Method and apparatus for sending an electronic mail message to a receiving party

• US 6,311,210 B1
• Filed: 12/17/1998
• Issued: 10/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Foladare, Mark Jeffrey, Goldman, Shelley B., Jagadish, Hosagrahar Visvesvaraya
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, VIET DUY
• Application Number:
  US09/213,355
• Time in Patent Office: 1,048 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/219, 709/223, 709/224, 709/313
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/063 Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

The present invention provides a centralized electronic mail apparatus and method in which a message is sent to each of a subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail receiving devices. When a sending party wishes to send an electronic mail message to a receiving party, the sending party creates the electronic mail message along with any attachments using his/her user device and sends the electronic mail message to the centralized electronic mail apparatus. The centralized electronic mail apparatus receives the electronic mail message and retrieves profile information from a profile database corresponding to the receiving party. Based on the profile information, the centralized electronic mail device further determines the receiving party'"'"'s electronic mail receiving devices to which the electronic mail message is to be sent. The centralized electronic mail apparatus further determines the portions of the electronic mail message that are to be sent to each of the electronic mail receiving devices. The centralized electronic mail apparatus then sends the portions of the electronic mail message to the electronic mail receiving devices and monitors them to determine if the receiving party has retrieved the electronic mail message from any of the electronic mail receiving devices. If the receiving party retrieves the electronic mail message from any of the electronic mail receiving devices, a delete command is sent to at least a portion of the other electronic mail receiving devices based on the profile information retrieved.

Claims

1. A method of sending an electronic mail message to a receiving party, comprising:

receiving the electronic mail message from a sending device;

selecting portions of the electronic mail message to send to selected ones of a plurality of electronic mail receiving devices, wherein the portions of the electronic mail message are selected for a selected electronic mail receiving device based on at least one of user preference information and capabilities of the selected electronic mail receiving device;

sending the portions of the electronic mail message to corresponding ones of the electronic mail receiving devices;

determining if the portions of the electronic mail message have been retrieved from a corresponding selected electronic mail receiving device;

determining which ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices are to receive an electronic mail message delete signal; and

sending an electronic mail message delete signal to the ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices that are to receive the electronic mail message delete signal.

2. A method of sending an electronic mail message to a receiving party, comprising:

receiving the electronic mail message from a sending device;

selecting portions of the electronic mail message to send to selected ones of a plurality of electronic mail receiving devices, wherein the portions of the electronic mail message are selected for a selected electronic mail receiving device based on at least one of user preference information and capabilities of the selected electronic mail receiving device;

sending the portions of the electronic mail message to corresponding ones of the electronic mail receiving devices;

monitoring whether respective portions of the electronic mail message has been retrieved from a corresponding electronic mail receiving device; and

deleting portions of the electronic mail message from selected ones of the other electronic mail receiving devices if the respective portions of the electronic mail message has been retrieved from a corresponding electronic mail receiving device.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising deleting portions of the electronic mail message from each of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices that received at least one portion of the electronic mail message based on information retrieved from a profile database.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of monitoring comprises sending a query signal to each of the selected ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices and determining if a response is received from at least one of the selected ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices indicating that the respective portion of the electronic mail message has been retrieved by the receiving party.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of monitoring comprises receiving a signal from a selected one of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices to which at least one portion of the electronic mail message was sent indicating that the respective portion of the electronic mail message has been retrieved.

6. A method of sending an electronic mail message to a receiving party, comprising:

receiving the electronic mail message from a sending device;

selecting portions of the electronic mail message to send to selected ones of a plurality of electronic mail receiving devices, wherein the portions of the electronic mail message are selected for a selected electronic mail receiving device based on at least one of user preference information and capabilities of the selected electronic mail receiving device, and the step of selecting portions of the electronic mail message further comprises retrieving profile information from a profile database based on a central electronic mail address of the receiving party; and

sending the portions of the electronic mail message to corresponding ones of the electronic mail receiving devices,

wherein the profile information includes at least one of a field for identifying the ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices that are to receive the electronic mail messages, a field for identifying the access address of the ones of the electronic mail receiving devices that are to receive the electronic mail message, a field to identify the portions of the electronic mail message that are to be sent to the ones of the electronic mail receiving devices that are to receive the electronic mail message, and a field to identify which of the ones of the electronic mail receiving devices that are to receive a deletion signal once the electronic mail message is retrieved by a receiving party from at least one of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices.

7. An electronic mail message sending apparatus that sends electronic mail messages to a receiving party, comprising:

a controller; and

a profile database, wherein the controller receives the electronic mail message from a sending device, selects at least one portion of the electronic mail message to send to selected ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices, and sends the at least one portion of the electronic mail message to corresponding ones of the electronic mail receiving devices, wherein the at least one portion of the electronic mail message is selected for a selected electronic mail receiving device based on information of the capabilities of the selected electronic mail receiving device stored in the profile database.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one portion of the electronic mail message includes at least one of the name of the sending party, the name of the receiving party, the title of the electronic mail message, the distribution list of the message, date and time of sending, body of the text message and attachments.

14. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices include at least one of a computer, a personal digital assistant, WebTV, an intelligent or computer assisted television, and a pager.

15. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the controller identifies the selected ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices by retrieving profile information from a profile database based on a central electronic mail address of the receiving party.

17. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the controller selects the at least one portion of the electronic mail message and sends the at least one portion of the electronic mail message to an electronic mail receiving device when a request is received from the electronic mail receiving device.

9. An electronic mail message sending apparatus that sends electronic mail messages to a receiving party, comprising:

a controller; and

a profile database, wherein the controller receives the electronic mail message from a sending device, selects portions of the electronic mail message to send to selected ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices, and sends the portions of the electronic mail message to corresponding ones of the electronic mail receiving devices, wherein the portions of the electronic mail message are selected for a selected electronic mail receiving device based on at least one of user preference information and information of the capabilities of the selected electronic mail receiving device stored in the profile database,

wherein the controller determines if the portions of the electronic mail message have been retrieved from a corresponding selected electronic mail receiving device, determines which ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices are to receive an electronic mail message delete signal, and sends an electronic mail message delete signal to the ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices that are to receive the electronic mail message delete signal.

10. An electronic mail message sending apparatus that sends electronic mail messages to a receiving party, comprising:

a controller; and

a profile database, wherein the controller receives the electronic mail message from a sending device, selects portions of the electronic mail message to send to selected ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices, and sends the portions of the electronic mail message to corresponding ones of the electronic mail receiving devices, wherein the portions of the electronic mail message are selected for a selected electronic mail receiving device based on at least one of user preference information and information of the capabilities of the selected electronic mail receiving device stored in the profile database,

wherein the controller monitors whether the respective portions of the electronic mail message have been retrieved from at least one of the corresponding electronic mail receiving devices and deletes respective portions of the electronic mail message from selected ones of the other electronic mail receiving devices if the respective portions have been retrieved.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller retrieves a delete list from a database and a delete command is sent to the selected ones of the electronic mail receiving devices that are flagged for deletion in the delete list.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller monitors by determining if a signal is received from a selected one of the electronic mail receiving devices to which portions of the electronic mail message were sent indicating that the portions of the electronic mail message have been retrieved.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller monitors by sending a query signal to each of the selected ones of the electronic mail receiving devices to which portions of the electronic mail message were sent and determining if a response is received from at least one of the selected ones of the electronic mail receiving devices indicating that the receiving party retrieved the portions of the electronic mail message.

16. An electronic mail message sending apparatus that sends electronic mail messages to a receiving party, comprising:

a controller; and

a profile database, wherein the controller receives the electronic mail message from a sending device, selects portions of the electronic mail message to send to selected ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices, and sends the portions of the electronic mail message to corresponding ones of the electronic mail receiving devices, wherein the portions of the electronic mail message are selected for a selected electronic mail receiving device based on at least one of user preference information and information of the capabilities of the selected electronic mail receiving device stored in the profile database

wherein the controller identifies the selected ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices by retrieving profile information from a profile database based on a central electronic mail address of the receiving party and the profile information includes at least one of a field for identifying the ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices that are to receive the electronic mail messages, a field for identifying the access address of the ones of the electronic mail receiving devices that are to receive the electronic mail messages, a field to identify the portions of the electronic mail message that are to be sent to the ones of the electronic mail receiving devices that are to receive the electronic mail messages, and a field to identify which of the ones of the electronic mail receiving devices that are to receive a deletion signal once the electronic mail message is retrieved by a receiving party from at least one of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices.

18. A method of sending an electronic mail message to a receiving party, comprising:

receiving the electronic mail message from a sending device;

selecting at least one portion of the electronic mail message to send to selected ones of a plurality of electronic mail receiving devices, wherein the at least one portion of the electronic mail message is selected for a selected electronic mail receiving device based on at least one of user preference information and capabilities of the selected electronic mail receiving device, wherein the selected at least one portion is not equal to the entire electronic mail message; and

sending the at least one portion of the electronic mail message to corresponding ones of the electronic mail receiving devices.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one portion of the electronic mail message includes at least one of the name of the sending party, the name of the receiving party, the title of the electronic mail message, the distribution list of the message, date and time of sending, body of the text message and attachments.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices include at least one of a computer, a personal digital assistant, WebTV, an intelligent or computer assisted television, and a pager.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of selecting at least one portion of the electronic mail message further comprises retrieving profile information from a profile database based on a central electronic mail address of the receiving party.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the selecting step and sending step are performed when a request is received from an electronic mail receiving device.

23. An electronic mail message sending apparatus that sends electronic mail messages to a receiving party, comprising:

a controller; and

a profile database, wherein the controller receives the electronic mail message from a sending device, selects at least one portion of the electronic mail message to send to selected ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices, and sends the at least one portion of the electronic mail message to corresponding ones of the electronic mail receiving devices, wherein the at least one portion of the electronic mail message is selected for a selected electronic mail receiving device based on at least one of user preference information and information of the capabilities of the selected electronic mail receiving device stored in the profile database, wherein the selected at least one portion is not equal to the entire electronic mail message.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the at least one portion of the electronic mail message includes at least one of the name of the sending party, the name of the receiving party, the title of the electronic mail message, the distribution list of the message, date and time of sending, body of the text message and attachments.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices include at least one of a computer, a personal digital assistant, WebTV, an intelligent or computer assisted television, and a pager.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the controller identifies the selected ones of the plurality of electronic mail receiving devices by retrieving profile information from a profile database based on a central electronic mail address of the receiving party.

27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the controller selects the at least one portion of the electronic mail message and sends the at least one portion of the electronic mail message to an electronic mail receiving device when a request is received from the electronic mail receiving device.