Electronic mail communication system and method
First Claim
1. A system for communicating electronic mail, said electronic mail having a format and identifying a recipient organization which recipient organization receives electronic mail in a recipient'"'"'s format, said system comprising:
- at least two exchange means, each exchange means receiving and sending electronic mail in one of a plurality of distinct formats;
gateway means associated with each exchange means for converting the electronic mail to the format of the exchange means; and
routing means connected to the gateway means for determining the recipient'"'"'s format from the identity of the recipient organization and routing the electronic mail to one of the exchange means through the gateway means;
wherein one of the exchange means can receive mail from a sender organization in a sender format; and
wherein the routing means determines the recipient'"'"'s form at from the identity of the recipient organization and routes the electronic mail through the gateway means to the exchange means which can receive and send electronic mail in the recipient'"'"'s format.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for exchanging electronic mail between organizations having dissimilar electronic mail systems is disclosed. The electronic mail sent from the sender organization identifies the recipient organization. The system and method determine the electronic mail format used by the recipient organization from the identity of the recipient organization and convert the electronic mail into the recipient'"'"'s format. The recipient'"'"'s format is determined by searching for information regarding the recipient organization in internal and external databases. The electronic mail is converted from the sender'"'"'s format to a standard format after receipt of the electronic mail by the system. The electronic mail is converted from the standard format to the recipient'"'"'s format prior to sending the electronic mail to the recipient organization.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A system for communicating electronic mail, said electronic mail having a format and identifying a recipient organization which recipient organization receives electronic mail in a recipient'"'"'s format, said system comprising:
-
at least two exchange means, each exchange means receiving and sending electronic mail in one of a plurality of distinct formats; gateway means associated with each exchange means for converting the electronic mail to the format of the exchange means; and routing means connected to the gateway means for determining the recipient'"'"'s format from the identity of the recipient organization and routing the electronic mail to one of the exchange means through the gateway means; wherein one of the exchange means can receive mail from a sender organization in a sender format; and wherein the routing means determines the recipient'"'"'s form at from the identity of the recipient organization and routes the electronic mail through the gateway means to the exchange means which can receive and send electronic mail in the recipient'"'"'s format. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. An electronic mail communication system for communicating electronic mail, said electronic mail having a format and identifying a recipient organization which can receive the electronic mail in a recipient'"'"'s for that, said system comprising:
-
receiving means for receiving electronic mail in a sender'"'"'s format from a sender organization; a plurality of sending means, each sending means sending electronic mail in one of a plurality of distinct formats; gateway means associated with each of the sending means for converting the electronic mail into the format of the sending means; and routing means connected to the receiving means and the gateway means for receiving the electronic mail from the receiving means, determining the recipient'"'"'s format from the identity of the recipient organization and routing the electronic mail to one of the sending means through the gateway means; and wherein the routing means determines the recipient'"'"'s format from the identity of the recipient organization and routes the electronic mail through the gateway means to the sending means which can send mail in the recipient'"'"'s format. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A method for communicating electronic mail between a sender organization and a recipient organization which can receive mail in a recipient'"'"'s format comprising the steps of:
-
(a) receiving electronic mail in a sender'"'"'s format from a sender organization, said electronic mail identifying a recipient organization for which the electronic mail is destined; (b) determining the recipient'"'"'s format from the identity of the recipient organization; and (c) routing the electronic mail to an exchange means which can send the electronic mail to the recipient organization in the recipient'"'"'s format. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
-
Specification