Patent ID: 9070111
Filing Date: 2015-06-30
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: retrieving, by one or more processors of a computer system, a name of a sender of an instant message from the instant message which identifies the sender in the instant message session, said sender being the customer, said service person being a recipient of the instant message from the sender; correlating, by the one or more processors, the name of the sender to the project based on the name of the sender being listed in project settings previously defined by the service person, wherein the project settings include an identification of the project, names of people associated with the project including the name of the sender and keywords associated with the project for identifying the project based at least on one or more keywords in a text portion of the instant message; and responsive in part to an inability to identify the project based on one or more key words in the text portion of the instant message, determining, by the one or more processors, another project on which the service person has most often worked and determining a charge to the other project for labor of the service person based on time spent by the service person in the instant message session.