Patent ID: 7571108

Claim:
A method for computer-based handling of action items comprising: providing a table of available resources with entries, each entry identifying a resource and indicating whether that resource is available; entering a set of action items into a computer system by, for each action item of the set, providing steps for the action items; providing a table of resource requirements with entries, each entry identifying a resource needed for processing the steps of the action item; and for each step of an action item, determining by a computer whether a resource for that step is not available as indicated by the provided table and when a resource is determined to be not available, indicating that the step is to involve human intervention, and when all the resources for the step are available, indicating that the step is to involve automatic processing; and processing the action items by if human intervention is indicated for a step of an action item based on availability of a resource, then displaying by the computer an indicator to prompt human intervention; and if automatic processing is indicated for a step of an action item based on availability of a resource, then initiating automatic processing by the computer commensurate with the determination.