Method and system for accommodating mandatory responses in electronic messaging

• US 20060218232A1
• Filed: 03/24/2005
• Published: 09/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kulczar, David, Saenz, Leonel III, Tran, Thanh K., Kubala, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,761,521 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting

Abstract

A method, system, apparatus, or computer program product is presented for processing electronic messages. An electronic message is received for a recipient from a sender, and a data field is detected in the received electronic message that indicates a request by the sender for a response from the recipient for the received electronic message. The recipient is alerted to the detected request for the response for the received electronic message, and after alerting the recipient, actions are required by the recipient with respect to usage of a data processing system until the recipient uses the data processing system to send a response for the received electronic message to the sender. For example, the recipient can be prevented from closing a review of the received e-mail message, from deleting the received e-mail message, and from exiting the e-mail application until the recipient has responded to the received email message.

Claims

1. A method for processing electronic messages within data processing systems, the method comprising:

receiving an electronic message for a recipient from a sender;

detecting that the received electronic message contains a data field that indicates a request by the sender for a response from the recipient for the received electronic message;

alerting the recipient to the detected request for the response for the received electronic message; and

after alerting the recipient, requiring actions by the recipient with respect to usage of a data processing system until the recipient uses the data processing system to send a response for the received electronic message to the sender.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

preventing the recipient from deleting the received electronic message until the recipient uses the data processing system to send a response for the received electronic message to the sender.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

preventing the recipient from closing a review of the received electronic message until the recipient uses the data processing system to send a response for the received electronic message to the sender.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

preventing the recipient from exiting an electronic messaging application that operates on the data processing system until the recipient uses the data processing system to send a response for the received electronic message to the sender.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

presenting, while alerting the recipient to the detected request for the response for the received electronic message, at least one choice to the recipient that allows the recipient to delay creation of a response for the received electronic message.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

presenting, while alerting the recipient to the detected request for the response for the received electronic message, at least one choice to the recipient that allows the recipient to create a response for the received electronic message in which the response contains predetermined content.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the predetermined content is configurable by the recipient.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the predetermined content is extracted from the received electronic message.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the required actions by the recipient are indicated within the data field.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

extracting information from the received electronic message; and

determining, based on the extracted information, whether the sender is authorized to send to the recipient an electronic message that contains a data field that indicates a request by the sender for a response from the recipient for the received electronic message.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

in response to a determination that the sender is not authorized, modifying the received electronic message to remove the data field that indicates a request by the sender for a response from the recipient for the received electronic message.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of determining whether the sender is authorized further comprises:

checking whether a return address for the sender that has been extracted from the received electronic message is stored within a datastore of the recipient.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the step of determining whether the sender is authorized further comprises:

verifying security information that has been extracted from the received electronic message.

14. A computer program product on a computer readable medium for use in a data processing system for processing electronic messages, the computer program product comprising:

means for receiving an electronic message for a recipient from a sender;

means for detecting that the received electronic message contains a data field that indicates a request by the sender for a response from the recipient for the received electronic message;

means for alerting the recipient to the detected request for the response for the received electronic message; and

means for requiring actions by the recipient, after alerting the recipient, with respect to usage of a data processing system until the recipient uses the data processing system to send a response for the received electronic message to the sender.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 further comprising:

means for preventing the recipient from deleting the received electronic message until the recipient uses the data processing system to send a response for the received electronic message to the sender.

16. The computer program product of claim 14 further comprising:

means for preventing the recipient from closing a review of the received electronic message until the recipient uses the data processing system to send a response for the received electronic message to the sender.

17. The computer program product of claim 14 further comprising:

means for preventing the recipient from exiting an electronic messaging application that operates on the data processing system until the recipient uses the data processing system to send a response for the received electronic message to the sender.

18. The computer program product of claim 14 further comprising:

means for extracting information from the received electronic message; and

means for determining, based on the extracted information, whether the sender is authorized to send to the recipient an electronic message that contains a data field that indicates a request by the sender for a response from the recipient for the received electronic message.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 wherein the means for determining whether the sender is authorized further comprises:

means for checking whether a return address for the sender that has been extracted from the received electronic message is stored within a datastore of the recipient.

20. An apparatus for processing electronic messages, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving an electronic message for a recipient from a sender;

means for detecting that the received electronic message contains a data field that indicates a request by the sender for a response from the recipient for the received electronic message;

means for alerting the recipient to the detected request for the response for the received electronic message; and

means for requiring actions by the recipient, after alerting the recipient, with respect to usage of a data processing system until the recipient uses the data processing system to send a response for the received electronic message to the sender.