Method and system for sensing and communicating updated status information for remote users accessible through an instant messaging system

• US 7,921,368 B2
• Filed: 01/22/2004
• Issued: 04/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rakuten Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Geyer, Werner, Wilson, Richard M., Moody, Paul B., Feinberg, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Pesin; Boris
• Assistant Examiner(s): ABDUL-ALI, OMAR R
• Application Number:
  US10/762,698
• Publication Number:
  US 20050165880A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,630 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/205, 345/751, 715/751
• US Class Current: 715/751
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method and system for providing a local user of an instant messaging system with updated status information regarding one or more remote users that provides indication to a local user of whether an instant messaging status message has been recently updated. The disclosed system provides a “new status message” visual indication when a status message for a remote user has recently changed. A timer may be employed to determine how long a new status message visual indication is provided after the status message has changed. The status message itself may be obtained by various specific techniques, such as hovering the cursor over a graphical object for a remote user associated with the new status indication, hovering over the new status indication itself, or clicking through the new status indication or associated graphical object, or through some other appropriate technique.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of providing, by an awareness client application process executing on a local computer system having at least one processor and a computer readable memory, a local user of said local computer system with updated status information regarding at least one remote user, comprising:

obtaining, from an associated awareness server application process executing on a server computer system, an online status of said remote computer system user;

presenting a representation of said remote computer system user, wherein said representation of said remote computer system user includes an online status icon associated with said remote computer system user, wherein said online status icon of said remote computer system user includes a graphical representation of whether said remote computer system user is currently available for an instant messaging communication session;

obtaining an updated status message associated with said remote computer system user, wherein said updated status message includes personal detail information and activity information regarding said remote computer system user other than said online status of said remote computer system user; and

modifying said online status icon associated with said remote computer system user to further include an additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing by said local user of said local computer system, wherein said additional visual indication is separate and visually independent from said graphical representation of whether said remote computer system user is currently available for an instant messaging communication session also included in said online status icon, and wherein said modifying comprises superimposing said additional visual indication over at least a portion of said online status icon without presenting any contents of said updated status message to said local user of said local computer system.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

subsequently presenting said updated status message to said local user of said local computer system in response to said local user hovering a cursor over said representation of said remote computer system user; and

removing said additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing responsive to said presenting of said updated status message.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

subsequently presenting said updated status message to said local user of said local computer system in response to said local user selecting said representation of said remote computer system user; and

removing said additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing responsive to said presenting of said updated status message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said representation of said remote computer system user is maintained by said awareness client application process on said local computer system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said representation of said remote computer system user is an awareness object within a display window associated with an application process on said local computer system other than said awareness client application process.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting said additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing for a predetermined time after said obtaining said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user by starting a timer in response to said modifying said online status icon associated with said remote computer system user to include said additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing and removing said additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing in response to expiration of said timer.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting an interface to said user of said local computer system, wherein said interface enables said user of said local computer system to indicate whether an additional visual indication that an updated status message associated with said user of said local computer system user is available for viewing is provided to other users.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting an interface to said user of said local computer system, wherein said interface enables said user of said local computer system to specify one or more other users to which an additional visual indication that an updated status message associated with said user of said local computer system is available for viewing may be presented.

9. A system for providing, by an awareness client application process executing on a local computer system having at least one processor and a computer readable memory, a local user of said local computer system with updated status information regarding at least one remote user, said client application process comprising:

program code for obtaining, from an associated awareness server application process executing on a server computer system, an online status of said remote computer system user;

program code for presenting a representation of said remote computer system user, wherein said representation of said remote computer system user includes an online status icon associated with said remote computer system user, wherein said online status icon of said remote computer system user includes a graphical representation of whether said remote computer system user is currently available for an instant messaging communication session;

program code for obtaining an updated status message associated with said remote computer system user, wherein said updated status message includes personal detail information and activity information regarding said remote computer system user other than said online status of said remote computer system user; and

program code for modifying said online status icon associated with said remote computer system user to further include an additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing by said local user of said local computer system, wherein said additional visual indication is separate and visually independent from said graphical representation of whether said remote computer system user is currently available for an instant messaging communication session also included in said online status icon, and wherein said modifying comprises superimposing said additional visual indication over at least a portion of said online status icon without presenting any contents of said updated status message to said local user of said local computer system.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

program code for subsequently presenting said updated status message to said local user of said local computer system in response to said local user hovering a cursor over said representation of said remote computer system user; and

program code for removing said additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing responsive to said presenting of said updated status message.

11. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

program code for subsequently presenting said updated status message to said local user of said local computer system in response to said local user selecting said representation of said remote computer system user; and

program code for removing said additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing responsive to said presenting of said updated status message.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein said representation of said remote computer system user is maintained by said awareness client application process on said local computer system.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein said representation of said remote computer system user is an awareness object within a display window associated with an application process on said local computer system other than said awareness client application process.

14. The system of claim 9, further comprising program code for presenting said additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing for a predetermined time after said obtaining said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user by starting a timer in response to said modifying said online status icon associated with said remote computer system user to include said additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing and removing said additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing in response to expiration of said timer.

15. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

program code for presenting an interface to said user of said local computer system, wherein said interface enables said user of said local computer system to indicate whether an additional visual indication that an updated status message associated with said user of said local computer system user is available for viewing is provided to other users.

16. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

program code for presenting an interface to said user of said local computer system, wherein said interface enables said user of said local computer system to specify one or more other users to which an additional visual indication that an updated status message associated with said user of said local computer system is available for viewing may be presented.

17. A computer program product including a computer readable memory having program code stored thereon for providing, by an awareness client application process executing on a local computer system having at least one processor and a computer readable memory, a local user of said local computer system with updated status information regarding at least one remote user, said program code comprising:

program code for obtaining, from an associated awareness server application process executing on a server computer system, an online status of said remote computer system user;

program code for presenting a representation of said remote computer system user, wherein said representation of said remote computer system user includes an online status icon associated with said remote computer system user, wherein said online status icon of said remote computer system user includes a graphical representation of whether said remote computer system user is currently available for an instant messaging communication session;

program code for obtaining an updated status message associated with said remote computer system user, wherein said updated status message includes personal detail information and activity information regarding said remote computer system user other than said online status of said remote computer system user; and

program code for modifying said online status icon associated with said remote computer system user to further include an additional visual indication that said updated status message associated with said remote computer system user is available for viewing by said local user of said local computer system, wherein said additional visual indication is separate and visually independent from said graphical representation of whether said remote computer system user is currently available for an instant messaging communication session also included in said online status icon, and wherein said modifying comprises superimposing said additional visual indication over at least a portion of said online status icon without presenting any contents of said updated status message to said local user of said local computer system.