1 Alert Management System for Human and System Integration Dickson K.W. Chiu Senior Member, IEEE

Alert-based Process Integration2 Introduction Strategic Information Systems help organizations do things better and to win aligned with business goals and strategies Alerts - urgent / critical messages Alert Management System (AMS) Routing, monitoring, and logging the alerts Find suitable attention / services dynamically Directive 1 - Highly competitive and dynamic Active and timely response to business events for management decisions Timely and effective communications and coordination of personnel (esp. management) Business processes integration with stringent urgency requirements (within the enterprise and with business partners) Directive 2 - Service excellence Service-oriented economy Quality value-added services provided over the Internet (e-Services)

Alert-based Process Integration3 Project Background Motivated by exception handling requirements in workflow management systems (WFMS) D.K.W. Chiu, Q. Li and K. Karlapalem. A Meta Modeling Approach for Workflow Management System Supporting Exception Handling. Information Systems, 24(2): , D.K.W. Chiu, Q. Li and K. Karlapalem. Web Interface-Driven Cooperative Exception Handling in ADOME Workflow Management System. Information Systems, 26(2):93-120, D.K.W. Chiu, K. Karlapalem, Q. Li and E. Kafeza. Workflow Views Based E- Contracts in a Cross-Organization E-Service Environment. Distributed and Parallel Databases, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 12(2-3): , S.C. Cheung and D.K.W. Chiu. Cross-Organizational Process Exceptions. RGC Grant (HKUST 6170/03E) Capture the essences of workflow development and management methodology Light-weight system integration platform

Alert-based Process Integration4 Recent Research on This Topic Focus on B2B e-Services D.K.W. Chiu, Benny Kwok+, Ray Wong+, E. Kafeza and S.C. Cheung. Alert Driven E-Services Management, 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS37), Jan 2004, (BEST PAPER AWARD, Decision Technologies Track). (+PTMSc student) Focus on medical applications D.K.W. Chiu, Benny Kwok+, Ray Wong+, E. Kafeza, S.C. Cheung, and M. Kafeza. Alert Driven Healthcare Process and Data Integration, IEEE HICSS37, Jan (+PTMSc student) Journal version: conceptual model / management of medical personnel E. Kafeza, D.K.W. Chiu, S.C. Cheung, and M. Kafeza. Alerts in Mobile Healthcare Applications: Requirements and Pilot Study, IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine, 2004, to appear.

Alert-based Process Integration5 Case Study – Medical House-call System Both human and computerized systems are involved Business partners different degree of computerization Web Services supports both type of interaction in a unified framework Web Services

Alert-based Process Integration6 Use Case Diagram Both human and computerized systems are involved Business partners different degree of computerization Web Services supports both type of interaction in a unified framework

Alert-based Process Integration7 Overall Approach Objective: robust, efficient, cost effective, simple, and user friendly AMS to improve communications Detailed requirements were elicited and formulated into an alert conceptual model Sketched an overall system architecture Worked out the detailed mechanisms for each components of the system Alert management policies from business goals and strategies could be adapted to handle various situations Prototyping with phases: establish a computerized call center to manage all the alerts, replacing the current manual system extend the system to connect to business partners to form a service grid include further intelligence into the system, e.g., advanced capability reasoning, scheduling with mobile location dependent information, service negotiation, integration with traffic routing

Alert-based Process Integration8 Role of Alerts in Strategic IS Strategic Information Systems and Workflows Event / Exception Handling Information / Process Requirements Alerts Managed by AMS Web Services and Mobile Devices What are Alerts? 3R – retry, reroute, reassign Different from general events, alerts have more specific attributes, e.g., urgency and process requirements. Different from exceptions, they need not relate to abnormal behaviors. asynchronously received through business events / exceptions / incoming requests synchronously generated by internal business application handled by the AMS by requesting services from: internal information systems management / human attention external e-Service providers

Alert-based Process Integration9 Alert Conceptual Model (UML Class Diagram) Schedule Response Flexible Task Role 1..* require Specific Task 1..* Human 1..* Web Service Provider Agent 0..n * Capability Profile 11 specify Devices * 1..* * Service Access Points 1..* Alert * send AMS Task 0..* 1 1

Alert-based Process Integration10 Alert Life Cycle / personnel

Alert-based Process Integration11 Alert Urgency Elevation Defining the policies according to which the urgency of the alert will be “elevated” Example Urgency LevelAction Urgentdefault – notify the selected agent Very UrgentSubmit a second alert to the same agent, notifying about the approaching deadline CriticalRedirect the alert to another agent that has the best response time Very CriticalSend the alert to several agents and accept the results of the one that response first, notify an administrator

Alert-based Process Integration12 System Architecture Database Application Logic Alert Management System Web / WAP Access Alert Web Service Server XSLT Processor Web Front-end Alert Web Services Programmatic Access Public UDDI Registry Alert TriggeredAction Alert Input XSLT Style Sheets Desktop LaptopPDA Mobile PatientDoctorNurse/ Helper Call Center Administrative Staff Hospitals Medical Partners Internet Medical House-Call System

Alert-based Process Integration13 Detail System Architecture

Alert-based Process Integration14 Sample Screen – Doctor Selection

Alert-based Process Integration15 Sample Alert Acknowledgement User Interface

Alert-based Process Integration16 Alert Web Services Summary Service Name: requestAlert Input: AlertID, RequestorID, AlertMessage, Roles, Urgency, ResponseRequired ( TRUE | FALSE ), Deadline Response: AlertID, ServicePartnerID, Ack (Confirmed | Denied | Deferred), ResponseMessage, AlertReceiptTime Service Name: cancelAlert Input: AlertID, RequestorID Response: Ack (Confirmed | Denied | Deferred ) Service Name: checkAlertStatus Input: AlertID, RequestorID Response: Alert Status Service Name: listActiveAlerts Input: (TaskID | ServicePartnerID),, RequestorID Response: List of pending alerts associated Service Name: receiveDeferredResponse Input: Item AlertID, ServicePartnerID, ResponseMessage, AlertReceiptTime Response: Ack (Confirmed, NotConfirmed )

Alert-based Process Integration17 Applicability – Workflow of the Call Center

Alert-based Process Integration18 Applicability – Example Workflow for Data Integration

Alert-based Process Integration19 Applicability – Status Monitoring

Alert-based Process Integration20 Sample Screen – Doctor Selection

Alert-based Process Integration21 Applicability to Strategic IS – Business Process Improvement AMS is a unified platform supporting operational, tactical, and strategic decision making seek different level of attention depending on alert’s nature alert “elevation” Improves communications and coordination of management / personnel Anytime anywhere multi-platform alerts for management decisions Right person at right time with right information Automatic retry of calls and routing Accountability - logging and monitoring Mobile workforce management Captures management knowledge and experience Alert management policies Addressing urgency requirements Avoiding errors and help handle exceptions

Alert-based Process Integration22 Applicability to Strategic IS – Service Improvement Improves e-Services provision Automation of call center which is a bottleneck in the whole e-Service process Productivity improvement and cost reduction Clients / partners can request service via Web, mobile devices, and even an emergency button Timely services Business partners & service personnel form a service grid B2B system integration - convergence of disparate business functionalities Increase in business opportunities Relationships improvement more “transparent” business process operations quality services

Alert-based Process Integration23 Evaluation by Medical Professionals AMS Advantages Make sure that an alert can reach the person who has to be notified The inclusion of multiple mobile devices and platforms helps both the medical professions and the patients The implementation of an urgency policy that uses concurrently multiple devices to communicate the alert can increase the probability to inform the person on time An automated alert can make sure that the information is passed accurately and completely Capability to choose the kind of received information, reception devices, and desired time slots Infrastructure Benefits Total solution healthcare chain workflow integration Save much paper work and administration guides call center operators to choose the right medical professionals to minimize possible specialty mismatch

Alert-based Process Integration24 Ongoing Related Research – Cross-organizational Process Management Follow-up Research Question: What (and when) are urgent / exceptions? How important / urgent are they? Advance match-making An ER^EC Framework for e-Contract Modeling, Enactment and Monitoring, Data and Knowledge Engineering, accepted. Workflow View Driven Cross-Organizational Interoperability in a Web Service Environment, Information Technology and Management, 5(3/4): , Systematic Interaction Management in a Workflow View Based Business-to-business Process Engine, HICSS38 Developing Workflow-based Information Integration (WII) with Exception Support in a Web Services Environment, HICSS37, Jan 2004 An Architecture for E-Contract Enforcement in an E-service Environment. HICSS36, Jan 2003 (best paper nominee, journal version submitted to Information Systems)

Alert-based Process Integration25 Ongoing Related Research – m-Services (IS availability, adaptability) A Three-Tier View Methodology for adapting M-services, IEEE Trans on System, Man & Cybernetics, Part A, 33(6): , Nov  Business process adaptation at all 3-tiers based on platform capability with views  front-end user-interface view  application logic / process (workflow) view  back-end database view  Conceptual model and implementation framework  Formal consistency criteria for adaptation  Service negotiation case study  Research Direction  location dependent services  Alerts applied for multi-platform notification  Agent-based (mobile) workforce management H.F. Leung, D.K.W. Chiu & S.C. Cheung RGC Grant CUHK 4190/03E Wrapper for existing Web sites to become e-/m-services Integrating Heterogeneous Web Services with WebXcript, COMPSAC 2003, Nov (*FYP students) (Journal version accepted IJ Coop IS)

Alert-based Process Integration26 Ongoing Related Research – Agent based Computing  Agent-based (mobile) workforce management H.F. Leung, D.K.W. Chiu & S.C. Cheung RGC Grant CUHK 4190/03E A Multi-Agent Infrastructure for Mobile Workforce Management in a Service Oriented Enterprise, HICSS38, Jan 2005 A Multi-Modal Agent Based Mobile Route Advisory System for Public Transport Network, HICSS38, Jan 2005 Legal Issues in Agents for Electronic Contracting, HICSS38, Jan 2005 Constraint-based Negotiation in a Multi-Agent Information System with Multiple Platform Support, HICSS37, Jan Workflow Management Systems as Meta-Agents in a Multi-Agent Information System. AOIS-2001, June 2001.

Alert-based Process Integration27 Ongoing Related Research – CRM and Enterprise Content Management An Event Driven Approach to Customer Relationship Management in an e-Brokerage Environment. HICSS36, Jan (FYP) (Journal version conditionally accepted to Decision Support Systems) Turn knowledge into actions Complaints, abnormal transactions, (changes in) customers’ behavior => alerts An Integrated Web Services Architecture for Financial Content Management, HICSS37, Jan 2004, (best paper nominee). (PTMSc project) Timeliness requirement of financial content approval and distribution Privacy and Access Control in Financial Enterprise Content Management, HICSS38, Jan 2005 S.C. Cheung and D.K.W. Chiu. A Watermarking Infrastructure for Enterprise Document Management, HICSS36, Jan 2003.

Alert-based Process Integration28 Ongoing Related Research – Negotiation Support Systems D.K.W. Chiu, S.C. Cheung, P.C.K. Hung, S.Y.Y. Chiu* and K.K. Chung*. Developing e-Negotiation Process Support with a Meta-modeling Approach in a Web Services Environment, Decision Support Systems, accepted. (*FYP students) Meta-model applicable for 3 kinds of e-Negotiation process (1) Bargaining (2) Auction (3) Request for Proposal Implementation framework with Web services (FYP prototype) Focus on technology support for effective negotiation Alerts for offer / bid notification Constraint-based Negotiation in a Multi-Agent Information System with Multiple Platform Support, HICSS37, Jan On e-Negotiation of Unmatched Logrolling Views, HICSS36, Jan 2003 (best paper nominee). (journal version under revision for JMIS) Facilitating e-Negotiation Process with Semantic Web Technologies, HICSS38, Jan 2005

Alert-based Process Integration29 Conclusions  A conceptual model for specifying alerts based on the requirements of business processes and a set of routing parameters  A mechanism for (re-)routing alerts and increasing their urgency when alerts are not acknowledged or processed within deadline  A practical architecture for the AMS based on contemporary Web Services and mobile technologies – supports human and programmatic interfaces  Flexible, reusable, light-weight AMS plugged into other systems  Looking for research collaborations (esp. domain knowledge, say, logistics, tourism) for cross-disciplinary research in more depth and wider scope