When-free messaging
First Claim
1. A computer system that facilitates conveying notifications, comprising:
- at least one processor; and
at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and containing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform the following steps;
receiving a message, wherein the message comprises a time-to-live (TTL) parameter that specifies a period of time the message is active;
upon storing the message in a queue, determining an availability status of a recipient, wherein the availability status of the recipient comprises at least one of;
a busy status and a free status; and
upon determining that the availability status of the recipient is a busy status and determining that the message is active, selecting an appropriate action based on a recipient unavailable policy, the appropriate action comprising one or more of;
sending an automated message to a sender of the message specifying an amount of time that the recipient will be busy;
converting the message to an email thread and sending the email thread to an email inbox of the recipient;
delivering the message to the recipient upon determining that the message satisfies an exception, wherein delivering the message comprises determining a most appropriate time during the period of time the message is active to deliver the message using one or more of;
a statistical-based method, a probabilistic-based method, and a utility-based method; and
executing the selected action; and
upon determining that the availability status of the recipient is a free status and determining that the message is active, sending the message to the recipient.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to systems and methods that mitigate the intrusiveness of communications between message senders and receivers while facilitating more courteous, seamless, and timely interactions. In one aspect, instant messaging and other forms of communications, such as push-to-talk voice communications, can be improved via employment of time-bounded policies and parameters. When-Free communications allows users to send When-Free messages, that act as near-instant messages that wait until a user or recipient is not in one of a list of states defined as busy or unavailable states. A sender can encode, with a quick gesture or via a standing profile, how long a message is to remain alive before being erased or retracted, or shifted to another communication modality. When-Free variants enable recipients to define policies for handling messages if unavailability persists beyond some time threshold, including the generation of automated responses and the shifting of instant messages to email communications, by moving the conversational thread to an email inbox for later review and response via email or to launch an instant message session that continues where the communication left off.
247 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A computer system that facilitates conveying notifications, comprising:
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at least one processor; and at least one memory, communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and containing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform the following steps; receiving a message, wherein the message comprises a time-to-live (TTL) parameter that specifies a period of time the message is active; upon storing the message in a queue, determining an availability status of a recipient, wherein the availability status of the recipient comprises at least one of;
a busy status and a free status; andupon determining that the availability status of the recipient is a busy status and determining that the message is active, selecting an appropriate action based on a recipient unavailable policy, the appropriate action comprising one or more of; sending an automated message to a sender of the message specifying an amount of time that the recipient will be busy; converting the message to an email thread and sending the email thread to an email inbox of the recipient; delivering the message to the recipient upon determining that the message satisfies an exception, wherein delivering the message comprises determining a most appropriate time during the period of time the message is active to deliver the message using one or more of;
a statistical-based method, a probabilistic-based method, and a utility-based method; andexecuting the selected action; and upon determining that the availability status of the recipient is a free status and determining that the message is active, sending the message to the recipient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 27)
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22. A computer storage medium not consisting of a propagated data signal and having computer executable instructions stored thereon for performing a method of providing a message to a recipient, the method comprising:
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receiving a message, wherein the message comprises a time-to-live (TTL) period that specifies a length of time before the message expires; upon storing the message in a queue, determining an availability status of the recipient, wherein the availability status of the recipient comprises at least one of;
a busy status and a free status; andupon determining that the recipient'"'"'s availability status is a busy status and determining that the message has not expired, selecting an appropriate action based on a recipient unavailable policy, the appropriate action comprising one or more of; sending an automated message to a sender of the message indicating an amount of time that the recipient will be busy; converting the message to an email thread and sending the email thread to an email inbox of the recipient; delivering the message to the recipient upon determining that the message satisfies an exception, wherein delivering the message comprises determining a most appropriate time during the time before the message expires to deliver the message using one or more of;
a statistical-based method, a probabilistic-based method, and a utility-based method; andexecuting the selected action; and upon determining that the availability status of the recipient is a free status and determining that the message has not expired, sending the message to the recipient. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 28)
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25. A computer-implemented method for providing a message to a recipient when the recipient is available to receive the message, the method comprising:
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receiving a message from a computing device, wherein the message comprises a time-to-live (TTL) period that specifies a length of time the message is active; upon storing the message in a queue, determining an availability status of a recipient, wherein the availability status of the recipient comprises at least one of;
a busy status and a free status;upon determining that the availability status of the recipient is a busy status and determining that the message is active, selecting an appropriate action based on a recipient unavailable policy, the appropriate action comprising one or more of; sending an automated message to a sender of the message indicating an amount of time that the recipient will be busy; converting the message to an email thread and sending the email thread to an email inbox of the recipient; delivering the message to the recipient upon determining that the message satisfies an exception, wherein delivering the message comprises determining a most appropriate time during the period of time the message is active to deliver the message using one or more of;
a statistical-based method, a probabilistic-based method, and a utility-based method; andexecuting the selected action; and upon determining that the availability status of the recipient is a free status and determining that the message is active, sending the message to the recipient. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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Specification