Integrated Messaging

• US 20130227030A1
• Filed: 05/03/2012
• Published: 08/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Eidelson, Benjamin David, Gibbs, Colin
• Granted Patent: US 9,641,609 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06

Abstract

An system, apparatus, and methods for integrated messaging are disclosed. The apparatus may include a user interface engine, an authorization module and a messaging module. The user interface engine receives input describing a recipient and a message to be received by the recipient. The authorization module generates an authorization signal indicating whether the recipient is authorized to exchange messages via a group messaging engine. The authorization module is coupled to the user interface engine to receive the input describing the recipient. The messaging module selectively transmits the message for dispatch to a user device of the recipient via the group messaging engine or a fallback messaging service based at least in part on the authorization signal. The messaging module is coupled to the authorization module to receive the authorization signal and coupled to the user interface engine to receive the input describing the recipient and the message.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for integrated messaging comprising:

receiving user input describing a recipient and a message to be sent to the recipient;

determining, by a processor, whether the recipient is authorized to exchange messages via a group messaging engine, the group messaging engine being configured to exchange messages between two or more users using a native messaging protocol;

transmitting the message, using the native messaging protocol, for dispatch to a user device of the recipient via the group messaging engine if the recipient is determined to be authorized; and

transmitting the message, using a fallback messaging protocol, for dispatch to the user device of the recipient through at least a control channel of a fallback messaging service if the recipient is determined not to be authorized.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the fallback messaging service includes an SMS or MMS of a mobile network and the transmitting the message using the fallback messaging protocol for dispatch to the user device of the recipient via the fallback messaging service includes transmitting the message via SMS or MMS protocol.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether a data connection to a connection server of the group messaging engine is available, wherein the transmitting the message for dispatch via the group messaging engine or the fallback messaging service is based at least in part upon the availability of the data connection.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting the message using the fallback messaging protocol for dispatch to the user device of the recipient via the fallback messaging service includes transmitting instructions to an SMS gateway or a telecommunications server to convert the message to an SMS or MMS message and dispatch the message to the user device of the recipient using the fallback messaging protocol.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an integrated interface for displaying a message previously transmitted for dispatch via the group messaging engine adjacent to a message previously transmitted for dispatch via the fallback messaging service; and

providing the integrated interface for display.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving a message via the fallback messaging service using the fallback messaging protocol;

updating the integrated interface to display the message received via the fallback messaging service adjacent to at least one of the message previously transmitted for dispatch via the group messaging engine and the message previously transmitted for dispatch via the fallback messaging service; and

providing the integrated interface for display.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the message to the group messaging engine for storage if the recipient is determined not to be authorized by the determining and the message is transmitted via the fallback messaging service.

8. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory, computer-usable medium including instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive user input describing a recipient and a message to be sent to the recipient;

determine whether the recipient is authorized to exchange messages via a group messaging engine, the group messaging engine being configured to exchange messages between two or more users using a native messaging protocol;

transmit the message, using the native messaging protocol, for dispatch to a user device of the recipient via the group messaging engine if the recipient is determined to be authorized; and

transmit the message, using a fallback messaging protocol, for dispatch to the user device of the recipient through at least a control channel of a fallback messaging service if the recipient is determined not to be authorized.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the fallback messaging service includes an SMS or MMS of a mobile network and to transmit the message using the fallback messaging protocol for dispatch to the user device of the recipient via the fallback messaging service includes transmitting the message via SMS or MMS protocol.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the computer to determine whether a data connection to a connection server of the group messaging engine is available, wherein to transmit the message for dispatch via the group messaging engine or the fallback messaging service is based at least in part upon the availability of the data connection.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein to transmit using the fallback messaging protocol the message for dispatch to the user device of the recipient via the fallback messaging service includes transmitting instructions to an SMS gateway or a telecommunications server to convert the message to an SMS or MMS message and dispatch the message to the user device of the recipient using the fallback messaging protocol.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the computer to:

generate an integrated interface for displaying a message previously transmitted for dispatch via the group messaging engine adjacent to a message previously transmitted for dispatch via the fallback messaging service; and

provide the integrated interface for display.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the instructions further cause the computer to:

receive a message via the fallback messaging service using the fallback messaging protocol;

update the integrated interface to display the message received via the fallback messaging service adjacent to at least one of the message previously transmitted for dispatch via the group messaging engine and the message previously transmitted for dispatch via the fallback messaging service; and

provide the integrated interface for display.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the computer to transmit the message to the group messaging engine for storage if the recipient is determined not to be authorized by the determining and the message is transmitted via the fallback messaging service.

15. An apparatus for integrated messaging comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor;

a user interface engine stored in the memory and executable by the processor to receive input describing a recipient and a message to be sent to the recipient;

an authorization module stored in the memory and executable by the processor to generate an authorization signal indicating whether the recipient is authorized to exchange messages via a group messaging engine, the authorization module coupled to the user interface engine to receive the input describing the recipient; and

a messaging module stored in the memory and executable by the processor to selectively transmit the message for dispatch to a user device of the recipient through at least a control channel of a fallback messaging service based, at least in part on the authorization signal, the messaging module coupled to the authorization module to receive the authorization signal and coupled to the user interface engine to receive the input describing the recipient and the message.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a persistence module stored in the memory and executable by the processor to provide connection data describing an availability of a data connection to the group messaging engine, wherein the persistence module is coupled to the messaging module to provide the connection data, and the messaging module is configured to selectively transmit the message for dispatch to the user device of the recipient via the group messaging engine or the fallback messaging service based at least in part on the connection data.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein

the fallback messaging service includes an SMS or MMS of a mobile network,

the messaging module is configured to transmit the message via SMS or MMS protocol to the SMS or MMS of the mobile network, respectively, for dispatch to the user device of the recipient if the authorization signal indicates that the recipient is unauthorized, and

the messaging module is configured to transmit the message via a native messaging protocol to the group messaging engine for dispatch to the user device of the recipient if the authorization signal indicates that the recipient is authorized.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a user settings module stored in the memory and executable by the processor to provide a user-configurable setting associated with a sender of the message, the messaging module coupled to the user settings module to receive the user-configurable setting and the messaging module further configured to selectively transmit the message based at least in part on the user-configurable setting.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein a user-configurable setting includes a setting for instructing the messaging module to transmit the message to a user device of the recipient via the fallback messaging service.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a message backup module stored in the memory and executable by the processor to transmit the message to the group messaging engine for storage, the message stored in the memory and previously transmitted for dispatch to the user device of the recipient via the fallback messaging service.