Systems and methods for sending customized emails to recipient groups

• US 20080222257A1
• Filed: 07/16/2007
• Published: 09/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Shamik Mukherjee, Shubham Mukherjee
• Original Assignee: Shamik Mukherjee, Shubham Mukherjee
• Inventors: Mukherjee, Shubham, Mukherjee, Shamik
• Application Number:
  US11/778,069
• Publication Number:
  US 20080222257A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

Systems and methods for allowing a user to send customized electronic mails to recipients, comprising providing a graphical window on a display screen of an electronic device, allowing the user to input a message which is displayed within the graphical window, allowing the user to identify portions of the message as being intended for certain recipient groups, creating an electronic mail for each recipient group based on the portions of the message identified as being intended for that recipient group, and sending the electronic mails.

Claims

1. A method for allowing a user to send electronic mails to a plurality of recipients, comprising:

providing a graphical window on an electronic display of an electronic device for inputting a message;

allowing the user to input the message;

allowing the user to identify a first portion of the message as intended for a first recipient group;

allowing the user to identify a second portion of the message as intended for a second recipient group;

creating, based at least in part on the identified first portion of the message, a first electronic mail for delivery to the first recipient group;

creating, based at least in part on the identified second portion of the message, a second electronic mail for delivery to the second recipient group; and

sending the first and second electronic mails.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the first and second electronic mails comprises:

including, in each of the first and second electronic mails, the message in its contextual entirety,

receiving, by respective first and second electronic mail clients, the first and second electronic mails,

displaying, by the first electronic mail client, the first electronic mail,

displaying, by the second electronic mail client, the second electronic mail,

visually distinguishing, in the displaying of the first electronic mail, the first portion of the message from the portions of the message that are not part of the first portion, and

visually distinguishing, in the displaying of the second electronic mail, the second portion of the message from the portions of the message that are not part of the second portion.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

allowing the user to identify additional portions of the message as intended for respective additional recipient groups,

creating, based on the identified additional portions of the message, respective additional electronic mails,

sending the additional electronic mails,

receiving, by respective additional electronic mail clients, the additional electronic mails,

the respective additional electronic mail clients displaying corresponding ones of the additional electronic mails, and

visually distinguishing, in the displaying of each additional electronic mail, the corresponding additional portion of the message from other portions of the message.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein visually distinguishing the first portion of the message comprises representing, by the first electronic mail client, the first portion of the message in at least one of a different color, font, boldness, quality, resolution, darkness, and italicization from that of the remainder of the message.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein visually distinguishing the first portion of the message comprises marking off, by the first electronic mail client, the first portion of the message with a graphical boundary.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising:

a first electronic mail client receiving the first electronic mail,

identifying whether the first electronic mail client is operating on a portable device,

the first electronic mail client, upon an identification that the first electronic mail client is not operating on a portable device, displaying a full version of the message, and

the first electronic mail client, upon an identification that the first electronic mail client is operating on a portable device, displaying a first abridged version of the message.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein displaying a first abridged version of the message comprises displaying the first portion of the message and not displaying the second portion of the message.

8. The method of claim 6, comprising:

a second electronic mail client receiving the second electronic mail,

identifying whether the second electronic mail client is operating on a portable device,

the second electronic mail client, upon an identification that the second electronic mail client is not operating on a portable device, displaying the message in its entirety, and

the second electronic mail client, upon an identification that the second electronic mail client is operating on a portable device, displaying a second abridged version of the message, wherein the second abridged version of the message includes the second portion of the message and does not include the first portion of the message.

9. The method of claim 6, comprising:

the first electronic mail client identifying whether the first electronic mail client is operating on a portable device, and

the first electronic mail client displaying the first abridged version of the message by suppressing portions of the message that are not part of the first portion.

10. The method of claim 6, comprising:

creating the first electronic mail as the full version based upon an identification that the first electronic mail client is not operating on a portable device,

creating the first electronic mail as the first abridged based upon an identification that the first electronic mail client is operating on a portable device, and

subsequently sending the first electronic mail.

11. A system for allowing a user to send customized electronic mails to a plurality of recipients, comprising:

an electronic device for communicating with recipient electronic devices;

a display operably coupled to the electronic device for displaying a graphical window;

an interface for allowing the user to input a message to be displayed within the graphical window;

programmable memory for maintaining respective first and second membership lists of first and second recipient groups;

additional programmable memory for storing indicators identifying first and second portions of the message;

a parser for creating respective first and second electronic mails based on the first and second portions of the message and the first and second recipient groups; and

a transmitter for transmitting the electronic mails.

12. The system of claim 11, comprising

a first electronic mail client coupled with a first of the recipient electronic devices for receiving the first electronic mail,

a first electronic mail processor operatively coupled to the first electronic mail client for processing program code tags within the first electronic mail that identify the first portion of the message, and

a first display processor for displaying the message in its contextual entirety and visually distinguishing the first portion of the message based on information received from the first electronic mail processor.

13. The system of claim 12, comprising

a second electronic mail client coupled with a second of the recipient electronic devices for receiving the second electronic mail,

a second electronic mail processor operatively coupled to the second electronic mail client for processing program code tags within the second electronic mail that identify the second portion of the message, and

a second display processor for displaying the message in its contextual entirety and visually distinguishing the second portion of the message based on information received from the second electronic mail processor.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the display processor comprises a hypertext/hypermedia-based processor for including hypermedia-based tags in the first electronic mail causing the first portion of the message to appear on a display of the first recipient electronic device in at least one of a different color, font, size, boldness, darkness and italicization from that of the remainder of the message.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the display processor comprises a graphics processor for causing graphical boundaries to appear around the first portion of the message on a display of the first recipient electronic device.

16. The system of claim 11, comprising a first electronic mail client operating on a first of the recipient electronic devices.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the first electronic mail client is configured to:

identify whether the first recipient electronic device is a portable device,

display a full version of the message upon an identification that the first recipient electronic device is not a portable device, and

display an abridged version of the message upon an identification that the first recipient electronic device is a portable device.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the first electronic mail client is configured to display an abridged version that suppresses portions of the message that are not part of the first portion upon an identification that the first electronic device is a portable device.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the parser is configured to

identify whether the first recipient electronic device is a portable electronic device,

create the first electronic mail as a full version the message upon an identification that the first recipient electronic device is not a portable electronic device, and

create the first electronic mail as an abridged version of the message upon an identification that the first recipient electronic device is a portable electronic device.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the parser is configured to create the first electronic mail as an abridged version of the message that suppresses portions of the message that are not part of the first portion upon an identification that the first electronic device is a portable device.

21. A method for allowing a user to send electronic mails to a plurality of recipients, comprising:

providing a graphical window on an electronic display of an electronic device for inputting a message;

allowing the user to input the message;

allowing the user to identify a first portion of the message as intended for a first recipient group;

allowing the user to identify a second portion of the message as intended for a second recipient group;

creating, based at least in part on the identified first portion of the message, a first electronic mail for delivery to the first recipient group;

creating, based at least in part on the identified second portion of the message, a second electronic mail for delivery to the second recipient group;

sending the first and second electronic mails,

a first electronic mail client receiving the first electronic mail,

identifying whether the first electronic mail client is operating on a portable device,

the first electronic mail client, upon an identification that the first electronic mail client is not operating on a portable device, displaying a full version of the message wherein the first portion of the message is visually distinguished from the portions of the message that are not part of the first portion, and

the first electronic mail client, upon an identification that the first electronic mail client is operating on a portable device, displaying a first abridged version of the message that includes the first portion of the message and does not include the second portion of the message.