Delivery expert system and method

An integrated and automated document handling system for facilitating delivery of a fax document from a source to a destination in a network, the system comprising:

• an automated rule-based process for determining a next action based on a set of time variable input conditions when an initial attempt to deliver a document has been unsuccessful, the rule-based process providing as an output a plurality of different next actions based on different sets of input conditions, wherein the rule-based process is implemented as a hierarchical decision tree comprising a plurality of hierarchically organized decisions each containing one or more input conditions, and wherein further the hierarchically organized decisions are traversed in order until one of the input conditions is met;
• the input conditions including:
• the destination;
• the source,
• a database of past delivery attempts;
• and
• a human analyst;
• and
• wherein an output from the rule-based process causes a predetermined next action based on a predetermined set of input conditions.

A method for automated and integrated document handling to facilitate delivery of a document from a source to a destination over a network, the method comprising:

• attempting a standard delivery of the fax document over a network from the source to the destination;
• if the initial standard delivery is not successful, initiating a rule-based process which determines a next action based on a time variable set of input conditions, the rule-based process providing a plurality of different next actions based on different sets of input conditions, wherein the rule-based process is implemented as a hierarchical tree comprising a plurality of tables each containing one or more input conditions;
• determining a first set of time variable conditions for the document based on input from one or more of:
• the destination;
• the source;
• a database of past delivery attempts to the destination, wherein the past delivery attempts include delivery attempts related to a different document;
• and
• a human analyst;
• the rule-based process determining a first action from the first set of conditions;
• implementing the first action;
• if delivery is still not successful, determining a second set of time variable conditions for the document based on the above-designated inputs;
• the rule-based process determining a second action from the second set of conditions;
• implementing the second action;
• and
• repeating the above steps of determining conditions and implementing actions until the document is delivered or declared undeliverable, wherein the determining conditions and implementing actions are accomplished by traversing the tables of the hierarchical tree in order until one of the input conditions is met.

A method for a computing device to facilitate delivery of a document from a source to a destination over a network when an initial delivery attempt has been unsuccessful, the computing device having access to a plurality of hierarchically organized decisions each containing one or more input conditions and each associated with one of multiple distinct actions, the method comprising:

• determining one or more current conditions;
• traversing the hierarchically organized decisions in order until identifying a decision whose input conditions are met by the determined current conditions;
• and
• selecting the action associated with the identified decision as a next action to be performed.