Communication systems and methods

• US 9,705,829 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2012
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Vohra, Rahul, Kleppmann, Martin, Irwin, Conrad, Mallabone, Lee, Stokes, Sam
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tammy
• Application Number:
  US13/708,055
• Publication Number:
  US 20140164528A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,677 Days
• Field of Search: 709206, 709220, 709217, 455405, 455418, 715728, 715765
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/063 Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0281 Proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

Example communication systems and methods are described. In one implementation, a method receives a message from a message server. The method identifies constituent data contained in the message and accesses supplemental information associated with the message based on the constituent data. The message is modified to include at least one of a portion of the supplemental information and a reference to the supplemental information. The modified message is then communicated to a client device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, at a proxy server, a message from a message server in response to receiving a request for the message from a client device;

identifying, at the proxy server, constituent data contained in the message;

accessing, at the proxy server, supplemental information associated with the message based on the constituent data, by connecting with a supplemental information server;

before, communicating the message to the client device, automatically modifying, in response to identifying the constituent data, using one or more processors of the proxy server, the message to include at least one of a portion of the supplemental information or a reference to the supplemental information; and

communicating, from the proxy server, the modified message to the client device;

further comprising;

determining a device type associated with the client device;

determining capabilities of the client device based on the device type; and

identifying message enhancements capable of being processed by the client device based on the capabilities of the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, the receiving a message from the message server including:

receiving an identification of the message from a client device; and

requesting the message from the message server.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a listing of available messages from the message server; and

communicating the listing of available messages to the client device prior to receiving the identification of the message from the client device.

4. The method of claim 1, the message including at least one of an email message, a social media message, a newsgroup message, a calendar synchronization message, a voicemail message, a text message, an address book entry, an audio message, and a video message.

5. The method of claim 1, the constituent data including, at least one of:

an identity of a sender of the message;

an identity of at least one other recipient of the message;

a geographic location or postal address;

a phone number;

an email address;

an activity request;

a URI, (uniform resource locator),

a name of a person;

a name of a company;

a language of the message;

a unique message identifier;

an indicator of importance or urgency; and

an indicator of an unwanted message.

6. The method of claim 5, the supplemental information including any information from any source associated with the constituent data, including:

address book information associated with the constituent data;

customer relationship management (CRM) system information associated with the constituent data;

vendor relationship management (VRM) system information associated with the constituent data;

applicant tracking system (ATS) information associated with the constituent data;

order fulfillment system information associated with the constituent data;

customer support system information associated with the constituent data;

enterprise resource planning (ERP) system information associated with the constituent data

note-taking system information associated with the constituent data;

task management system information associated with the constituent data;

information from any personal database that is associated with the constituent data;

information from any company-internal database that is associated with the constituent data; and

information from any publicly accessible database that is associated with the constituent data.

7. The method of claim 1 the accessing of the supplemental information including accessing a user profile server containing information associated with a plurality of users.

8. The method of claim 1, the accessing of the supplemental information including accessing a social networking service.

9. The method of claim 1, the supplemental information including at least one of:

information associated with a sender of the message;

common friends of the user of the client device and the sender of the message, common connections of the user of the client device and the sender of the message;

information associated with at least one other recipient of the message;

a map displaying a geographic location identified in the message;

an option to add an activity request to a reminder list associated with a user of the client device;

an option to share a URI., contained in the message on at least one social network, an option to translate the message into another language;

an indicator of importance or urgency associated with the sender or the content of the message,

a time zone of a geographic location identified in the message;

a time zone of a geographic location associated with the sender of the message;

a history of previous communications with the sender using the same communication medium, and

a history of previous communications with the sender using another communication medium.

10. The method of claim 9, the information associated with the sender of the message including at least one of a picture of the sender of the message, an entity associated with the sender of the message, a current job title of the sender of the message, a former job title of the sender of the message, a current employer of the sender of the message, a former employer of the sender of the message, recent activity by the sender of the message on a website, recent activity by the sender of the message on a social network, and an education history of the sender of the message.

11. The method of claim 1, the modifying of the message including at least one of;

inserting, in the message, information associated with a sender of the message;

inserting, in the message, information associated with common friends of the user of the client device and the sender of the message;

inserting, in the message, information associated with at least one other recipient, of the message;

inserting, in the message, a. map displaying a geographic location identified in the message;

inserting, in the message, address book information associated with a phone number identified in the message;

inserting, in the message, address book information associated with an email address identified in the message;

inserting, in the message, an option to add an activity request to a reminder list associated with the user of the client device;

inserting, in the message, an option to share a URL, contained in the message on at least one social network;

inserting, in the message, an option to translate the message into another language;

inserting, in the message, common connections of the user of the client device and the sender of the message;

inserting, in the message, an indicator of importance or urgency associated with the sender or the content of the message;

inserting, in the message, a time zone of a geographic location identified in the message, inserting, in the message, a time zone of a geographic location associated with the sender of the message,

inserting, in the message, a history of previous communications with the sender using the same communication medium; and

inserting, in the message, a history of previous communications with the sender using another communication medium.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a device type associated with the client device; and

adjusting a display size of the modified message based on the device type.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a device type associated with the client device; and

adjusting a font size of the modified message based on the device type.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a device type associated with the client device; and

adjusting a byte size of the modified message based on the device type.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a device type associated with the client device, and

adjusting a formatting of the modified message and the supplemental information based on the device type.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving account access data from the client device.

17. The method of claim 16, the account, access data including a user id, a password, a client device type, and an identification of the message server.

18. An apparatus comprising:

a memory of a proxy server to store data associated with messages received from a message server in response to receiving a request for the messages from a client device; and

one or more processors of the proxy server coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to;

identify constituent data contained in a received message;

access supplemental information associated with the received message based on the constituent data, by connecting with a supplemental information server;

before communicating the received message to the client device, automatically modify, in response to identifying the constituent data, the received message to include at least one of a portion of the supplemental information or a reference to the supplemental information; and

communicate the modified message to the client device;

further comprising;

determining a device type associated with the client device;

determining capabilities of the client device based on the device type; and

identifying message enhancements capable of being processed by the client device based on the capabilities of the client device.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, the one or more processors further configured to:

receive an identification of a particular message from the client device; and

request the particular message from the message server.