Address book for integrating email and instant messaging (IM)

• US 7,657,598 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2002
• Issued: 02/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Friedman, Lee G., Daniell, W. Todd
• Primary Examiner(s): Truong, Cam Y T
• Application Number:
  US10/325,044
• Publication Number:
  US 20040054646A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,602 Days
• Field of Search: 707/10, 707/3, 707200-201, 709206-207
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases
• 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 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion

Abstract

Systems and methods for integrating instant messaging (IM) services and email services are described. In one embodiment, the email services and IM services are integrated through an address book database. The address book database correlates email information of a contact with a reference identifier (ID). Additionally, one or more IM addresses of the contact are also correlated to the reference ID, thereby permitting further correlation of a contact'"'"'s IM information with the contact'"'"'s email information.

Claims

1. A computer system having a processor and a computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executing on the processor, the computer system comprises:

an address book database having a reference identifier (ID) that identifies a contact, the address book database having a plurality of entries, each of the plurality of entries being correlated to a unique reference ID;

an address book object that, under programmable device control, stores information to the address book database, the address book object under programmable device control, retrieves information from the address book database;

an address extractor that, under programmable device control, receives an e-mail message from a sender,

wherein the email message indicates a sender email address associated with an email account that sent the email message and, responsive to receiving the email message, extract from the received email message at least one email address associated with the email account that sent the email message and request from the address book object information regarding whether the at least one email address is associated with the reference ID in the address book database and, in response to a determination that the at least one email address is associated with the reference ID in the address book, determine Instant Messaging (IM) presence data associated with at least one of a plurality of Instant Messaging addresses that are associated with the reference ID and determine a prioritized order of the plurality of Instant Messaging addresses,

wherein the system provides an IM presence indicator in an email read message window that provides the IM presence data associated with at least one of the plurality of Instant Messaging addresses that are associated with the reference ID, and

wherein the email read message window, upon selection of a launch IM option, sequentially attempts to establish an IM messaging session directly from the email read message window with a first IM address in the prioritized order of the plurality of Instant Messaging addresses, and if the first IM address is not responsive, attempting a second IM address in the prioritized order of the plurality of Instant Messaging addresses, and

wherein the system permits a user to initiate an IM session with one or more contacts at various IM addresses without manually logging into multiple IM accounts, allow the user to type an IM message at a user input window,

wherein the typed message is translated or reformatted into a native protocol associated with each of other participants'"'"' IM services and the typed message is displayed to each of the other participants in an IM chat session,

wherein the translating or reformatting comprises removal of the user'"'"'s IM address and then creating a message content from an IM message with the IM address of a first contact,

the address extractor for sequentially retrieving IM addresses until either an error message or one IM address is returned, if the error message is returned for an extracted email address, then the error message is conveyed by the address book object to a read window for displaying to the user that no IM Internet presence information is available for the extracted email address.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the address book object, in response to determining that the email address is located in the address book database, correlates the email address to the reference ID.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the address book object further determines whether there is an instant messaging (IM) address associated with the reference ID.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the address book object, in response to determining that there is an IM address associated with the reference ID, retrieves the IM address.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the address book receives information having an instant messaging (IM) address, the address book object further determining if the IM address is located in the address book database.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the address book object, in response to determining that the IM address is located in the address book database, correlates the IM address to the reference ID.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the address book object determines whether there is an email address associated with the reference ID.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the address book object, in response to determining that there is an email address associated with the reference ID retrieves the email address.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of entries comprises an entry selected from the group consisting of:

an email address;

an instant messaging (IM) address;

a telephone number;

a facsimile number;

a street address; and

other personal information of the contact.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one email address associated with an email account that sent the email message is extracted from a sender field of the email message.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the address extractor is further configured to extract the at least one email address from a courtesy copy field of the received email message and determine whether the extracted email address from the courtesy copy field is associated with a reference ID in the address book database.

12. A computer-readable storage medium encoding program instructions for execution by a computer processor, the computer program instructions configured to:

create an address book database having a reference identifier (ID), the reference ID configured to identify a contact, the address book database having a plurality of entries, each of the plurality of entries being correlated to a unique reference ID;

store information to the address book database;

retrieve information from the address book database;

receive an email message from a sender, the received email message indicating a sender email address associated with an email account that sent the email message;

in response to the email message from the sender being received, determine whether at least one email address associated with the email account that sent the email message is located in the address book database and, in response to a determination that the at least one email address is associated with a reference ID in the address book, determine Instant Messaging (IM) presence data associated with at least one of a plurality of Instant Messaging addresses that are associated with the reference ID and determine a prioritized order of the plurality of Instant Messaging addresses;

provide an email receive message interface and email read message interface, the email receive interface configured to provide a received email, the email read message interface further configured to provide an IM presence indicator for indicating presence data associated with the at least one of a plurality of Instant Messaging addresses that are associated with the reference ID, and wherein the email read message interface, upon selection of a launch IM option, automatically attempting to establish an IM messaging session directly from the email read message interface with a first IM address in the prioritized order of the plurality of Instant Messaging addresses, and if the first IM address is not responsive, attempting a second IM address in the prioritized order of the plurality of Instant Messaging addresses;

permit a user to initiate an IM session with one or more contacts at various IM addresses without manually logging into multiple IM accounts, allow the user to type an IM message at a user input window.

wherein the typed message is translated or reformatted into a native protocol associated with each of other participants'"'"' IM services and the typed message is displayed to each of the other participants in an IM chat session,

wherein the translating or reformatting comprises removal of the user'"'"'s IM address and then creating a message content from an IM message with the IM address of a first contact; and

retrieving sequentially, by the address extractor, IM addresses until either an error message or one IM address is returned, if the error message is returned for an extracted email address, then the error message is conveyed by the address book object to a read window for displaying to the user that no IM Internet presence information is available for the extracted email address.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to correlate the email address to the reference ID in response to determining that the email address is located in the address book database.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to determine whether there is an instant messaging (IM) address associated with the reference ID.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to retrieve the IM address in response to determining that there is an IM address associated with the reference ID.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to receive information having an instant messaging (IM) address;

and determine if the IM address is located in the address book database.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to correlate the IM address to the reference ID in response to determining that the IM address is located in the address book database.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to determine whether there is an email address associated with the reference ID.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to retrieve the email address in response to determining that there is an email address associated with the reference ID.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the plurality of entries comprises an entry selected from the group that includes at least one of the following:

an email address;

an instant messaging (IM) address;

a telephone number;

a facsimile number;

a street address; and

other personal information of the contact.