SYSTEM, METHOD, AND PROGRAM FOR INSTANT MESSAGINGS

• US 20090044252A1
• Filed: 08/15/2008
• Published: 02/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snap, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Tada, Masami, Kashima, Hiroaki, Tomoda, Daisuke, Takeuchi, Shigeki, Yamauchi, Yuhko, Uenohara, Hayato
• Granted Patent: US 8,528,050 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/3
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding

Abstract

A method for delivering an instant message in a server connected to two or more computers via a network is provided. The two or more computers include groupware clients in which a user can perform login at the same time, using the same user ID, and for which status that may be different from each other can be set. Embodiments of the method includes authenticating a user of a groupware client who attempts to perform login using a user ID, recording the user ID and status information in association with an instant messaging user ID, receiving an instant message addressed to the user ID, and determining, on the basis of the status information, which of two or more client computers the instant message is sent to.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, in a server connected to a plurality of client computers via a network, a message from a client computer from which login has been performed using a first user ID, the message having at least two destination client computers as destinations, login having been performed from the at least two destination client computers using a second user ID; and

determining which of the at least two destination client computers the message is sent to on the basis of status information of the at least two destination client computers, the status information being held in the server.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the destination client computers include at least one personal computer and at least one mobile communication device.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining further comprises determining, on the basis of device types of the destination client computers, which of the destination client computers the message is sent to.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the at least one mobile communication device includes at least on of the following types of devices:

mobile phones and PDAs.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the status information includes “

available” and

“

unavailable”

.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the determining is performed when related status information is “

available”

.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the destination client computers are mobile phones, the method further comprising converting the message addressed to the destination client computers to a format suitable for the mobile phones.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the destination client computers each include a GPS unit, the method further comprising generating a candidate for a physical location on the basis of coordinates detected by the GPS unit.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the client computers each include means for, when the sent message includes specific characters, performing a predetermined process corresponding to the specific characters instead of displaying the message.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the predetermined process includes a process of changing a mouse cursor in each of the client computers.

11. A system comprising:

means for holding status information of client computers from which login has been performed using individual user IDs;

means for receiving a message from a client computer from which login has been performed using a first user ID, the message having a destination identified by a second user ID;

means for determining a client computer from which login has been performed using the second user ID; and

means, when a plurality of client computers from which login has been performed using the second user ID exist, for determining which of the client computers the message is sent to, the determining being made on the basis of status information held in association with the client computers from which login has been performed using the second user ID.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the destination client computers include at least one personal computer and at least one mobile communication device.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the mobile communication device includes a mobile phone and/or a PDA.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein the status information includes “

available” and

“

unavailable”

.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein determination on the destination client computers is performed when related status information is “

available”

.

16. The system according to claim 13, including means for, when the destination client computers are mobile phones, converting the message addressed to the destination client computers to a format suitable for the mobile phones.

17. The system according to claim 11, wherein the destination client computers each include a GPS unit, the system further including means for generating a candidate for a place on the basis of coordinates detected by the GPS unit.

18. The system according to claim 11, wherein the client computers each include means for performing a predetermined process corresponding to specific characters instead of displaying the message, when the sent message includes the specific characters,

19. The system according to claim 18, wherein the predetermined process includes a process of changing a mouse cursor in each of the client computers.

20. A computer program product for sending an instant message, the computer program product comprising:

computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code configured to;

hold status information of client computers from which login has been performed using individual user IDs;

receive a message from a client computer from which login has been performed using a first user ID, the message having a destination associated with a second user ID;

determine a client computer from which login has been performed using the second user ID; and

when a plurality of client computers from which login has been performed using the second user ID exist, determining, which of the client computers the message is sent to, the determining being made on the basis of status information held in association with the client computers from which login has been performed using the second user ID.

21. A method comprising:

authenticating a user of a groupware client who attempts to perform login using a user ID;

recording the user ID and status information in association with an instant messaging user ID;

receiving an instant message addressed to the user ID; and

determining, on the basis of the status information, which of two or more client computers the instant message is sent to.