E-MAIL MESSAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENHANCED RICH MEDIA DELIVERY
First Claim
1. A computer program arrangement in a computer readable medium for use in a multi-user e-mail messaging system interfaced through the Internet and including at least a first user group sharing at least a first server, which first server is, in turn, interfaced to the Internet such that any user of the first user group may compose an e-mail message for transfer to an intended recipient selected as at least one of another user in the first user group and a remote user interfaced to the Internet by a connection other than said first server, said e-mail message including a header section, which contains information regarding the originating user and the intended recipient, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising:
- first instructions for directing the e-mail message onto an e-mail enhancement path, after said e-mail message has been composed and sent via a standard messaging protocol by an originating user of the first user group, and configured for (i) receiving the e-mail message at said first server, (ii) altering the e-mail message including separating and modifying the header section in a predetermined way by inactivating said information regarding the originating user and intended recipient contained in the header section, and adding an alternate header section containing active information regarding an alternate sender and an alternate message recipient, and (iii) directing the altered e-mail message to a second server located on the e-mail enhancement path;
second instructions for adding additional rich media content to said e-mail message using the e-mail enhancement path to produce an enhanced e-mail message; and
third instructions for directing the enhanced e-mail message from the e-mail enhancement path to the intended recipient.
19 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-user e-mail messaging system is described that is interfaced through the Internet and includes a first user group sharing a first server, which first server is interfaced to the Internet. In this system, after an e-mail message has been originated by an originating user of the first user group, the e-mail message is directed onto an e-mail enhancement path, and additional content is added to the e-mail message using the e-mail enhancement path to produce an enhanced e-mail message. Thereafter, the enhanced e-mail message from the e-mail enhancement path to the intended recipient. In one feature, the path taken by an incoming e-mail message is different from an outgoing path taken by an e-mail message sent from the first user group. The outgoing path defined to the intended recipient includes the enhancement path.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A computer program arrangement in a computer readable medium for use in a multi-user e-mail messaging system interfaced through the Internet and including at least a first user group sharing at least a first server, which first server is, in turn, interfaced to the Internet such that any user of the first user group may compose an e-mail message for transfer to an intended recipient selected as at least one of another user in the first user group and a remote user interfaced to the Internet by a connection other than said first server, said e-mail message including a header section, which contains information regarding the originating user and the intended recipient, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising:
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first instructions for directing the e-mail message onto an e-mail enhancement path, after said e-mail message has been composed and sent via a standard messaging protocol by an originating user of the first user group, and configured for (i) receiving the e-mail message at said first server, (ii) altering the e-mail message including separating and modifying the header section in a predetermined way by inactivating said information regarding the originating user and intended recipient contained in the header section, and adding an alternate header section containing active information regarding an alternate sender and an alternate message recipient, and (iii) directing the altered e-mail message to a second server located on the e-mail enhancement path; second instructions for adding additional rich media content to said e-mail message using the e-mail enhancement path to produce an enhanced e-mail message; and third instructions for directing the enhanced e-mail message from the e-mail enhancement path to the intended recipient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8)
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5. A system for use in a multi-user e-mail messaging system interfaced through the Internet and including at least a first user group sharing at least a first server, which first server is, in turn, interfaced to the Internet such that any user of the first user group may compose an e-mail message for transfer to an intended recipient selected as at least one of another user in the first user group and a remote user interfaced to the Internet by a connection other than said first server, said e-mail message including a header section, which contains information regarding an originating user and the intended recipient, the system comprising:
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computer hardware including at least one computer processor; and computer-readable storage comprising a plurality of computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the computer hardware to perform operations defined by the plurality of computer-executable instructions, the plurality of computer-executable instructions including; first computer-executable instructions for directing the e-mail message onto an e-mail enhancement path after said e-mail message has been composed and sent via a standard messaging protocol by an originating user of the first user group, the first computer-executable instructions including; receiving the e-mail message at said first server; altering the e-mail message including separating and modifying the header section in a predetermined way by inactivating said information regarding the originating user and intended recipient contained in the header section, and adding an alternate header section containing active information regarding an alternate sender and an alternate message recipient; and directing the altered e-mail message to a second server located on the e-mail enhancement path; second computer-executable instructions for adding additional rich media content to said e-mail message using the e-mail enhancement path to produce an enhanced e-mail message; and third computer-executable instructions for directing the enhanced e-mail message from the e-mail enhancement path to the intended recipient.
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9. A system for use in a multi-user e-mail messaging system interfaced through the Internet, the system comprising:
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computer hardware including at least one computer processor; and computer-readable storage comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the computer processor, cause the computer hardware to perform operations defined by the computer-executable instructions, computer-executable instructions including; receiving an e-mail message at a first server; altering the e-mail message to produce an altered e-mail message; directing the altered e-mail message to a second server located on an e-mail enhancement path; adding additional rich media content to said altered e-mail message using the e-mail enhancement path to produce an enhanced e-mail message; and directing the enhanced e-mail message from the e-mail enhancement path to an intended recipient. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification