Name resolution in email

• US 8,375,083 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2007
• Issued: 02/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lu, Fang, Kuo, Elaine I., McCaffrey, Corey S.
• Primary Examiner(s): TANG, KAREN C
• Application Number:
  US11/967,902
• Publication Number:
  US 20090172115A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,870 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/205, 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

An email recipient input name is received. It is determined if the email recipient input name is ambiguous. If the email recipient input name is ambiguous, one or more employee attributes of a plurality of possible intended email recipients are compared with one or more employee attributes of an email sender to determine a probable intended email recipient.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving an email recipient input name from an email sender as an input to an email client application to identify an intended email recipient;

determining if the email recipient input name is ambiguous;

if the email recipient input name is ambiguous, resolving the email recipient input name, wherein the resolving comprises,

comparing one or more employee attributes of a plurality of possible intended email recipients with one or more employee attributes of the email sender to identify a set of possible intended email recipients which have at least a portion of the one or more employee attributes which match at least a portion of the one or more employee attributes of the email sender,

prioritizing the set of possible intended email recipients based upon a correlation of one or more employee attributes of each of the set of possible intended email recipients with the one or more employee attributes of the email sender,

displaying the set of possible intended email recipients within a prioritized listing of possible intended email recipients to the email sender via the email client application, and

receiving an indication from the email sender to identify the intended email recipient in response to the displaying; and

addressing an email message in response to receiving the indication from the email sender to identify the intended email recipient.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the email recipient input name includes one or more of a TO:

recipient of an email, a carbon copy recipient of an email, and a blind carbon copy recipient of an email.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining if the email recipient input name is ambiguous includes determining if the email recipient input name corresponds to more than one possible email recipient in a directory.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing one or more employee attributes of the plurality of possible intended email recipients with one or more employee attributes of the email sender comprises:

accessing a directory including the one or more employee attributes of the plurality of possible intended email recipients and the one or more employee attributes of the email sender; and

including in the set of possible intended email recipients only those of the plurality of possible intended email recipients which have at least a portion of the one or more employee attributes which match at least a portion of the one or more employee attributes of the email sender.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more employee attributes of the plurality of possible intended email recipients and the one or more employee attributes of the email sender comprises a geographic location.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more employee attributes of the plurality of possible intended email recipients and the one or more employee attributes of the email sender comprises a job title.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more employee attributes of the plurality of possible intended email recipients and the one or more employee attributes of the email sender comprises a department.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein prioritizing the set of possible intended email recipients based upon a correlation of one or more employee attributes of each of the set of possible intended email recipients with the one or more employee attributes of the email sender comprises:

determining a priority of each of the set of possible intended email recipients based upon a number of employee attributes for which a correlations exists between said each of the set of possible intended email recipients and the email sender.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein prioritizing the set of possible intended email recipients based upon a correlation of one or more employee attributes of each of the set of possible intended email recipients with one or more employee attributes of the email sender further comprises:

defining weights corresponding to the one or more employee attributes of the email sender; and

prioritizing the set of possible intended email recipients utilizing the weights.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the resolving further comprises resolving the email recipient input name in response to receipt, via the email client application, of a request from the email sender to transmit the email message.

11. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the resolving further comprises resolving the email recipient input name in response to receipt, via the email client application, of a request from the email sender to transmit the email message.

12. A computer program product residing on a non-transitory computer readable medium having a plurality of instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving an email recipient input name from an email sender as an input to an email client application to identify an intended email recipient;

determining if the email recipient input name is ambiguous;

if the email recipient input name is ambiguous, resolving the email recipient input name, wherein the resolving comprises,

comparing one or more employee attributes of a plurality of possible intended email recipients with one or more employee attributes of the email sender to identify a set of possible intended email recipients which have at least a portion of the one or more employee attributes which match at least a portion of the one or more employee attributes of the email sender,

prioritizing the set of possible intended email recipients based upon a correlation of one or more employee attributes of each of the set of possible intended email recipients with the one or more employee attributes of the email sender,

displaying the set of possible intended email recipients within a prioritized listing of possible intended email recipients to the email sender via the email client application, and

receiving an indication from the email sender to identify the intended email recipient in response to the displaying; and

addressing an email message in response to receiving the indication from the email sender to identify the intended email recipient.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the email recipient input name includes one or more of a TO:

recipient of an email, a carbon copy recipient of an email, and a blind carbon copy recipient of an email.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, determining if the email recipient input name is ambiguous comprises determining if the email recipient input name corresponds to more than one possible email recipient in a directory.

15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein comparing one or more employee attributes of the plurality of possible intended email recipients with one or more employee attributes of the email sender comprises:

accessing a directory including the one or more employee attributes of the plurality of possible intended email recipients and the one or more employee attributes of the email sender; and

including in the set of possible intended email recipients only those of the plurality of possible intended email recipients which have at least a portion of the one or more employee attributes which match at least a portion of the one or more employee attributes of the email sender.

16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein each of the one or more employee attributes of the plurality of possible intended email recipients and the one or more employee attributes of the email sender comprises a geographic location.

17. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein each of the one or more employee attributes of the plurality of possible intended email recipients and the one or more employee attributes of the email sender comprises a job title.

18. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein each of the one or more employee attributes of the plurality of possible intended email recipients and the one or more employee attributes of the email sender comprises a department.

19. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein prioritizing the set of possible intended email recipients based upon a correlation of one or more employee attributes of each of the set of possible intended email recipients with the one or more employee attributes of the email sender comprises:

determining a priority of each of the set of possible intended email recipients based upon a number of employee attributes for which a correlations exists between said each of the set of possible intended email recipients and the email sender.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein prioritizing the set of possible intended email recipients based upon a correlation of one or more employee attributes of each of the set of possible intended email recipients with one or more employee attributes of the email sender further comprises:

defining weights corresponding to the one or more employee attributes of the email sender; and

prioritizing the set of possible intended email recipients utilizing the weights.