Methods and systems for email attachment distribution and management
First Claim
1. A computer implemented attachment distribution method comprising the steps of:
- processing an email having a message portion and an attachment portion by a detacher to identify and thereby isolate at least one of the message portion and the attachment portion of the email from the other, the email having a source system and a destination system being associated thereto;
generating metadata in response to the email being processed, the metadata for packaging with the attachment portion of the email by the detacher to form an attachment packet, the metadata being descriptive of the email;
generating a locator code by the detacher for storing onto a database, the database being in operative association with the detacher;
generating a locator object from the locator code by the detacher and embedding the locator object into the message portion of the email to form a message packet;
delivering the attachment packet to a holding server by an uploader, the attachment packet having an attachment address, the attachment address identifying the holding server and being indicative of the location of the attachment packet within the holding server, the attachment address being stored onto the database and being associated with the locator code, the uploader being operatively associated with the detacher and the uploader being in data communication with the holding server; and
delivering the message packet to the destination system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides is a file delivery system for transmitting files to recipients using email, which may be used with existing email infrastructures. High volumes of large file attachments may be handled by routing attachments independent of an associated email. An attachment distribution system extracts the attachments of emails at mail servers and routes them through a hosting server thereby alleviating server loading on the mail server. The system may be configured for delivery optimization, recipient authentication and delivery confirmation. The system examines emails flowing through a distributed network of mail servers, and may invoke attachment extraction based on configurable rules like attachment size and sender validity, and move the attachments over the Internet or Intranet to a remote server that is capable of delivering the attachments to the email recipients.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A computer implemented attachment distribution method comprising the steps of:
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processing an email having a message portion and an attachment portion by a detacher to identify and thereby isolate at least one of the message portion and the attachment portion of the email from the other, the email having a source system and a destination system being associated thereto; generating metadata in response to the email being processed, the metadata for packaging with the attachment portion of the email by the detacher to form an attachment packet, the metadata being descriptive of the email; generating a locator code by the detacher for storing onto a database, the database being in operative association with the detacher; generating a locator object from the locator code by the detacher and embedding the locator object into the message portion of the email to form a message packet; delivering the attachment packet to a holding server by an uploader, the attachment packet having an attachment address, the attachment address identifying the holding server and being indicative of the location of the attachment packet within the holding server, the attachment address being stored onto the database and being associated with the locator code, the uploader being operatively associated with the detacher and the uploader being in data communication with the holding server; and
delivering the message packet to the destination system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer implemented attachment distribution system comprising:
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means for processing an email having a message portion and an attachment portion by a detacher to identify and thereby isolate at least one of the message portion and the attachment portion of the email from the other, the email having a source system and a destination system being associated thereto; means for generating metadata in response to the email being processed, the metadata for packaging with the attachment portion of the email by the detacher to form an attachment packet, the metadata being descriptive of the email; means for generating a locator code by the detacher for storing onto a database, the database being in operative association with the detacher; means for generating a locator object from the locator code by the detacher and embedding the locator object into the message portion of the email to form a message packet; means for delivering the attachment packet to a holding server by an uploader, the attachment packet having an attachment address, the attachment address identifying the holding server and being indicative of the location of the attachment packet within the holding server, the attachment address being stored onto the database and being associated with the locator code, the uploader being operatively associated with the detacher and the uploader being in data communication with the holding server; and
means for delivering the message packet to the destination system. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification