Email transaction system
First Claim
1. A method for determining a time period in which to send an email to a plurality of email addresses, each of the email addresses being associated within a distribution list and the email being sent to at least one destination server associated with each of the email addresses, the method comprising:
- receiving a plurality of email addresses associated with the distribution list, each email address comprising an attribute, the attribute pertaining to a requested time period in which to send the email to each of the email addresses;
for each email address, identifying the destination server and requesting performance metrics indicative of the capacity of the identified destination server to receive the or each of the emails;
analysing each of the performance metrics to determine whether, the identified destination server is able to receive the or each of the emails within the requested time period; and
in dependence of the identified destination server not being able to receive the or each of the emails, negotiating a time period in which the identified destination server can receive the or each of the emails.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides a method and a system in which, a determination is made in order to determine whether a destination mail server is able to process a number of emails associated with a distribution list. By requesting performance metrics for each destination server, analysis is performed to understand the processing capacity of the destination server. In response to the determined processing capacity of the destination mail server, and the time in which the emails must be sent by, the emails are either sent, or a negotiation is performed with each of the destination servers, to determine an available time. Therefore, each destination server can control the time in which it receives and processes the emails. Therefore, avoiding large amounts of emails ‘hitting’ the destination servers, at a time when the destination servers are already very busy and available processing capacity is of a premium.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for determining a time period in which to send an email to a plurality of email addresses, each of the email addresses being associated within a distribution list and the email being sent to at least one destination server associated with each of the email addresses, the method comprising:
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receiving a plurality of email addresses associated with the distribution list, each email address comprising an attribute, the attribute pertaining to a requested time period in which to send the email to each of the email addresses;
for each email address, identifying the destination server and requesting performance metrics indicative of the capacity of the identified destination server to receive the or each of the emails;
analysing each of the performance metrics to determine whether, the identified destination server is able to receive the or each of the emails within the requested time period; and
in dependence of the identified destination server not being able to receive the or each of the emails, negotiating a time period in which the identified destination server can receive the or each of the emails. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 17, 19)
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8. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein after a predetermined number of unsuccessful attempts at requesting an available time period, the email is sent to each of the plurality of email addresses.
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9. A system for determining a time period in which to send an email to a plurality of email addresses, each of the email addresses being associated within a distribution list and the email being sent to at least one destination server associated with each of the email addresses, the system comprising:
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a receiver component, receiving a plurality of email addresses associated with the distribution list, each email address comprising an attribute, the attribute pertaining to a requested time period in which to send the email to each of the email addresses;
a prioritisation engine for identifying for each email address, the destination server and requesting performance metrics indicative of the capacity of the identified destination server to receive the or each of the emails;
the prioritisation engine analysing each of the requested performance metrics to determine whether, the identified destination server is able to receive the or each of the emails within the requested time period; and
a negotiation component for negotiating a time period in which the identified destination server can receive the or each of the emails, in dependence of the identified destination server not being able to receive each of the emails. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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18. A method of deploying a computer program product for determining a time period in which to send an email to a plurality of email addresses, each of the email addresses being associated within a distribution list and the email being sent to at least one destination server associated with each of the email addresses, wherein when executed, the computer program performs the steps of:
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receiving a plurality of email addresses associated with the distribution list, each email address comprising an attribute, the attribute pertaining to a requested time period in which to send the email to each of the email addresses;
for each email address, identifying the destination server and requesting performance metrics indicative of the capacity of the identified destination server to receive the or each of the emails;
analysing each of the performance metrics to determine whether, the identified destination server is able to receive the or each of the emails within the requested time period; and
in dependence of the identified destination server not being able to receive the or each of the emails, negotiating a time period in which the identified destination server can receive the or each of the emails.
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Specification