Automatic extraction and completion of tasks associated with communications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10366359-B2
Application number	US-201514944245-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2015
Priority date	Nov 18, 2015
Publication date	Jul 30, 2019
Grant date	Jul 30, 2019

Abstract

Automatically extracting and completing tasks associated with a communication is provided. In some examples, an application, such as a task management application, may generate nodes based on properties extracted from a communication, generate tasks based on the nodes, and construct a graph based on the nodes and the tasks. The task management application may also perform a prioritization of the tasks within the graph based on the properties of the nodes, order the tasks within the graph based on the prioritization of the tasks, and provide a task management interface to present the tasks within the graph. The task management application may also transmit the tasks within the graph to a task extraction engine of the task management application in response to a modification input executed on the graph.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computing device for automatically extracting and completing tasks associated with a communication, the computing device comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors executing a task management application in conjunction with instructions stored in the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
receive a communication from a communication source and extract one or more properties of the communication from the communication, the one or more properties including a priority associated with the communication or the communication source, a timestamp, a subject matter, or a type of an attachment associated with the communication;
construct nodes in a graph representing the various extracted properties of the communication;
detect one or more of a text, linguistic phrase, or keyword in the nodes representing the extracted properties of the communication in the graph;
associate at least some of the constructed nodes in the graph with other nodes based on the detected one or more of the text, linguistic phrase, or keyword into a single task to be performed by a user;
determine a priority of the task among other tasks within the graph based on at least one of the one or more properties of the communication; and
order the task among the other tasks within the graph based on the determined priority; and
transmit, via a computer network, data representing the task to be displayed on a client device as being ordered among the other tasks within the graph based on the determined priority, thereby reducing processing usage of the computing device and network bandwidth usage of the computer network by avoiding repeated task assignment.

2. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
perform a historical trend analysis to analyze a history of the one or more properties of the communication; and
determine the priority of the task among the other tasks based on the history of the one or more properties of the communication.

3. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
order the task among the other tasks based on a deadline associated with the task;
provide for display a subset of tasks including one or more of the task and the other tasks within the graph, wherein the subset of the tasks request an input; and
receive the input associated with the subset of the tasks, wherein the input includes one of an approval of the subset of the tasks, a dismissal of the subset of the tasks, or a tentative approval of the subset of the tasks.

4. The computing device of claim 3 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
detect the approval of the subset of the tasks as the input; and
execute the subset of the tasks.

5. The computing device of claim 3 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
detect the dismissal of the subset of the tasks as the input; and
fail to execute the subset of the tasks.

6. The computing device of claim 3 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
detect the tentative approval of the subset of the tasks as the input; and
execute the subset of the tasks in response to meeting a deadline associated with the subset of the tasks.

7. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive a feedback associated with the task; and
customize one or more of the subset of the tasks and the order of the subset of the tasks within the graph based on the received feedback.

8. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
in response to a target stakeholder selection of the task, provide for display information associated with the subset of tasks.

9. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the information is distinguished with one or more of a textual scheme, a graphical scheme, an audio scheme, an animation scheme, a coloring scheme, a highlighting scheme, and a shading scheme.

10. A method executed on a computing device for automatically extracting and completing tasks associated with a communication, the computing device being connected to a client device via a computer network, wherein the method comprising:
upon receiving a communication to a user from a communication source, extracting one or more properties of the received communication, the one or more properties including a priority associated with the communication or the communication source, a timestamp, a subject matter, or a type of an attachment contained in the communication;
constructing one or more nodes in a graph based on and representing the extracted properties of the received communication, the constructed one or more nodes and other nodes in the graph individually being associated with one or more of a text, linguistic phrase, or keyword;
associating at least one of the constructed nodes in the graph with one or more other nodes in the graph based on the one or more of the text, linguistic phrase, or keyword associated with the individual nodes into a single task to be performed by a user; and
transmitting data representing the task to be presented and acted on a client device by the user, thereby reducing processing usage of the computing device and network bandwidth usage of the computer network by avoiding repeated task assignment.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
receiving the communication from the communication source, the communication including one of an email, a calendar invite, a text message, or an instant message.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
performing a historical trend analysis to analyze a history of the one or more properties of the communication; and
determining a priority of the task among the other tasks based on the history of the one or more properties of the communication.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
subsequent to transmitting data representing the task, receiving, from the user, an input associated with the displayed task, wherein the input includes one of an approval, a dismissal, or a tentative approval of the task.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
subsequent to transmitting data representing the task, receiving, from the user, an input representing approval of the task; and
in response to receiving the input, executing the task at the computing device.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
subsequent to transmitting data representing the task, receiving, from the user, an input representing a tentative approval of the task; and
in response to receiving the input, executing the task in response to meeting a deadline associated with the task.

16. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
subsequent to transmitting data representing the task, receiving, from the user, a feedback associated with the task; and
in response to receiving the feedback, customizing the task and/or an order of the task within the graph based on the received feedback.

17. A computing device for automatically extracting and completing tasks associated with a communication, the computing device being connected to a client device via a computer network, wherein the computing device comprising:
a processor; and
a memory containing instructions executable by the processor to cause the computing device to:
upon receiving a communication to a user from a communication source, extract one or more properties of the received com

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Platakis Manolis
• Zhovtobriukh Ievgeniia
• Makris Christos
• Ifrim Olivia
• Lepri Daniela

Classifications

• G06Q10/06316 Primary

  Sequencing of tasks or work · CPC title

• G06Q10/0631

  Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations · CPC title