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US 8,266,127 B2Granted
Systems and methods for directed forums
AssigneeRed Hat, Inc.
InventorsJohn R. Mattox, Jason S. Hibbets
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An embodiment relates generally to a method of providing a directed discussion. The method includes providing for an on-line forum and providing a list of available personnel within the on-line forum. The method also includes receiving a query in the on-line forum and directing the query to the best available personnel on the list of available personnel.
Claims15
A method of providing directed discussion, the method comprising:
- providing an on-line forum in a service portal;
- providing, an assistance list to a first user of the on-line forum in the service portal wherein the assistance list comprises identifiers of other users of the on-line forum that are members of a help group of the service portal and that are currently available to respond to queries;
- monitoring a user log-in procedure and user log-out procedure at the service portal;
- when a new user logs into the service portal:
- determining a technical status of the new user;
- and
- when the technical status of the new user indicates being a member of the help group, placing an identifier of the new user on the assistance list;
- when one of the other users identified on the assistance list logs out of the service portal, removing the identifier of the one of the other users from the assistance list;
- receiving a query from the first user at a server device hosting the on-line forum;
- parsing the query for a set of forum-moderated key words that relates to a technical issue of the first user;
- retrieving, using the server device, a set of profiles associated with the other users identified on the assistance list, wherein each profile in the set of profiles comprises technical expertise data associated with a respective user of the other users;
- searching the set of profiles associated with the other users identified on the assistance list with the set of forum-moderated key words to determine an expert user of the other users that has an associated profile with a highest number of key words in the technical expertise data that match the set of forum-moderated key words;
- and
- directing the query to the expert user.
11 more elements
A system for providing a directed forum, the system comprising:
- a processor coupled to memory;
- a network interface coupled to a server and configured to interface with a network;
- and
- a directed forum module stored in memory and configured to execute on the server and available for access by a plurality of users from remote locations over the network, wherein the directed forum module is configured to
- provide an on-line forum in a service portal;
- provide, an assistance list to a first user of the on-line forum in the service portal wherein the assistance list comprises identifiers of other users of the on-line forum that are members of a help group of the service portal and that are currently available to respond to queries;
- monitor a user log-in procedure and user log-out procedure at the service portal;
- when a new user logs into the service portal:
- determine a technical status of the new user;
- and
- when the technical status of the new user indicates being a member of the help group, place an identifier of the new user on the assistance list;
- when one of the other users identified on the assistance list logs out of the service portal, remove the identifier of the one of the other users from the assistance list;
- receive a query from the first user in the on-line forum;
- parse the query for a set of forum-moderated key words that relates to a technical issue of the first user;
- retrieve a set of profiles associated with the other users identified on the assistance list, wherein each profile in the set of profiles comprises technical expertise data associated with a respective user of the other users;
- search the set of profiles associated with the other users identified on the assistance list with the set of forum-moderated key words to determine an expert user of the other users that has an associated profile with a highest number of key words in the technical expertise data that match the set of forum-moderated key words;
- and
- direct the query to the expert user.
15 more elements
A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein that, when executed by a hardware device, cause the hardware device to perform the following operations comprising:
- providing an on-line forum in a service portal;
- providing a graphical user interface of a dialog box overlaying a forum interface, wherein the forum interface is associated with the on-line forum in the service portal;
- monitoring a set of profiles of forum members as the associated forum members log in and log out of the service portal;
- populating an assistance list within the dialog box, the assistance list comprising identifiers of forum members that are part of a help group of the service portal and that are currently available to respond to queries;
- when a forum member logs into the service portal:
- determining a technical status of the forum member;
- and
- when the technical status of the forum member indicates that the forum member is part of the help group, placing an identifier of the forum member on the assistance list;
- when a forum member identified on the assistance list logs out of the service portal, removing the identifier of the forum member from the assistance list;
- receiving an issue-based thread comprising an initial query;
- parsing the initial query for a list of predetermined community terms;
- identifying a set of keywords from the initial query and the list of predetermined community terms;
- retrieving a set of profiles associated with the forum members in the assistance list, wherein each profile in the set of profiles comprises technical expertise data associated with a respective forum member on the assistance list;
- searching the set of profiles associated with the forum members in the assistance list with the set of keywords to determine an expert forum member from the forum members in the assistance list, the expert forum member having an associated profile with a highest number of key words in the technical expertise data that match the set of key words;
- and
- transmitting a notification of the initial query to the expert forum member.
13 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.