Method, system and program product for transmitting electronic communications using automatically formed contact groups
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for transmitting an electronic communication from a sender to a plurality of contacts using automatically formed contact groups, comprising:
- first, identifying using a processor a set of recipients to which the sender will send a current electronic communication;
second, using the processor, identifying based on the identified set of recipients, a group of contacts to which the sender has sent communications, the group of contacts including at least one recipient of the identified set of recipients,wherein the group of contacts is automatically formed and updated based on a predefined standard and a history of electronic communications that involve the contacts and the at least one recipient of the current electronic communication,such that the group of contacts is automatically formed if the history of electronic communications meets the predefined standard,wherein the history of electronic communications is stored in a database;
selecting the group to add the contacts to the set of recipients of the current electronic communication; and
after adding the contacts to the set of recipients, transmitting the current electronic communication to the set of recipients.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Under the present invention, one or more groups of contacts are implicitly formed based on a history of electronic communications that involve the contacts. When one or more contacts in a particular group is identified as an intended recipient of a (current) electronic communication, the entire group will be identified to the sender. If the sender then selects group, the contacts therein will be made additional recipients of the current electronic communication.
42 Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A method for transmitting an electronic communication from a sender to a plurality of contacts using automatically formed contact groups, comprising:
-
first, identifying using a processor a set of recipients to which the sender will send a current electronic communication; second, using the processor, identifying based on the identified set of recipients, a group of contacts to which the sender has sent communications, the group of contacts including at least one recipient of the identified set of recipients, wherein the group of contacts is automatically formed and updated based on a predefined standard and a history of electronic communications that involve the contacts and the at least one recipient of the current electronic communication, such that the group of contacts is automatically formed if the history of electronic communications meets the predefined standard, wherein the history of electronic communications is stored in a database; selecting the group to add the contacts to the set of recipients of the current electronic communication; and after adding the contacts to the set of recipients, transmitting the current electronic communication to the set of recipients. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A method for automatically forming a group of contacts based on a history of electronic communications that involve the contacts, comprising:
-
firstly identifying using a processor a set of recipients for a current electronic communication; secondly examining using the processor the history of electronic communications between the contacts including at least one recipient of the identified set of recipients for a pattern that defines the contacts, wherein the history of electronic communications is stored in a database; thirdly automatically forming and updating the group of contacts if the pattern, based on the examination of the history of electronic communications, meets a predefined standard; and after adding the group of contacts to the set of recipients for the current electronic communication, transmitting the current electronic communication to the set of recipients. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A system for transmitting an electronic communication from a sender to a plurality of contacts using automatically formed contact groups, comprising:
-
a system for receiving an identified set of recipients of the current electronic communication; a grouping system stored in a memory for automatically forming and updating a group of contacts to which the sender has sent communications, the automatic forming and updating being based on a predefined standard and a history of electronic communications that involve the contacts and at least one recipient of the identified set of recipients of the current electronic communication, such that the group of contacts is automatically formed if the history of electronic communications meets the predefined standard, wherein the history of electronic communications is stored in a database; a reference system stored in the memory for identifying the group when one of the plurality of contacts in the group of contacts is identified as an intended recipient of a current electronic communication; a selection system stored in the memory for selecting the group, wherein upon selection of the group, the plurality of contacts in the group of contacts are made additional recipients of the current electronic message and a transmission system stored in the memory for transmitting the current electronic communication to the intended recipient and the additional recipients. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A program product stored on a recordable storage medium for transmitting an electronic communication from a sender to a plurality of contacts using automatically formed contact groups, which when executed, comprises:
-
program code for receiving a identified set of recipients; program code for automatically forming and updating a group of contacts to which the sender sends communications, the automatic forming and updating being based on a predefined standard and a history of electronic communications that involve the contacts and at least one recipient of the identified set of recipients of the current electronic communication, such that the group of contacts is automatically formed if the history of electronic communications meets the predefined standard, wherein the history of electronic communications is stored in a database; program code for identifying the group when one of the plurality of contacts in the group is identified as an intended recipient of a current electronic communication; program code for selecting the group, wherein upon selection of the group, the plurality of contacts in the group are made additional recipients of the current electronic message; and program code for transmitting the current electronic communication to the intended recipient and the additional recipients. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
Specification