Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
  • G06Q10/10—Office automation; Time management
  • G06Q10/109—Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a personal information file management tool, and more particularly to tools for managing personal information files containing personal contacts, calendars, emails, and the like.
• information in the personal contacts may need to be updated with new information as people transition in their workplace, home, and/or service providers (e.g., phone numbers, email addresses, etc.).
• service providers e.g., phone numbers, email addresses, etc.
• certain personal contacts are rarely, if ever, used. Managing these changes may become cumbersome and difficult, especially in high-volume, high-transitory environments, such as in a workplace.
• storage space may become a significant issue, especially in a hosted environment in which many users store their data on a hosting server. To find and delete unnecessary files may also be cumbersome and difficult.
• some hosts set limits on the amount of data that can be stored in each file (e.g., .pst file) for each user.
• some users create additional personal information files to organize and manage their personal information.
• these personal information files can then be connected/disconnected to hosting servers.
• a personal information file connected to a hosting server becomes "active," e.g., new email data, shared contact information such as network contact directories, and shared calendars for scheduling, etc. are stored in the connected personal information file.
• disconnected personal information files are static and serve as archives until reconnected to the hosting server.
• the present invention is directed to a personal information file management tool that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
• An object of the present invention is to provide a personal information file management tool that compares and updates personal contact lists with directory lists and automatically updates contact information and/or identifies contacts that are not found in the directory.
• Another object of the present invention is to provide a personal information file management tool that automatically purges files attached to past calendar events to free up storage capacity.
• Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a personal information file management tool that regulates and tracks creation of new personal information files.
• Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a personal information file management tool that provides a list of all personal information files associated with a user including status information.
• FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention
• FIGS. 2A-2D are exemplary interfaces of the personal information file management tool of the present invention
• FIGS. 3A-3D are exemplary interfaces of the personal information file management tool of the present invention
• FIGS. 4A-4C are exemplary interfaces of the personal information file management tool of the present invention.
• FIGS. 5A-5B are exemplary interfaces of the personal information file management tool of the present invention.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a system diagram of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
• client devices 103 a- 103 c are in communication with server 101 through a communications network 102.
• Server 101 may be one or more hosting servers in communication with client devices 103a-103c.
• Server 101 may be an active directory server, which stores an active directory.
• Server 101 may also store a database or generic directory rather than an active directory.
• other storage devices other than server 101 may be used as are known in the art.
• An active directory is a directory structure used on a computer, including server 101, to store information and data about communications network(s) 102 and domains.
• An active directory may be defined as a hierarchical structure, and this structure may be broken up into three main categories, the resources which might include hardware such as printers, services for end users such as web email servers, and objects.
• An active directory may do a variety of functions including providing information on objects, resources, and services, organizing these objects, resources, and services for easy retrieval and access, allowing access by end users and administrators, and allowing the administrator to set security up for the directory.
• Client devices 103a-103c may be any communication device such as computers, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the like.
• Client devices 103 a- 103 c may be in communication with a personal information file management tool 104a- 104b.
• Personal information file management tool 104a- 104b may be software that is stored on client devices 103 a- 103 c and executed by client devices 103 a- 103 c. In the alternative, personal file management tool 104a- 104b may be stored on server 101, and sent to or downloaded by client device 103 a- 103 c for execution.
• Personal information file management tool 104a- 104b may store personal information of a client in a personal information file on client devices 103a-103c or remotely on server 101 or other hosting server.
• Personal information file management tool 104a-104b may be integrated in a client device's email application.
• the communications network 102 may be any data communications network, such as point-to-point connection, local area network, wide area network, Intranet, Internet, cellular network, and the like.
• Client devices 103a-103c are in communication with server 101 to send and receive a client's personal contact information stored in the personal information file and/or other information stored in the personal information file or on server 101.
• FIGS. 2A-2D are exemplary interfaces of personal information file management tool 104a- 104c of the present invention. Personal contacts in a personal information file may become out-dated or out of sync with an active network directory on server 101, such as an organization's directory of employees.
• Personal information file management tool 104a-104c in accordance with the present invention offers automated synchronization of all contacts with a directory on server 101.
• personal information file management tool 104a- 104c populates and/or overwrites existing fields that pertain to a person in a personal contact list in the personal information file on client computers 103 a- 103 c with the information available in the directory, such as the person's professional information (e.g., position/title, location/office, work phone number, etc.) while leaving the person's identity information (e.g., first/last name) intact.
• the person's professional information e.g., position/title, location/office, work phone number, etc.
• identity information e.g., first/last name
• personal information file management tool 104a- 104c searches the directory on server 101 against the list of contacts in the personal information file using a root search parameter that uniquely identifies the person (e.g., first name, last name, email address, etc., or any combination thereof).
• a root search parameter that uniquely identifies the person (e.g., first name, last name, email address, etc., or any combination thereof).
• personal information file management tool 104a-104c updates the person's information in the personal information file with the information from the directory (e.g., position/title, location/office, work phone number, etc.). While contacts are being updated, the user is able to see the contact that is currently being accessed by the process as shown in FIG. 2B. As personal information file management tool 104a- 104c finishes processing updates, it will display additional information on how many users were updated as shown in FIG. 2C.
• personal information file management tool 104a- 104c provides a list of contacts that were not found in the directory on server 101 as shown in FIG. 2D.
• Personal information file management tool 104a- 104c may receive from a user any entries of deletions of contacts that may be out of date or unused as shown in FIG. 2D. The personal information file may be updated based on these entries received.
• personal information file management tool 104a- 104c in accordance with the present invention creates a backup copy of all contact items before they are modified with the information from the directory and stores the backup copy on client devices 103 a- 103 c. Once the contacts have been updated, a record of the updated contacts and a copy of the contact items before modification remain stored on client devices 103 a- 103 c and are retrievable through personal information file management tool 104a- 104c or other application.
• FIGS. 3A-3D are exemplary interfaces of the personal information file management tool of the present invention.
• a personal information file stored on client devices 103 a- 103 c, or in the alternative, on server 101 or other server, may have size limitations as well as limited storage space. One source of releasing file size and storage limits is to delete attachments to past calendar items.
• Personal information file management tool 104a- 104c in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention allows a user to automatically analyze past calendar events in the personal information file and delete any attachments associated with the past calendar items. For example, a user may select an option to delete calendar items (FIG. 3A).
• Personal information file management tool 104a- 104c allows the user to specify the time up to which the deletion process will end (e.g., delete all attachments to events older than one (1) month) as shown in FIG. 3B.
• Personal information file mangament tool 104a- 104c analyzes calender items up to the specified period and deletes every attachment associated with calender events before the specified period. Status of the deletions may be displayed in an interface, such as that shown in FIG. 3C.
• FIGS. 4A-4C are exemplary interfaces of the personal information file management tool of the present invention, hi another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, personal information file management tool 104a- 104c accommodates users' requests for new personal information files (e.g., .pst files) while providing some control over the creation of the personal information files.
• FIG. 4A illustrates an option for selection by a user for creating a personal information file.
• personal information file management tool 104a- 104c may limit the number of personal information files that can be created for a user (e.g., 2 personal information files per user per day) as shown in FIG. 4B.
• personal information file management tool 104a- 104c keeps a record of the location of each personal information file created for a user as shown in FIG. 4C.
• FIGS. 5A-5B are exemplary interfaces of the personal information file management tool of the present invention.
• personal information file management tool 104a- 104c in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides the user with the ability to view and manage all of the user's personal information files. For example, a user may select an option, such as that shown in FIG. 5A, to view and manage personal information files.
• Personal information file management tool 104a- 104c may track the capacity of each personal information file and display the status of each personal information file to the user as shown in FIG. 5B.
• the status of the personal information file may include the location of the personal information file, the amount of used/free capacity of the file, whether the personal information file is connected/disconnected to the hosting server, etc. For example, a personal information file close to capacity may be shown in red, or other indicators, to signal that the file is nearing capacity.
• the user may delete items on client devices 103a- 103c (e.g., emails, attachments to calendar items, etc.), create a new personal information file in the manner described above, or select a different existing personal information file in the manner described above.
• personal information file management tool 104a- 104b allows the user to easily select the personal information file(s) to attach/disconnect from a hosting server or other storage device, such as server 101.
• the personal information file management tool includes a search engine to search a specified location for a personal information file.

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• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Human Resources & Organizations (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Strategic Management (AREA)
• Entrepreneurship & Innovation (AREA)
• Operations Research (AREA)
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• Marketing (AREA)
• Data Mining & Analysis (AREA)
• Quality & Reliability (AREA)
• Tourism & Hospitality (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Information Retrieval, Db Structures And Fs Structures Therefor (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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ID=41507362

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Citations (4)

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• 2009
  • 2009-07-13 JP JP2011517429A patent/JP5628799B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2009-07-13 EP EP09794836A patent/EP2324437A4/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2009-07-13 US US12/458,467 patent/US20100138390A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2009-07-13 WO PCT/US2009/004043 patent/WO2010005596A1/en not_active Ceased

Patent Citations (4)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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