Communication distribution based on calendar information

• US 10,528,918 B1
• Filed: 05/13/2013
• Issued: 01/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Cherubini, Mauro
• Primary Examiner(s): Rines, Robert D
• Application Number:
  US13/892,502
• Time in Patent Office: 2,430 Days
• Field of Search: 705 711- 742
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups

Abstract

A method and apparatus for performing communication distribution based on calendar information is provided. Communication distribution based on calendar information may include receiving a scheduling request for an account associated with a calendar, the scheduling request indicating event information corresponding to an event, storing a calendar entry in the calendar, the calendar entry including the event information, receiving an event notification indicating the event, identifying the account associated with the calendar based on the event notification and the stored event information, generating a message indicating the event, and sending the message to the account on a condition that the account is associated with a permission indicator indicating a permission to receive messages associated with the event.

Claims

1. A method for communication distribution based on calendar information, the method comprising:

receiving, from a user device at a remote device, a first permission indicating whether event information messages from an event promoter device related to an event are allowed to be sent to or are blocked from an account associated with a calendar;

receiving, from the user device at the remote device, a second permission indicating whether the account is to be identified based on calendar entries and event information;

receiving, from the user device at the remote device, a scheduling request for the account associated with the calendar, the scheduling request including event information corresponding to the event, the event associated with the event promoter device, and the event information including an event identifier;

storing, at the remote device, a calendar entry in the calendar, the calendar entry including at least some of the event information;

in response to the first permission indicating that event information messages are allowed;

adding the account to identifiable account information; and

storing the event identifier in the calendar entry;

receiving, from the event promoter device at a networked device, an event notification indicating the event and comprising a request to transmit an event information message to the account associated with the event,

the networked device being coupled to the remote device to identify user accounts in response to the networked device receiving the event notification, and

the remote device being inaccessible to the event promoter device to identify the user accounts;

identifying, by the networked device in the identifiable account information stored at the remote device and based on the event information, target user accounts to send event information messages to, wherein the target user accounts includes the account, wherein the account is identified by the network device responsive to determining that the second permission indicates that the account is to be identified;

in response to the identifying, verifying, by the remote device, that the first permission indicates that event information messages are allowed to be sent to the account for the event; and

in response to the verifying by the remote device;

generating, by the networked device, the event information message based on the event notification; and

sending, by the networked device, the event information message to the account.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the event notification includes the event identifier and the event information includes the event identifier.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the scheduling request includes receiving a plurality of scheduling requests, wherein each scheduling request in the plurality of scheduling requests is associated with a respective account in a plurality of accounts and a respective calendar in a plurality of calendars, and wherein storing the calendar entry includes storing a respective calendar entry for each scheduling request in the plurality of scheduling requests in a respective calendar in the plurality of calendars.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein identifying the account includes identifying each account in the plurality of accounts and wherein sending the event information message to the account includes sending the event information message to each account in the plurality of accounts.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving the event notification includes receiving a list of account identifiers and wherein sending the event information message to each account in the plurality of accounts excludes sending the event information message to the accounts from the plurality of accounts that are associated with an account identifier from the list of account identifiers.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the event promoter device is associated with a person or organization associated with the event.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the event notification further includes at least one of an offer associated with the event and promotional material associated with the event.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the first permission indicating that event information messages are blocked from the account, omitting sending the event information message from the remote device to the account.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to the second permission indicating that the account cannot be identified, omitting sending the event information message from the remote device to the account.

10. A method comprising:

receiving, from a user device at a remote device, a first permission indicating whether to allow or block an event notification related to an event from an event promoter device for an account associated with the user device, wherein the event is associated with the event promoter device and the event promoter device is not associated with the remote device;

receiving, from the user device at the remote device, a second permission indicating whether the account is to be identified based on a calendar entry and event information;

receiving, from the user device at the remote device, a third permission indicating whether an event identifier is to be stored in the calendar entry;

receiving, from the user device at the remote device, a scheduling request for the account associated with the calendar, the scheduling request including the event information;

storing, at the remote device, the calendar entry in the calendar;

responsive to the third permission indicating that the event identifier can be stored, storing the event identifier with the calendar entry;

responsive to the first permission indicating that event notifications are allowed, adding the account to identifiable account information;

receiving, from the event promoter device at a networked device, an event notification indicating the event, wherein

the event notification includes the event information including at least one of the event identifier, a name of the event, a date of the event, or a location of the event, and

the remote device is inaccessible by the event promoter device to identify accounts associated with a calendar based on the event information;

identifying, by the networked device in the identifiable account information stored at the remote device based on the event information, the account associated with the calendar based on the event information being present in the event notification and the event information being stored in the calendar entry in the calendar, wherein the event information stored in the calendar entry includes the event identifier, wherein the account is identified by the network device based on the second permission indicating that the account can be identified and the third permission indicating that the event identifier is stored in the calendar entry; and

in response to the identifying, verifying that the first permission indicates that messages are allowed for the event and sending a message indicating the event from the remote device to the account.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the event notification includes the event identifier and the event information includes the event identifier.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the scheduling request includes receiving a plurality of scheduling requests, wherein each scheduling request in the plurality of scheduling requests is associated with a respective account in a plurality of accounts and a respective calendar in a plurality of calendars, and wherein storing the calendar entry includes storing a respective calendar entry for each scheduling request in the plurality of scheduling requests in a respective calendar in the plurality of calendars.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein identifying the account includes identifying each account in the plurality of accounts and wherein sending the message to the account includes sending the message to each account in the plurality of accounts.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein receiving the event notification includes receiving a list of account identifiers and wherein sending the message to each account in the plurality of accounts excludes sending the message to the accounts from the plurality of accounts that are associated with an account identifier from the list of account identifiers.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the event notification further includes at least one of an offer associated with the event and promotional material associated with the event.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, are configured to cause a computing device to:

receive, from a user device at a remote device, a first permission indicating whether event information messages from an event promoter device related to an event are allowed to be sent to or are blocked from an account associated with a calendar;

receive, from the user device at the remote device, a second permission indicating whether the account is to be identified based on calendar entries and event information;

receive, from the user device at the remote device, a scheduling request for the account associated with the calendar, the scheduling request including event information corresponding to the event, the event associated with the event promoter device, and the event information including at least one of an event identifier, a name of the event, a date of the event, and a location of the event;

store, at the remote device, a calendar entry in the calendar, the calendar entry including at least some of the event information;

in response to the first permission indicating that event information messages are allowed;

add the account to identifiable account information; and

store the event identifier in the calendar entry;

receive, from the event promoter device at a networked device, an event notification indicating the event and comprising a request to transmit an event information message to the account associated with the event,

the networked device being coupled to the remote device to identify user accounts in response to the networked device receiving the event notification, and

the remote device being inaccessible to the event promoter device to identify the user accounts;

identify, by the networked device in the identifiable account information stored at the remote device and based on the event information, target user accounts to send event information messages to, wherein the target user accounts includes the account, wherein the account is identified by the network device responsive to determining that the second permission indicates that the account is to be identified;

in response to the identifying, verify, by the remote device, that the first permission indicates that event information messages are allowed to be sent to the account for the event; and

in response to the verifying by the remote device;

generate, by the networked device, the event information message based on the event notification; and

send, by the networked device, the event information message to the account.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16,

wherein the event notification includes the event identifier and the event information includes the event identifier.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein receiving the scheduling request includes receiving a plurality of scheduling requests, wherein each scheduling request in the plurality of scheduling requests is associated with a respective account in a plurality of accounts and a respective calendar in a plurality of calendars, and wherein storing the calendar entry includes storing a respective calendar entry for each scheduling request in the plurality of scheduling requests in a respective calendar in the plurality of calendars.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the event promoter device is associated with a person or organization associated with the event.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the event notification further includes at least one of an offer associated with the event and promotional material associated with the event.