System and methodology for control of, and access and response to internet email from a wireless device

• US 20030204568A1
• Filed: 04/29/2002
• Published: 10/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Vialto Corporation
• Inventors: Bhargava, Gautam, Kumar, Slva V.
• Granted Patent: US 7,376,701 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages

Abstract

The invention discloses a system and method for access and response to Internet emails, from a wireless device. The system extracts the emails from multiple Internet email accounts and forwards them, on the basis of pre-defined filter settings of the user, to the user'"'"'s wireless device. The filter settings comprise filter criteria for identifying whether a new mail is to be forwarded to the wireless device or not, and content selection criteria for identifying parts of the new email to be sent to the wireless device. The system also enables the user to reply to the emails in a transparent manner whereby the replied message from the wireless device appears to have originated from the email address. The system also enables the user to dynamically change the filter settings using multi-modal inputs from his/her wireless device.

Claims

1. A system for access and response to Internet emails from a plurality of mailboxes, the access of emails restricted by filter criteria and content selection criteria, the system comprising:

a wireless device for remotely accessing and responding to Internet emails;

a host system interacting with the wireless device, the host system capable of extracting Internet emails and sending replies from plurality of mailboxes, the host system further comprising;

a microprocessor;

a memory unit coupled to the microprocessor, the memory unit containing a first program, the microprocessor executing the first program, the first program retrieving new email from the mailbox, the first program filtering the new email using the filter criteria to verify whether the new email should be forwarded to the wireless device, the first program selecting parts of the filtered email to be forwarded to the wireless device using the content selection criteria; and

a wireless communication unit for sending selected parts of the filtered email to the wireless device, the communication unit receiving a reply from the wireless handset in response to the sent email;

the memory unit containing a second program, the microprocessor executing the second program, the second program converting the reply received on the communication unit into an Internet email, the second program sending the converted Internet email from the specific mailbox the original Internet email was sent to, thereby making the reply transparent.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the Internet email mailbox is selected from the group consisting of:

a POP email account, an IMAP email account, a Lotus email account, a Hotmail email account and an AOL email account.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the filter criteria and content selection criteria for forwarding of emails contains at least one element associated with the sender'"'"'s name in the new email.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the filter criteria and the content selection criteria for forwarding of emails contains at least one element associated with the subject of the new email.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the filter criteria and content selection criteria for forwarding of emails contains at least one element associated with the body of the email.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication unit uses at least one of:

a SMS delivery protocol and a MMS delivery protocol to send and receive emails over the wireless device.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reply is sent from the wireless device using voice commands.

8. A system for access and response to Internet emails from a plurality of mailboxes, the access of emails restricted by filter criteria and content selection criteria, the system comprising:

a wireless device for remotely accessing and responding to Internet emails, the wireless device capable of setting the filter criteria and the content selection criteria for forwarding of emails;

a host system interacting with the wireless device, the host system capable of extracting Internet emails and sending replies from plurality of mailboxes, the host system further comprising;

a microprocessor;

a memory unit coupled to the microprocessor, the memory unit containing a first program, the microprocessor executing the first program, the first program retrieving new email from the mailbox, the first program filtering the new email using the filter criteria to verify whether the new email should be forwarded to the wireless device, the first program selecting parts of the filtered email to be forwarded to the wireless device using the content selection criteria;

a wireless communication unit for sending selected portions of new email to the wireless device, the communication unit receiving a reply from the wireless device in response to the forwarded email, the communication unit receiving the filter criteria and content selection criteria for forwarding of emails from the wireless device;

the memory unit containing a second program, the microprocessor executing the second program, the second program converting the reply received on the communication unit to an Internet email, the second program sending the converted Internet email from the specific mailbox the original Internet email was sent to, thereby making the reply transparent; and

means for setting the filter criteria and the content selection criteria from the wireless device.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the Internet email mailbox is selected from the group consisting of:

a POP email account, an IMAP email account, a Lotus email account, a Hotmail email account and an AOL email account

10. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the filter criteria and content selection for forwarding of emails contains at least one element associated with the sender'"'"'s name in the new email.

11. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the filter criteria and content selection for forwarding of emails contains at least one element associated with the subject of the new email.

12. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the filter criteria and content selection for forwarding of emails contains at least one element associated with the body of the email.

13. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the communication unit uses at least one of:

a SMS protocol and a MMS protocol to send and receive emails over the wireless device.

14. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the reply is sent from the wireless handheld device using voice commands.

15. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the reply and filter conditions are sent from the wireless handheld device as text messages using SMS protocol.

16. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the reply and filter conditions are sent from the wireless handheld device using voice commands.

17. A method for access and response to Internet emails from plurality of mailboxes from a wireless device, the access of emails restricted by filter criteria and content selection criteria, the method comprising the steps of:

extracting new Internet email from plurality of mailboxes;

filtering the extracted email using the filter criteria to verify whether the new email is to be accessed by the wireless device;

generating a unique identity to identify the new email that is to be accessed by the wireless device;

identifying parts of the filtered email to be forwarded to the wireless device using the content selection criteria;

sending identified parts of the filtered email and the unique identity of the email to the wireless device;

In response to a reply generated at the wireless device for the email accessed by the wireless device,

receiving the reply and the unique identity of the sent email from the wireless device;

converting the reply to an Internet email;

sending the Internet email from the specific mailbox the original Internet email was sent to using the unique identity accompanying the reply, thereby making the reply transparent; and

receiving the filter criteria and content selection criteria from the wireless device.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the filter criteria and content selection criteria are received from the wireless device as voice commands.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the filter criteria and content selection criteria are received from the wireless device as text messages using SMS protocol.

20. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the emails are sent and received over the wireless device using either a SMS or a MMS protocol.