Aggregated, interactive communication timeline

• US 8,423,088 B2
• Filed: 07/22/2009
• Issued: 04/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Ickman, Steven W., Cheng, Lili
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HAI V
• Application Number:
  US12/507,144
• Publication Number:
  US 20110021250A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,364 Days
• Field of Search: 455/566
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/08 Sorting, i.e. grouping record carriers in numerical or other ordered sequence according to the classification of at least some of the information they carry by merging two or more sets of carriers in ordered sequence G06F7/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/04 Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications

Abstract

Described is a technology by which an interactive timeline user interface shows communication data aggregated from various sources (e.g., a telephone service, a website, an application and/or the like) in time order. To reduce the number of items in the timeline, certain items may be combined into a compressed item, e.g., items from the same source and/or of the same type may be rolled up into a rolled up item. The user may also interact to reply to a data item. For example, an editor may be provided upon interaction with a data item in the timeline, and the type of reply that is sent may automatically match the type of data item, (e.g., a text message reply to a text message).

Claims

1. In a computing environment, a method performed on at least one computing device, comprising:

aggregating communication data from a plurality of communication sources;

compressing at least two pieces of communication data into a compressed item; and

outputting a timeline representation of the data as items, including the compressed item, to a user interface.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein aggregating the communication data comprises combining communication data from a website with communication data from a telephone service.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein compressing comprises rolling up communication data from a common source into the compressed item.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein compressing comprises rolling up communication data of a common type into the compressed item.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein compressing comprises displaying an item as an entry in the timeline, with less than a total number of comments associated with that item displayed with that entry.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising, filtering the communication data so as to include only items corresponding to a certain type of the communication data.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising, filtering the communication data so as to include only items corresponding to a certain source of the communication data.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising, synchronizing to update the communication data, including synchronizing at least one type of communication data at a synchronization interval.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising, expanding the compressed item into other visible communication data based upon interaction with the compressed item.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising, providing a communication mechanism for replying to an item.

11. In a computing environment, a system comprising:

one or more processors;

a timeline program, implemented on the one or more processors, configured to aggregate communication data from different sources and output a representation of the communication data as items on an interactive timeline interface, in which the items are sorted by time, the timeline program configured to output the items based upon rollup data, including rolling up at least two items from a common source into a single rolled up item for output, in which interaction with the single rolled up item provides access to each of the items corresponding to the rolled up item.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the different sources include remote data sources, including web content and telephone service content.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the different sources include at least one application program.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the timeline program includes filtering logic configured to filter the communication data to include only items corresponding to a certain type of the communication data, or to include only items corresponding to a certain source of the communication data, or only items corresponding to a certain type and a certain source of the communication data.

15. The system of claim 11 further comprising an editor configured to send a reply to an item.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein the interactive timeline interface displays a representation of a source of a data item, or a representation of a type of a data item, or both a representation of a source of a data item and a type of the data item.

17. One or more computer storage devices having computer-executable instructions, which in response to execution by a computer, cause the computer to perform steps, comprising:

synchronizing to obtain communication data from a plurality of sources;

aggregating the communication data into a set of items;

compressing at least part of the communication data into one or more compressed data items; and

displaying a timeline that shows the set of items including the one or more compressed items arranged by time.

18. The one or more computer storage devices of claim 17 having further computer-executable instructions comprising:

filtering the communication data to display on the timeline only items corresponding to a certain type of the communication data, or to display only items corresponding to a certain source of the communication data, or only items corresponding to a certain type and a certain source of the communication data.

19. The one or more computer storage devices of claim 17 wherein compressing at least part of the communication data comprises rolling up items from a common source into a compressed data item.

20. The one or more computer storage devices of claim 17 wherein compressing at least part of the communication data comprises rolling up items from a group into a compressed data item.