Determining recommended recipients of a communication

• US 9,002,941 B2
• Filed: 09/06/2012
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Carrigan, Wayne K., Konik, Rafal P., Massaro, Timothy J., Ziolkowski, Allen J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Fan, Hua
• Application Number:
  US13/605,454
• Publication Number:
  US 20140067942A1
• Time in Patent Office: 943 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention include a method for determining recommended recipients of a communication. The method may include determining one or more attributes for one or more members of a first group. The method may also include receiving a first list of one or more recipients to receive a communication from a sender, wherein the recipients and the sender have a relationship based on the attributes. The method may also include determining a second list of one or more recipients to receive the communication, wherein the recipients of the second list are determined by whether the attributes of the first list recipients, the sender, and the first group members comply with a set of communication rules.

Claims

1. A method for directing a communication to recipients, comprising:

determining one or more attributes for one or more members of a first group;

determining one or more attributes for one or more members of a second group;

normalizing the attributes of the first group members with the attributes of the second group members;

receiving, from a sender of the communication, a first set of communication content and a first list of one or more recipients of the communication, wherein particular attributes define a relationship between the first list recipients and the sender;

determining, by analyzing the first set of communication content, a file size for the first set of communication content;

determining, based on the file size for the first set of communication content, a second list of one or more suggested recipients of the communication, wherein the second list of suggested recipients is determined by whether the attributes of the first list recipients, the sender, and the first group members comply with a set of communication rules;

parsing, in response to determining the second list of one or more suggested recipients to receive the communication, the first set of communication content; and

suggesting, based on parsing the first set of communication content and the second list of one or more suggested recipients, a second set of communication content related to the first set of communication content for inclusion in the communication.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the second list of suggested recipients includes identifying one or more first group members that are not included in the first list of recipients.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the second list of suggested recipients includes identifying one or more first list recipients for exclusion from the second list of suggested recipients.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing one or more content elements of the communication.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising reporting the determination of the second list of suggested recipients.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular attributes that define the relationship between the first list recipients and the sender include an organizational position and a set of certifications.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more attributes for one or more members of the first group includes:

parsing an organizational hierarchy table including personnel data for a first group of individuals; and

identifying, in response to parsing the organizational hierarchy table including personnel data for the first group of individuals, the one or more attributes based on the personnel data.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying, in response to parsing the organizational hierarchy table including personnel data for a first group of individuals, a first subgroup of the first group of individuals, the first subgroup having a first certification; and

excluding, from the second list of one or more suggested recipients, the first subgroup.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the second list of one or more suggested recipients includes one or more individuals selected from the first group of individuals.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein normalizing the attributes of the first group members with the attributes of the second group members includes:

extracting a first semantic element corresponding to the first group members and a second semantic element corresponding to the second group members;

determining, using the first semantic element and the second semantic element, a shared attribute related to both the first group members and the second group members; and

assigning, to the first group members and the second group members, the shared attribute.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

collecting, in response to determining a second list of one or more suggested recipients of the communication, communication data;

assigning, based on analyzing the communication data, a first priority to a first communication rule of the set of communication rules and a second priority to a second communication rule of the set of communication rules.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

identifying a conflict between the first communication rule and the second communication rule;

determining, by comparing the first priority of the first communication rule with the second priority of the second communication rule, that the first priority trumps the second priority; and

instantiating, in response to determining that the first priority trumps the second priority, the first communication rule.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising excluding, based on the file size, a second subgroup from the second list of one or more suggested recipients.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising filtering, based on parsing the first set of communication content and the second list of one or more suggested recipients, a portion of the first set of communication content from the communication.

18. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying, in response to parsing the organizational hierarchy table including personnel data for a first group of individuals, a report chain for the first group of individuals, the report chain including a set of management levels;

determining, based on parsing the organizational hierarchy table including personnel data for a first group of individuals, a first management level of the set of management levels, wherein the first management level corresponds to the sender of the communication;

determining, in response to receiving the first list of one or more recipients of the communication, a second management level of the set of management levels, wherein the second management level corresponds to a first recipient of the first list of one or more recipients; and

suggesting, based on the first management level corresponding to the sender of the communication and the second management level corresponding to the first recipient, a second recipient corresponding to a third management level of the set of management levels.

6. A method for directing an email communication to recipients, comprising:

determining one or more attributes for one or more members of a first group;

determining one or more attributes for one or more members of a second group;

normalizing the attributes of the first group members with the attributes of the second group members;

receiving, from a user, a first set of communication content and a first list of one or more recipients to receive the email communication, wherein particular attributes define a relationship between the first list recipients and the user;

analyzing one or more content elements of the email communication;

determining, by analyzing the first set of communication content, a file size for the first set of communication content;

determining, based on the file size for the first set of communication content, a second list of one or more suggested recipients to receive the communication, wherein the second list of suggested recipients is determined by whether the attributes of the first list recipients, the user, and the first and second group members and the content elements comply with a set of communication rules;

parsing, in response to determining the second list of one or more suggested recipients to receive the communication, the first set of communication content; and

suggesting, based on parsing the first set of communication content and the second list of one or more suggested recipients, a second set of communication content related to the first set of communication content for inclusion in the communication.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising changing the content elements in order to comply with the set of communication rules.

8. A nontransitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed, cause a processor to perform the following operations:

determining one or more attributes for one or more members of a first group;

determining one or more attributes for one or more members of a second group;

normalizing the attributes of the first group members with the attributes of the second group members;

receiving, from a sender of the communication, a first set of communication content and a first list of one or more recipients of the communication, wherein particular attributes define a relationship between the first list recipients and the sender;

determining, by analyzing the first set of communication content, a file size for the first set of communication content;

determining, based on the file size for the first set of communication content, a second list of one or more suggested recipients of the communication, wherein the second list of suggested recipients is determined by whether the attributes of the first list recipients, the sender, and the first group members comply with a set of communication rules;

parsing, in response to determining the second list of one or more suggested recipients to receive the communication, the first set of communication content; and

suggesting, based on parsing the first set of communication content and the second list of one or more suggested recipients, a second set of communication content related to the first set of communication content for inclusion in the communication.