Device, system and method of handling user requests

Abstract

Devices, systems and methods of handling user requests. For example, a method includes: receiving an electronic representation of a submitted request; calculating request-related information, submitter-related information, and/or recipient-related information; based on the request-related information and the submitter-related information, determining one or more recipients for the request; distributing the request to said one or more recipients; and storing the request and one or more responses received from said one or more recipients.

1 .- 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . A computer-implemented method comprising the following steps performed by one or more processors:
 receiving a request submitted by a submitter;   selecting, from a set of users registered to respond to requests, a subset of users whose profiles correspond to the request, said subset of users comprising a plurality of users; and   routing the request to one or more users in said subset of users according to a policy that takes into consideration an incoming request rate, and which further takes into consideration capacities of the users to respond to incoming requests.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein routing the request comprises taking into consideration degrees to which the profiles of the users are relevant to the request. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising performing a semantic analysis of said request and of profiles of the subset of users to assess said degrees to which the profiles of the users are relevant to the request. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein routing the request comprises taking into consideration, for at least a first user in the subset of users, an extent to which the first user has satisfied a response quota for a current time period. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein routing the request comprises taking into consideration, for at least a first user in the subset of users, how many requests have been sent to the first user during a selected time interval. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein routing the request comprises taking into consideration, for at least a first user in the subset of users, how many requests are outstanding for the first user. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein routing the request comprises taking into consideration online presence statuses of particular users in said subset of users. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein routing the request comprises, for at least a first user in the subset of users, determining whether the first user is currently available to receive the request via an instant messaging system. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the policy seeks to optimize usage of response fulfillment resources over a period of time. 
     
     
         32 . A computing platform programmed to perform the method of  claim 23 . 
     
     
         33 . A system comprising:
 at least one processor; and   a memory device that stores a set of instructions;   wherein the at least one processor executes the set of instructions to:
 receive a request submitted by a submitter; 
 select, from a set of users registered to respond to requests, a subset of users whose profiles correspond to the request, said subset of users comprising a plurality of users; and 
 route the request to one or more users in said subset of users according to a policy that takes into consideration information regarding at least (i) an incoming request rate, and (ii) capacities of the users to respond to incoming requests. 
   
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine degrees to which the profiles of the users are relevant to the request. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform a semantic analysis of said request and of profiles of the subset of users to assess said degrees to which the profiles of the users are relevant to the request. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to route the request by taking into consideration, for at least a first user in the subset of users, an extent to which the first user has satisfied a response quota for a current time period. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to route the request by taking into consideration, for at least a first user in the subset of users, how many requests have been sent to the first user during a selected time interval. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to route the request by taking into consideration, for at least a first user in the subset of users, how many requests are outstanding for the first user. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to route the request by taking into consideration online presence statuses of particular users in said subset of users. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to route the request by determining, for at least a first user in the subset of users, whether the first user is currently available to receive the request via an instant messaging system. 
     
     
         41 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the policy seeks to optimize usage of response fulfillment resources over a period of time.