METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASYNCHRONOUS MEDIATED COMMUNICATON

• US 20090213852A1
• Filed: 02/19/2009
• Published: 08/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: JONES, Donald J., RAGHAVAN, Srinivas, SKOMRA, Stewart A., KRISHNAMURTHI, Govindarajan, SURI, Deepa
• Granted Patent: US 8,149,850 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/389
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/20 for the management or administration of healthcare resources or facilities, e.g. managing hospital staff or surgery rooms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/234 for tracking messages

Abstract

A system and method for mediating the routing of asynchronous messages includes routing the asynchronous message to a first recipient, determining whether the first recipient opened the asynchronous message, and re-routing the asynchronous message to a second recipient who is qualified to receive and respond to the message if the first recipient fails to open the message. In an aspect, the second recipient is selected based upon the role that the second recipient performs within the system. In another aspect, the message is re-routed to the second recipient if the first recipient fails to open the message within a deadline imposed by the message sender. In another aspect, the message is re-routed to the second recipient if the first recipient fails to open the message within a deadline automatically imposed by the system when the message is of a certain type.

Claims

1. A method for mediating asynchronous message routing, comprising:

receiving an asynchronous message from a sender'"'"'s communication device intended for a first recipient;

retrieving routing information regarding a role of the first recipient from information within the asynchronous message;

routing the asynchronous message to the first recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the routing information;

monitoring for a message open confirmation from the first recipient'"'"'s communication device; and

re-routing the asynchronous message to a second recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the role performed by the first recipient if a message opened confirmation is not received from the first recipient'"'"'s communication device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising re-routing the asynchronous message to a second recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the role performed by the first recipient if the message opened confirmation is not received from the first recipient within a deadline.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

generating a first reminder regarding the asynchronous message at a first threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline; and

transmitting the first reminder to the first recipient'"'"'s communication device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

generating a secondary reminder regarding the asynchronous message at a second threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline;

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

selecting a first actor having a next highest priority in the routing template;

determining if the selected actor is available;

transmitting the secondary reminder to the selected actor if the selected actor is available;

selecting a second actor if the first actor is unavailable; and

transmitting the secondary reminder to the second actor if the second actor is available.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

generating a secondary reminder regarding the asynchronous message at some threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline;

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

selecting an actor having the same role as the first recipient with a highest priority that is available; and

transmitting the secondary reminder to the selected actor.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the deadline is imposed by the first sender.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the deadline is automatically imposed based upon the asynchronous message content type.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising re-routing a message opened confirmation to a second sender'"'"'s communication device based upon a role performed by the first sender if the first sender'"'"'s communication device is not available.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

selecting an actor having the role of the first recipient with a next highest priority from the routing template;

determining if the selected actor is available; and

wherein the selected actor is the second recipient if the selected actor is available.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising retrieving the selected second recipient'"'"'s routing information from the routing template.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving a routing template based upon the first recipient;

determining the first recipient'"'"'s role from the routing template;

selecting an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template; and

determining if the selected actor is available,

wherein the selected actor is the second recipient if the selected actor is available.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the routing information only contains the first recipient'"'"'s role.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first sender;

determining an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template;

determining if the actor is available; and

selecting the actor as the second sender if the actor is available.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising retrieving the selected second sender'"'"'s routing information from the routing template.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

retrieving a routing template based upon the identified first sender;

determining the first sender'"'"'s role from the routing template;

determining an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template;

determining if the actor is available; and

selecting the actor as the second sender if the actor is available.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the routing information only contains the first sender'"'"'s role.

17. The method of claim 2, wherein determining if the selected actor is available is accomplished by looking up the selected actor'"'"'s availability in a dynamic availability template.

18. A mediator for mediating asynchronous message routing, comprising:

means for receiving a asynchronous message from a sender'"'"'s communication device intended for a first recipient;

means for retrieving routing information regarding a role of the first recipient from information within the asynchronous message;

means for routing the asynchronous message to the first recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the routing information;

means for monitoring for a message open confirmation from the first recipient'"'"'s communication device; and

means for re-routing the asynchronous message to a second recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the role performed by the first recipient if a message opened confirmation is not received from the first recipient'"'"'s communication device.

19. The mediator of claim 18, further comprising means for re-routing the asynchronous message to a second recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the role performed by the first recipient if the message opened confirmation is not received from the first recipient within a deadline.

20. The mediator of claim 19, further comprising:

means for generating a first reminder regarding the asynchronous message at a first threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline; and

means for transmitting the first reminder to the first recipient'"'"'s communication device.

21. The mediator of claim 20, further comprising:

means for generating a secondary reminder regarding the asynchronous message at a second threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline;

means for retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

means for selecting a first actor having a next highest priority in the routing template;

means for determining if the selected actor is available;

means for transmitting the secondary reminder to the selected actor if the selected actor is available;

means for selecting a second actor if the first actor is unavailable; and

means for transmitting the secondary reminder to the second actor if the second actor is available.

22. The mediator of claim 19, further comprising:

means for generating a secondary reminder regarding the asynchronous message at some threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline;

means for retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

means for selecting an actor having the same role as the first recipient with a highest priority that is available; and

means for transmitting the secondary reminder to the selected actor.

23. The mediator of claim 19, further comprising means for imposing the deadline determined by the first sender.

24. The mediator of claim 19, further comprising means for automatically imposing the deadline based upon the asynchronous message content type.

25. The mediator of claim 18, further comprising means for re-routing a message opened confirmation to a second sender'"'"'s communication device based upon a role performed by the first sender if the first sender'"'"'s communication device is not available.

26. The mediator of claim 18, further comprising:

means for retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

means for selecting an actor having the role of the first recipient with a next highest priority from the routing template; and

means for determining if the selected actor is available from a dynamic availability template,

wherein the selected actor is the second recipient if the actor is available.

27. The mediator of claim 26, further comprising means for retrieving the selected second recipient'"'"'s routing information from the routing template.

28. The mediator of claim 18, further comprising:

means for retrieving a routing template based upon the first recipient;

means for determining the first recipient'"'"'s role from the routing template;

means for selecting an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template; and

means for determining if the selected actor is available from a dynamic availability template,

wherein the selected actor is the second recipient if the actor is available.

29. The mediator of claim 28, wherein the routing information only contains the first recipient'"'"'s role.

30. The mediator of claim 25, further comprising:

means for retrieving a routing template for the role of the first sender;

means for determining an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template;

means for determining if the actor is available from a dynamic availability template; and

means for selecting the actor as the second sender if the actor is available.

31. The mediator of claim 30, further comprising means for retrieving the selected second sender'"'"'s routing information from the routing template.

32. The mediator of claim 25, further comprising:

means for retrieving a routing template based upon the identified first sender;

means for determining the first sender'"'"'s role from the routing template;

means for determining an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template;

means for determining if the actor is available from a dynamic availability template; and

means for selecting the actor as the second sender if the actor is available.

33. The mediator of claim 32, wherein the routing information only contains the first sender'"'"'s role.

34. The mediator of claim 21, wherein means for determining if the selected actor is available comprises means for looking up the selected actor'"'"'s availability in a dynamic availability template.

35. A mediator for mediating asynchronous message routing, comprising:

a memory unit; and

a processor coupled to the memory unit, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform steps comprising;

receiving a asynchronous message from a sender'"'"'s communication device intended for a first recipient;

retrieving routing information regarding a role of the first recipient from information within the asynchronous message;

routing the asynchronous message to the first recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the routing information;

monitoring for a message open confirmation from the first recipient'"'"'s communication device; and

re-routing the asynchronous message to a second recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the role performed by the first recipient if a message opened confirmation is not received from the first recipient'"'"'s communication device.

36. The mediator of claim 35, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

re-routing the asynchronous message to a second recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the role performed by the first recipient if the message opened confirmation is not received from the first recipient within a deadline.

37. The mediator of claim 36, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

generating a first reminder regarding the asynchronous message at a first threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline; and

transmitting the first reminder to the first recipient'"'"'s communication device.

38. The mediator of claim 37, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

generating a secondary reminder regarding the asynchronous message at a second threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline;

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

selecting a first actor having a next highest priority in the routing template;

determining if the selected actor is available;

transmitting the secondary reminder to the selected actor if the selected actor is available;

selecting a second actor if the first actor is unavailable; and

transmitting the secondary reminder to the second actor if the second actor is available.

39. The mediator of claim 36, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

generating a secondary reminder regarding the asynchronous message at some threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline;

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

selecting an actor having the same role as the first recipient with a highest priority that is available; and

transmitting the secondary reminder to the selected actor.

40. The mediator of claim 36, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

imposing the deadline determined by the first sender.

41. The mediator of claim 36, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

automatically imposing the deadline based upon the asynchronous message content type.

42. The mediator of claim 35, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

re-routing a message opened confirmation to a second sender'"'"'s communication device based upon a role performed by the first sender if the first sender'"'"'s communication device is not available.

43. The mediator of claim 35, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

selecting an actor having the role of the first recipient with a next highest priority from the routing template; and

determining if the selected actor is available,

wherein the selected actor is the second recipient if the selected actor is available.

44. The mediator of claim 43, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

retrieving the selected second recipient'"'"'s routing information from the routing template.

45. The mediator of claim 35, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

retrieving a routing template based upon the first recipient;

determining the first recipient'"'"'s role from the routing template;

selecting an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template; and

determining if the selected actor is available,

wherein the selected actor is the second recipient if the selected actor is available.

46. The mediator of claim 42, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first sender;

determining an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template;

determining if the actor is available; and

selecting the actor as the second sender if the actor is available.

47. The mediator of claim 42, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

retrieving a routing template based upon the identified first sender;

determining the first sender'"'"'s role from the routing template;

determining an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template;

determining if the actor is available; and

selecting the actor as the second sender if the actor is available.

48. The mediator of claim 42, wherein the processor is configured with software instructions to perform further steps comprising:

determining if the selected actor is available by looking up the selected actor'"'"'s availability in a dynamic availability template.

49. A tangible storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform steps comprising:

receiving a asynchronous message from a sender'"'"'s communication device intended for a first recipient;

retrieving routing information regarding a role of the first recipient from information within the asynchronous message;

routing the asynchronous message to the first recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the routing information;

monitoring for a message open confirmation from the first recipient'"'"'s communication device; and

re-routing the asynchronous message to a second recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the role performed by the first recipient if a message opened confirmation is not received from the first recipient'"'"'s communication device.

50. The tangible storage medium of claim 49, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

re-routing the asynchronous message to a second recipient'"'"'s communication device based upon the role performed by the first recipient if the message opened confirmation is not received from the first recipient within a deadline.

51. The tangible storage medium of claim 50, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

generating a first reminder regarding the asynchronous message at a first threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline; and

transmitting the first reminder to the first recipient'"'"'s communication device.

52. The tangible storage medium of claim 51, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

generating a secondary reminder regarding the asynchronous message at a second threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline;

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

selecting a first actor having a next highest priority in the routing template;

determining if the selected actor is available;

transmitting the secondary reminder to the selected actor if the selected actor is available;

selecting a second actor if the first actor is unavailable; and

transmitting the secondary reminder to the second actor if the second actor is available.

53. The tangible storage medium of claim 50, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

generating a secondary reminder regarding the asynchronous message at some threshold of time prior to expiration of the deadline;

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

selecting an actor having the same role as the first recipient with a highest priority that is available; and

transmitting the secondary reminder to the selected actor.

54. The tangible storage medium of claim 50, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

imposing the deadline determined by the first sender.

55. The tangible storage medium of claim 50, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

automatically imposing the deadline based upon the asynchronous message content type.

56. The tangible storage medium of claim 49, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

re-routing a message opened confirmation to a second sender'"'"'s communication device based upon a role performed by the first sender if the first sender'"'"'s communication device is not available.

57. The tangible storage medium of claim 49, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first recipient;

selecting an actor having the role of the first recipient with a next highest priority from the routing template; and

determining if the selected actor is available,

wherein the selected actor is the second recipient if the selected actor is available.

58. The tangible storage medium of claim 57, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

retrieving the selected second recipient'"'"'s routing information from the routing template.

59. The tangible storage medium of claim 49, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

retrieving a routing template based upon the first recipient;

determining the first recipient'"'"'s role from the routing template;

selecting an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template; and

determining if the selected actor is available,

wherein the selected actor is the second recipient if the selected actor is available.

60. The tangible storage medium of claim 57, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

retrieving a routing template for the role of the first sender;

determining an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template;

determining if the actor is available; and

selecting the actor as the second sender if the actor is available.

61. The tangible storage medium of claim 60, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

retrieving the selected second sender'"'"'s routing information from the routing template.

62. The tangible storage medium of claim 56, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

retrieving a routing template based upon the identified first sender;

determining the first sender'"'"'s role from the routing template;

determining an actor possessing a next highest priority from the routing template;

determining if the actor is available; and

selecting the actor as the second sender if the actor is available.

63. The tangible storage medium of claim 52, wherein the tangible storage medium has processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform further steps comprising:

determining if the selected actor is available by looking up the selected actor'"'"'s availability in a dynamic availability template.