Rule-based electronic message processing

• US 8,621,007 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2006
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Morgan Stanley Services Group Inc. (Morgan Stanley)
• Original Assignee: Morgan Stanley
• Inventors: Christoff, Max Benjamin, Khodak, Denis, Kidner, Eden, Balasubramanyam, Sharada, Sparkes, Stephen Michael, Sharer, Julianne Clare
• Primary Examiner(s): Daftuar, Saket K
• Application Number:
  US11/528,496
• Publication Number:
  US 20070106741A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,652 Days
• Field of Search: 709201-207
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

In various embodiments, a computer-assisted method for processing an electronic message includes the steps of reviewing the recipients of the electronic message, evaluating whether any of the recipients of the electronic message are potentially incorrect, and prompting the sender of the electronic message to evaluate whether the potentially incorrect recipients are correct. This computer-assisted method, as it evaluates whether a recipient may be potentially incorrect, may provide an effective warning to the sender of the electronic message as opposed to previous systems which automatically, and often, spuriously, warned the sender that a recipient may be incorrect without ever evaluating the recipients.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for processing a first e-mail, said e-mail having a sender and a plurality of recipients, said method comprising:

prior to transmitting said e-mail to the plurality of recipients;

reviewing, by a computer system, e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail, wherein said e-mail address information comprises a plurality of e-mail addresses;

determining, by said computer system, that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect, wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect comprises;

calculating, by said computer system, a first number of e-mail addresses from the plurality of e-mail addresses having the same domain name as the sender;

calculating, by said computer system, a second number of e-mail addresses from the plurality of e-mail addresses having a different domain name than the sender;

determining, by said computer system, a ratio of internal to external recipients based on the first number and the second number; and

determining, by said computer system, that said e-mail address information for at least one of the plurality of recipients is potentially incorrect based on the ratio of internal to external recipients of the e-mail message;

upon determining, by said computer system, that said e-mail address information for the at least one recipient is potentially incorrect, prompting said sender to evaluate whether said e-mail address information is correct; and

permitting, by said computer system, said e-mail to be transmitted to the at least one recipient upon receiving an indication from said sender that said e-mail address information for the at least one recipient is correct.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein an electronically stored contact list is associated with said sender, and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining, by said computer system, that said e-mail address information for at least one of the plurality of recipients is potentially incorrect if an e-mail address for the potentially incorrect at least one recipient that is not included in said contact list.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

adding, by said computer system, at least one of said potentially incorrect at least one recipient to said contact list after said indication is received from said sender that said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising:

reviewing, by said computer system, e-mail address information for at least one recipient of a second e-mail, said second e-mail having a sender that is different from said sender of said first message;

determining, by said computer system, that said at least one recipient of said second e-mail is potentially incorrect;

prompting, by said computer system, said sender of said second electronic message to evaluate whether said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct; and

adding, by said computer system, said potentially incorrect at least one recipient to said contact list after receiving an indication from said sender of said second electronic message that said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein an electronically stored contact list is associated with said sender and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining, by said computer system, that the domain name of said at least one e-mail address is not included in said sender'"'"'s contact list.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining, by said computer system, that the ratio of internal to external recipients exceeds a predetermined value.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein an electronically stored contact list is associated with said sender, and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining, by said computer system, that the name of said at least one recipient is substantially similar to at least two names in said contact list.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, by an e-mail application, said electronic message to the at least one recipient.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein an e-mail communication module resides in or is operatively associated with said email application.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising:

displaying, by said computer system, a user interface to the sender to receive said indication from said sender that said e-mail address information for the at least one recipient is correct.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 24, comprising:

receiving, by said computer system, data indicating corrected electronic address information for at least one of the plurality of recipients from said sender via said user interface; and

permitting, by said computer system, said e-mail to be transmitted to the plurality of recipients upon receiving said data indicating corrected electronic address information from said sender.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 25, further comprising sending the e-mail with corrected recipient list information without said sender returning to an e-mail composition window of an e-mail application.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein after the indication is received, from said sender that said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct, permitting e-mails addressed to said potentially incorrect at least one recipient to be transmitted without prompting said sender to evaluate whether said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein an electronically stored contact list of a customer relationship management system is associated with said sender, and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining, by said computer system, that a domain name of said at least one e-mail address is not included in said contact list of said customer relationship management system.

40. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining that said e-mail address information for at least one of the plurality of recipients is potentially incorrect when a domain name associated with said at least one recipient is different from a domain name associated with said sender.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for processing a first e-mail, said e-mail having a sender and a plurality of recipients, said medium comprising computer-executable instructions thereon for:

prior to transmitting said e-mail to the at least one recipient;

reviewing e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail, wherein said e-mail address information comprises a plurality of e-mail addresses;

determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect, wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is incorrect comprises;

calculating a first number of e-mail addresses from the plurality of e-mail addresses having the same domain name as the sender;

calculating a second number of e-mail addresses from the plurality of e-mail addresses having a different domain name than the sender;

determining a ratio of internal to external recipients based on the first number and the second number; and

determining that said e-mail address information for at least one of the plurality of recipients is potentially incorrect based on a ratio of internal to external recipients of the e-mail message;

upon determining that said e-mail address information for the at least one recipient is potentially incorrect, prompting said sender to evaluate whether said e-mail address information is correct; and

permitting said e-mail to be transmitted to the at least one recipient upon receiving an indication from said sender that said e-mail address information for the at least one recipient is correct.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein an electronically stored contact list is associated with said sender and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining that said at least one recipient is not included in said contact list.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, said medium further comprising computer-executable instructions thereon for adding said potentially incorrect at least one recipient to said contact list after indication is received from said sender that said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, said medium further comprising computer-executable instructions thereon for:

reviewing e-mail address information for at least one recipient of a second e-mail, said second e-mail having a sender that is different from said sender of said first message;

determining that said at least one recipient of said second e-mail is potentially incorrect;

prompting said sender of said second electronic message to evaluate whether said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct; and

adding said potentially incorrect at least one recipient to said contact list after receiving an indication from said sender of said second electronic message that said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein an electronically stored contact list is associated with said sender, and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining that the domain name of said at least one e-mail address is not included in said sender'"'"'s contact list.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising computer-executable instructions for:

determining that the ratio of internal to external recipients exceeds a predetermined value.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein an electronically stored contact list is associated with said sender, and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining that the name of said at least one recipient is substantially similar to a name in said contact list.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, said medium further comprising computer-executable instructions thereon for:

displaying a user interface to the sender to receive said indication from said sender via said user interface that said e-mail address information for the at least one recipient is correct.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 29, said medium further comprising computer-executable instructions thereon for:

receiving data indicating corrected e-mail address information for at least one of the plurality of recipients from said sender via said user interface; and

permitting said e-mail to be transmitted to the plurality of recipients upon receiving said data indicating corrected electronic address information from said sender via a user interface.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, said medium, further comprising computer-executable instructions for sending the e-mail with corrected recipient list information without said sender returning to an e-mail composition window of an e-mail application.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, said medium further comprising computer-executable instructions thereon for:

after indication is received from said sender that said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct, permitting e-mails addressed to said potentially incorrect at least one recipient to be transmitted without prompting said sender to evaluate whether said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein an electronically stored contact list of a customer relationship management system is associated with said sender, and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining that a domain name of said at least one e-mail address is not included in said contact list of said customer relationship management system.

15. A computer-implemented system for processing a first e-mail, said e-mail having a sender and plurality of recipients, said system comprising:

a computer system comprising a processor and operatively associated non-transitory memory, wherein the memory comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computer system to;

prior to transmitting said e-mail to the at least one recipient;

review e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail, wherein said e-mail address information comprises at least one e-mail address;

determine that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect, wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect comprises;

calculating a first number of e-mail addresses from the plurality of e-mail addresses having the same domain name as the sender;

calculating a second number of e-mail addresses from the plurality of e-mail addresses having a different domain name than the sender;

determining a ratio of internal to external recipients based on the first number and the second number; and

determining that said e-mail address information for at least one of the plurality of recipients is potentially incorrect based on a ratio of internal to external recipients of the e-mail message;

upon determining that said e-mail address information for the at least one recipient is potentially incorrect, prompting said sender to evaluate whether said e-mail address information is correct; and

permit said e-mail to be transmitted to the at least one recipient upon receiving an indication from said sender that said e-mail address information for the at least one recipient is correct.

16. The computer-implemented system of claim 15, wherein an electronically stored contact list is associated with said sender, and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining that said at least one recipient is not included in said contact list.

17. The computer-implemented system of claim 16, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computer system to add at least one of said potentially incorrect at least one recipient to said contact list after indication is received from said sender that said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct.

18. The computer-implemented system of claim 17, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computer system to:

review e-mail address information for at least one recipient of a second e-mail, said second e-mail having a sender that is different from said sender of said first message;

determine that said at least one recipient of said second e-mail is potentially incorrect;

prompt said sender of said second electronic message to evaluate whether said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct; and

add said potentially incorrect at least one recipient to said contact list after receiving an indication from said sender of said second electronic message that said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct.

19. The computer-implemented system of claim 15, wherein an electronically stored contact list is associated with said sender, and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining that the domain name of said at least one e-mail address is not included in said sender'"'"'s contact list.

20. The computer-implemented system of claim 15, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computer system to:

determine that the ratio of internal to external recipients of said second number to said first number exceeds a predetermined value.

21. The computer-implemented system of claim 15, wherein an electronically stored contact list is associated with said sender, and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining that the name of a recipient is substantially similar to at least two names in said contact list.

34. The computer-implemented system of claim 15, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computer system to:

display a user interface to the sender to receive said indication from said sender via said user interface that said e-mail address information for the at least one recipient is correct.

35. The computer-implemented system of claim 34, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computer system to:

receive data indicating corrected e-mail information for the at least one recipient from said sender via said user interface; and

permit said e-mail to be transmitted to the plurality of recipients upon receiving said data indicating corrected electronic address information from said sender via a user interface.

36. The computer-implemented system of claim 35, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computer system to send the e-mail with corrected recipient list information without said sender returning to an e-mail composition window of an e-mail application.

37. The computer-implemented system of claim 15, wherein the memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computer system to”

after indication is received from said sender that said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct, permit e-mails addressed to said potentially incorrect at least one recipient to be transmitted without prompting said sender to evaluate whether said potentially incorrect at least one recipient is correct.

38. The computer-implemented system of claim 15, comprising an e-mail application executed by the computer system, wherein the an e-mail application is configured to transmit the electronic message to the at least one recipient.

39. The computer-implemented system of claim 15, wherein an electronically stored contact list of a customer relationship management system is associated with said sender, and wherein the determining that said e-mail address information for the plurality of recipients of said e-mail is potentially incorrect further comprises:

determining that a domain name of said at least one e-mail address is not included in said contact list of said customer relationship management system.