Automatically providing notifications regarding interesting content from shared sources based on important persons and important sources for a user

• US 9,563,875 B2
• Filed: 12/02/2004
• Issued: 02/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SINOEAST CONCEPT LIMITED (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Heidloff, Niklas, O'Brien, Michael R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Survillo, Oleg
• Application Number:
  US11/002,578
• Publication Number:
  US 20060123084A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,450 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages

Abstract

A system for automatically providing notifications to a user regarding interesting content, which automatically collects information regarding persons that are important to the user, as well as indications of important content sources. The important content sources are then monitored for actions performed by one of the important persons for the user, and notifications are generated to the user in the event that the important person performs an action on a document or other information item stored in the important content source. Important persons for a user may be determined through a communication application used by the user, such as an electronic mail program, instant messaging program, or the like, in response to indications of persons that the user has either sent messages to and/or received messages from. The notifications may be provided through the user'"'"'s communication application, by electronic mail messages, instant messages, or the like. The notification may include a name, identifier, or other indication of the important person that performed the action on the important content source. Notifications may be provided to the user in response to any specific kind of action by the important persons on an important content source, such as create operations, modify operations, and/or delete operations.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for automatically providing notifications to a user regarding interesting content, comprising:

determining important persons for said user by monitoring communications of said user through an electronic mail application, wherein said determining includes automatically determining said important persons for said user responsive to said monitoring and without receiving an explicit request for notifications from said user, said automatically determined important persons for said user consisting only of a predetermined number of other users with which said user has most frequently communicated with via said electronic mail application;

determining an important content source for said user, wherein said important content source comprises a central on-line discussion database;

detecting, by an event generating process executing within said central on-line discussion database, modify operations, wherein said modify operations comprise adding at least one document to said important content source;

transmitting, to a computer of said user over a computer network and by the event generating process executing within said central on-line discussion database, at least one Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message notifying that there is a new document in said central on-line discussion database; and

filtering received messages by said computer of said user such that said user is only notified when said modify operations are performed by said important persons, without notifying said user when said modify operations are performed by users other than said important persons.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of determining said important persons for said user further comprises monitoring communications of said user through an instant messaging communication application, wherein said important persons are persons said user has also communicated with through said instant messaging communication application.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining another important content source responsive to input from an administrator user.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing indication of said notification to said user in a log; and

responsive to said log, limiting subsequent notifications to said user such that only one notification regarding said important content source is provided to said user per a predetermined time period.

5. A computer program product contained in a computer readable memory, said computer readable memory having a program code for automatically providing notifications to a user regarding interesting content stored thereon, said program code comprising:

program code operative to determine important persons for said user by monitoring communications of said user through an electronic mail application by automatically determining said important persons for said user responsive to said monitoring and without receiving an explicit request for notifications from said user, said automatically determined important persons for said user consisting only of a predetermined number of other users with which said user has most frequently communicated with via said electronic mail application;

program code operative to determine an important content source for said user, wherein said important content source comprises a central on-line discussion database;

program code operative to detect, by an event generating process executing within said central on-line discussion database, modify operations, wherein said modify operations comprise adding at least one document to said important content source;

program code operative to transmit, to a computer of said user over a computer network and by the event generating process executing within said central on-line discussion database, at least one Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message notifying that there is a new document in said central on-line discussion database; and

program code operative to filter received messages by said computer of said user such that said user is only notified when said modify operations are performed by said important persons, without notifying said user when said modify operations are performed by users other than said important persons.

6. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein said program code operative to determine said important person for said user is further operative to monitor communications of said user through an instant messaging communication application, wherein said important person is someone said user has also communicated with through said instant messaging communication application.

7. The computer program product of claim 5, further comprising program code operative to input another important content source from an administrator user.

8. The computer program product of claim 5, further comprising:

program code operative to store indication of said notification to said user in a log; and

program code operative to, responsive to said log, limit subsequent notifications to said user such that only one notification regarding said important content source is provided to said user per a predetermined time period.

9. A computer system including at least one processor and at least one computer readable memory having program code stored thereon for automatically providing notifications to a user regarding interesting content, said program code comprising:

program code for determining important persons for said user by monitoring communications of said user through an electronic mail application, wherein said determining includes automatically determining important persons for said user responsive to said monitoring and without receiving an explicit request for notifications from said user, said automatically determined important persons for said user consisting only of a predetermined number of other users with which said user has most frequently communicated with via said electronic mail application;

program code for determining an important content source for said user, wherein said important content source comprises a central on-line discussion database;

program code for detecting, by an event generating process executing within said central on-line discussion database, modify operations, wherein said modify operations comprise adding at least one document to said important content source;

program code for transmitting, to a computer of said user over a computer network and by the event generating process executing within said central on-line discussion database, at least one Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message notifying that there is a new document in said central on-line discussion database; and

program code for filtering received messages by said computer of said user such that said user is only notified when said modify operations are performed by said important persons, without notifying said user when said modify operations are performed by users other than said important persons.