Patent ID: 8311869
Filing Date: 2012-11-13
Classification: G06F,G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method for distributing product alert information among a plurality of facilities, the method comprising: receiving, by a processor, alerts related to products; processing, by the processor, the alerts into an alert repository; providing, to an external system, an interface component providing one or more services corresponding to one or more operations of the processor, the external system hosted outside a firewall of the processor and the alert repository and accessed by a facility having one or more of the products, the external system communicating with the processor by requesting one or more services of the interface component corresponding to one or more operations of the processor; receiving, by the interface component, a request from the external system for a service for retrieving data associated with an alert related to a product at the facility; preprocessing the request by the interface component; retrieving the service corresponding to the request; retrieving, by the processor, escalation parameters corresponding to the alert and including, for each alert, a first number of days within which a coordinator must assign the alert to a responder or close the alert, a second number of days within which the responder must take an action to handle the alert, and a third number of days within which the coordinator must close the alert after the alert has been handled by the responder, wherein each of the first, second, and third number of days for each alert is adjustable by the external system; mediating the retrieved data by the interface component; and sending, by the interface component, the escalation parameters and the mediated data to the external system, wherein the external system; processes the mediated data; implements an escalation process using the escalation parameters, wherein the escalation process includes alerting a manager when the coordinator does not assign or close the alert within the first number of days, the responder does not handle the alert within the second number of days, or the coordinator does not close the alert within the third number of days after the alert has been handled by the responder; and generates a report for the facility.