Methods and devices for adding new member to group through barcode scanning

• US 10,069,640 B2
• Filed: 12/03/2013
• Issued: 09/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tencent Technology Shenzhen Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: Tencent Technology Shenzhen Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Inventors: Zhang, Xiaolong, Guan, Zhenan, Lin, Yingxia, Li, Keren, Zeng, Ming, Huang, Tianqing
• Primary Examiner(s): Mejia, Anthony
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dabipi, Dixon
• Application Number:
  US14/095,929
• Publication Number:
  US 20140156757A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,736 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission

Abstract

The current invention discloses methods and devices for adding a new member to a group, e.g. a chat group associated with a chat program. The new member may be added through a barcode-scanning process or an existing-member-invitation process. After the new member is added to the chat group, a server may send notification messages to mobile devices associated with the existing members of the group. The contents of the notification messages may vary based on the processes by which the new member is added, the number of existing members, and the direct-contact relationships the new member has with the existing members. The current invention provides simplified methods and devices for adding the new member, avoiding cumbersome operations and protecting member privacy at the same time.

Claims

1. A method for adding a new member to an instant messaging chat group, the method comprising:

at a server system having one or more processors and memory storing programs executed by the one or more processors;

receiving a joining request to add a new member to an instant messaging chat group having a plurality of currently existing members, including a first existing member, wherein the joining request is received from a mobile device associated with the first existing member using an existing-member-invitation process, wherein the existing-member-invitation process comprises;

(i) sending an invitation to a mobile device associated with the new member to join the instant messaging chat group using the mobile device, wherein the new member has a direct-contact relationship with the first existing member; and

(ii) generating the joining request based on the invitation;

determining whether a quantity of currently existing members in the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group exceeds a threshold;

in accordance with a determination that the quantity of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group does not exceed the threshold, adding the new member to the instant messaging chat group and sending a notification message to the mobile device associated with the new member without receiving further authorization from the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group; and

in accordance with a determination that the quantity of currently existing members exceeds the threshold;

determining whether the new member has a direct-contact relationship with any existing members of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member; and

in response to determining that the new member does not have a direct-contact relationship with any existing members of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member, and without receiving any requests from the plurality of currently existing members, sending corresponding notification messages to each of the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group, wherein each notification message includes;

(i) information identifying the first existing member who sent the invitation to the new member to join the instant messaging chat group;

(ii) information indicating that the new member does not have a direct-contact relationship with any existing members of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member; and

(iii) information that the new member was added to the instant messaging chat group by invitation, and sending a notification message to the mobile device associated with the new member.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the direct-contact relationship is a direct-contact relationship associated with a chat program.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining that the new member has a direct-contact relationship with at least one existing member of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member, sending corresponding notification messages to each of the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group, wherein each notification message includes;

(i) information identifying the first existing member who sent the invitation to the new member to join the instant messaging chat group;

(ii) information identifying the at least one existing member that has the direct-contact relationship with the new member; and

(iii) information that the new member was added to the instant messaging chat group by invitation.

3. A server system for adding a new member to an instant messaging chat group, the server system comprising:

one of more processors;

memory storing one or more programs configured for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for;

receiving a joining request to add a new member to an instant messaging chat group having a plurality of currently existing members, including a first existing member, wherein the joining request is received from a mobile device associated with a first existing member of the currently existing members using an existing-member-invitation process, wherein the existing-member-invitation process comprises;

(i) sending an invitation to a mobile device associated with the new member to join the instant messaging chat group using the second mobile device, wherein the new member has a direct-contact relationship with the first existing member; and

(ii) generating the joining request based on the invitation;

determining whether a quantity of currently existing members in the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group exceeds a threshold;

in accordance with a determination that the quantity of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group does not exceed the threshold, adding the new member to the instant messaging chat group and sending a notification message to the mobile device associated with the new member without receiving further authorization from the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group; and

in accordance with a determination that the quantity of currently existing members exceeds the threshold;

determining whether the new member has a direct-contact relationship with any existing members of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member; and

in response to determining that the new member does not have a direct-contact relationship with any existing members of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member, and without receiving any requests from the plurality of currently existing members, sending corresponding notification messages to each of the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group, wherein each notification message includes;

(i) information identifying the first existing member who sent the invitation to the new member to join the instant messaging chat group;

(ii) information indicating that the new member does not have a direct-contact relationship with any existing members of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member; and

(iii) information that the new member was added to the instant messaging chat group by invitation, and sending a notification message to the mobile device associated with the new member.

6. The server system of claim 3, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:

in response to determining that the new member has a direct-contact relationship with at least one existing member of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member, sending corresponding notification messages to each of the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group, wherein each notification message includes;

(i) information identifying the first existing member who sent the invitation to the new member to join the instant messaging chat group;

(ii) information identifying the at least one existing member that has the direct-contact relationship with the new member; and

(iii) information that the new member was added to the instant messaging chat group by invitation.

4. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for adding a new member to an instant messaging chat group, which, when executed by a server system, cause the server system to:

receive a joining request to add a new member to an instant messaging chat group having a plurality of currently existing members, including a first existing member, wherein the joining request is received from a mobile device associated with the first existing member using an existing-member-invitation process, wherein the existing-member-invitation process comprises;

(i) sending an invitation to the new member to join the instant messaging chat group using the mobile device, wherein the new member has a direct-contact relationship with the first existing member; and

(ii) generating the joining request based on the invitation;

determine whether a quantity of currently existing members in the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group exceeds a threshold;

in accordance with a determination that the quantity of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group does not exceed the threshold, add the new member to the instant messaging chat group and send a notification message to the mobile device associated with the new member without receiving further authorization from the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group; and

in accordance with a determination that the quantity of currently existing members exceeds the threshold;

determine whether the new member has a direct-contact relationship with any existing members of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member; and

in response to determining that the new member does not have a direct-contact relationship with any existing members of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member, and without receiving any requests from the plurality of currently existing members, send corresponding notification messages to each of the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group, wherein each notification message includes;

(i) information identifying the first existing member who sent the invitation to the new member to join the instant messaging chat group;

(ii) information indicating that the new member does not have a direct-contact relationship with any existing members of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member; and

(iii) information that the new member was added to the instant messaging chat group by invitation, and send a notification message to the mobile device associated with the new member.

7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the non-transitory computer readable storage medium further stores instructions, which, when executed by the server system, cause the server system to:

in response to determining that the new member has a direct-contact relationship with at least one existing member of the plurality of currently existing members other than the first existing member, send corresponding notification messages to each of the plurality of currently existing members of the instant messaging chat group, wherein each notification message includes;

(i) information identifying the first existing member who sent the invitation to the new member to join the instant messaging chat group;

(ii) information identifying the at least one existing member that has the direct-contact relationship with the new member; and

(iii) information that the new member was added to the instant messaging chat group by invitation.