The present specification relates to the field of email message delivery. More specifically, the present specification relates to the field of email message rendering to a user.
As a fast, reliable, and inexpensive method of transmitting messages and files, email is widely used for business and personal communication. Under a typical scenario, a user of an email client program composes an email message and indicates one or more email address to which the message will be sent. The email client program then transmits the message to an email server, which forwards the message either directly to a recipient email client (i.e., one using the same email server as the sender) or to an email server associated with the recipient email client.
Many users of email applications face a constant challenge in dealing effectively with the large quantities of email they typically receive. It is often difficult, for example, for a user to ensure that he or she is attending to the information, communications, and tasks received by email that are most important. For example, if a user's email inbox has a large number of unread email messages, it may require work for the user to sift through the inbox to identify and focus his or her efforts on the email messages that call for more immediate action.
A method of rendering email includes receiving with a networked computing device at least one user-selected filter criterion; receiving with the networked computing device an email message; and responsive to a determination by the networked computing device that the email message meets the at least one filter criterion, diverting the email message from delivery to an inbox and providing an immediate display of the email message in its entirety to a user.
A system includes a computing device configured to implement an email client and an email server in communication with the computing device through a network. The computing device is configured to divert an email message received from the email server from delivery to an inbox and immediately display the email message to a user responsive to the computing device determining that the email message meets at least one user-selected criterion for alternate email rendering.
A computer program product for email rendering includes a computer usable medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith. The computer usable program code includes computer usable program code configured to receive at least one user-selected filter criterion; computer usable program code configured to receive an email message; and computer usable program code configured to divert the email message from delivery to an inbox and immediately display the email message in its entirety to a user responsive to a determination that the email message meets the at least one user-selected filter criterion.
The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments of the principles described herein and are a part of the specification. The illustrated embodiments are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.
The present specification discloses methods, systems, and computer program products for alternate rendering of email messages. According to the principles disclosed herein, a user may select one or more criteria which deem a received email message important (or otherwise deserving of special treatment). Received email messages that fit the user-selected criteria may be diverted from an inbox and displayed instantly to the user in their entirety such that the user can choose to attend to these email messages immediately if he or she so chooses.
As used in the present specification and appended claims, the term “email message” refers broadly to any text, file, or other data sent electronically to a recipient address from a source address using a standardized mail protocol (e.g., Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)). Thus, an email message as defined herein may include, but is not limited to, simple text messages, formatted text messages, text messages with files attached thereto, interactive calendar event invitations, interactive task assignments, and the like.
As used in the present specification and appended claims, the term “render” or “rendering” when used in the context of email messages refers to the delivery of an email message to a human user through a user interface.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electromagnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
The present invention is described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
With reference now to
The computing device (105) may include a processor (120) communicatively coupled to memory (125) and input/output interfaces (130). The processor (120) may include one or multiple processor cores as may best suit a particular application of the principles described herein. The processor (120) may be configured to read executable code from the memory (125) and execute the code.
The memory (125) may include volatile and/or nonvolatile system memory, such as, but not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), Flash memory, and the like. The memory (125) may also include memory from storage devices coupled to the processor (120) as internal components and/or peripheral devices. These storage devices may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk drives, backup tapes, etc.), optical storage devices (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-RW, etc.) and solid state drives. The memory (125) may store executable code corresponding to an operating system (135) that manages the operations of the computing device (105) and provides a platform for other software programs, including an email client application (140) to be executed by the processor (120).
The input/output interfaces (130) of the computing device (105) may include hardware and any corresponding firmware or software for providing an interface for devices external to the computing device (105) to provide data to and receive data from the processor (120). For example, a network interface (145) may include a hardware network adapter (also known as a network interface controller (NIC) or network card) configured to create both a hardware and a data bridge between the processor (120) and the network (115). Likewise, peripheral device interfaces (150) may provide hardware and firmware/software to connect peripheral devices to the processor (120). These peripheral devices may include user interface devices (155) that enable a user (160) to communicate with the computing device (105), such as a display device (165) (e.g., monitor, projector, etc.) and one or more input devices (170) (e.g., keyboard, pointer device, touchscreen, microphone, etc.).
The network (115) may facilitate communication between the computing device (105) and the email server (110). In certain embodiments, the network (115) may include a local area network (LAN), such as, but not limited to, a corporate intranet. Additionally or alternatively, the network (115) may include a wide area network (WAN) such as, but not limited to, the Internet.
The email server (110) may be any email server known in the art that may best suit a particular application of the principles herein. The email server (110) may be configured to receive outgoing email messages (175) from the computing device (105) and forward the outgoing email messages (175) to their intended destinations. The email server (110) may also be configured to receive incoming email messages (180, 180-1) from other devices and deliver the incoming email messages (180, 180-1) to the computing device (105). Alternatively, separate email servers may be used to receive outgoing email messages (175) from the computing device (105) and deliver incoming email messages (180, 180-1) to the computing device (105), respectively.
The user (160) may interact with the email client application (140) of the computing device (105) to send and receive email messages (175, 180, 180-1) as described above. As shown in
With reference now to
The method (200) may begin by the user setting (step 205) at least one filter parameter for alternate email rendering. The filter parameter(s) may include, but are not limited to, a minimum email message length, a maximum email message length, a level of urgency associated with the email message, an identity of at least one sender of the email message, an identity of at least one recipient of the email message, and a presence of one or more words or a specified string of characters or words in a specified field of the email message. The one or more filter parameters may be received in the networked computing device (105,
After the one or more filter parameters have been set (step 205) by the user, an email client application (140,
Once the email message(s) have been received by email client application (140,
If an evaluation of the email message in light of the user-selected filter parameters indicates (decision 215, NO) that the filter parameters do not direct an alternate rendering of this email message, the email client application (140,
If an evaluation of the email message in light of the user-selected filter parameters indicates (decision 215, YES) that the filter parameters direct an alternate rendering of this email message, the email client application (140,
In some situations, a plurality of unread email messages may be received that qualify for alternate rendering and immediate display to the user prior within a short period of time or during a period of time in which the user chooses not to view even the alternately rendered emails. Thus, in certain embodiments the immediate display shown to the user may include displaying a plurality of unread email messages filtered for immediate display to the user.
Additionally or alternatively, a user may desire to perform an action in response to viewing an email message immediately displayed according to the present method (200). For example, the user may desire to reply to the email message, forward the email message, delete the email message, and/or relegate the email message to the normal inbox. As such, the immediate display of an email may include inherent functionality that allows the user to perform one or more such actions. Additionally or alternatively, an immediately displayed email message may include one or more interactive components, such as “accept” and “decline” options for an interactive calendar event invitation. Accordingly, the immediate display of such an email may include inherent functionality that preserves the interactive nature of the email message, allowing the user to interact directly with the email message in the interactive display. Thus, returning to the example of the interactive calendar invitation email message, an immediate display of the email may provide “accept” and “decline” buttons, in addition to any other buttons or other functional components used to implement the interactive functionality of the email message. Hence, if a user clicks on an “accept” button in an interactive calendar event invitation email message in an immediate display, the email client application (140,
After a decision has been made regarding the delivery of an email message received by the email client application (140,
With reference now to
As shown in
In the present example, a first parameter (305-1) is directed to a numerical threshold value. Dropdown menus and fields allow the user to configure the numerical threshold. Thus, the first parameter (305-1) is configured in the present example to trigger alternate delivery/rendering of an email message if the length of the message is less than 150 words. As shown in
A second parameter (305-2) in the present example is directed to a classification of the received email message. As configured in
A third parameter (305-3) in the present example is directed to the presence of a string of characters in a specified field of the email message. As configured in
A fourth parameter (305-4) of the present example is directed to the presence of a feature associated with the email message, such as an attachment or a read receipt request. As configured in
It will be understood that the configurable filter parameters (305-1 to 305-4) shown in the illustrative user interface window (300) are merely a small subset of the filter parameters that may be specified by a user to trigger alternate email rendering. As described previously, any user-specified filter parameter may be used to trigger alternate email rendering suitable to a particular application of the principles described herein. Additional exemplary user-specified filter parameters that may be applied to the principles described herein may include, but are not limited to, a specific type of email message (e.g., normal email, interactive calendar event invitation, an email message assigning an interactive task to the recipient, etc.) and a feature of a specific type of email message (e.g., the date/time of a proposed calendar event, the priority level of an interactive task, etc.).
With reference now to
The popup display window (410) may be used to immediate display an email message meeting one or more user-specified filter parameters according to the method (200,
In the present example, these buttons (415-1 to 415-7) include a reply button (415-1) that allows the user to immediately reply to the sender of the email message, a “reply all” button (415-2) that allows the user to immediately reply to the sender and all recipients of the email message, a forward button (415-3) that allows the user to forward the email message to additional recipients, a delete button (415-4) that allows the user to delete the email message, a “send to inbox” (415-5) button that allows the user to relegate the email message to the normal inbox of the email client application (140,
With reference now to
With reference now to
With reference now to
With reference now to
The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
Having thus described the invention of the present application in detail and by reference to embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims.