Patent ID: 7437320
Filing Date: 2008-10-14
Classification: G06Q,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: providing a computer comprising a processing device, a display device, a storage device, and a data store; storing a plurality of contact data records from one or more contacts in the data store, each contact data record comprising at least one contact field for storing contact information about a contact and a relationship field for storing relationship information about the contact, wherein for at least one of the contact data records the relationship field defines a hierarchical relationship with at least one of the other contact data records, each contact field comprises a first quality assurance field that comprises a user-defined multi-dimensional subjective value that represents both a level of certainty and a level of importance of the contact information stored in the respective contact field, and each relationship field comprises a second quality assurance field that comprises a user-defined multi-dimensional subjective value that represents both a level of certainty and a level of importance of the relationship information stored in the relationship field; determining that at least two of the plurality of contact data records represent the same contact; processing the at least two contact data records that represent the same contact to determine a processed contact data record for the contact by combining the respective multi-dimensional subjective values of the first quality assurance field of each contact data record against each other using a mathematical process, and by combining the respective multi-dimensional subjective values of the second quality assurance field of each contact data record against each other using a mathematical process: forming a hierarchical chart using at least one of the plurality of contact data records such that the hierarchical chart is based on the relationship fields of the contact data records; and outputting a display of the hierarchical chart to the display device, wherein the display comprises a plurality of boxes and connectors between the boxes such that each box comprises contact information and such that the connectors display the hierarchy of the boxes, the hierarchy of the boxes is determined by the relationship fields of the contact data records, and the method further comprises defining a graphical attribute that is a graphical representation of at least one of the boxes based on at least one of the first quality assurance field and the second quality assurance field of the contact data record associated with the box.