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Collaboration system

  • US 9,641,356 B2
  • Filed: 07/22/2011
  • Issued: 05/02/2017
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2007
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method, comprising:

  • receiving, by a controller and from a recipient user terminal of a plurality of user terminals, information identifying designated communication channels and designated times associated with a recipient,the recipient being associated with the recipient user terminal, andone or more of the designated communication channels being associated with a corresponding one of the designated times;

    storing, by the controller, the information identifying the designated communication channels and the designated times;

    receiving, by the controller and from a sender user terminal of the plurality of user terminals, a message designated to be communicated to the recipient associated with the recipient user terminal,the plurality of user terminals being provided in a communication system,the plurality of user terminals communicating with each other and the controller via a plurality of communication channels, andthe message being received at a particular time;

    posting, by the controller and via a dashboard interface, the message to a discussion to which the message pertains;

    determining, by the controller, that the particular time corresponds to one of the designated times;

    determining, by the controller, that one of the designated communication channels corresponds to the one of the designated times,the one of the designated communication channels being identified as a preferred communication channel for the message;

    determining, by the controller, an availability and a workload of the recipient associated with the recipient user terminal,the availability of the recipient associated with the recipient user terminal being determined based on scheduling information for the recipient, andthe workload of the recipient associated with the recipient user terminal being determined based on status tracking information for the recipient; and

    selectively distributing, by the controller, the message to the recipient user terminal based on the preferred communication channel, the availability, and the workload of the recipient associated with the recipient user terminal,selectively distributing the message to the recipient user terminal comprising;

    sending the message to the recipient user terminal via the preferred communication channel when the scheduling information indicates that the recipient is available, when the workload for the recipient is not currently excessive, and when the recipient has designated the preferred communication channel; and

    sending the message to the recipient user terminal via a default communication channel when the scheduling information indicates that the recipient is available, when the workload for the recipient is not currently excessive, and when the recipient has not designated the preferred communication channel,the message not being sent to the recipient user terminal when the scheduling information indicates that the recipient is not available or when the workload of the recipient is currently excessive.

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