Interactive Search Approach

The Knowledge Gateway uses a unique interactive search approach to refine document searches. This approach features an interactive conversation with the system that leads you through a question and answer search procedure.

The following continues with the same hypothetical driver issue mentioned above, but here the k-Commerce Support Enterprise search method is applied:

• The system displays a question: What is the problem?
Your answer: Driver problem.
• The Knowledge Gateway takes your answer, goes out onto the network to Lotus Notes or Microsoft Site Server, and retrieves a set of documents from — for example — your company’s call tracking log.

To this point, the Knowledge Gateway has done nothing extraordinary. It is a standard keyword search. Beyond this point, however, the Knowledge Gateway produces some very intelligent results that set it apart from standard keyword searches.

Here are the steps the system takes:

• The Knowledge Gateway retrieves a ranked set of documents from Site Server or Lotus Notes and segregates them into related groups that make it easier for you to find what you’re looking for.
• Using some advanced design features, the system generates one or more questions that refine the search. The system might, for example, ask a question like, Which UNIX operating system?
• To the question, Which UNIX operating system?, your answer might be, Linux.

The system sends your answer, along with the original query, driver problem, back out to Site Server or Lotus Notes. The combined query narrows the search, retrieving all existing documents that relate specifically to Linux driver problems.

The Knowledge Gateway continues asking questions until either you get problem resolution or the query returned to Site Server or Lotus Notes is so refined that nothing is returned.