DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 6/1/26 has been entered.
Notice to Applicant
The following is a Non-Final Office action. In response to Examiner’s Final Rejection of 12/1/25, Applicant, on 6/1/26, amended claims. Claims 1-4, 9-13, 15-19, and 21-23 are pending in this application and have been rejected below.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments are acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claim 4 recites “receiving, by the interaction distribution system from a leave management system, evaluator status information of the evaluator” and “the operations further comprise updating an evaluator status of the evaluator”. Claim 1 now also includes: “receiving, by the interaction distribution system from a leave management system… evaluator status information of the evaluator” and “to update the evaluator status.” Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Claims 13 and 19 recites similar limitations as claim 4, depending from independent claims 10 and 16. Claims 13 and 19 are rejected for the same reasons as claim 4.
Reasons for Subject Matter Eligibility under 35 USC 101
The claim 1 overcomes the 101 rejections because the claim is now : 1) receiving, by an interaction distribution system from a leave management system via a representational state transfer application programming interface (REST API), evaluator status information of the evaluator, wherein the leave management system triggers a notification to a cloud-based managed service, and the cloud-based managed service calls the interaction distribution system via the REST API to update the evaluator status; 2) using an evaluator graphical user interface (GUI), receiving a first user input to select a first evaluation task for reassignment, with the evaluator GUI, in response to selection of the first evaluation task for reassignment, displaying a park evaluation button that pushes the first evaluation task for reassignment to the interaction distribution system; and 3) storing the first evaluation task in a Structured Query Language (SQL) database in a JavaScript Objection Notification (JSON) format, querying the SQL database to retrieve the first evaluation task. When viewing the claim as a whole, this when combined with the earlier limitations is viewed as “not directed to an abstract idea” and also a practical application under step 2a, prong 2, as the claim is rooted in computing technology with a series of layered interactions and is viewed as a using a judicial exception in a meaningful way under MPEP 2106.05(e). The same reasons also apply to independent claims 10, 16 which have similar limitations.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3, 9-12, 15-18, and 21-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vyas (US 10,616,413) and Schaad (US 2007/0016465) and Qiao (US 2023/0214264).
Concerning claim 1, Vyas discloses:
An evaluation parking system (Vyas ‘413 – see col. 6, lines 54-67 - The term “Quality Planner (QP)” as used herein refers to a Micro Service (MS) that enables quality plans management. Quality plans may randomly select agent interactions based on predefined criteria, and then distribute those interactions to evaluators for evaluation and review. When a Quality Plan is created it is provided with a data range … of the interaction call between an agent and a customer. Based on that data range, voice recording segments of call interactions may be retrieved from document-oriented tables. col. 12, lines 44-48 - the QP algorithm may receive a list of call interactions of agents from the Elastic search and then randomly pick an agent by assigning priority to the set of agents and then assign it to evaluators.
For “parking” - Schaad – see par 23 – delegator may choose to delegate the task; see par 27 - FIG. 1B is a diagrammatic representation of a Use Case model of the relationship between the delegator 10, the delegatee 12 and a revoked task 19, according to an example embodiment of the present invention. The task may be revoked before the delegate 12 performs the task 16, as shown in FIG. 1A, and as described in more detail herein;
see also Qiao – see par 79, 105 - Task list generation module 516 may also specify a title for the task list, e.g., using the API of PM (Project Management) application 521. For example, if the candidate user is taking PTO (Paid Time Off) from July 7.sup.th to July 9.sup.th, task list generation module 516 may title the task list “Tasks Impacted by PTO (7/7-7/9).” In some embodiments, task list generation module 516 can also include recommendation data generated by task recommendation module 515 in the task list such that the recommendations are available within the PM application 521, as illustrated in FIG. 7. ) comprising:
a processor and a computer readable medium operably coupled thereto, the computer readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions stored in association therewith that are accessible to, and executable by, the processor, to perform operations which comprise (Vyas – see col. 4, lines 39-51 – computing system, or other electronic computing device, that manipulates and/or transforms data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories or other information non-transitory storage medium (e.g., a memory) that may store instructions to perform operations and/or processes.
Schaad – see par 90 - FIG. 9 - FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of machine in the example form of a computer system 200 within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed. See par 94 - The term "machine-readable medium" shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with such a set of instructions.):
determining, by an interaction distribution system, that an evaluator is… (Vyas – See col. 6, lines 54-67 – the term “Quality Planner (QP)” as used herein refers to a Micro Service (MS) that enables quality plans management from a centralized location. Quality plans may randomly select agent interactions based on predefined criteria, and then distribute those interactions to evaluators for evaluation and review. After a quality plan is created and activated by the QPMS, it samples interactions from the agents which are defined in the quality plan and send the relevant segments to evaluators for review; col. 13, lines 30-40 – evaluators have different priority for assignment).
Vyas discloses having evaluators with different priority for assignment.
Schaad discloses being “on leave”:
determining, by an interaction distribution system, that an evaluator is “on leave” (Schaad – see par 42 - An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated;
see also Qiao – see par 79-80 - human resources (HR) application 518 for managing requests for time off (e.g., PTO request) ).
Vyas discloses having a cloud-based computing environment for recording call interactions along with Representational State Transfer (REST) API related to the recordings of the recorded call interactions, and making “call requests” in a “cloud-based computing environment” 165 in FIG. 1A (See Col. 2, lines 36-58; Col. 9, lines 54-67; Col. 10, lines 1-7)). Schaad discloses a user “activating” an out of office rule using data structures and databases (See par 42, FIG. 6).
Qiao discloses:
wherein determining that the evaluator is on leave comprises receiving, by the interaction distribution system from a leave management system via a representational state transfer application programming interface (REST API), (Qiao - see par 64 - Referring to FIG. 4C, the systems of record 428 may represent the applications and/or other resources the resource management services 402 may interact with to create microapps. These resources may be SaaS applications, legacy applications, or homegrown applications, and can be hosted on-premises or within a cloud computing environment. Connectors with out-of-the-box templates for several applications may be provided and integration with other applications may additionally or alternatively be configured through a microapp page builder. Such a microapp page builder may, for example, connect to legacy, on-premises, and SaaS systems by creating streamlined user workflows via microapp actions. The resource management services 402, and in particular the data integration provider service 432, may, for example, support REST API, JSON, OData-JSON, and 6ML), evaluator status information of the evaluator wherein the leave management system triggers a notification to a cloud-based managed service, and the cloud-based managed service calls the interaction distribution system via the REST API to update the evaluator status (Qiao – see par 75, FIG. 5 - Client 501, resource access application 502, and cloud computing environment 504 may be the same as or similar to client 202, resource access application 424, and cloud computing environment 414, respectively, of FIGS. 4A-4C;. see par 80 - HR application 518 may provide one or more API calls via which other applications and services can invoke to retrieve data including information about approved time off requests for a particular user or group of users (e.g., all users within a given organization); see par 83 - Referring to cloud-side task completion service 508, data collection module 514 is operable to retrieve information from HR application 518 and one or more data sources 520. In more detail, data collection module 514 can query HR application 518 for approved time off requests for a particular user or group of users, e.g., multiple users within the same team, the same organization, etc. In some embodiments, data collection module 514 can query for approved time off requests that have a start date within a certain time period based off the current date/time, such as the next N days where N equals 5, 7, 14, 30, etc. This time period is referred to herein as the upcoming time off window and the corresponding approved time off requests are referred to as upcoming time off requests. see par 88 - For PM application 521 (disclosing interaction distribution system), a task may correspond an assignable unit of work associated for a project. For example, a software development project may include various tasks or “tickets” corresponding to features to be developed and bugs that are to be fixed/investigated. Such a task may be assigned to a certain user to perform the work and reassigned to another user to review the work, and there may be separate due dates associated with the performance and the review of the work; see par 105 - Task list generation module 516 can use the task data collected by data collection module 514 to generate one or more lists of tasks that potentially may not be completed on time because of, for example, approved time off requests. In more detail, for a given candidate user, task list generation module 516 may receive tasks collected for the user directly from data collection module 514 or indirectly from data cache 524. Task list generation module 516 may then initiate an API call to an application (e.g., PM application 521 or another application that provides for the creation and access of lists (disclosing interaction distribution system)) to create a list that includes information about the user's tasks. ).
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Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao disclose:
based on evaluation tasks assigned to the evaluator (Vyas – see col. 12, lines 26-28 - during the assignment phase the interactions may be assigned to the list of assigned evaluators.)
Vyas discloses having an output device and input device (See col. 10, lines 32-43).
Schaad discloses the next limitations:
with an evaluator graphical user interface (GUI), receiving a first user input to select a first evaluation task for reassignment (Schaad – see par 40, FIG. 3 – In an application program, task data, defining a task to be performed, is received in operation 32. This data may be typically entered by a principal via a user interface; see par 41 - Delegation data is received in operation 33, either via a user interface 34 or via a delegation module 35 and database.),
with the evaluator GUI, in response to selection of the first evaluation task for reassignment, displaying a park evaluation …that pushes the first evaluation task for reassignment to the interaction distribution system (Schaad see par 40-41, FIG. 3 – delegation module 35 includes information identifying a delegator and a delegate of the task; creator of the task may be the delegator; see par 42 - where a principal decides that a task should be performed by another principal or delegatee, the principal or delegator delegates the main task to a delegatee by entering the relevant information via the user interface. This may be an ad hoc delegation. Alternatively, the delegation module 35 may obtain delegation module data 104 from the database 100, where a particular rule determines that a task should automatically be delegated to a delegatee. An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated).
Vyas and Schaad do not explicitly disclose the user interface having a “button” or similar interface element.
Qiao discloses:
with the evaluator GUI, in response to selection of the first evaluation task for reassignment, displaying a park evaluation “button” that pushes the first evaluation task for reassignment to the interaction distribution system (Qiao – see par 61 - event notifications in a resource activity feed may be accompanied by a discrete set of user-interface elements, e.g., “approve,” “deny,” and “see more detail” buttons, allowing a user to take one or more simple actions with respect to each event right within the user's feed. In some embodiments, such a streamlined, intelligent resource activity feed may be enabled by one or more micro-applications, or “microapps,” that can interface with underlying associated resources using APIs or the like. see par 105, 111, FIG. 6 – Activity Feed - “Tasks Impacted by PTO (paid time off) (7/7-7/9) is now available; see par 115, FIG. 7 - For example, list view 704 can include buttons, links, or other UI controls for reassigning particular tasks to certain other recommended users (e.g., other users that are likely capable of completing the task on time). Such recommendations may be generated, for example, by task recommendation module 515 of FIG. 5 and provided to UI 700. In the example of FIG. 7, list view includes a UI control 714a for reassigning a task 712a to another user P3.).
with the evaluator GUI, receiving a click on the park evaluation button (Qiao see par 61 - event notifications in a resource activity feed may be accompanied by a discrete set of user-interface elements, e.g., “approve,” “deny,” and “see more detail” buttons, allowing a user to take one or more simple actions with respect to each event right within the user's feed).),
in response to the click on the park evaluation button, pushing the first evaluation task for reassignment to the interaction distribution system (see par 61 - event notifications in a resource activity feed may be accompanied by a discrete set of user-interface elements, e.g., “approve,” “deny,” and “see more detail” buttons, allowing a user to take one or more simple actions with respect to each event right within the user's feed; see par 105, 111, FIG. 6 – Activity Feed - “Tasks Impacted by PTO (paid time off) (7/7-7/9) is now available; see par 115 - For example, list view 704 can include buttons, links, or other UI controls for reassigning particular tasks to certain other recommended users (e.g., other users that are likely capable of completing the task on time)).
with the evaluator GUI, displaying a successful message stating the first evaluation task has been parked to the interaction distribution system (Qiao – see par 72 - The microapp service 432 may then update the active data cache service 436 with the updated data and cause a message to be sent to the resource access application 424 (via the client interface service 416) notifying the user 426 that the action was successfully completed. see par 105 - Task list generation module 516 may also specify a title for the task list, e.g., using the API of PM application 521. For example, if the candidate user is taking PTO from July 7.sup.th to July 9.sup.th, task list generation module 516 may title the task list “Tasks Impacted by PTO (7/7-7/9).” see par 112 - As shown, activity feed 610 can display a notification 610a that a new task list has been created based on an upcoming time off request; see par 115 - In response to a selection of UI control 714, UI 700 may initiate an update to an application in which task 712a was generated, such that the task may be completed on time. see par 124, FIG. 8- ] At 820, task completion service 508 can notify resource access application 502 that the task list has been created and, at 822, resource access application 503 test may render the notification. For example, resource access application 502 may render a notification that is similar to notification 610a of FIG. 6).
Vyas discloses:
storing the first evaluation task in a Structured Query Language (SQL) database in a JavaScript Objection Notification (JSON) format (Applicant’s specification [0055] as published states “The agent recording or interaction metadata can be stored inside an elastic search as a document-oriented database that utilizes the JSON format.” Vyas discloses the limitations based on broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification – see col. 3, lines 9-14 - the document-oriented database is Elastic Search (ES). ES is a document-oriented database that is designed to store, retrieve, and manage document-oriented or semi-structured data. Recorded data may be stored inside ES in JSON document form. See col. 3, lines 20-24 - the Indexer Micro-Service (MS) may be configured to store data read from the kinesis stream in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format using Index API in the document-oriented database. see col. 7, lines 17-32 - The term “Elastic Load Balancing (ELB)” as used herein refers to a load-balancing service in a cloud-based computing environment such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) deployments. The ELB may be attached for each Micro-Service (MS) instance. In a non-limiting example, for each database such as MySQL instance an ELB may be attached to it; col. 8, lines 59-67, col. 9, lines 1-2 - SBC 115 may calculate Mean Opinion Score (MOS) based on RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) packets and a predefined algorithm and store call detail records (CDRs) in a table-oriented database such as table-oriented database 125. The table-oriented database 125 may be for example, MySQL database;
see also Qiao – see par 64 – data integration provider service supports JSON),
querying the SQL database to retrieve the first evaluation task (Vyas See col. 9, lines 54-61 - … indexes the call records by using index API and after that for each call records there may be MOS available inside Elastic Search (ES) 135. The index API adds or updates a JSON document in a specific index, making it searchable. see FIG. 2A, col. 11, lines 5-10 - operation 225 may comprise extracting metadata related to the regulated network QoS of the recorded call interaction from a table-oriented database such as table-oriented database 125 in FIG. 1A. The table-oriented database may be for example, MySQL database; col. 13, lines 19-29 - According to some embodiments, in the sampling phase, retrieving the agent's recording segments from the Elastic Search (ES) as per sampling factor and put record inside Sampled Segment table. Sampling factor is the count of total number of segments per agent and quality planner MS will pass sampling factor distribution data collected from the preparation phase to MCR Search MS and accordingly MCR Search will query ES to retrieve the information of agent's recording segments in which MOS may be stored as parameter for each segment.)
retrieving, by the interaction distribution system, the first evaluation task selected by the … reassignment (Vyas – Col. 13, lines 9-18 - According to some embodiments the collected distribution data may include: number of days passed since the quality plan occurrence started; number of interactions that should have been assigned by now for each agent; number of interactions that were already assigned for each agent in the plan and set agent priority; total number of interaction to assign in current distribution cycle; the time period of the distribution cycle; if quality plan completion period has reached; number of interactions that have been assigned for each evaluator), or
Vyas discloses storing the evaluations in a JSON format and querying using SQL (See col. 3, 13) and collecting data on “number of days passed since quality plan started” as well as priority for agents and evaluators (See col. 13).
Schaad discloses:
retrieving, by the interaction distribution system, the first evaluation task selected “by the evaluator” for reassignment (Schaad – see par 42 - An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated; see par 47 - Additionally or alternatively, the delegated task may be manually assigned via the user input 34 (See FIG. 6, par 41) or automatically assigned to a subsequent delegatee by the delegation module 35 and subsequent delegation data may be received at operation 45.)
Vyas and Schaad disclose:
parking, by the interaction distribution system, the first evaluation tasks or the second evaluation task to an interaction sample segment datastore (Vyas discloses tasks in an interaction sample segment datastore - see col. 6, lines 57-67, Col. 7, lines 1-6 - When a Quality Plan is created it is provided with a data range of the duration of the interaction call between an agent and a customer. Based on that data range, voice recording segments of call interactions may be retrieved from document-oriented tables in the cloud-based computing environment.
Schaad discloses entire limitation including “parking” – see par 41 - Delegation data is received in operation 33, either via a user interface 34 or via a delegation module 35 and database. See par 66 - General task data 106 of the task includes task identification data (e.g., the name or ID of the task) and a task description (e.g., the set of instructions to be completed to perform the task). The general task data 106 further includes data identifying the subject of the task (e.g., the principal that has to perform the task), and data identifying the target of the task.);
obtaining, by the interaction distribution system from the interaction sample segment datastore, the first evaluation task (Vyas - see col. 6, lines 57-67, Col. 7, lines 1-6 - For example, when retrieving x interactions of agent x, y interactions of agent y, z interactions of agent z and so on from the database in the cloud-based computing environment, the QP may randomly select any agent from the retrieved agents and then apply filter criteria to distribute the interaction call to an evaluator which is one of a plurality of evaluators
see also Schaad – see par 79, FIG. 8 - system 160 comprises a task management application 161 and a database 100, the database 100 containing data relating to the task 106 and/or 108, data relating to delegation of the task 104, data relating to the revocation task 110, and review data 112..); and
reassigning, by the interaction distribution system to an available evaluator based on a quality plan, the first evaluation task being assigned evenly among available evaluators (Vyas – see col. 11, lines 62-67, col. 12, lines 1-4 - According to some embodiments, the Quality Planner (QP) Micro Service (MS) may create a quality plan and assign agent interactions randomly and equally between a list of evaluators according to the quality plan definition. see col. 12, lines 16-20 - during the preparation phase the QP algorithm may be getting plan occurrence and collect distribution data. A user such as a manager may define a Quality Plan (QP) and assign a set of evaluators to the QP.),), in an evaluation task assignment datastore (Schaad see par 28 - Further, the delegator may want to revoke the task from the delegatee 12 in instances where the delegatee 12 has an illness and/or an absence, in order to allow for continuation of work. See par 65 – delegation module data (delegation data) includes information identifying delegate who takes over responsibility to perform task; date and time when task was delegated; see par 80, FIG. 8 - The task management application 161 has a user interface 166 that may be used by a principal 162 to input data for use by the task management application 161. For example, the delegator may use the user interface 166 to input task data relating to a task to be performed. The user interface 166 may further be used by the delegatee to complete the task or may be used by the delegator to complete the review task).
Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao are analogous art as they are directed to managing tasks to people (see Vyas Abstract, Col. 11, lines 63-67 – assign interactions to evaluators; Schaad Abstract, par 42; Qiao par 97, 105, FIG. 5, 7). 1) Vyas discloses having evaluators with different priority for assignment (Col. 13, lines 13-40). Schaad improves upon Vyas by disclosing delegating tasks (See par 23, 27), delegators can be “out of the office” (See par 42); by activating out of office rule (See par 42); that one can “manually” assign a delegated task (See par 47); as well as having rules or time periods for when delegation of tasks can occur (See par 48-49). Schaad also improves upon Vyas by having different databases and delegation modules (See par 41) along with task data (See par 79) and delegation data (See par 79). One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to further include “out of office” rules for reassigning tasks and manually assigning tasks as well as databases with task and delegation data to efficiently improve upon the assignment of agent interactions to evaluators in Vyas. 2) Vyas discloses having a cloud-based computing environment for recording call interactions along with Representational State Transfer (REST) API related to the recordings of the recorded call interactions, and making “call requests” (See Col. 2, lines 36-58; Col. 9, lines 54-67; Col. 10, lines 1-7)). Vyas discloses having an output device and input device (See col. 10, lines 32-43). Schaad discloses a user “activating” an out of office rule using data structures and databases (See par 42, FIG. 6). Schaad improves upon Vyas by disclosing user interfaces for delegating tasks (See par 40-42). Qiao improves upon Vyas and Schaad by disclosing using REST APIs, calls, and a cloud computing environment for receiving information on leave requests of workers (par 64, 80, 83, 88, FIG. 5, 7) and buttons and UI controls in a graphical user interface (See par 61, 115, 124, FIG. 6-8). One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to further include REST API, and calls for approved leave requests along with graphical user interface elements or buttons for reassigning tasks to efficiently improve upon the evaluation of agent interactions in Vyas and the user interfaces for delegating tasks in Schaad.
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the assignment of interactions to evaluators in Vyas to further have reassignments for out of office and data for delegated tasks as disclosed in Schaad, and to further use REST API and calls for passing information on approved leave requests for reassigning tasks along with buttons or UI controls for reassigning tasks in Qiao, since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable and there is a reasonable expectation of success.
Concerning independent claim 10, Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao disclose:
A method for updating evaluation assignments ([same as cl. 1 above] - Vyas ‘413 – see col. 6, lines 54-67 - Quality plans may randomly select agent interactions based on predefined criteria, and then distribute those interactions to evaluators for evaluation and review. When a Quality Plan is created it is provided with a data range … of the interaction call between an agent and a customer. Based on that data range, voice recording segments of call interactions may be retrieved from document-oriented tables. col. 12, lines 44-48 - the QP algorithm may receive a list of call interactions of agents from the Elastic search and then randomly pick an agent by assigning priority to the set of agents and then assign it to evaluators), which comprises:
determining, by an interaction distribution system that an evaluator is… (same as cl. 1 above - Vyas – See col. 6, lines 54-67 – the term “Quality Planner (QP)” as used herein refers to a Micro Service (MS) that enables quality plans management from a centralized location. Quality plans may randomly select agent interactions based on predefined criteria, and then distribute those interactions to evaluators for evaluation and review. After a quality plan is created and activated by the QPMS, it samples interactions from the agents which are defined in the quality plan and send the relevant segments to evaluators for review; col. 13, lines 30-40 – evaluators have different priority for assignment).
Vyas discloses having evaluators with different priority for assignment.
Schaad discloses being “on leave”:
determining, by an interaction distribution system, that an evaluator is “on leave” (Schaad – see par 42 - An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated.)
wherein determining that the evaluator is on leave comprises receiving, by the interaction distribution system from a leave management system via a representational state transfer application programming interface (REST API), (Qiao –[same as cl. 1] see par 64), evaluator status information of the evaluator wherein the leave management system triggers a notification to a cloud-based managed service, and the cloud-based managed service calls the interaction distribution system via the REST API to update the evaluator status (Qiao [same as cl. 1] – see par 75, FIG. 5; see par 80; see par 83; see par 88).
Vyas and Schaad and Qiao in combination disclose:
from evaluation tasks assigned to the evaluator (Vyas – see col. 12, lines 26-28 - during the assignment phase the interactions may be assigned to the list of assigned evaluators.)
with a supervisor GUI (Vyas – See Col. 12, lines 16-20 - A user such as a manager may define a Quality Plan (QP) and assign a set of evaluators to the QP.
See also Qiao – see par 80 - HR application 518 may also provide one or more interfaces for reviewing, approving, and denying submitted time off requests. These interfaces may be used by authorized clients (e.g., clients associated with a supervisor) to approve/deny time off requests.), receiving a first user input to select a criterion of a parking configuration, wherein the criterion of the parking configuration comprises instructions to park a first evaluation task that (1) has not been acted on in a first number of days or (2) is going to expire in a second number of days (Applicant’s FIG. 6 gives example of support
Schaad– For “parking” - see par 23 – delegator may choose to delegate the task; see par 24- a “review” task based on evidence created on completion of the task, in a different topic; see par 27 - FIG. 1B is a diagrammatic representation of a Use Case model of the relationship between the delegator 10, the delegatee 12 and a revoked task 19, according to an example embodiment of the present invention. The task may be revoked before the delegate 12 performs the task 16, as shown in FIG. 1A, and as described in more detail herein; see par 41 – Delegation data is received in operation 33, either via a user interface 34 or via a delegation module 35 and database. See par 42 - An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated. See par 49 - It is foreseen that other rules may restrict the delegation of tasks within a time period prior to the deadline of completing the task
see also Qiao – see par 84 - Data collection module 514 can analyze the upcoming time off requests to identify one or more users that are approved to take time off and, thus, potentially not be able to complete one or more of their tasks on time (e.g., tasks due during a time off period)),
with a supervisor GUI, receiving a second user input to enter the first number of days or the second number of days (Schaad - see par 49 - It is foreseen that other rules may restrict the delegation of tasks within a time period prior to the deadline of completing the task),
Examiner notes, Applicant’s specification states that the content in the JSON format is the “Parking configuration 206” that includes content such as “status of evaluator being “active” or “on leave”; other possible rules such as “auto park interaction when task expired after 3 days”. (See [0051-0054] and Table 1).
Vyas discloses storing the evaluations in a JSON format and querying using SQL (See col. 3, 13) and collecting data on “number of days passed since quality plan started” as well as priority for agents and evaluators (See col. 13). Vyas in combination Schaad discloses the specific criterion for parking from second user input and third user input:
in response to the first user input and the second user input, saving the parking configuration in a database (Schaad – See par 42 - the delegation module 35 may obtain delegation module data 104 from the database 100, where a particular rule determines that a task should automatically be delegated to a delegatee. An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated. see par 60 - The database 134 is also used to store the set of rules that govern delegations, and in particular, subsequent delegations.)
Examiner notes, Applicant’s specification states that the content in the JSON format is the “Parking configuration 206” that includes content such as “status of evaluator being “active” or “on leave”; other possible rules such as “auto park interaction when task expired after 3 days”. (See [0051-0054] and Table 1).
Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao disclose:
querying the database to retrieve the parking configuration (Vyas – see col. 3, lines 9-14 - the document-oriented database is Elastic Search (ES). ES is a document-oriented database that is designed to store, retrieve, and manage document-oriented or semi-structured data. Recorded data may be stored inside ES in JSON document form; See col. 9, lines 54-61 - … once the data record arrives inside kinesis stream then the Indexer MS 170 indexes the call records by using index API and after that for each call records there may be MOS available inside Elastic Search (ES) 135. The index API adds or updates a JSON document in a specific index, making it searchable. see FIG. 2A, col. 11, lines 5-10 - operation 225 may comprise extracting metadata related to the regulated network QoS of the recorded call interaction from a table-oriented database such as table-oriented database 125 in FIG. 1A. The table-oriented database may be for example, MySQL database; col. 13, lines 19-29 - According to some embodiments, in the sampling phase, retrieving the agent's recording segments from the Elastic Search (ES) as per sampling factor and put record inside Sampled Segment table;
see also Schaad par 48, FIG. 3 - At operation 46, the subsequent delegation data may be compared to a set of rules (within database 100 on FIG. 8) to determine whether the delegation is allowable.)
Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao disclose:
reading, by the interaction distribution system, the criterion of the parking configuration (Schaad – See par 48 - At operation 46, the subsequent delegation data may be compared to a set of rules (within database 100 on FIG. 8) to determine whether the delegation is allowable. See par 49 - the set of rules may include a limitation on the number of subsequent delegations which is allowable. The set of rules may also specify that a review task can never be delegated and should therefore be completed by the respective delegator. In a further embodiment, the set of rules may disqualify the delegator or subsequent delegators from being subsequent delegatees. It is foreseen that other rules may restrict the delegation of tasks within a time period prior to the deadline of completing the task. Other rules may include a limit to the number of times a task may be delegated (depth of delegation chain), and a limit on cycles in the delegation chain, e.g., a task not to come back to the initially delegating principal.), and
determining, by the interaction distribution system, that the first evaluation task meets a criterion of the parking configuration (Schaad – See par 48 - At operation 46, the subsequent delegation data may be compared to a set of rules (within database 100 on FIG. 8) to determine whether the delegation is allowable. see par 49 - In a further embodiment, the set of rules may disqualify the delegator or subsequent delegators from being subsequent delegatees. It is foreseen that other rules may restrict the delegation of tasks within a time period prior to the deadline of completing the task. As further examples, rules may specify that a clerk may only delegate within his branch, or that a senior sales representative may only delegate to staff in his sales region. see par 51 - In the event that the subsequent delegation is allowable according to the set of rules, subsequent delegation data is stored at operation 48 and the process returns to the review task created at operation 36.);
storing the first evaluation task in a Structured Query Language (SQL) database in a JavaScript Object Notification (JSON) format - Applicant’s specification [0055] as published states “The agent recording or interaction metadata can be stored inside an elastic search as a document-oriented database that utilizes the JSON format.” Vyas – discloses the limitations based on broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification – see col. 3, lines 9-14 - the document-oriented database is Elastic Search (ES). Recorded data may be stored inside ES in JSON document form. See col. 3, lines 20-24 - (JSON) format using Index API in the document-oriented database. see col. 7, lines 17-32 - The term “Elastic Load Balancing (ELB)” as used herein refers to a load-balancing service in a cloud-based computing environment such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) deployments. The ELB may be attached for each Micro-Service (MS) instance. In a non-limiting example, for each database such as MySQL instance an ELB may be attached to it; see col. 7, lines 42-44 - The term “JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format” as used herein refers to a lightweight format for storing and transporting data. col. 8, lines 59-67, col. 9, lines 1-2 - MySQL database),
querying the SQL database to retrieve the first evaluation task (Vyas - See col. 9, lines 54-61 - … once the data record arrives inside kinesis stream then the Indexer MS 170 indexes the call records by using index API and after that for each call records there may be MOS available inside Elastic Search (ES) 135. The index API adds or updates a JSON document in a specific index, making it searchable. see FIG. 2A, col. 11, lines 5-10 - operation 225 may comprise extracting metadata related to the regulated network QoS of the recorded call interaction from a table-oriented database such as table-oriented database 125 in FIG. 1A. The table-oriented database may be for example, MySQL database; col. 13, lines 19-29 - According to some embodiments, in the sampling phase, retrieving the agent's recording segments from the Elastic Search (ES) as per sampling factor and put record inside Sampled Segment table. Sampling factor is the count of total number of segments per agent and quality planner MS will pass sampling factor distribution data collected from the preparation phase to MCR Search MS and accordingly MCR Search will query ES to retrieve the information of agent's recording segments in which MOS may be stored as parameter for each segment).
receiving, by the interaction distribution system, an assignment of the first evaluation task from an evaluation task assignment datastore, wherein the assignment comprises a quality plan occurrence ID, an evaluator ID, a segment ID, an agent ID, … (Applicant’s example is in Tables 1-3 – Plan Occurrence ID = P1; Evaluator ID = E1, E2, E3; Segment ID = S1, NULL, S2; Agent ID = A1, Null, A2; Evaluator status = Available, On Leave
Vyas ‘413 discloses the limitations based on broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification – see col. 6, lines 54-67, Col. 7, lines 1-6 - The term “Quality Planner (QP)” as used herein refers to a Micro Service (MS) that enables quality plans management from a centralized location. Quality plans may randomly select agent interactions based on predefined criteria, and then distribute those interactions to evaluators for evaluation and review. After a quality plan is created and activated (disclosing “quality plan occurrence ID”) by the QPMS, it samples interactions from the agents which are defined in the quality plan and send the relevant segments to evaluators for review. When a Quality Plan is created it is provided with a data range of the duration of the interaction call between an agent and a customer (disclosing “segment start time”). Based on that data range, voice recording segments of call interactions may be retrieved from document-oriented tables in the cloud-based computing environment. For example, when retrieving x interactions (disclosing “segment ID”) of agent x, y interactions of agent y, z interactions of agent z and so on from the database in the cloud-based computing environment, the QP may randomly select any agent from the retrieved agents (disclosing “agent ID”) and then apply filter criteria to distribute the interaction call to an evaluator which is one of a plurality of evaluators; see col. 11, lines 63-67, Col. 2, lines 1-9 - The required number of interactions per agent may be assigned equally during the quality plan period. the distribution process may be activated by the QP service scheduler every predefined amount of time e.g., 2 hours for each distribution process (disclosing segment start time))
see also for “evaluation task data store” – Schaad - See par 65 – delegation module data (delegation data) includes information identifying delegate who takes over responsibility to perform task; date and time when task was delegate;
Schaad discloses “evaluator status”:
receiving, by the interaction distribution system, an assignment of the first evaluation task from an evaluation task assignment datastore, wherein the assignment comprises a… “evaluator status” (Applicant’s example is in Tables 1-3 – Evaluator status = Available, On Leave
Schaad discloses the limitations based on broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the specification – See par 28 - The senior accountant or delegator may have some free time available and may want to perform the task himself/herself; Further, the delegator may want to revoke the task from the delegatee 12 in instances where the delegatee 12 has an illness and/or an absence, in order to allow for continuation of work. See par 42 - he delegation module 35 may obtain delegation module data 104 from the database 100, where a particular rule determines that a task should automatically be delegated to a delegatee. An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated).
Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao disclose:
parking, by the interaction distribution system, the first evaluation task to an interaction sample segment datastore, (Vyas discloses tasks in an interaction sample segment datastore - see col. 6, lines 57-67, Col. 7, lines 1-6 - When a Quality Plan is created it is provided with a data range of the duration of the interaction call between an agent and a customer. Based on that data range, voice recording segments of call interactions may be retrieved from document-oriented tables in the cloud-based computing environment.
see also Schaad – see par 41 - Delegation data is received in operation 33, either via a user interface 34 or via a delegation module 35 and database. See par 66 - General task data 106 of the task includes task identification data (e.g., the name or ID of the task) and a task description (e.g., the set of instructions to be completed to perform the task). The general task data 106 further includes data identifying the subject of the task (e.g., the principal that has to perform the task), and data identifying the target of the task.), wherein the parked first evaluation task comprises the quality plan occurrence ID, the evaluator ID, the segment ID, the agent ID, and a segment start time (Vyas as above - see col. 6, lines 54-67, Col. 7, lines 1-6 - After a quality plan is created and activated (disclosing “quality plan occurrence ID”) by the QPMS, it samples interactions from the agents which are defined in the quality plan and send the relevant segments to evaluators for review. When a Quality Plan is created it is provided with a data range of the duration of the interaction call between an agent and a customer (disclosing “segment start time”). … For example, when retrieving x interactions (disclosing “segment ID”) of agent x, y interactions of agent y, z interactions of agent z and so on from the database in the cloud-based computing environment, the QP may randomly select any agent from the retrieved agents (disclosing “agent ID”); see col. 11, lines 63-67, Col. 2, lines 1-9 - The required number of interactions per agent may be assigned equally during the quality plan period. the distribution process may be activated by the QP service scheduler every predefined amount of time e.g., 2 hours for each distribution process (disclosing segment start time);
Schaad – see par 47 - The delegation module 35 may obtain information from the database 100 to define the subsequent delegator and subsequent delegatee. See par 48 - the subsequent delegation data may be compared to a set of rules (within database 100 on FIG. 8) to determine whether the delegation is allowable.)
obtaining, by the interaction distribution system from the interaction sample segment datastore, the first evaluation task (Vyas - see col. 6, lines 57-67, Col. 7, lines 1-6 - For example, when retrieving x interactions of agent x, y interactions of agent y, z interactions of agent z and so on from the database in the cloud-based computing environment, the QP may randomly select any agent from the retrieved agents and then apply filter criteria to distribute the interaction call to an evaluator which is one of a plurality of evaluators
see also Schaad – see par 79, FIG. 8 - system 160 comprises a task management application 161 and a database 100, the database 100 containing data relating to the task 106 and/or 108, data relating to delegation of the task 104, data relating to the revocation task 110, and review data 112..); and
reassigning, by the interaction distribution system to an available evaluator based on a quality plan, the first evaluation task being assigned evenly among available evaluators in the evaluation task assignment datastore (Vyas – see col. 11, lines 62-67, col. 12, lines 1-4 - According to some embodiments, the Quality Planner (QP) Micro Service (MS) may create a quality plan and assign agent interactions randomly and equally between a list of evaluators according to the quality plan definition. see col. 12, lines 16-20 - during the preparation phase the QP algorithm may be getting plan occurrence and collect distribution data. A user such as a manager may define a Quality Plan (QP) and assign a set of evaluators to the QP; see col. 6, lines 57-67, Col. 7, lines 1-6 - After a quality plan is created and activated by the QPMS, it samples interactions from the agents which are defined in the quality plan and send the relevant segments to evaluators for review. When a Quality Plan is created it is provided with a data range of the duration of the interaction call between an agent and a customer. Based on that data range, voice recording segments of call interactions may be retrieved from document-oriented tables in the cloud-based computing environment. For example, when retrieving x interactions of agent x, y interactions of agent y, z interactions of agent z and so on from the database in the cloud-based computing environment, the QP may randomly select any agent from the retrieved agents and then apply filter criteria to distribute the interaction call to an evaluator which is one of a plurality of evaluators.)
(see also Schaad see par 28 - Further, the delegator may want to revoke the task from the delegatee 12 in instances where the delegatee 12 has an illness and/or an absence, in order to allow for continuation of work. See par 65 – delegation module data (delegation data) includes information identifying delegate who takes over responsibility to perform task; date and time when task was delegated; see par 80, FIG. 8 - The task management application 161 has a user interface 166 that may be used by a principal 162 to input data for use by the task management application 161. For example, the delegator may use the user interface 166 to input task data relating to a task to be performed. The user interface 166 may further be used by the delegatee to complete the task or may be used by the delegator to complete the review task);
updating, by the interaction distribution system, the assignment of the first evaluation task in the evaluation task assignment data store, wherein the updated assignment comprises the quality plan occurrence ID, the evaluator ID, the segment ID, the agent ID, and the evaluator status (Vyas as above - see col. 6, lines 54-67, Col. 7, lines 1-6 - After a quality plan is created and activated (disclosing “quality plan occurrence ID”) by the QPMS, it samples interactions from the agents which are defined in the quality plan and send the relevant segments to evaluators for review. When a Quality Plan is created it is provided with a data range of the duration of the interaction call between an agent and a customer (disclosing “segment start time”). … For example, when retrieving x interactions (disclosing “segment ID”) of agent x, y interactions of agent y, z interactions of agent z and so on from the database in the cloud-based computing environment, the QP may randomly select any agent from the retrieved agents (disclosing “agent ID”); see col. 11, lines 63-67, Col. 2, lines 1-9 - The required number of interactions per agent may be assigned equally during the quality plan period. the distribution process may be activated by the QP service scheduler every predefined amount of time e.g., 2 hours for each distribution process (disclosing segment start time);
Schaad – see par 47 - The delegation module 35 may obtain information from the database 100 to define the subsequent delegator and subsequent delegatee. See par 48 - the subsequent delegation data may be compared to a set of rules (within database 100 on FIG. 8) to determine whether the delegation is allowable; see par 79 - This system 160 comprises a task management application 161 and a database 100, the database 100 containing data relating to the task 106 and/or 108, data relating to delegation of the task 104, data relating to the revocation task 110, and review data 112.).
It would be obvious to combine Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao for the same reasons as claim 1. In addition, Vyas discloses quality plans, recurring quality plans (col. 12, lines 66-67, col. 13, lines 1-6), retrieving voice recording segments from specific agents (agent y, agent z) and selecting evaluators for evaluation and review (See col. 6-7, 11-12). Schaad improves upon Vyas by having a database also including delegating relative to evaluator/person being out of office (See par 42) and a database for delegating (FIG. 8, par 79).
Concerning independent claim 16, Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao disclose:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-readable instructions executable by a processor to perform operations which comprise: determining, by an interaction distribution system…( same as cl. 10 above - Vyas – see col. 4, lines 39-51 – computing system, or other electronic computing device, that manipulates and/or transforms data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories or other information non-transitory storage medium (e.g., a memory) that may store instructions to perform operations and/or processes. See col. 6, lines 54-67 –Quality plans may randomly select agent interactions based on predefined criteria, and then distribute those interactions to evaluators for evaluation and review);
determining, by an interaction distribution system, that an evaluator is… (Vyas – See col. 6, lines 54-67 – the term “Quality Planner (QP)” as used herein refers to a Micro Service (MS) that enables quality plans management from a centralized location. Quality plans may randomly select agent interactions based on predefined criteria, and then distribute those interactions to evaluators for evaluation and review. After a quality plan is created and activated by the QPMS, it samples interactions from the agents which are defined in the quality plan and send the relevant segments to evaluators for review; col. 13, lines 30-40 – evaluators have different priority for assignment).
Vyas discloses having evaluators with different priority for assignment.
Schaad discloses being “on leave”:
determining, by an interaction distribution system, that an evaluator is “on leave” (Schaad – see par 42 - An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated.).
Vyas and Schaad in combination disclose:
based on evaluation tasks assigned to the evaluator (Vyas – see col. 12, lines 26-28 - during the assignment phase the interactions may be assigned to the list of assigned evaluators.)
The remaining limitations are similar to claim 1, 10 above. It would be obvious to combine Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao for the same reasons as claim 1 and 10.
Concerning claims 2, 11, and 17, Vyas discloses considering number of days passed in the distribution data (See col .13).
Schaad discloses:
The evaluation parking system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise distributing, by the interaction distribution system, the first evaluation task to the available evaluator (Schaad – see par 28 - the delegator may want to revoke the task from the delegatee 12 in instances where the delegatee 12 has an illness and/or an absence, in order to allow for continuation of work).
It would be obvious to combine Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao for the same reasons as claim 1.
Concerning claims 3, 12, and 18, Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao disclose:
The evaluation parking system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise terminating, by the interaction distribution system, assignment of evaluation tasks to the evaluator while the evaluator is on leave (Schaad see par 42 - This may be an ad hoc delegation. Alternatively, the delegation module 35 may obtain delegation module data 104 from the database 100, where a particular rule determines that a task should automatically be delegated to a delegatee. An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated;
see also Qiao – see par 113 - , an illustrative task list 703a entitled “Tasks Impacted by PTO (7/7-7/9)” may be automatically generated within a PM application in response to a request for time off between July 7.sup.th and July 9.sup.th. Techniques and structures for generating such a task list are described above in the context of FIG. 5.).
It would be obvious to combine Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao for the same reasons as claim 1.
Concerning claim 4, Schaad discloses:
The evaluation parking system of claim 1, wherein determining that the evaluator is on leave comprises
receiving, by the interaction distribution system from a leave management system, evaluator status information of the evaluator (Schaad – see par 42 - the delegation module 35 may obtain delegation module data 104 from the database 100, where a particular rule determines that a task should automatically be delegated to a delegatee. An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated)
Schaad discloses “activating” out of office rule (See par 42). To any extent it’s not “updating” the status, Qiao discloses:
the operations further comprise updating an evaluator status of the evaluator (Qiao – ); see par 83 - Referring to cloud-side task completion service 508, data collection module 514 is operable to retrieve information from HR application 518 and one or more data sources 520. In more detail, data collection module 514 can query HR application 518 for approved time off requests for a particular user or group of users, e.g., multiple users within the same team, the same organization, etc. In some embodiments, data collection module 514 can query for approved time off requests that have a start date within a certain time period based off the current date/time, such as the next N days where N equals 5, 7, 14, 30, etc; see par 88 - For PM application 521, a task may correspond an assignable unit of work associated for a project. For example, a software development project may include various tasks or “tickets” corresponding to features to be developed and bugs that are to be fixed/investigated. Such a task may be assigned to a certain user to perform the work and reassigned to another user to review the work, and there may be separate due dates associated with the performance and the review of the work; see par 114 - In response to a selection of task list 703a within menu 702, list view 704 may be updated to show information about one or more tasks of the selected task list. For example, list view 704 can show tasks that have the potential to not be completed on time (e.g., by their explicit or default due dates) because of the upcoming time off. In).
It would be obvious to combine Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao for the same reasons as claim 1, 10, and 16.
Examiner notes that in independent claims 10 and 16, “evaluator status” is now introduced with regards to the “assignment”. Concerning, Claims 13 and 19 [similar to claim 1 and 4 above], which depend from claims 10 and 16, Vyas discloses sending relevant segments from agents to evaluators for review (See col. 6-7, 11-12). As above in claims 10 and 16, Schaad and Qiao discloses evaluator status: “See par 28 - The senior accountant or delegator may have some free time available and may want to perform the task himself/herself; Further, the delegator may want to revoke the task from the delegatee 12 in instances where the delegatee 12 has an illness and/or an absence, in order to allow for continuation of work.”
Qiao – see par 83 - In some embodiments, data collection module 514 can query for approved time off requests that have a start date within a certain time period based off the current date/time, such as the next N days where N equals 5, 7, 14, 30, etc. This time period is referred to herein as the upcoming time off window and the corresponding approved time off requests are referred to as upcoming time off requests. The upcoming time off window may be defined as a configuration setting of task completion service 508 and, in some cases, may be configurable per user and/or per organization.
Schaad and Qiao disclose this second version of an evaluator status:
The evaluation parking system of claim 1, wherein determining that the evaluator is on leave comprises
receiving, by the interaction distribution system from a leave management system, evaluator status information of the evaluator (Schaad – see par 42 - the delegation module 35 may obtain delegation module data 104 from the database 100, where a particular rule determines that a task should automatically be delegated to a delegatee. An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated;
see par 75, FIG. 5 - Client 501, resource access application 502, and cloud computing environment 504 may be the same as or similar to client 202, resource access application 424, and cloud computing environment 414, respectively, of FIGS. 4A-4C;. see par 80 - HR application 518 may provide one or more API calls via which other applications and services can invoke to retrieve data including information about approved time off requests for a particular user or group of users (e.g., all users within a given organization); see par 83 - Referring to cloud-side task completion service 508, data collection module 514 is operable to retrieve information from HR application 518 and one or more data sources 520. In more detail, data collection module 514 can query HR application 518 for approved time off requests for a particular user or group of users, e.g., multiple users within the same team, the same organization, etc. )
Schaad discloses “activating” out of office rule (See par 42). To any extent it’s not “updating” the status, Qiao discloses:
the operations further comprise updating an evaluator status of the evaluator (Qiao – see par 84 - Data collection module 514 can analyze the upcoming time off requests to identify one or more users that are approved to take time off and, thus, potentially not be able to complete one or more of their tasks on time (e.g., tasks due during a time off period); see par 86 - For example, data collection module 514 may determine the user has an approved time off request on a certain day, and they may wait one or more days to collect task data for the user depending on when corresponding data collection period is set to start. In some embodiments, data collection module 514 may wait a certain number of days (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, etc. days) before a user's time off period to being collecting the user's task data. ).
It would be obvious to combine Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao for the same reasons as claim 1, 10, and 16 above.
Concerning claim 9, Vyas discloses:
The evaluation parking system of claim 1, wherein the interaction distribution system is configured to run periodically (Vyas see 13, lines 9-18 – the time period of the distribution cycle; if quality plan completion period has reached; number of interactions that have been assigned for each evaluator), and in a subsequent distribution cycle, to park the first evaluation task to the interaction sample segment datastore (Vyas – see col. 6, lines 54-67 - After a quality plan is created and activated by the QPMS, it samples interactions from the agents which are defined in the quality plan and send the relevant segments to evaluators for review. When a Quality Plan is created it is provided with a data range of the duration of the interaction call between an agent and a customer. Based on that data range, voice recording segments of call interactions may be retrieved from document-oriented tables in the cloud-based computing environment; Col. 13, lines 1-18 - recurrent plans may be started once activated. At this phase such plans may not be set as pending until the beginning of the next occurrence. There will also may be one-time plans which may have a single occurrence, that will be set as expired once the quality plan has been fully handled. According to some embodiments the collected distribution data may include: number of days passed since the quality plan occurrence started;
for parking see Schaad par 23 – delegator may choose to delegate the task; see par 42 - An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated)
It would be obvious to combine Vyas and Schaad and Qiao for the same reasons as claim 1.
Concerning claim 15, Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao disclose:
The method of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise receiving, from a manager of the evaluator, a quality plan (Vyas – See col. 6, lines 54-67 - Quality plans may randomly select agent interactions based on predefined criteria, and then distribute those interactions to evaluators for evaluation and review. After a quality plan is created and activated by the QPMS, it samples interactions from the agents which are defined in the quality plan and send the relevant segments to evaluators for review; see col. 12, lines 16-20 - user such as a manager may define a Quality Plan (QP) and assign a set of evaluators to the QP; see col. 13, lines 9-18 - the collected distribution data may include: number of days passed since the quality plan occurrence started; number of interactions that should have been assigned by now for each agent; number of interactions that were already assigned for each agent in the plan and set agent priority; total number of interaction to assign in current distribution cycle; the time period of the distribution cycle; if quality plan completion period has reached; number of interactions that have been assigned for each evaluator) comprising the parking configuration (Schaad – – see par 24- a “review” task based on evidence created on completion of the task, in a different topic; See par 42 - the delegation module 35 may obtain delegation module data 104 from the database 100, where a particular rule determines that a task should automatically be delegated to a delegatee. An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated. See par 47 - he delegated task may be manually assigned via the user input 34 or automatically assigned to a subsequent delegatee by the delegation module 35 and subsequent delegation data may be received at operation 45. The delegation module 35 may obtain information from the database 100 to define the subsequent delegator and subsequent delegatee. see par 49 - As further examples, rules may specify that a clerk may only delegate within his branch, or that a senior sales representative may only delegate to staff in his sales region).
It would be obvious to combine Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao for the same reasons as claim 1.
Concerning claim 21, Vyas and Schaad and Qiao disclose:
The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the parking configuration further comprises instructions to automatically park evaluation tasks that have been assigned to an evaluator who is on leave (Schaad par 42 - where a principal decides that a task should be performed by another principal or delegatee, the principal or delegator delegates the task to a delegatee by entering the relevant information via the user interface. This may be an ad hoc delegation. Alternatively, the delegation module 35 may obtain delegation module data 104 from the database 100, where a particular rule determines that a task should automatically be delegated to a delegatee. An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated. Such an automatic delegation rule ensures that the task is completed without delay, without having to wait for an input from a delegator.
see also Qiao par 113 - see col. 6, lines 57-67, Col. 7, lines 1-6 - When a Quality Plan is created it is provided with a data range of the duration of the interaction call between an agent and a customer. Based on that data range, voice recording segments of call interactions may be retrieved from document-oriented tables in the cloud-based computing environment.).
It would be obvious to combine Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao for the same reasons as claim 1 and 10.
Concerning claim 22, Vyas and Schaad disclose:
The evaluation parking system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise receiving, from a manager of the evaluator, a quality plan (Vyas – See col. 6, lines 54-67 - Quality plans may randomly select agent interactions based on predefined criteria, and then distribute those interactions to evaluators for evaluation and review. After a quality plan is created and activated by the QPMS, it samples interactions from the agents which are defined in the quality plan and send the relevant segments to evaluators for review; see col. 12, lines 16-20 - user such as a manager may define a Quality Plan (QP) and assign a set of evaluators to the QP; see col. 13, lines 9-18 - the collected distribution data may include: number of days passed since the quality plan occurrence started; number of interactions that should have been assigned by now for each agent; number of interactions that were already assigned for each agent in the plan and set agent priority; total number of interaction to assign in current distribution cycle; the time period of the distribution cycle; if quality plan completion period has reached; number of interactions that have been assigned for each evaluator) comprising the parking configuration (Schaad – – see par 24- a “review” task based on evidence created on completion of the task, in a different topic; See par 42 - the delegation module 35 may obtain delegation module data 104 from the database 100, where a particular rule determines that a task should automatically be delegated to a delegatee. An example of such a rule is where a delegator is out of the office and has activated an out of office rule, such that any incoming tasks are automatically delegated. See par 47 - he delegated task may be manually assigned via the user input 34 or automatically assigned to a subsequent delegatee by the delegation module 35 and subsequent delegation data may be received at operation 45. The delegation module 35 may obtain information from the database 100 to define the subsequent delegator and subsequent delegatee. see par 49 - As further examples, rules may specify that a clerk may only delegate within his branch, or that a senior sales representative may only delegate to staff in his sales region.).
It would be obvious to combine Vyas, Schaad, and Qiao for the same reasons as claim 1 and claim 10.
Concerning claim 23, Vyas disclose:
The evaluation parking system of claim 22, wherein the interaction distribution system is configured to distribute segments of evaluation tasks across evaluators per the quality plan (Vyas See col. 11, lines 62-67, col. 12, lines 1-3 - Quality Planner (QP) Micro Service (MS) may create a quality plan and assign agent interactions randomly and equally between a list of evaluators according to the quality plan definition. The required number of interactions per agent may be assigned equally during the quality plan period).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6/1/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive and/or are moot in view of the new rejections.
With regards to 103, the arguments are moot in light of the revised rejections necessitated by the amendments.
Conclusion
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/IVAN R GOLDBERG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
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