 of method 200. Similarly, investigation user control element 1303 corresponds to second user control element 302 in Fig. 3 handled in step 206 of method 200.

[0075] Tab 1301 may be an overlay over any of the user interfaces described above as generally indicated as interface panel 1306. Processor 102 may change the design of the user control elements 1302, 1303, 1304 and 1305, such as by changing the colour, to indicate which function is currently selected. For example, when the user first starts the app, processor may generate tab 1301 as the first user interface and at the same time create a second user interface that allows the user to enter incident report data. From there the user can switch between reporting and investigation by interacting with the corresponding control elements 1302 and 1303 in tab 1301. Processor 102 monitors user interaction with respect to the tab 1301 to detect user interaction with respect to the first user control element 1302 and the second user control element 1303.

Processor 102 then selectively creates a user interface to enter incident report input data or a user interface to enter incident investigation data. This is similar to what is described above with the main difference that tab 1301 remains static on top of the user interfaces.

[0076] The workflow user control element 1304 allows the user to access predefined workflows, that is, a predefined combination of details elements 1102-1107 in Fig. 11. Upon activation of the workflow user control element 1304 processor 102 generates a list of workflows. Upon selection of one of the workflows, processor 102 populates the details tab as explained with reference to Fig. 11 as defined in the selected workflow. For example, an aircrash investigation has a different set of details than a road traffic accident and there may be a public library stored on server 120 for all users to access a large number of different workflows. The user control element 1305 may, upon activation, allow the user to access and change his profile, settings, about, trash, feedback and dedication.

[0077] Fig. 14 illustrates another example of an investigation interface 1400 that may be displayed when user selects second user control element 1303 in Fig. 13.

Investigation interface 1400 is a split screen comprising a details area 1401 and a content area 1402. The details area 1401 comprises an investigation details field 1403 and a milestones field 1404. The content area 1402 comprises an incidents field 1405, an elements field 1406 and a reports field 1407. The investigation details field 1403 comprises a four line summary including the location 1408, status 1409, tags 14010 and date 1411. Each of the fields 1404 to 1407 comprises a respective one line summary. The user can select each of the fields 1403 to 1407 and in response, processor 102 generates the corresponding user interfaces to allow the user to access, add and edit the respective information.

[0078] Upon detecting user interaction in relation to the details field 1403, processor generates an details graphical user interface.

[0079] Fig. 15 illustrates an example details graphical user interface 1500 comprising a title field 1501, an author field 1502, an investigation types field 1503, start date field 1504, an end date field 1505, a status selector 1506 and a location field 1507. Details graphical user interface 1500 allows user 116 to enter incident investigation input data for the selected one or more of the multiple incident report records.

[0080] Further, upon detecting user interaction in relation to the milestones field 1404 processor 102 generates a milestones graphical user interface. [0081] Fig. 16 illustrates an example milestones graphical user interface 1600 comprising a list of milestones. User 116 can tap on each of the milestones to mark them as completed. In one example, a particular milestone can only be selected when the milestones above are marked as complete. In the example of Fig. 16 the first two milestones are complete and as a consequence, the summary line of milestone field 1404 in Fig. 14 reads "2/4 completed". When processor 102 detects user interaction in relation to one of the milestones, processor 120 toggles a completion flag that is stored in association with the investigation record.

[0082] In a similar way, upon detecting user interaction in relation to the incidents field 1405, processor generates an incidents graphical user interface.

[0083] Fig. 17 illustrates an example incidents graphical user interface 1700 comprising a single incident record 1701 in this example. The incidents graphical user interface 1700 performs a similar function to page 900 in Fig. 9 with the difference that each incidence is displayed with more information including a photo 1702, an address 1703, a time 1704, a title 1705 and two tags 1706 and 1707, respectively.

[0084] Similarly, upon detecting user interaction in relation to the elements field 1406, processor generates an elements graphical user interface.

[0085] Fig. 18 illustrates an example elements graphical user interface 1800 comprising a list of elements that user 118 has created by dragging the elements from the bottom line into the main screen 1802. The process is similar to what is explained above in relation to Fig. 11 with the main difference that the 'Details' label is replaced by 'Elements' and that the elements user interface 1800 is accessed through split screen 1400 and therefore does not contain the ribbon 801 at the top in interface 1100 of Fig. 11.

[0086] Example 1: [0087] A supermarket operator wishes to improve the response time to spills and other cleanliness issues. Therefore, each staff member is advised to install a new app on their mobile phones. When a staff member becomes away of a spill or other cleanliness issue, that staff member starts the app, which initiates method 200. Staff member activates report control element 301 in Fig. 3 and adds the spill as a new incident report record with corresponding photos from the inbuilt camera of their mobile phone. Since the reporting user interface illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 is uncomplicated, that is, simplified and only includes basic information and a photo, the staff member can report the spill without significant disruption to their current task. This makes it more likely that staff will report incidents.

[0088] Once the staff member submits the report, server 120 receives the report data and creates a record. The notification policy stored on server 120 causes a notification to be sent to a mobile phone linked to a cleaner. The cleaner's phone alerts the cleaner of the new notification, such as by playing a notification sound, and displays the alert on the screen of the mobile phone similar to a notification for a new SMS or email. The cleaner can click on the notification, which activates an app on the cleaners phone to display the report information including the location and the photo taken of the spill. The cleaner cleans up the spill and takes another photo of the clean area. The cleaner can add the photo to the same incident report record and flag that record as 'completed' with a completion time or create a new incident report of type 'completed' . Processor 102 of the cleaner's phone or server 120 may automatically set the time for completion and store it in the report record.

[0089] At the end of each month, the manager can start the app and select

'Investigate" 302 in Fig. 3 or 1303 in Fig. 13 to activate the investigation user interfaces. Now, all the report records for reporting spills and cleanliness issues are available to select. The manager selects all reports to include them into the

investigation. Processor 102 may calculate for each incident report record the time between the incident was reported and the time when the incident was resolved, that is, the area was cleaned. This time is referred to as the response time. This data is available in the form of automatic time stamps created at the time of first reporting the issue and at the time of completing the cleaning. Processor 102 of the manager's device may then create a list of all issues and their corresponding response times.

Processor 102 can generate a monthly response time investigation report automatically to indicate to the manager a change in average response time caused by increased cleaning staff, for example.

[0090] Example 2:

[0091] This example addresses the problem arising in large scale incidents, such as terrorist attacks, where a large number of observers record various types of observation data. For example, a large number of people take photographs of a terrorist attack but these people do not know how to provide them to police. Emailing these photos would likely result in an overloading of email servers and would make it inefficient for police to review all the emails. This scenario is also referred to as crowdsourcing information.

[0092] For this example, the first step is to create a new investigation before the first report record is submitted. The investigation user interface may comprise a 'share' control element (not shown) which creates a link, such as an URL to the reporting page 500 in Fig. 5. Police can create the new investigation and then publish the link to the reporting page, via Twitter, Facebook and other online media, such an online news.

[0093] People involved in the incident can then activate the link that activate the app on their phone or requests them to install the app on their phone. Then, the people can select photographs taken on their phone and include them into a new report record. In one example, processor 102 reads the metadata of the image files to determine the date and time when the photos were taken and enters that time into the date and time field 604 automatically. Similarly, processor 102 reads the GPS location and enters that into the location field 605. When creating the new incident report record, processor 102 stores the new record associated with an investigation identifier or groupID extracted from the investigation link, such that all incident report records are associated with the same ID can be retrieved conveniently. [0094] When the investigator now opens the investigation user interface, the investigator can select all the associated reports, or processor 102 automatically adds all the reports based on the identifier. The investigator can then apply filters, such as a time filter for the report times or for the capture time in the image meta-data, such as by entering a data and time value and time period to retrieve all incidences within that time. Similarly, the investigator can filter for the locations where the photos were taken, such as by entering a location and a radius around that location to retrieve all incidences within that area. Processor 102 may generate a map view that indicates locations where information, such as photos, are available. Processor 102 may colour code the locations based on the associated time, such that the investigator can easily see where information is available for a particular time. For example, there may be information available on the days before the incident that may be revealing in relation to preparations taken to plan the incident. Further, there may be information available on the hours after the incident that can be used to asses the response to the incident. Other filters and sorting functions may include location, angle, time stamp, break down, faces determined by facial recognition, machine learning, identified patterns. Processor 102 may access social media, such as by using the Twitter API to search for hashtags, geotags and capture handles of persons posting the tweet. This way, processor 102 may generate report records autonomously.

[0095] All this information is conveniently collected at a central location and can be accessed efficiently, which is currently not possible using a large number of disparate and incompatible systems, such as social media and emails.

[0096] Other examples include building fires where many people take photos and submit them as incident reports.

[0097] It should be noted that while examples herein relate to user interfaces having multiple pages, other examples may have a different break down of functionality into different pages and user interfaces and the order of pages and/or user interfaces may be re- arranged. [0098] It should further be appreciated that the steps described herein may be split between different computer systems. For example a processor of a first smart phone generates the first user interface and monitors user interaction. Upon detecting user interaction with the first user control element the processor of the first smart phone creates the second user interface that allows the user to enter incident report input data. The processor then retrieves the incident report input data entered into the first user input elements and creates and stores a new incident report record comprising the incident report input data as one of multiple incident report records by sending the incident report input data to the incident report sever 120. This causes the incident report server 120 to provide a link to the incident report record in a selection element.

[0099] The processor of the second smartphone creates the second user interface comprising a selection element allowing the user to select one or more of multiple incident report records created by the first smartphone or potentially other smartphones. The user input elements allow the user to enter incident investigation data for the selected one or more of the multiple incident report records. The processor 120 of the second smartphone retrieves the incident investigation data entered into the second user input elements and creates and stores a new incident investigation record associated with the selected one or more of multiple incident report records and associated with the incident investigation data.

[0100] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the specific embodiments without departing from the scope as defined in the claims.

[0101] It should be understood that the techniques of the present disclosure might be implemented using a variety of technologies. For example, the methods described herein may be implemented by a series of computer executable instructions residing on a suitable computer readable medium. Suitable computer readable media may include volatile (e.g. RAM) and/or non- volatile (e.g. ROM, disk) memory, carrier waves and transmission media. Exemplary carrier waves may take the form of electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals conveying digital data steams along a local network or a publically accessible network such as the internet.

[0102] It should also be understood that, unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as "estimating" or "processing" or "computing" or "calculating", "optimizing" or "determining" or "displaying" or "maximising" or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that processes and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

[0103] The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

[0104] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments, without departing from the broad general scope of the present disclosure. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method for managing user input data related to incidents as performed by an app on a first mobile communication device, the method comprising:

creating and storing a new incident investigation record associated with the selected one or more of multiple incident report records and associated with the incident investigation input data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein creating and storing the new incident report record comprises sending the incident report input data to a server to cause the server to create and store an incident report record and cause the server to send an incident notification message to a second mobile communication device executing the app, the incident notification message comprising a link to the new incident report record to allow a user of the second mobile communication device to activate the link and to access the incident report record.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the incident report record comprises adding user input data to the report record.

4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein accessing the report record comprises entering incident investigation data into the second user input elements associated with the report record.

5. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first user input elements comprise a camera element that allows the user to activate a camera of the first mobile communication device to capture an image of a location associated with the entered incident report input data.

6. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising generating an electronic document including the entered incident report data and the entered incident investigation data.

7. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the incident report input data comprises less than ten individual data items and the incident investigation data comprises more than ten individual data items.

8. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein creating and storing the new incident report record comprises storing the new incident report record read only to prevent modification of the incident report input data.

9. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein retrieving the incident report input data comprises retrieving image data of an image captured by the first mobile communication device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein creating and storing the new incident report record comprises accessing meta-data of the image data to determine a timestamp or geographic location data or both and including the timestamp or geographic location data or both in the new incident report record.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the selection element of the third user interface comprises a filter to filter the multiple incident report records based on the timestamp or the geographical location data or both.

12. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein creating and storing the new incident report record comprises creating and storing a new document record in a document oriented database.

13. The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising

determining a group identifier associated with the user entering the incident report input data, wherein storing the new incident report record comprises storing the new incident report record associated with the group identifier.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining a group identifier associated with the user entering the incident investigation input data wherein creating the third user interface comprises creating the selection element by filtering the multiple incident report records by the determined group identifier.

15. The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first user interface is a task bar.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the taskbar remains visible when the second and third user interfaces are created.

17. Software that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the preceding claims.

18. A mobile communication device for managing user input data related to incidents, the device comprising:

a touch screen; a processor communicatively coupled to the touch screen to generate on the touch screen a first user interface comprising a first user control element and a second user control element;

19. A method for capturing user input data related to incidents as performed by an app on a first mobile communication device, the method comprising:

20. A method for retrieving user input data related to incidents as performed by an app on a first mobile communication device, the method comprising: