Updating availability of an instant messaging contact

• US 20070010232A1
• Filed: 07/08/2005
• Published: 01/11/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Klassen, Gerhard
• Granted Patent: US 7,444,135 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/412.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data

Abstract

A contact is determined to be unavailable if a predetermined period of time has elapsed since an instant message was sent to the contact and an expected notification for the instant message was not received during that predetermined period of time by the device that sent the instant message. If the expected notification is a delivered notification, then the contact is deemed unreachable. If the expected notification is a read notification and a delivered notification for the instant message has been received by the device that sent the instant message, then the contact is deemed busy.

Claims

1. A method for updating availability information of a contact that is stored in a device, the method comprising:

determining that said contact is unavailable if a predetermined period of time has elapsed since said device sent an instant message to said contact during which said device has not received an expected notification for said message.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying to a user of said device that said contact is unavailable.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon receipt of said notification after said predetermined period of time has elapsed, determining that said contact is available.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling a user of said device to request to be notified if and when said contact becomes available.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

upon receipt of said notification after said predetermined period of time has elapsed, determining that said contact is available and notifying said user that said contact is available.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

asking said user whether said user wants to send another instant message to said contact.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said expected notification was a delivered notification for said message, the method further comprising:

determining that said contact is unreachable.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

upon receipt of said delivered notification after said predetermined period of time has elapsed, determining that said contact is reachable.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

enabling a user of said device to request to be notified if and when said contact becomes reachable.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

upon receipt of said delivered notification after said predetermined period of time has elapsed, determining that said contact is reachable and notifying said user that said contact is reachable.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

asking said user whether said user wants to send another instant message to said contact.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said expected notification was a read notification for said message.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said device has received a delivered notification for said message during said predetermined period of time, the method further comprising:

determining that said contact is busy.

14. A device able to communicate in an instant messaging system having one or more types of notifications for instant messages, the device comprising:

a communication interface through which said device is able to send instant messages to and receive instant messages from a network;

a processor coupled to said communication interface;

a user input component coupled to said processor through which a user of said device is able to provide content for said instant messages;

a user output component coupled to said processor through which said device is able to display said instant messages and selected notifications to said user; and

memory to store an identifier that identifies said device in said instant messaging system and to store code which, when executed by said processor, determines that a contact is unavailable if a predetermined period of time has elapsed since said device sent an instant message to said contact during which said device has not received an expected notification for said message.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein said communication interface further comprises a radio and an antenna.

16. The device of claim 14, wherein said expected notification was a delivered notification for said message and said code, when executed by said processor, determines that said contact is unreachable.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein said memory is to store code which, when executed by said processor, enables a user of said device to request to be notified if and when said contact becomes reachable.

18. The device of claim 14, wherein said expected notification was a read notification for said message and said code, when executed by said processor, determines that said contact is busy if a delivered notification for said message has been received by said device and said predetermined period of time has elapsed since said device sent an instant message to said contact during which said device has not received said read notification.

19. The device of claim 14, wherein said memory is to store code which, when executed by said processor, enables a user of said device to request to be notified if and when said contact becomes available.