System and method for multi-tiered rule filtering
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for processing messages and calls comprising:
- a plurality of filtering modules to apply a corresponding plurality of rule sets in succession to filter incoming and/or outgoing electronic messages and/or to apply the highest priority rule from among a plurality of rule sets to calls;
a pre-inbox to temporarily store the calls and/or electronic messages as each of the plurality of rule sets are applied, the calls and/or electronic messages being removed from the pre-inbox and disposed of only after each of the plurality of rule sets have been applied to the calls and/or electronic messages anda graphical user interface (“
GUI”
) to provide an option for the end user to specify whether a first rule of one of the filtering modules which conflicts with a second rule of another of the filtering modules should be applied, wherein the conflict between the first rule and the second rule comprises the same action to be applied to the message.
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Abstract
A system is described for processing messages and calls comprising: a plurality of filtering modules to apply a corresponding plurality of rule sets in succession to filter incoming and/or outgoing electronic messages and to apply the highest priority rule from among a plurality of rule sets to calls; and a pre-inbox for temporarily storing the calls and/or electronic messages as each of the plurality of rule sets are applied, the calls and/or electronic messages being removed from the pre-inbox and disposed of only after each of the plurality of rule sets have been applied to the calls and/or electronic messages.
216 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A system for processing messages and calls comprising:
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a plurality of filtering modules to apply a corresponding plurality of rule sets in succession to filter incoming and/or outgoing electronic messages and/or to apply the highest priority rule from among a plurality of rule sets to calls; a pre-inbox to temporarily store the calls and/or electronic messages as each of the plurality of rule sets are applied, the calls and/or electronic messages being removed from the pre-inbox and disposed of only after each of the plurality of rule sets have been applied to the calls and/or electronic messages and a graphical user interface (“
GUI”
) to provide an option for the end user to specify whether a first rule of one of the filtering modules which conflicts with a second rule of another of the filtering modules should be applied, wherein the conflict between the first rule and the second rule comprises the same action to be applied to the message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for messages and calls comprising:
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temporarily storing incoming and/or outgoing calls and/or electronic messages within a pre-inbox; applying a plurality of rule sets in succession to perform a corresponding plurality of filtering operations on the electronic messages; applying the highest priority rule from among a plurality of rule sets to calls; removing the calls and/or electronic messages from the pre-inbox and disposing of the calls and/or electronic messages based on the results of the rule sets only after the last of the rule sets have been applied to electronic messages and after the highest priority rule set has been applied to calls and wherein the conflict between the first rule and the second rule comprises the same action to be applied to the message, further comprising additional options allowing the end user to specify whether the first rule should be applied to the original version of the message, or to the version of the message as affected by the second rule. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An article of manufacture including program code which, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform the operations of:
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temporarily storing incoming and/or outgoing calls and/or electronic messages within a pre-inbox; applying a plurality of rule sets in succession to perform a corresponding plurality of filtering operations on electronic messages or applying the highest priority rule from among a plurality of rule sets to calls; removing the calls and/or electronic messages from the pre-inbox and disposing of the calls and/or electronic messages based on the results of the rule sets only after the last of the message rule sets and the highest-priority call rule set have been applied and wherein the conflict between the first rule and the second rule comprises the same action to be applied to the message, comprising providing the end user with additional options allowing the end user to specify whether the first rule should be applied to the original version of the message, or to the version of the message as affected by the second rule. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A system for processing messages and calls comprising:
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a system-level filtering module to apply a system-level rule set to filter incoming and/or outgoing electronic messages and/or calls, the system-level rule set configurable by a network administrator; and a client-level filtering module to apply a client-level rule set to filter incoming and/or outgoing electronic messages and/or calls, the client-level rule set configurable by an end user; a temporary storage area to temporarily store the calls and/or electronic messages as each of the plurality of rule sets are applied certain specified rules of the system-level rule set and the client-level rule set and a message server filtering module to perform a first set of filtering operations on electronic messages prior to filtering by the system-level filtering module, wherein the client-level filtering module comprises a mode-based filtering module to filter calls and/or electronic messages based on a current mode in which the system is operating, wherein the client-level filtering module comprises a user-specified rule filtering module to filter calls and/or electronic messages based on advanced criteria specified by an end user. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39)
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Specification