Method for determining availability of participation in instant messaging
First Claim
1. A method in an instant messaging system for allowing a user to provide an automated response of a user'"'"'s availability to respond to an instant message, comprising:
- responsive to a movement of an instant messaging dialog window on a user'"'"'s display, determining if the instant messaging dialog window has been moved into a designated hotspot area;
responsive to a determination that the instant messaging dialog window has been moved into a designated hotspot area, automatically generating a response message based on a user defined message associated with the hotspot area; and
sending the response message to a particular instant messaging partner.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method, apparatus, and computer instructions for sending a user'"'"'s availability information to an instant messaging (IM) partner. A user predefines areas of the user'"'"'s display and associates these predefined areas, or “hotspots”, with user defined messages. If the user is not available to immediately respond to an incoming message, the user may move the IM dialog window to a “hotspot” in the display. Depending upon the user-defined message associated with the “hotspot”, the IM application generates an automated response indicating the user'"'"'s availability to respond to the message, and sends the message to the IM partner. The user also may predefine and associate the user'"'"'s IM status with a “hotspot”. Moving an IM dialog window into a “hotspot” automatically changes the user'"'"'s status based on the associated “hotspot”. This change is communicated to only the particular IM dialog window partner while other IM partners are unaffected.
62 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method in an instant messaging system for allowing a user to provide an automated response of a user'"'"'s availability to respond to an instant message, comprising:
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responsive to a movement of an instant messaging dialog window on a user'"'"'s display, determining if the instant messaging dialog window has been moved into a designated hotspot area;
responsive to a determination that the instant messaging dialog window has been moved into a designated hotspot area, automatically generating a response message based on a user defined message associated with the hotspot area; and
sending the response message to a particular instant messaging partner. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An instant messaging system for allowing a user to provide an automated response of a user'"'"'s availability to respond to an instant message, comprising:
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determining means for determining if the instant messaging dialog window has been moved into a designated hotspot area in response to a movement of an instant messaging dialog window on a user'"'"'s display;
generating means for automatically generating a response message based on a user defined message associated with the hotspot area in response to a determination that the instant messaging dialog window has been moved into a designated hotspot area; and
sending means for sending the response message to a particular instant messaging partner. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for allowing a user to provide an automated response of a user'"'"'s availability to respond to an instant message, comprising:
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first instructions for determining if the instant messaging dialog window has been moved into a designated hotspot area in response to a movement of an instant messaging dialog window on a user'"'"'s display;
second instructions for automatically generating a response message based on a user defined message associated with the hotspot area in response to a determination that the instant messaging dialog window has been moved into a designated hotspot area; and
third instructions for sending the response message to a particular instant messaging partner. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method in an instant messaging system for allowing a user to provide an automated response of a user'"'"'s availability to respond to an instant message, comprising:
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responsive to a user selecting an item on a dialog window, wherein the item is associated with a hotspot area in a display, automatically generating a response message based on a user defined message associated with the hotspot area; and
sending the response message to an instant messaging partner. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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Specification