Patent ID: 9053459
Filing Date: 2015-06-09
Classification: G06Q,G07C,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for billing for time spent in an instant message session by a service person for a project for a customer, said method comprising: responsive to the instant message session during which an instant message is received by a user from a sender, (i) retrieving, by one or more processors of a computer system, a name of the sender from the instant message which identifies the sender, and in response (ii) determining, by the one or more processors, that the sender does not exist in a defined project, based on the retrieved sender's name not being in previously loaded project settings of the user that include an identification of the project, names of people associated with the project, and keywords associated with the project, and in response (iii) determining, by the one or more processors, that the instant message does not contain any keywords associated with a project, and in response (iv) determining, by the one or more processors, that the sender identified by the retrieved sender's name has not been associated with a previous project, and in response (v) determining, by the one or more processors, that the sender identified by the retrieved sender's name has a profile that includes a keyword that the user has associated with a first project, and in response (vi) associating, by the one or more processors, the first project with the instant message sent by the sender identified by the retrieved sender's name, and in response (vii) determining, by the one or more processors, a charge to the first project for labor of the service person based on a duration of the instant message session and a billing rate for the service person for providing a service for the first project, wherein the user is the service person.