Automated conversion of contact names and locations in incoming messages into action links
First Claim
1. A user terminal, comprising:
- a processor;
a messaging system configured to receive messages, each message being of a type selected from the list of;
an email, an instant message, a short message service (SMS) message, and a multimedia service (MMS) message;
a contact identification system configured to identify language in the text of a message that matches a contact name in a contact storage system; and
a link conversion system configured to convert each respective identified instance of language into a link that, when actuated, initiates an action relating to the contact name that matched the respective identified instance of language,wherein at least one of the links is configured to cause a list of selectable actions for the matched contact name to be displayed when actuated.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The text of an incoming message may be scanned for language that matches in whole or in part the name of a stored contact and/or information indicative of a stored location. Each identified instance of language may be converted into a link. When actuated, the link may initiate an action relating to the information to which the identified language was matched, such as to call or send an email to a matching contact or to show a map of or navigating instructions to the location indicated by matching location language. When the identified language matches multiple contacts or is indicative of multiple locations, actuation of the link may result in the display of a menu of all of the matches so that the desired one can be selected. A list of possible actions may also be provided.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A user terminal, comprising:
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a processor; a messaging system configured to receive messages, each message being of a type selected from the list of;
an email, an instant message, a short message service (SMS) message, and a multimedia service (MMS) message;a contact identification system configured to identify language in the text of a message that matches a contact name in a contact storage system; and a link conversion system configured to convert each respective identified instance of language into a link that, when actuated, initiates an action relating to the contact name that matched the respective identified instance of language, wherein at least one of the links is configured to cause a list of selectable actions for the matched contact name to be displayed when actuated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A non-transitory, tangible, computer-readable medium containing a program of instructions configured to cause a user terminal running the program of instructions to:
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receive, from a network communication system, a plurality of messages, each message being of a type selected from the list of;
an email, an instant message, a short message service (SMS) message, and a multimedia service (MMS) message; andfor each respective message; identify language in the text of the respective message that matches a contact name in a contact storage system; convert each respective identified instance of language into a corresponding link that, when actuated, initiates an action relating to the contact name that matched the respective identified instance of language; and display the respective message, including each respective identified instance of language converted into each corresponding link, via a user interface of the user terminal, wherein at least one of the links is configured to cause a list of selectable actions for the matched contact name to be displayed when actuated. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A user terminal, comprising:
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a messaging system configured to receive messages, each message being of a type selected from the list of;
an email, an instant message, a short message service (SMS) message, and a multimedia service (MMS) message;a location identification system configured to identify language in the text of each message that matches information indicative of one of a plurality of locations stored in a location storage system, even when the language in the text of the message does not include either a street address or geographic coordinates; and a link conversion system configured to convert each identified instance of language matching information indicative of one of the locations into a link that, when actuated, initiates an action relating to the one location indicated by the matched information. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A system, comprising:
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a computer server system that; contains a location storage system configured to store information indicative of a plurality of locations; and is configured to provide the information to multiple different user terminals; and a user terminal that is separate from the computer server system and that includes; a messaging system configured to receive messages, each message being of a type selected from the list of;
an email, an instant message, a short message service (SMS) message, and a multimedia service (MMS) message;a location identification system configured to identify language in the text of each message that matches information indicative of one of the locations stored in the location storage system; and a link conversion system configured to convert each identified instance of language matching information indicative of one of the locations into a link that, when actuated, initiates an action relating to the one location indicated by the matched information.
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Specification