| 摘要 |
<p>The present invention provides for broadbased interactive software support through a two-way, automated exchange of information between a software agent installed on a customer's machine and a server machine via a wide area computer network, e.g., the Internet. Communication between the agent (10) and the server (20) is optimized to be unobtrusive or transparent. The agent is software nonspecific and may be instructed to operate with respect to any one ore more arbitrary software programs. The agent gathers and uploads to a server machine activity information about the operations of the software program(s), where it is stored in a database. A rules engine may cause instructions carrying a message targeted specifically toward the customer (based on activity information) to be downloaded to the agent. Based on these instructions, the agent may take any of various predetermined actions. Message presentation to the customer may be timed to achieve maximum impact.</p> |
