Professional Time Tracking and Recouping System and Software

Abstract

An apparatus and a method for tracking time spent on one or more Internet sites. The tracked information may then be used to generate detailed records containing the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) of the sites visited, the exact time spent on each site, and a record of any downloads, file transfers, or other activities performed by the user. One or more reports may be generated from the detailed records and list the activity by each user, tabulating the web site accessed and the time spent on that web site. This information may then be utilized to generate an invoice for the work performed. The reports may be generated are stored electronically, and may be accessed by an invoicing program which uses stored hourly rates in conjunction with the information in the report to generate a detailed invoice for the client. The invention may be deployed on a personal computer, and enabled by a service operator who provides the time tracking and recouping system (e.g., a software means).

1 . In an Internet use environment, wherein the Internet is accessed and used by a user for one or more client matters, a professional time tracking and recouping system for tracking usage time and for creating reports based on the usage time, the system comprising: 
 a tracker for tracking the usage time by the user in one Internet session, wherein the functionality of the tracker is automatically launched upon a success logon by the user;    a processor for processing the usage time; and    a report generator for generating one or more reports based on the processed usage time.    
     
     
         2 . The system of claim,  1  further comprising a module for creating Internet access history ledger.  
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a logon module for authenticating the user identification.  
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the reports are based on one or more pre-determined parameters.  
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the reports are sorted by the client matters.  
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the reports are sorted by the user identification.  
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a transmitter for electronically transmitting the reports to the client.  
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a printer for printing the reports to be subsequently transmitted to the client.  
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system functionality resides on a personal computer of the user.  
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system functionality resides on a network server to be accessed by the user.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system functionality is realized by software means.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the usage time is based on a plurality of Internet sessions.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an analyzer for analyzing the usage time.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the analyzer further determines if the Internet is used effectively.  
     
     
         15 . In an Internet use environment, wherein the Internet is accessed by a user for one or more client matters, a professional time tracking and recouping method for tracking usage time and for creating reports based on the usage time, the method comprising: 
 receiving a logon request from the user;    authenticating the user login ID and password;    launching a time tracking function upon a successful user logon;    recording the usage time associated with each URL visited by the user; and    processing the usage time data to create one or more reports, wherein the reports are formatted in accordance with predetermined parameters.    
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the usage time data is based on a single Internet session.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the usage time data is based on repeated for a plurality of Internet sessions.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising generating an invoice, based on the usage time data, to be transmitted to the client.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the invoice is electronically transmitted to the client.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the invoice is printed via a printer and subsequently transmitted to the client.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising sorting the reports by the client matter.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising sorting the reports by the user identification.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising analyzing the usage time data to determine if the Internet is used effectively.