Methods and apparatus for automatic classification of text messages into plural categories
First Claim
1. A processor based system for categorizing text messages into established categories populated with messages, comprising:
- an incoming message categorization module for classifying incoming messages, the message categorization module being operative to examine elements of each incoming message to identify an appropriate category to which to assign the incoming message based on syntactic similarities and differences between the incoming message and messages already in the category, including messages that have previously been automatically assigned to the category by the incoming message categorization module;
the incoming message categorization module assigning the incoming message to an established category previously established by an initial category creation module if predetermined criteria for syntactic similarity between the incoming message and one of the established categories are met; and
the message categorization module assigning the incoming message to an overflow category if predetermined criteria are not met for syntactic similarity between the incoming message and one of the established categories.
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Abstract
Systems and techniques for classification of incoming text messages into categories. An initial set of categories is created and populated with a set of initial messages in each category. Incoming messages are assigned to a category based on text analysis of the incoming message and analysis of dissimilarities and differences between the message and messages already in the category. A set of unclassified messages is also maintained for incoming messages that do not fit an established category. Periodically, unclassified messages are reassigned to one of the established categories or to new categories created based on analysis of the unclassified messages.
15 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A processor based system for categorizing text messages into established categories populated with messages, comprising:
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an incoming message categorization module for classifying incoming messages, the message categorization module being operative to examine elements of each incoming message to identify an appropriate category to which to assign the incoming message based on syntactic similarities and differences between the incoming message and messages already in the category, including messages that have previously been automatically assigned to the category by the incoming message categorization module; the incoming message categorization module assigning the incoming message to an established category previously established by an initial category creation module if predetermined criteria for syntactic similarity between the incoming message and one of the established categories are met; and the message categorization module assigning the incoming message to an overflow category if predetermined criteria are not met for syntactic similarity between the incoming message and one of the established categories. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A processor based system for categorizing text messages into established categories populated with messages, comprising:
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an incoming message categorization module for classifying incoming messages, the message categorization module being operative to examine elements of each incoming message to identify an appropriate category to which to assign the incoming message based on syntactic similarities and differences between the incoming message and messages in the category; the incoming message categorization module assigning the incoming message to an established category if predetermined criteria for syntactic similarity between the incoming message and one of the established categories are met; the message categorization module assigning the incoming message to an overflow category if predetermined criteria are not met for syntactic similarity between the incoming message and one of the established categories; and a recategorization module for periodically examining messages in the overflow category and using syntactic analysis to reassign messages in the overflow category to one of the established categories or to newly created categories, wherein the recategorization module is operative to perform recategorization when the number of messages in the overflow category is greater than the average number of messages in the established categories.
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11. A processor based method of message categorization for categorizing messages into established categories populated with messages, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving incoming messages; examining elements of each incoming message to identify an appropriate category to which to assign the incoming message based on syntactic similarities and differences between the incoming message and messages already in the category, including messages that have previously been automatically assigned to the category by an incoming message categorization module; assigning the incoming message to an established category previously established by an initial category creation module if predetermined criteria for syntactic similarity between the incoming message and one of the established categories are met; and assigning the incoming messages to an overflow category if predetermined criteria are not met for syntactic similarity between the incoming message and one of the established categories. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A message control and routing center for receiving and routing text messages, comprising:
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an interface for receiving and routing text messages a processor for analyzing and categorizing text messages and directing routing of text messages according to their categories; and a computer readable storage medium storing instructions directing operation of the processor in categorizing the text messages, the instructions comprising; a category creation module operative to automatically create a set of initial categories for assignment of messages, the category creation module being operative to perform syntactic analysis on an initial corpus of messages to create clusters of messages, each message in a cluster of messages assigned to a category by the category creation module and being chosen so as to having similar syntactic characteristics to other messages in the category and different syntactic characteristics from messages in other categories, the category creation module being operative to create a plurality of established categories populated with messages from the initial corpus and an initially empty overflow category; an incoming message categorization module for classifying incoming messages, the message categorization module being operative to examine elements of each incoming message to identify an appropriate category to which to assign the incoming message based on syntactic similarities and differences between the incoming message and messages in the category and to assign the incoming message to an established category if predetermined criteria for syntactic similarity between the incoming message and one of the established categories is met, the message categorization module being operative to assign the incoming message to the overflow category if predetermined criteria are not met for syntactic similarity between the incoming message and one of the established categories; and a recategorization module for periodically examining messages in the overflow category and using syntactic analysis to reassign messages in the overflow category to one of the established categories or to newly created categories. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification