Patent Application
20070106737
The present invention is related to electrical computers and digital processing systems, and specifically to priority based messaging.
Currently, email clients such as LOTUS NOTES, MOZILLA THUNDERBIRD, and MICROSOFT OUTLOOK enable a user to exchange electronic messages with other users through networked email servers. Just as in the conventional postal system, a person that sends a message may want or need confirmation that the message is delivered successfully. Many contemporary email clients, including those listed above, provide some mechanism for requesting an electronic return receipt indicating successful delivery to a recipient. The receiving email server or the receiving mail client services the request by sending a second message back to the message originator.
Clearly, this conventional system for servicing electronic return receipts can significantly increase the burden on email systems. Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved system of servicing electronic return receipts that reduces the burden of conventional systems.
The invention meeting the need identified above comprises a computer implemented system and process for delivery status notification of an electronic message, the system and process comprising: inserting into the electronic message a request for the delivery status notification; sending the electronic message to a recipient address; receiving a data packet having the delivery status; inserting the delivery status into the electronic message; and displaying a symbolic representation of the delivery status.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the data packet is an administrative data packet having no substantive content.
Additionally, an embodiment of the present invention may further comprise: receiving the electronic message; identifying a request for delivery status notification in the electronic message; identifying a return address in the electronic message; determining the delivery status of the electronic message; and sending an administrative data packet to the return address, the administrative data packet having the delivery status of the electronic message.
The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will be understood best by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The principles of the present invention are applicable to a variety of computer hardware and software configurations. The term “computer hardware” or “hardware,” as used herein, refers to any machine or apparatus that is capable of accepting, performing logic operations on, storing, or displaying data, and includes without limitation processors and memory; the term “computer software” or “software,” refers to any set of instructions operable to cause computer hardware to perform an operation. A “computer,” as that term is used herein, includes without limitation any useful combination of hardware and software, and a “computer program” or “program” includes without limitation any software operable to cause computer hardware to accept, perform logic operations on, store, or display data. A computer program may, and often is, comprised of a plurality of smaller programming units, including without limitation subroutines, modules, functions, methods, and procedures. Thus, the functions of the present invention may be distributed among a plurality of computers and computer programs. The invention is described best, though, as a single computer program that configures and enables one or more general-purpose computers to implement the novel aspects of the invention. For illustrative purposes, the inventive computer program will be referred to as the “electronic delivery notification” (EDN) program.
Additionally, the EDN program is described below with reference to an exemplary network of hardware devices, as depicted in
EDN 220 typically is stored in a memory, represented schematically as memory 200 in
Messaging program 210 represents any computer program that configures a computer to send and receive messages through a communications media, such as network connection 125. A person of skill in the art will appreciate that messaging program 210 may be embodied in any prior art electronic mail program loaded into the memory of a local computer, such as workstation computer 105. A person of skill in the art also will appreciate that the inventive functions of EDN 220 may be implemented as a stand-alone program, or be integrated into any prior art messaging program, such as messaging program 210.
The general data structure of message 240 is well known in the art and is not described in detail here. For purposes of this discussion, though, message 240 is assumed to comprise at least a message header and a message body. A message header includes data that represents properties of the respective message, such as the sender, subject, and date. A message body includes data that represents the substance of the communication. Message 240 may reside in a local memory, such as in workstation computer 105, or may reside in a centralized location, such as server computer 115 or persistent storage 120.
Unlike conventional delivery status notification systems, however, EDN 220 enables messaging program 210 to receive notifications in an administrative data packet, as well as conventional return messages. An administrative data packet conforms to standard message transfer protocols and formats, except that it contains no substantive content (such as a message body). Accordingly, an administrative data packet generally is much smaller than a convention return message. Moreover, messaging program 210 does not create a new entry in a user's message list when it receives such an administrative data packet, thus conserving additional computing resources.
As just described, then, EDN 220 improves conventional notification systems by inserting a delivery status field into message headers and updating a representation of the delivery status field in a user interface as it receives delivery status notifications. To realize the full benefit of EDN 220, though, a message recipient's server or messaging program 210 also should be integrated with EDN 220 to enable notifications through administrative data packets.
A preferred form of the invention has been shown in the drawings and described above, but variations in the preferred form will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The preceding description is for illustration purposes only, and the invention should not be construed as limited to the specific form shown and described. The scope of the invention should be limited only by the language of the following claims.
