METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INFERRING THE BUSY STATE OF AN INSTANT MESSAGING USER

• US 20080052389A1
• Filed: 08/24/2006
• Published: 02/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: George, David A., Jennings, Raymond B.
• Application Number:
  US11/466,781
• Publication Number:
  US 20080052389A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for inferring the busy state of an instant messaging (IM) user. A method for inferring the busy state of an IM user in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: obtaining a plurality of messages from a system of the IM user, wherein the system messages are indicative of a level of activity of the IM user; analyzing the system messages to infer a busy state of the IM user; and providing the busy state of the IM user to at least one other IM user.

Claims

1. A method for inferring a busy state of an instant messaging (IM) user, comprising:

obtaining a plurality of messages from a system of the IM user, wherein the system messages are indicative of a level of activity of the IM user;

analyzing the system messages to infer a busy state of the IM user; and

providing the busy state of the IM user to at least one other IM user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the system messages provides an indication of a number of times at least one application window changes state within a time period.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the change in state comprises at least one of:

a movement of an application window;

a change in size of an application window; and

a covering or uncovering of an application window.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the system messages provides an indication of an amount of input device usage.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the amount of input device usage comprises at least one of:

a number of mouse operations; and

a number of keystrokes.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the system messages provide system attributes.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the system attributes comprise at least one of:

CPU utilization;

network traffic; and

memory usage.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the system messages provides an indication of least one of:

a number of email messages received or sent during a time period;

a number of instant messages received or sent during a time period;

a number of phone calls received or sent during a time period;

a number of unread email messages;

a number of unread instant messages; and

a number of unanswered phone messages.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the system messages provides an indication of a state of at least one of:

a screen saver; and

a sleep mode.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the busy state of the IM user to at least one other IM user further comprises:

providing the busy state using a presence indicator.

11. A system for inferring a busy state of an instant messaging (IM) user, comprising:

a system for obtaining a plurality of messages from a system of the IM user, wherein the system messages are indicative of a level of activity of the IM user;

a system for analyzing the system messages to infer a busy state of the IM user; and

a system for providing the busy state of the IM user to at least one other IM user.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the system for analyzing the system messages provides an indication of a number of times at least one application window changes state within a time period.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the change in state comprises at least one of:

a movement of an application window;

a change in size of an application window; and

a covering or uncovering of an application window.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the system for analyzing the system messages provides an indication of an amount of input device usage.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the amount of input device usage comprises at least one of:

a number of mouse operations; and

a number of keystrokes.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the system messages provide system attributes.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the system attributes comprise at least one of:

CPU utilization;

network traffic; and

memory usage.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the system for analyzing the system messages provides an indication of at least one of:

a number of email messages received or sent during a time period;

a number of instant messages received or sent during a time period;

a number of phone calls received or sent during a time period;

a number of unread email messages;

a number of unread instant messages; and

a number of unanswered phone messages.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the system for analyzing the system messages provides an indication of a state of at least one of:

a screen saver; and

a sleep mode.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the system for providing the busy state of the IM user to at least one other IM user further comprises:

a system for providing the busy state using a presence indicator.

21. A program product stored on a computer readable medium for inferring a busy state of an instant messaging (IM) user, the computer readable medium comprising program code for:

obtaining a plurality of messages from a system of the IM user, wherein the system messages are indicative of a level of activity of the IM user;

analyzing the system messages to infer a busy state of the IM user; and

providing the busy state of the IM user to at least one other IM user.