Abstract: A number of configuration elements are associated with a number of devices. Information about input configuration elements is accessed. An input configuration element is associated with one or more input rules. It is determined which of the configuration elements could be accessed by the input rules and any call chains emanating from the rules. Output rules are determined by using the accessed configuration elements, the input rules, and the way the input rule manipulates its accessed configuration elements. Each output rule may be derived from an input rule and corresponds to the same input configuration element associated with that input rule. An executable module is generated that is adapted to access at least a given one of the input configuration elements and to trigger one or more of the output rules corresponding to the given input configuration element.

Abstract: An arrangement (100) for monitoring contact-center (104-108) performance automates the monitoring process by using a database schema (250-270) that records (200-224) the contact center to be monitored, its skills, the locations where the skills are located (in the case of a distributed contact center), the objective or target value for a given skill attribute (such as average speed of answer, maximum delay, etc.), the acceptable deviation from the objective (tolerance), the maximum acceptable deviation between locations (in the case of a distributed contact center), the periodicity or frequency of the monitoring, and the comparison operator needed to determine how a given observed or actual value for the skill attribute is to be compared with its specified objective and tolerance. Monitoring is then effected (300-366) as follows.

Abstract: Knowledge deficiency of an expert system (110) is alleviated by automating extraction of data that is relevant to the expert system's diagnostics knowledge database (112) and automatically and in an on-going manner updating the knowledge database with the extracted information. Evolving diagnostic knowledge in a domain is represented in the form of semi-structured natural-language reports (116). A computer-implemented tool (120) analyzes (206) a report to determine its kind, and then employs (222) an intelligent filter (124,126) corresponding to that kind of report to parse (224-244) the report's sections, to extract (226-244) data therefrom, and to perform consistency checks (228, 234) between sections on the extracted data. The computer then assembles (248) the extracted data into database records and includes (250) them in the knowledge database.