Patent Application
20220350958
Currently, there are a multitude of types of forms for users that have various presentations, structures, and requirements. Typically, depending on the entity, the form may have unique structure specific to that form. When digitizing these forms several challenges arise such as displaying forms on a mobile device, onboarding of each form and each template, and allowing for inline editing. As such, a need exists for a cross channel digital data parsing and processing system to prepare the form for channel-specific viewing and completion.
The following presents a simplified summary of one or more embodiments of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of such embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated embodiments and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all embodiments, nor delineate the scope of any or all embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more embodiments in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
Embodiments of the present invention address the above needs and/or achieve other advantages by providing apparatuses (e.g., a system, computer program product and/or other devices) and methods for a cross channel digital data parsing and generation.
Currently, there are many different types of user forms, from government forms, to financial forms, to contracts, agreements, and the like. These forms often contain multiple pages of uniquely formatted content and instructions. The system is able to digitize these forms irrespective of the user channel in order for the user to accurately view and fill out the forms. Currently, the challenges with digitizing such forms include locating, gathering, and extracting relevant input fields, assigning and storing variables using a template generation tool, assigning rules and logic for display and transition attributes, and preparing outputs of channel-agnostic data capturing codes to accept inputs from each input field in a variety of channels.
The invention enables onboarding of various types of forms to push them out to users that may be using any channel, such as different operating systems, mobile, web, voice-assistants, multi-channel cognitive resource platforms, or the like. As such, the invention provides a cross channel solution leveraging each channel's technology. In this way, the system displays or presents a form in an aesthetic manner that a channel's native operating system would provide. The invention identifies the sections or fields of the form that require user input to be completed and presents those fields using an advanced digital solution and posts the user inputs to a backend server to generate a populated digital form. The system then reconstructs the original form with the inputs provided by the user. The system is expandable, allowing for a single backend upload of additional forms irrespective of the channel.
The system allows for creation of outputs, comprising objects, using a template generation tool. In this way, a user associated with an entity may use a template generation tool on a user interface to import a pre-existing form and extract the relevant information into the system. In this way, within the template generation tool a user associated with an entity is able to select field input type, security requirements, transition rules, display rules, and the like, in order for the template generation tool to generate outputs comprising a flow object and a data object. In some embodiments described herein, the system does not require a user associated with an entity to make these selections, rather the system is capable of processing this information autonomously, and may only require validation from a user associated with an entity after the processing is complete.
The system follows a template-based design approach and an object-based implementation approach. In this way, each client channel will host an implementation method, via a UI (user interface) template for how a particular object should be applied via that channel to present to a user. Each client channel will be able decide how the UI interprets the outputs of the template generation tool, the data object and the flow object. Once on a user interface of a channel, a UI template comprises the data object and the flow object, and the UI template determines how the presentations of these outputs of the template generation tool are organized, the color, the layout, and the like. In this way, the client channel controls these elements of the form when displayed to the user via the UI template. In this way, the system provides predetermined objects that are channel-agnostic that can be repurposed for any kind of form regardless of complexity.
Embodiments of the invention are directed to a system, method, or computer program product for cross channel digital data parsing and generation, the invention comprising receiving a form comprising one or more input fields; locating the input fields comprising one or more header fields and one or more response fields; extracting information from the form; inserting the extracted information into a template generation tool; presenting the template generation tool; receiving, as an input, form prompt rules comprising display rules and transition rules; generating outputs from the template generation tool, the outputs comprising a data object and a flow object; and storing the outputs in a repository.
The features, functions, and advantages that have been discussed may be achieved independently in various embodiments of the present invention or may be combined with yet other embodiments, further details of which can be seen with reference to the following description and drawings.
Having thus described embodiments of the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Embodiments of the present invention now may be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all, embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure may satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
Embodiments of the invention are directed to a system, method, or computer program product for an object-based approach for cross channel digital data parsing and generation. The system allows for onboarding of various types of forms to push them out to users via multiple various user channels. The invention identifies the sections or fields of the form that require user input and presents those fields to a template generation tool to be transformed into various objects including, but not limited to, a flow object and a data object. The system is expandable, allowing for a single backend upload of additional forms irrespective of the channel.
As used herein, a “user” may be an individual in communication with an entity and reviewing one or more forms or documents associated with the communication or otherwise utilized the applications disclosed herein. A user may be a customer, representative of a customer, employee of an entity (“user associated with an entity”), and the like.
As used herein, an “entity” refers to any organization that processes transactions or requires users to complete forms, including, but not limited to, banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations, investment companies, stock brokerages, capital management firms, insurance companies, tax preparation organizations, and the like.
As used herein, a “channel” or “channel client” refers to any method of communication used by an entity to interact with its users, or used by users to interact with an entity, including, but not limited to, computer webpages, mobile device applications, mobile device web services, telephone communications, text/SMS messages, voice-enabled personal assistants, facsimile, postal services, and the like.
In some embodiments of the invention, a channel may comprise a multi-channel cognitive resource platform for performing electronic activities in an integrated manner from a single interface. The multi-channel cognitive resource platform is configured for adapting to the user's natural communication and its various modes by allowing seamless switching between communication channels/mediums in real time or near real time. The system is configured to receive, recognize, and interpret these linguistic phenomena of the user input and perform user activities accordingly. In this regard, the system is configured for natural language processing and computational linguistics. Based on analyzing the received activity input, the system is configured to determine the user activity that the user seeks to perform. Here, in general, the system may parse the activity input from the user to detect one or more words that make up the activity input from the user. The system may then analyze words to determine the user activity. For example, the system may receive the following voice activity input from the user: “Complete my form.” The system may then analyze the one or more words to determine that the caller wants to complete a form, for example, based on identifying keywords such as, “complete” and “form”. The system may then proceed to perform the form completion through the user interface.
As used herein, a “user interface” or “user device” is any device or software of a channel that allows a user or a user associated with an entity to input information, such as commands or data, into a device, or that allows the device to output information to the user. For example, the user interface may include a graphical user interface (GUI) or an interface to input computer-executable instructions that direct a processing device to carry out specific functions. The user interface typically employs certain input and output devices to input data received from a user second user or output data to a user. These input and output devices may include a display, mouse, keyboard, button, touchpad, touch screen, microphone, speaker, LED, light, joystick, switch, buzzer, bell, and/or other user input/output device for communicating with one or more users.
In accordance with embodiments of the invention, the term “module” with respect to a system may refer to a hardware component of the system, a software component of the system, or a component of the system that includes both hardware and software. As used herein, a module may include one or more modules, where each module may reside in separate pieces of hardware or software. In some embodiments, the term “platform” including the temporal platform may refer to a platform that is used as a base upon which other applications, processing, or technologies are distributed including applications, activities, integration into currently used applications, integration into systems, presentation of user interfaces, and the like.
Further, the embodiments described herein may refer to use of a “form”. A form may be any physical or digital document requiring a user to fill out, complete, review, or otherwise mark in association with a communication with an entity. A form may provide long or short bodies of text followed by a user prompt. Hereinafter, the embodiments described may refer to the long or short bodies of text followed by a user prompt or question as a “header field”, or “header”, and the portion of the form requiring user input as an “response field”. An “input field”, or “user input field” defines the sections of the form comprising both a header field combined with a response field.
In some embodiments described herein, a header field may be a simple question or prompt such as “Address”, “Date of Birth”, and the like. The header field is configured to provide the user with detailed or general information regarding the type of response expected in the response field. In some embodiments, the header field may be a sentence, phrase, acronym, and the like. In other embodiments described herein, the header field may only be a number, Roman numeral, letter, symbol, or another combination of alphanumeric characters configured to describe the type of input required in the response field. For example, some forms may comprise one or more index tables providing a list of numbers, letters, symbols, or other combinations of alphanumeric characters, alongside a long-form description of the type of input required in the response field to satisfy the form requirements. In this way, the header field of the input field may ask the user to cross-reference the one or more index table to determine the appropriate response in the response field. In some embodiments described herein, the one or more index tables may be presented to the user via the user channel alongside each user input. In yet other embodiments described herein, the system may parse and cross-reference the singular index table for the corresponding long-form description associated with the truncated header field. In such a system, the truncated header field comprising a number, letter, symbol, or the like, may be automatically substituted and presented to the user with the long-form description found in the one or more index tables.
In some embodiments described herein, the response fields of the form may comprise text boxes for users to manually write or type a response. In some embodiments described herein, the response fields may comprise dropdowns, checkboxes, toggles, sliders, radio buttons, signature fields, and the like. Depending on the header field, the user may be prompted to select one or more options as a response. In some embodiments of the invention, a header field may prompt a user to circle one or more appropriate responses. In this way, the system may be configured to convert the individual responses capable of being circled into corresponding dropdowns, checkboxes, toggles, sliders, radio buttons, and the like.
In some embodiments described herein, the template generation tool may comprise a feature which allows for the user associated with an entity to simulate the truncated form as it would be viewed by a user on a channel after the UI template on the channel has performed reconstruction of the form. For example, the template generation form may first present the user associated with an entity with various options for how to display a header field or response field, and then subsequently present a “preview” button to allow the user associated with an entity to test the truncated form output on one or more channel UI template simulations of choice. In some embodiments, this may comprise a simulated two-dimensional representation of the screen of a mobile device, in other embodiments, the channel simulation may comprise configured for auditory feedback to the user of an entity to simulate a multi-channel cognitive resource platform. It should be understood that any channel may be capable of being previewed, and as previously described, a “channel” or “channel client” refers to any method of communication used by an entity to interact with its users, or used by users to interact with an entity, including, but not limited to, computer webpages, mobile device applications, mobile device web services, telephone communications, text/SMS messages, voice-enabled personal assistants, facsimile, postal services, and the like.
In some embodiments described herein, the template generation tool may provide an ability to classify response fields for enhanced security. The template generation tool may provide an alert to the user associated with an entity, such that the response field and/or the header field within the template generation tool is subject to additional security requirements. In this way, the template generation tool allows for selection of how to display character or selections chosen or input by the user during the form completion process. For example, the template generation tool may recognize that the header field “social security number” or “SSN” is commonly expected to prompt the user to input confidential information, and that the form ought to transform and display the alphanumeric inputs from digits such as “123-45-6789” into hidden symbols such as “***-**-****” and the like. In this way, the form anticipates that any 3rd party onlookers of the user interface of a channel may be malicious, and preemptively asks to display the sensitive digits in the manner previously discussed. In some embodiments described herein, the system may allow the user associated with an entity to select response field classifications for any number of question inputs, should the system not automatically recognize these security requirements for a common header field or response field.
The network 201 may be a global area network (GAN), such as the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or any other type of network or combination of networks. The network 201 may provide for wireline, wireless, or a combination wireline and wireless communication between devices on the network.
As illustrated in
The processing device 248 is operatively coupled to the communication device 246 and the memory device 250. The processing device 248 uses the communication device 246 to communicate with the network 201 and other devices on the network 201, such as, but not limited to the cross channel form processing server 206, the user device 204, and the entity form systems 210. As such, the communication device 246 generally comprises a modem, server, or other device for communicating with other devices on the network 201.
As further illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the embodiment illustrated in
As further illustrated in
The entity form systems 210 are operatively coupled to the channel system 208, the cross channel form processing server 206, and/or the user device 204 through the network 201. The entity form systems 210 have systems with devices the same or similar to the devices described for the channel system 208, the cross channel form processing server 206, and/or the user device 204 (i.e., communication device, processing device, and memory device). Therefore, the entity form systems 210 communicate with the channel system 208, the cross channel form processing server 206, and/or the user device 204 in the same or similar way as previously described with respect to each system.
As such, the entity form systems 210 generally comprises a communication device, at least one processing device, and a memory device. As used herein, the term “processing device” generally includes circuitry used for implementing the communication and/or logic functions of the particular system. For example, a processing device may include a digital signal processor device, a microprocessor device, and various analog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters, and other support circuits and/or combinations of the foregoing. Control and signal processing functions of the system are allocated between these processing devices according to their respective capabilities. The processing device may include functionality to operate one or more software programs based on computer-readable instructions thereof, which may be stored in a memory device.
The processing device is operatively coupled to the communication device and the memory device. The processing device uses the communication device to communicate with the network 201 and other devices on the network 201. As such, the communication device generally comprises a modem, server, wireless transmitters or other devices for communicating with devices on the network 201. The memory device typically comprises a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, comprising computer readable/executable instructions/code, such as the computer-readable instructions, as described below.
As further illustrated in
It is understood that the servers, systems, and devices described herein illustrate one embodiment of the invention. It is further understood that one or more of the servers, systems, and devices can be combined in other embodiments and still function in the same or similar way as the embodiments described herein.
As illustrated in block 104, the process 100 continues by identifying and extracting the elements of the user input fields of the form. In some embodiments described herein, the system may scan, parse, and export the text and other information of a form in an automated fashion. In this way, the system may identify the data that comprises the question header fields, response fields, and/or input requirements for the user. This may also include features of the header or response field(s) such as the type of input, such as a drop down selection, check box selection, fill in, or the like. This may also include specific features about the response fields such as maximum character limits, required font, color, any pre-filled responses or other pre-existing text, or paragraph input formatting requirements, or the like. In some embodiments of the invention, the user associated with an entity may be provided with an opportunity to correct any mistakes which may have occurred during the location and extraction process. In other embodiments described herein, the contents of the form may be manually input by a user associated with an entity into the template generation tool.
As illustrated in block 106, the process 100 continues by identifying flow and data requirements for the form and exporting flow object and data object for each response field and/or header field. In some embodiments of the invention, the flow object and data object for each response field may be paired together during export. In another embodiment of the invention, the flow object and data object for each response field may be exported individually. In yet another embodiment of the invention, the flow objects and data objects for an entire form may be exported together as a whole.
As illustrated in block 108, the process 100 continues by storing the flow object and the data object in a repository. In some embodiments of the invention, the flow object and data object for each response field may be paired and stored together. In another embodiment of the invention, the flow object and data object for each response field may be stored individually. In yet another embodiment of the invention, the flow objects and data objects for an entire form may be stored in a repository together as a whole.
In some embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that flow objects and/or data objects, when exported or stored in a repository, may be duplicates of existing flow objects and/or data objects in the repository. In this way, instead of storing duplicates of these objects, some embodiments described herein may instead note that a duplicate flow object and/or data object already exists in the repository, and automatically link the existing flow object and/or data object with the objects being generated in the template generation tool. In this way, storage space on the repository may be optimized, and pre-existing user responses for data objects can be pre-populated in the channel-specific form prior to a user being prompted for a response. Described another way, the form presented to a user on a channel within a UI template of a channel may reference one or more data objects and/or one or more flow objects which are commonly used in one or more other forms across an entity.
As illustrated in block 110, the process 100 continues by providing one or more UI templates to each channel for user inputs. This may include one or more types of user inputs, but may include the coloring, formatting, and the like associated with the channel such that the flow of the page will be similar to the channel pages visualized by the user. The UI template comprises a data object and a flow object once the UI template has been implemented at a channel and a form is presented to a user.
The process 100, continues by instructing a UI template flow for each channel associated with a user based on the particular sections of the form requiring user input, as illustrated in block 112. In this way, the first portion of the form may require a check box selection and the second portion of the form may require a fill in section. The system may instruct the channel to utilize a UI template associated with a check box selection first, followed by a UI template associated with a fill in section.
The one or more UI templates from the channel are then presented to the user with the data in a sequenced order, as illustrated in block 114. The data is presented in channel specific flow, such that the channel font, color, and the like is channel specific, but the data provided is based on the form and the data extracted from the form.
Finally, as illustrated in block 116, the process 100 is finalized by reconstruction of the form based on user input at the channel.
The cross channel form processing server 206 may provide the data for each form in a specific parsed-out order to each channel. As illustrated in
As illustrated in block 404 the flow and data objects are provided to the channel. The flow object provides instructions for the flow of UI templates for the channel to user, additional validation rules to apply to each UI template, and provides an indication of it there are any interdependent UI templates (for example, a second question in a string of questions is dependent on how the user answers the first question in the string). The data object provides the actual text or words that needs to be displayed or transmitted to the user on the user device, such as a question “what is your name” or the like. The objects are channel agnostic and does not contain any colors, formats, fonts, or the likes associated with the data.
The flow and data 404 are transmitted to the channel systems. These may be a mobile device or a desktop device or the like. As illustrated in
The desktop/web UI template 406 is pre-populated at the channel level and is able to accept the flow and data 404 to transmit a display of the information on the user device via the desktop or web channel. The desktop/web UI template 406 comprises the various ways in which the data is displayed, such as via a selection list or via user text input. As such, if the flow and data 404 require a user to input text into a field of the form, the desktop/web UI template will display the form data via the textInputTemplate. If the flow and data 404 require a user to select a box or select an item within the form, the desktop/web UI template will display the form data via the singleSelectListTemplate.
For example, as illustrated in
Each channel will have pre-programed input templates that are called UI templates. Each channel has the pre-programmed UI templates, that for any type of form the system may notify the channel of the order of the pre-programmed UI templates for each type of form. For example, for the form illustrated in
As illustrated in block 508, the system processes the fill in the blank 504 section and provides information to the channel to present the section to the user in the form of the eForm 1510. This includes a screen identification, a UI template identification for the channel, and the user input to put into the eForm 1510.
Furthermore, the system may select an order of eForms, such as presentation of eForm 1510 first then eForm 2514. After the user has filled in Fill in 1, Fill in 2, and Fill in 3, the user may select continue. Upon selection, the user may be presented eForm 2514. eForm 1510 and eForm 2514 may be part of the same Form 502 but the system may divide them based on user input type for appropriate channel UI template presentation for the various parts of the form 1502. For eForm 2514, instructions such as the screen identification, UI template identification, and the data to be presented may be transmitted to the channel for display as illustrated in block 512.
In this way, each UI template has an array of flow objects 600, each flow object 600 has an array of triggers, each trigger object has an array of outcomes, each outcome object has an array of predicates and an array of actions.
As illustrated in section 604 the flow object provides the corresponding data object file name associated with this flow object. Next, as illustrated in section 606 the flow object provides UI template instructions for all screens associated with the form, as represented in an array of Screen Objects. As illustrated in section 608, the flow object provides an array of outcome objects. These are used when the flow needs to be started with a different screen other than the first screen presented. As illustrated above in
Next, as illustrated in block 704, the process 700 continues to the outcome object. The outcome object 704 comprises predicates that provides a list of conditions that need to be satisfied before executing the action. Predicates are prerequisites that are required before an outcome can be produced. For example, if the form asks for an email address of the user, the predicate can confirm that the user is inputting text, such as an “@” that delineates the user has inputted what appears to be an appropriate input for the question. Furthermore, the outcome object 704 provides an array of actions that need to be executed based on the user actions, which are outlined in further detail below in
Finally, as illustrated in block 706, the process 700 is finalized with the predicate object. The predicate object 706 provides a static or dynamic equation with a type of operation that is needed to be performed and the data type for the information, such as strings, numbers, dates, or the like.
As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the present invention may be embodied as an apparatus (including, for example, a system, a machine, a device, a computer program product, and/or the like), as a method (including, for example, a business process, a computer-implemented process, and/or the like), or as any combination of the foregoing. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, and the like), an entirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may generally be referred to herein as a “system.” Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product that includes a computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code portions stored therein. As used herein, a processor may be “configured to” perform a certain function in a variety of ways, including, for example, by having one or more general-purpose circuits perform the functions by executing one or more computer-executable program code portions embodied in a computer-readable medium, and/or having one or more application-specific circuits perform the function.
It will be understood that any suitable computer-readable medium may be utilized. The computer-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as a tangible electronic, magnetic, optical, infrared, electromagnetic, and/or semiconductor system, apparatus, and/or device. For example, in some embodiments, the non-transitory computer-readable medium includes a tangible medium such as a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), and/or some other tangible optical and/or magnetic storage device. In other embodiments of the present invention, however, the computer-readable medium may be transitory, such as a propagation signal including computer-executable program code portions embodied therein.
It will also be understood that one or more computer-executable program code portions for carrying out operations of the present invention may include object-oriented, scripted, and/or unscripted programming languages, such as, for example, Java, Perl, Smalltalk, C++, SAS, SQL, Python, Objective C, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the one or more computer-executable program code portions for carrying out operations of embodiments of the present invention are written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming languages and/or similar programming languages. The computer program code may alternatively or additionally be written in one or more multi-paradigm programming languages, such as, for example, F #.
It will further be understood that some embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of systems, methods, and/or computer program products. It will be understood that each block included in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks included in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, may be implemented by one or more computer-executable program code portions. These one or more computer-executable program code portions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, and/or some other programmable data processing apparatus in order to produce a particular machine, such that the one or more computer-executable program code portions, which execute via the processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, create mechanisms for implementing the steps and/or functions represented by the flowchart(s) and/or block diagram block(s).
It will also be understood that the one or more computer-executable program code portions may be stored in a transitory or non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., a memory, and the like) that can direct a computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the computer-executable program code portions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture, including instruction mechanisms which implement the steps and/or functions specified in the flowchart(s) and/or block diagram block(s).
The one or more computer-executable program code portions may also be loaded onto a computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer and/or other programmable apparatus. In some embodiments, this produces a computer-implemented process such that the one or more computer-executable program code portions which execute on the computer and/or other programmable apparatus provide operational steps to implement the steps specified in the flowchart(s) and/or the functions specified in the block diagram block(s). Alternatively, computer-implemented steps may be combined with operator and/or human-implemented steps in order to carry out an embodiment of the present invention.
While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of, and not restrictive on, the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other changes, combinations, omissions, modifications and substitutions, in addition to those set forth in the above paragraphs, are possible. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the just described embodiments can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.
This application is a U.S. Non-provisional application claiming priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/182,367 filed Apr. 30, 2021 titled Cross Channel Digital Forms Integration and Presentation System, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63182367 | Apr 2021 | US |
