International Business Machines Corporation

Marijane M Zeller

Andrew Lewis Schirmer

Michael D Elder

Steven I Ross

Joann Ruvolo

Jeffrey G MacAllister

Christopher Hyland

Oliver Heinz

Kathleen A Howard

A contextual organization chart based on two selected individuals is constructed from a database of individual names, manager names, and profiles. Awareness data is provided for people in the organization, a people awareness indicator and a nesting control indicator are appended to names in the constructed view. A user may access profile data by selecting a name in the view, expand the view to show additional individuals by selecting a nesting control indicator, or initiate a communication with an individual by selecting an awareness indicator.

Displaying a contextual organization chart with awareness

A request corresponding to a target user is received from a querying user. The request can specifically identify the target user, or it could include a search criteria that results in identification of one or more target users. In any event, once the request is received, entries of data items (e.g., user profiles) associated with the target user(s) and the querying user (or some other user) are accessed. Based on the data items in the querying user's profile (or the other user's profile), the data items in the target user's profiles are filtered so that the querying user is not presented with an overload of information. Once the target user's profile has been filtered, it will be presented to the querying user.

Method, system and program product for filtering an entry of data items

The invention provides method of displaying strengths of social relationships between users of a computerized network. The invention evaluates network information, such as network communications, between one user of the network and other users of the network to produce metrics. The invention then normalizes the metrics from the perspective of the viewing user to produce relationship values representing strengths of social relationships between the viewing user and the other users. The invention classifies the relationship values into different groups, and optionally assigns context commands to each of the groups. The invention places each of the other users in one of the groups (according to their relationship value) and then displays a listing of the other users and their associated group identifications. The invention can assign different indicators to each of the groups, wherein the display links corresponding indicators to each of the other users to graphically identify the group in which each of the other users was placed. The display can utilize numbers, characters, sizes, fonts, character sets, icons, graphic features, colors, motions, speeds, and/or directions to graphically distinguish and identify the group in which each of the other users was placed. The displaying is primarily directed to and for use by the viewing user, but other users can use the invention to study relationships of a particular individual.

Displaying strengths of social relationships between a user and other people

A dialog management system functions to manage the dialog between a user of a computer system and one or more speech enabled software applications. The user provides spoken input to a microphone connected to the computer system, and hears responses from one or more applications through a speaker connected to the computer system. The dialog management system includes a dialog manager, a turn manager, a speak queue, dialog contexts, and dialog state. The dialog manager provides top-level control of the dialog and stores responses based on the user's spoken input in a speak queue for later output to the user. The turn manager controls delivery of the responses to the user based on the dialog context and the dialog state, to provide a polite asynchronous dialog with the user that enables the user to be in control of the dialog. The dialog context provides information about each dialog. The dialog state provides information about whose turn it is (computer or user) to speak.

Method and Apparatus for managing dialog management in a computer conversation

A dialog management system functions to manage the dialog between a user of a computer system and one or more speech enabled software applications. The user provides spoken input to a microphone connected to the computer system, and hears responses from one or more applications through a speaker connected to the computer system. The dialog management system includes a dialog manager, a turn manager, a speak queue, dialog contexts, and dialog state. The dialog manager provides top-level control of the dialog and stores responses based on the user's spoken input in a speak queue for later output to the user. The turn manager controls delivery of the responses to the user based on the dialog context and the dialog state, to provide a polite dialog with the user that enables the user to be in control of the dialog. The dialog context provides information about each dialog. The dialog state provides information about whose turn it is (computer or user) to speak.

Method and apparatus for performing dialog management in a computer conversational interface

A method and structure for identifying potential relationships between users of a computer network is disclosed. The invention extracts relationship information from databases in the computer network in order to establish multiple relationship chains of the users from the relationship information. More specifically, the invention evaluates network information and network communications between the users to produce metrics and processes the metrics to produce contact information. The contact information indicates whether a personal relationship exists between two users. In addition, the invention can produce relationship values representing strengths of social relationships between users of the computer network based on such relationship information.

Growing community of inventors

Medford, MA, United States of America

Marijane M Zeller