System and method for updating an electronic calendar

• US 9,436,649 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2012
• Issued: 09/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Majandro LLC (IP Edge LLC)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Meunier, Jean-Luc, Hagege, Caroline, Castellani, Stefania, Proux, Denys, Cheminot, Eric, Segond, Frederique
• Primary Examiner(s): Georgandellis, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US13/677,584
• Publication Number:
  US 20130073662A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,391 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

A computer implemented system and method are disclosed for updating an electronic calendar. The method includes receiving an electronic message in a natural language in which a change in role is expressed and, with a natural language processor implemented by a computer processor, automatically detecting the change in role within the email message, optionally storing the change in role in a contacts database, and proposing updates for entries in an electronic calendar based on the detected change in role.

Claims

1. A method for updating an electronic calendar comprising:

receiving an electronic mail message in a natural language in which a change in role is expressed;

with a natural language processor implemented by a computer processor, parsing the electronic mail message using a set of predefined phrases that are indicative of a role change, the predefined phrases relating to at least one of an announcement, a promotion, and a reorganization, and automatically detecting the change in role expressed by one of the predefined phrases within the parsed electronic mail message, and optionally also providing for detecting at least one of a job title and a job location;

storing the change in role in a contacts database within a client computer in communication with the computer processor;

searching entries already scheduled in a client'"'"'s electronic calendar for meetings, wherein the entries are stored in a remote calendar database;

for each meeting, comparing the participants of the meetings with each person involved in the change in role in the contacts database; and

for each person involved in the change in role that also appears as a participant of a given meeting, proposing an update to an entry in the electronic calendar that corresponds to the meeting.

2. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory medium on which a computer program is recorded which when executed by a computer performs the method of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1, including the storing of the change in role in the contacts database.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying people associated with a role change in already scheduled meetings that appear in the electronic calendar and for a meeting which is detected with the name of someone involved in a role change within the list of participants, notifying the calendar'"'"'s user.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising for a person involved in the change in role, identifying, from the text of the electronic mail message or an attached document, a former job title;

a new job title; and

another person that now has the former job title.

6. A system for updating an electronic calendar comprising:

a natural language processing module executing on a computer processor for parsing the content of a received incoming electronic mail message in a natural language;

a role change detection module executing on the computer processor for automatically detecting a change in role that is expressed within the parsed electronic mail message using a set of established phrases indicative of a role change and identifies a person affected by the detected role change, the role change detection module optionally also providing at least one of a job title and a job location, wherein in response to detecting the change in role expressed in the electronic email message, the role change detection module searches a remote calendar database for meetings in entries already scheduled in a client'"'"'s electronic-calendar and compares participants of each meeting with each person involved in the change in role in a contacts database to determine if a person associated with the detected change in role also appears as a participant in a given meeting;

the contacts database within a client computer in communication with the computer processor for storing the change in role; and

a calendar checking module executing on the computer processor for, wherein in response to the role change detection module determining that a person associated with the detected change in role also appears as a participant in a given meeting, proposing an update to an entry in the electronic calendar that corresponds to the meeting.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the calendar checking module looks for people associated with a role change in already scheduled meetings that appear in the user'"'"'s calendar and for a meeting which is detected with the name of someone involved in a role change within the list of participants, notifies the user.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein for each person involved in a role change, the role change detection module extracts, from the text of the electronic mail message or an attached document, a former job title of the person;

a new job title of the person; and

another person that now has the former job title.

9. The system of claim 6, further comprising a mailer module comprising instructions stored in memory for receiving an electronic out-of-office message for a user in a natural language in which a time window of absence and at least one alternate named contact are expressed.

10. A network computer system comprising the system of claim 6 and a plurality of client computers, each configured for generating out-of-office messages, the system for updating an electronic calendar being resident on at least one of the client computers and a server computer in communication therewith via a network and wherein the database is linked to the at least one of the client computers and the server computer via the network.