Electronic mail delay adaptation

• US 20090055490A1
• Filed: 08/21/2007
• Published: 02/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Agarwal, Sharad, Mukherjee, Rajatish, Padmanabhan, Venkata N.
• Granted Patent: US 8,706,819 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 electronic communication system that can detect and adapt to delays in delivery of e-mail messages. The system may adapt to delays by using other mechanisms to convey the information intended for delivery by e-mail. Delays may be detected using a low-latency channel to send notifications of e-mails to recipients. The notifications are likely to be received in advance of a delayed e-mail, allowing an intended e-mail recipient to detect that delivery of an e-mail has been delayed. The recipient may adapt to the delay in delivery, when a notification is received without a corresponding electronic mail message. The notification may be small relative to an e-mail message but may include enough information to allow the recipient to identify the subject matter of the corresponding e-mail message, an importance level of the e-mail message, a preferred mechanism of the sender for out-of-band communications, and/or the location from which the e-mail was sent.

Claims

1. A method of communicating electronically, the method comprising:

sending an electronic mail message to a recipient;

sending a notification to the recipient, the notification being separate from and corresponding to the electronic mail message;

wherein the notification comprises;

a first data field containing data that functions to identify the corresponding electronic mail message;

a second data field containing data that represents an identity of a sender of the electronic mail message; and

a third data field containing data that represents an importance attribute of the electronic mail message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification further comprises an additional data field containing data that represents an availability of the sender through an alternate mechanism for communication.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the alternate mechanism for communication comprises an instant messaging system.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the alternate mechanism for communication comprises a voice communication system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification further comprises an additional data field containing data that identifies a computer from which the electronic mail message was sent.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification consists of fewer than 100 bytes of information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification comprises an additional data field containing data from a subject of the electronic mail message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the notification comprises an additional data field that represents an availability of the sender through an alternate mechanism for communication.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the notification comprises an additional data field containing data that represents a time at which the electronic mail message was sent.

10. A tangible computer-readable medium having stored thereon a data structure that corresponds to a separate electronic mail message, the data structure comprising:

a first data field containing data that functions to identify the corresponding electronic mail message;

a second data field containing data that represents an identity of a sender of the electronic mail message; and

a third data field containing data that represents an availability of the sender through an alternate mechanism for communication.

11. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the alternate mechanism for communication comprises an instant messaging system.

12. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the alternate mechanism for communication comprises a voice communication system.

13. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising:

an additional data field containing data that identifies a computer from which the electronic mail message was sent.

14. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 10, consisting of fewer than 100 bytes of information.

15. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein each of the first, second, and third data fields consist of a fixed data format.

16. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising:

an additional data field containing data that represents a time at which the electronic mail message was sent.

17. A method of communicating electronically, the method comprising:

sending an electronic mail message to a recipient;

sending a notification to the recipient, the notification being separate from and corresponding to the electronic mail message;

wherein the notification comprises;

a first data field containing data that functions to identify the corresponding electronic mail message;

a second data field containing data that represents an identity of a sender of the electronic mail message; and

a third data field containing data from a subject field of the electronic mail message.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the notification consists of fewer than 100 bytes of information.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein each of the first, second, and third data fields consists of a fixed data format.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the notification further comprises an additional data field containing data that represents a time at which the electronic mail message was sent.