Systems, methods and computer program products for electronic information transfer by a sender

• US 20070220095A1
• Filed: 03/16/2006
• Published: 09/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Starr, Robert, Liu, Jerry, Carter, Sharon, Moore, Darryl, Silver, Edward
• Granted Patent: US 7,756,934 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]

Abstract

A method for electronic information transfer by a sender. The method includes composing an electronic message on a sender terminal. At least one announcement file is associated with an attribute of the electronic message, the announcement file configured for playing at a recipient terminal upon the recipient terminal receiving the electronic message. The electronic message and the association to the announcement file is sent over a network to a recipient at the recipient terminal. Embodiments include a computer program product for implementing the method.

Claims

1. A method for electronic information transfer by a sender comprising:

composing an electronic message on a sender terminal;

associating at least one announcement file with an attribute of the electronic message, the announcement file configured for playing at a recipient terminal upon the recipient terminal receiving the electronic message;

sending the electronic message and the association to the announcement file over a network to a recipient at the recipient terminal.

2. A method for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 1 wherein associating the announcement file includes associating the announcement file in response to the sender of the electronic message or the recipient of the message.

3. A method for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 1 wherein associating the announcement file includes associating the announcement file in response to at least one of the urgency of the message, the size of the message and the subject matter of the content of the message.

4. A method for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 1 wherein associating the announcement file includes associating the announcement file in response to a sender domain or a sender email address.

5. A method for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 1 wherein associating the announcement file includes associating the announcement file in response to a recipient domain or a recipient email address.

6. A method for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 1 wherein the announcement file is one of a set of downloaded announcements files, the downloaded announcement files having a common theme.

7. A method for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 1 wherein the associating includes associating at least one of an audio file or a video file with an attribute of the electronic message.

8. A method for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 1 wherein the associating includes attaching the announcement file to the electronic message.

9. A method for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 8 wherein the attaching the announcement file to the electronic message includes setting an announcer identifier bit in a message header to indicate the presence of an announcement file.

10. A method for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 1 wherein the associating includes associating at least one link to the announcement file.

11. A method for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 10 wherein the link to the announcement file is a hyperlink to an announcement file stored on a third-party server.

12. A method for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 11 wherein the link to the announcement file is a hyperlink to a codec used to play the announcement file.

13. A system for electronic information transfer by a sender, the system comprising:

an email application for composing an electronic message on a sender terminal;

an associated announcement file library including a plurality of announcement files and a matrix of announcement associations associating at least one announcement file with an attribute of the electronic message, the announcement file configured for playing at a recipient terminal upon the recipient terminal receiving the electronic message;

an association function matching attributes of the electronic message with the announcement associations to associate at least one announcement file with the electronic message.

14. A system for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 13 wherein associating the announcement file includes associating the announcement file in response to the sender of the electronic message or the recipient of the message.

15. A system for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 13 wherein associating the announcement file includes associating the announcement file in response to at least one of the urgency of the message, the size of the message and the subject matter of the content of the message.

16. A system for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 13 wherein associating the announcement file includes associating the announcement file in response to a sender domain or a sender email address.

17. A system for electronic information transfer as set forth in claim 13 wherein associating the announcement file includes associating the announcement file in response to a recipient domain or a recipient email address.

18. A computer program product for electronic information transfer by a sender, the computer program product comprising:

storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for facilitating a method comprising;

composing an electronic message on a sender terminal;

associating at least one announcement file with an attribute of the electronic message, the announcement file configured for playing at a recipient terminal upon the recipient terminal receiving the electronic message;

sending the electronic message and the association to the announcement file over a network to a recipient at the recipient terminal.