U.S. patent application number 11/446791 was filed with the patent office on 2006-10-12 for information delivery system for providing senders with a recipient's messaging preferences.
This patent application is currently assigned to Pitney Bowes Inc.. Invention is credited to Robert A. Law.
Application Number | 20060229934 11/446791 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 24355200 |
Filed Date | 2006-10-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060229934 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Law; Robert A. |
October 12, 2006 |
Information delivery system for providing senders with a
recipient's messaging preferences
Abstract
An information delivery system includes a web server in
operative communication with a plurality of recipients and a
plurality of senders, the plurality of senders desirous of
generating messages intended for the plurality of recipients,
respectively. The web server includes a plurality of recipient
preference profiles corresponding to the plurality of recipients,
respectively, and a plurality of sender profiles corresponding to
the plurality of senders, respectively. Each of the recipient
preference profiles includes respective information directed to the
recipient's preferences for receiving messages and the web server
provides the plurality of senders with access to the plurality of
recipient preference profiles. The web server maintains a
relationship between a log of recipient preference profiles out of
the plurality of recipient preference profiles that have been
accessed by a particular sender. For each of the recipient
preference profiles in the log of recipient preference profiles,
the web server provides a change notification to the particular
sender of a change in the recipient preference profile.
Inventors: |
Law; Robert A.; (Ridgefield,
CT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PITNEY BOWES INC.;35 WATERVIEW DRIVE
P.O. BOX 3000
MSC 26-22
SHELTON
CT
06484-8000
US
|
Assignee: |
Pitney Bowes Inc.
|
Family ID: |
24355200 |
Appl. No.: |
11/446791 |
Filed: |
June 5, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
09588763 |
Jun 6, 2000 |
7058586 |
|
|
11446791 |
Jun 5, 2006 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/7.29 ;
707/E17.109 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20130101;
G06Q 30/0201 20130101; G06Q 10/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/010 |
International
Class: |
G07G 1/00 20060101
G07G001/00 |
Claims
1. An information delivery system, comprising: a server in
operative communication with a plurality of recipients and a
plurality of senders, the plurality of senders desirous of
generating messages intended for the plurality of recipients,
respectively; and wherein: the server includes a plurality of
recipient preference profiles corresponding to the plurality of
recipients, respectively; the server maintains a relationship
between a log of recipient preference profiles out of the plurality
of recipient preference profiles that have been accessed by a
particular sender; and for each of the recipient preference
profiles in the log of recipient preference profiles, the server
provides a change notification to the particular sender of a change
in the recipient preference profile.
2. The information delivery system of claim 1, wherein: the server
comprises a web server; the web server includes a plurality of
sender profiles corresponding to the plurality of senders,
respectively; each of the recipient preference profiles includes
respective information directed to the recipient's preferences for
receiving messages; the web server provides the plurality of
senders with access to the plurality of recipient preference
profiles; and the web server notifies the particular sender in a
format specified in the particular sender's sender profile.
3. The information delivery system of claim 2, wherein: each of the
recipient preference profiles includes respective interest data;
each of the sender profiles includes respective industry
description data; and when a new recipient establishes a new
recipient preference profile, the web server provides a new
recipient notification to those senders whose industry description
data matches the new recipient's interest data.
4. The information delivery system of claim 3, wherein: the new
recipient notification of industry description data and interest
data match is in accordance with instructions provided in the
plurality of sender profiles, respectively.
5. The information delivery system of claim 4, wherein: each of the
recipient preference profiles includes respective no interest data;
and if a given sender accesses one of the plurality of recipient
preference profiles and the given sender's industry description
data matches the one of the plurality of recipient preference
profiles no interest data, then the web server provides a listing
of other senders whose industry description data matches the one of
the plurality of recipient preference profiles interest data.
6. The information delivery system of claim 5, wherein: for each of
the recipient preference profiles the web server associates a
listing of those of the plurality of senders that have accessed the
recipient preference profile; and the web server utilizes this
listing in generating the change notifications.
7. The information delivery system of claim 1, wherein: for each of
the recipient preference profiles the web server associates a
listing of those of the plurality of senders that have accessed the
recipient preference profile; and the web server utilizes this
listing in generating the change notifications.
8. The information delivery system of claim 2, wherein: each of the
recipient preference profiles includes respective interest data;
each of the sender profiles includes respective industry
description data; and when a new recipient establishes a new
recipient preference profile, the web server provides a new
recipient notification to those senders whose industry description
data matches the new recipient's interest data.
9. The information delivery system of claim 8, wherein: the new
recipient notification of industry description data and interest
data match is in accordance with instructions provided in the
plurality of sender profiles, respectively.
10. A method of operating a server for exchanging information
between a plurality of recipients and a plurality of senders
desirous of generating messages intended for the plurality of
recipients, respectively; the method comprising: storing a
plurality of recipient preference profiles corresponding to the
plurality of recipients, respectively; maintaining a relationship
between a log of recipient preference profiles out of the plurality
of recipient preference profiles that have been accessed by a
particular sender; and for each of the recipient preference
profiles in the log of recipient preference profiles, providing a
change notification to the particular sender of a change in the
recipient preference profile.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: storing a plurality
of sender profiles corresponding to the plurality of senders,
respectively, each of the recipient preference profiles includes
respective information directed to the recipient's preferences for
receiving messages; providing the plurality of senders with access
to the plurality of recipient preference profiles; and notifying
the particular sender in a format specified in the particular
sender's sender profile.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein: the server is a web server;
each of the recipient preference profiles includes respective
interest data; each of the sender profiles includes respective
industry description data; and further comprising: when a new
recipient establishes a new recipient preference profile, providing
a new recipient notification to those senders whose industry
description data matches the new recipient's interest data.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: providing the new
recipient notification of industry description data and interest
data match in accordance with instructions provided in the
plurality of sender profiles, respectively.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein: each of the recipient
preference profiles includes respective no interest data; and
further comprising: if a given sender accesses one of the plurality
of recipient preference profiles and the given sender's industry
description data matches the one of the plurality of recipient
preference profiles no interest data, then providing a listing of
other senders whose industry description data matches the one of
the plurality of recipient preference profiles interest data.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: for each of the
recipient preference profiles, associating a listing of those of
the plurality of senders that have accessed the recipient
preference profile; and utilizing this listing in generating the
change notifications.
16. The method of claim 10, further comprising: for each of the
recipient preference profiles, associating a listing of those of
the plurality of senders that have accessed the recipient
preference profile; and utilizing this listing in generating the
change notifications.
17. The method of claim 11, wherein: each of the recipient
preference profiles includes respective interest data; each of the
sender profiles includes respective industry description data; and
further comprising: when a new recipient establishes a new
recipient preference profile, providing a new recipient
notification to those senders whose industry description data
matches the new recipient's interest data.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: providing the new
recipient notification of industry description data and interest
data match in accordance with instructions provided in the
plurality of sender profiles, respectively.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a Continuation of commonly owned,
co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/588,763, filed Jun.
6, 2000 (Attorney Docket No. F-160), entitled Information Delivery
System For Providing Senders With A Recipient's Messaging
Preferences by Robert A. Law, which is incorporated herein by
reference in its entirety.
[0002] This application is related to the following co-pending
applications filed concurrently herewith and commonly assigned to
the assignee of this application: U.S. patent application Ser. No.
09/588,443, entitled MESSAGING SYSTEM HAVING RECIPIENT PROFILING
and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/588,853, entitled RECIPIENT
CONTROL OVER ASPECTS OF INCOMING MESSAGES, both of which are
specifically incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] This invention relates generally to information delivery
systems. More particularly, in the preferred embodiments, this
invention is directed to techniques allowing a recipient, receiving
messages from a plurality of different senders desiring to
communicate with the recipient, to control various aspects of the
messages techniques for ensuring that the senders have access to
updated recipient preferences.
BACKGROUND
[0004] Traditionally, recipients (individuals, businesses and
households) have had little opportunity to influence the mail that
is sent to them. Merely having a post office address has served as
an open invitation to mailers (one type of message senders) wishing
to communicate with the recipient. Historically, recipients have
been limited in their ability to control any aspects of the mail.
On the other hand, senders understand little about the messaging
preferences of the recipients and their interests.
[0005] Many factors place increased demands on the effectiveness of
messages. First, the costs of generating and delivering messages is
always increasing. Second, senders must compete for the recipient's
attention due to the large number of messages that are typically
received. Third, recipients need timely and easy access to their
messages so that they are able to retrieve and discern them
efficiently. Numerous other factors exist.
[0006] Generally, various postal authorities around the world
provided some narrow ability for a recipient to control the mail.
One service is mail forwarding where the mail is redirected from an
original address specified by the sender to another address
specified by the recipient. This service may be utilized when the
recipient moves. Although this service generally works well, it
suffers from certain drawbacks and disadvantages. As an example,
delays are typically involved in redirecting the mail. Furthermore,
the sender is typically unaware of the new address and may continue
to send subsequent mail to the old address. Address correction
databases that contain updated information about the recipient's
address are only updated periodically and must be accessed by the
sender to obtain that new information. This delay has potential
negative consequences for both the sender and the recipient. As
another example, delivery costs for the postal authority are
increased because the mail is often routed to the old address
before being forwarded to the new address. Therefore, due to all of
the above, the sender and the recipient suffer a loss in quality of
service while cost for the postal authority increase.
[0007] In addition to or as an alternative to notifying the postal
authority and described above, the recipient who has moved may
attempt to provide various senders with the new address. However,
this is time consuming and generally not very effective since it
may only pertain to physical mail.
[0008] Another type of service is mail holding where the mail is
held by the postal authority and not delivered to the recipient.
This service may be utilized when the recipient is away from home
for a period of time. Although this service generally works well,
it suffers from certain drawbacks and disadvantages. As an example,
mail tends to collect at the postal authority facilities and this
increases storage and handling costs for the postal authority.
Furthermore, the sender is typically unaware of the hold that has
been placed on delivery and may continue to send subsequent mail
believing that the recipient is receiving mail. This compounds the
storage problem for the postal authority and the timeliness issue
for the sender and the recipient.
[0009] Therefore, due to all of the above, the sender and the
recipient suffer a loss in quality of service while costs for the
postal authority are generally increased. As a result, there is a
need for improved exchange of information between the recipients
and the senders that allow for a more efficient and effective
process for senders to provide recipients with messages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The present invention provides a information delivery system
and methods for improving the collection and dissemination of
recipient preferences for messages. Generally, this is accomplished
by collecting recipient preference data and making it available to
a plurality of senders for their use in preparing messages intended
for a selected recipient.
[0011] In accordance with the present invention, there is provided
an information delivery system includes a web server in operative
communication with a plurality of recipients and a plurality of
senders, the plurality of senders desirous of generating messages
intended for the plurality of recipients, respectively. The web
server includes a plurality of recipient preference profiles
corresponding to the plurality of recipients, respectively, and a
plurality of sender profiles corresponding to the plurality of
senders, respectively. Each of the recipient preference profiles
includes respective information directed to the recipient's
preferences for receiving messages and the web server provides the
plurality of senders with access to the plurality of recipient
preference profiles. The web server maintains a relationship
between a log of recipient preference profiles out of the plurality
of recipient preference profiles that have been accessed by a
particular sender. For each of the recipient preference profiles in
the log of recipient preference profiles, the web server provides a
change notification to the particular sender of a change in the
recipient preference profile.
[0012] In accordance with the present invention, a method of
operating a web server and a data structure are also provided.
[0013] Therefore, it is now apparent that the present invention
substantially overcomes the disadvantages associated with the prior
art. Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in
the description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the
description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The
objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and
obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations
particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
constitute a part of the specification, illustrate presently
preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the
general description given above and the detailed description of the
preferred embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles
of the invention. As shown throughout the drawings, like reference
numerals designate like or corresponding parts.
[0015] FIG. 1 is a simplified representation of an information
delivery system including a web server, a plurality of plurality of
recipients and a plurality of senders, all in electronic
communication with the web server, in which the present invention
may be incorporated.
[0016] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a template for a
recipient preference profile describing various parameters intended
to control aspects of messages sent by the senders that are
intended for the recipient, in accordance with the present
invention.
[0017] FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a template for a
sender profile describing various parameters intended to control
aspects of how and when the web server communicates recipient
preference profile data to the sender, in accordance with the
present invention.
[0018] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of information flow between
the web server, the recipients and the senders that facilitates the
delivery of recipient preference profile data to the senders in
accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] Referring to FIG. 1, an example of an information delivery
system 100 in which the present invention may be incorporated is
shown. The information delivery system 100 includes a web server
110, a plurality of recipients 180 and a plurality of senders 155.
The plurality of recipients 180 and the plurality of senders 155
are in communication with the web server 110 over any suitable
communication network (LAN, WAN, telephone line, Internet, etc.)
102. In conventional fashion, the web server 110 may be any
computer system (hardware, operating system, Web server application
software, TCP/IP protocols and the Web site content or pages) that
provides World Wide Web services on the Internet. Generally, the
web server 180 collects message preference data from the recipients
180 and makes it available to the senders 155 so that the senders
155 may more efficiently and effectively communicate their messages
to the recipients 180. Therefore, those skilled in the art will
recognize that the web server 110 may employ any suitable
combination of computer hardware and software (control system) to
facilitate the storage, access and processing of information and
various communications that are required as described in greater
detail below.
[0020] The recipients 180 may be geographically dispersed and
connect to the web server 110 using any conventional type of
computer based communication system. As an example, a recipient 180
may have a computer and gain Internet access over a standard
telephone line via a modem using one of the various Internet
Service Providers (ISP), such as: America Online or CompuServe. As
another example, a recipient 180 may gain Internet access using Web
TV. Those skilled in the art will recognize that not each recipient
180 need utilize the same type of computer based communication
system in contacting the web server 110.
[0021] In analogous fashion, the senders 155 may be geographically
dispersed and connect to the web server 110 using any conventional
type of computer based communication system. Furthermore, to assist
in the creation, addressing, output generation and/or delivery of
messages, the senders 155 may employ any number and variety of
messaging systems (not shown). Examples of messaging systems are: a
traditional postage meter, such as the Personal PostO meter; an
open system postage meter, such as the ClickStampO online postage
system employing a personal computer and a dot matrix (laser, ink
jet, thermal transfer, etc.) printer; and an inserter system, such
as the 8 SeriesO inserting system; all available from Pitney Bowes
of Stamford, Conn. Still other examples of messaging systems are
shipping and logistics systems, addressing systems, such as the
AddressRightO system available from Pitney Bowes of Stamford,
Conn., electronic mail and the like. Because messaging systems are
well know, there descriptions have been limited for the sake of
brevity to only that which is necessary to provide suitable
background for an understanding of the present invention.
[0022] The recipient 180 may be individual, a household, a business
or any other type of entity/organization that receives messages.
Referring to FIG. 2 in view of FIG. 1, a template for a recipient
preference profile 190 is shown. As necessary, the recipients 180
may access their profiles in order to make corrections and changes
to any information. The recipient preference profile 190 is
preferably stored in any suitable memory device (database server,
memory farm, hard disk, etc.) as part of or operatively connected
to the web server 110 and defines various parameters intended to
control aspects of messages sent by the senders 155 that are
intended for the recipient. Those skilled in the art will recognize
that the parameters defined below are mutually exclusive and may be
employed in any combination.
[0023] The recipient preference profile 190 may include: a
recipient identifier or ID data 190a; message format data 190b;
delivery instruction data 190c; interest data 190d; no interest
data 190e; primary address data 190f and secondary address data
190g. The recipient ID data 190a may be a name (individual,
household or business) or any other suitably unique identifier
(alphanumeric, etc.) and simply distinguishes the recipient 180
from other recipients 180. The message format data 190b may
indicate the recipient's preferred mode of communication (physical
mail, electronic mail, facsimile transmission, voice mail, etc.),
combination of modes of communication and/or priority for modes of
communication in which to receive messages. The delivery
instruction data 190c indicates if any optional delivery
preferences, such as: hold messages, temporary reroute messages,
etc.; are active. For example, a hold message instruction may be
utilized by the recipient 180 when the recipient 180 is not
available (vacation, business travel, etc.) to receive messages. As
another example, the temporary reroute messages instruction may be
utilized by the recipient 180 when the recipient 180 wished to have
messages sent to an alternate address 190g (described below) during
selected time periods, such as: vacation addresses and the like.
The interest data 190d indicates if the recipient 180 has any
desire to hear from particular types of senders. The no interest
data 190e indicates if the recipient 180 has any desire to not hear
from particular types of senders. The primary address data 190f
represents the default address (postal delivery, electronic mail,
phone number, etc.) to which messages should be sent. If the
recipient 180 moves, then the primary address data 190f may be
updated by the recipient 180 to reflect a new address. Analogously,
the secondary address data 190g represents an alternate address to
which messages should be sent if directed so by the delivery
instruction data 190c.
[0024] The interest data 190d and the no interest data 190e include
indications of types of industry segments that the recipient may or
may not, respectively, wish to hear from. These data 190d and 190e
may be captured in any conventional manner. One system for
available for use is the Standard Industry Code (SIC) system that
assigns SIC numbers for a variety of well known industry segments.
As examples, automobile rental companies would be assigned a SIC
number in the range of 2100 to 2199, while automobile dealerships
would be assigned a SIC number in the range of 2400-2499 and
service stations would be assigned a SIC number in the range of
4000 to 4099. Still other SIC numbers exist for financial
institutions, health care providers, legal service providers,
professional associations, utility service providers, governmental
agencies and a variety of other industry segments. Accordingly, SIC
numbers corresponding to industries that the recipient 180 desires
to hear from could be placed in the interest data 190d while SIC
numbers corresponding to industries that the recipient 180 does not
want to hear from could be placed in the no interest data 190e.
[0025] The sender 155 may be an individual, a household, a business
or any other type of entity/organization that generates messages
intended for a recipient. However, it is primarily anticipated that
most senders 155 would be businesses. Referring to FIG. 3 in view
of FIGS. 1 and 2, a template for a sender profile 195 is shown. As
necessary, the senders 155 may access their profiles in order to
make corrections and changes to any information.
[0026] The sender profile 195 is established by the sender 155 and
may include: a sender identifier or ID data 195a; an e-mail address
195b; a physical address 195c; a series of SIC numbers 195d
describing the sender; and notification setting data 195e. The
sender ID data 195a may be a name (individual, household or
business) or any other suitably unique identifier (alphanumeric,
etc.) and simply distinguishes the sender 155 from other senders
155. The e-mail address 195b provides an electronic point of
contact for the web server 110 to transmit messages to that are
intended for the sender 155. The physical address 195c represents a
street address for the sender 155. The series of SIC numbers 195d
are, as defined and described above, used to categorize the subject
matter of the sender's activities. The notification setting data
195e define how the web server 110 is to communicate with the
sender 155. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the
parameters defined above in the sender profile 195 are mutually
exclusive and may be employed in any combination.
[0027] With the structure of the information delivery system 100
described as above, the operational characteristics will now be
described. Referring primarily to FIG. 4 while referencing the
structure of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a schematic diagram of the
information flow between the recipients 180, the web server 110 and
the senders 155 that facilitates efficient and effective exchange
of message preference information is shown.
[0028] Both recipients 180 and senders 155 provide data to the web
server 110. Generally, the recipients 180 may establish their
respective recipient preference profiles 190 with the web server
110 during a communication session in any conventional manner.
Similarly, the senders 155 may establish their respective sender
profiles 195 with the web server 110 during a communication session
in any conventional manner. Those skilled in the art will recognize
that the use of appropriate menu and/or command driven web pages
that allow the recipient and sender to log on to and provide the
sought after information described above may be accomplished in any
conventional manner.
[0029] Senders 155 may access the recipient preference profiles 190
to gain better insights into how a particular recipient 180 wishes
to be communicated with. Generally, it is anticipated that the
senders 155 would access the profiles 190 at any time prior to
dispatching a message for delivery to a particular recipient 180.
The senders may access the profiles 190 through real time
communication with the web server 110 or by downloading the
profiles 190 on a periodic basis to their computer system for
subsequent use. By having such ready access to up to date address
information and recipient preferences, sender may communicate more
efficiently and effectively with the recipients 180. Recipients 180
receive messages if they want them, in the format they want, when
they want and where they want. By allowing recipients to control
aspects of their incoming messages, their satisfaction is
increased. Also, by utilizing the web server 110, faster updating
of new addresses to senders is achieved because for updates need
only occur at a single source. Thus, the delays and costs
associated with the traditional practices described above are
substantially alleviated.
[0030] For example, the interest data 190d and the no interest data
190e may be established by the senders 155 to more effectively
route messages to the intended recipient 180. Using the interest
data 190d, the senders 155 may scan the profiles 190 looking for
recipients 180 that are likely to be interested in their messages
(solicitations, informational communication, etc.). Thus, the
senders 155 would achieve greater effectiveness on their message
delivery programs because they would have an indication the certain
recipients 180 have a previously acknowledged interest in a
particular industry or industries. On the other hand, using the no
interest data 190e, the senders 155 may also increase the
effectiveness of their message delivery programs while reducing
costs. While scanning the profiles 190 in general or accessing
profiles 190 for recipients 180 that have already be designated to
receive a message, the sender may terminate further processing of
certain messages by out sorting any recipients that have provided
an indication that they are not likely to be interested in any
messages (solicitations, information communication, etc.) from a
particular industry or industries. In other words, messages
intended for such recipients will be terminated (not generated, not
dispatched, etc.). Thus, the senders 155 would save costs by
foregoing to dispatch any messages to these recipients 180.
Additionally, these recipients 180 benefit in that the receipt of
undesired messages does not distract them.
[0031] As an additional feature, the web server 110 may also notify
the senders 155 of changes to the recipient preference profiles
190. In this manner, the senders 155 are even more certain of
having up to date information. As specified by the notification
setting data 195e, the web server 110 may provide a notification
(e-mail, physical mail, popup window or other indicator during a
subsequent communication session with the web server 110, or other
suitable technique) to the sender 155 that the recipient preference
profiles 190 have changed. If a recipient 180 updates its recipient
preference profile 190 to reflect new information, then a change
notification is generated. In the most preferred embodiment of the
present invention, this is achieved by keeping track of which
recipient preference profiles 190 the sender 155 has previously
accessed and providing a notification to the sender 155 when there
is a change to one of these previously accessed profile 190. The
tracking may be accomplished in multiple ways. One example is to
create and store a cookie. The cookie contains data created by the
web server 110 that is stored on a sender's computer and provides a
way for the web server 110 to keep track of a sender's activities.
For example, the cookie may include a listing of the ID data 190a,
along with a revision level or date, from all of the recipient
profiles 190 that the sender 155 has accessed. Then, on each
session with the web server 110, the data within the cookie may be
contrasted with the recipient profiles 190 to determine if any
changes have occurred. As another example, the listing of the ID
data 190a, along with a revision level or date, from all of the
recipient profiles 190 that the sender 155 has accessed may be
stored along with the sender profile 195 at the web server 110. In
this manner, the listing may be interrogated by the web server 110
on any periodic basis and without the need for the sender 155 to
initiate a communication session. As yet another example, a listing
of sender ID data 195a from those senders 155 accessing a
particular recipient profile 190 may be associated with the
particular recipient profile 190. Thus, if its recipient 180
changes the particular recipient profile 190, then the listing of
senders 155 requiring notification is readily available. Still
another feature is to allow the senders 155 the ability to add and
remove recipient preference profiles 190 from the automatic
notification process. Thus, the degree of relevance of the
notifications they receive is improved.
[0032] Also, as an additional optional feature, if a new recipient
180 establishes a recipient preference profile 190, then a change
notification may optionally be generated. In the most preferred
embodiment of the present invention, this is achieved by scanning
the interest data 190e of the newly added recipient preference
profile 190 and notifying only those senders 155 that have matching
interest descriptions. The senders 155 may be provided with the
entire new recipient preference profile 190 or some subset thereof,
such as an abstract or abbreviated recipient preference profile
190. Here again, it is preferable to the senders 155 to control
this notification feature by turning it on or off and specifying
the amount of information received in the notification using their
respective notification setting data 195e.
[0033] As yet an another optional feature, a sender 155 that
discovered that the sender 155 operates in an industry designated
in the no interest data 190e by a recipient 180 may not necessarily
wish to terminate messages intended for the recipient 180. The
original sender 155 may wish to explore possible synergistic
relationships with other senders 155. For example, the sender 155
may wish to collaborate with a alternate sender 155 from an
industry that has been specified in the interest data 190d from of
the recipient 180. In this manner, the alternate sender 155 may
serve as the primary contact with the recipient 180. Thus, the
original sender 155 and the alternate sender 155 may collaborate on
dispatching a message to the recipient 180. As an example, if a
recipient 180 designates financial service companies in its no
interest data 190e and home improvement companies in its interest
data 190e, then a financial service company may partner with a home
improvement company on sending a message to the recipient 180. In
this example, the home improvement company (alternate sender) may
take the "lead" on the message by describing various home
improvement products and/or services that it provides while
indicating that, if needed, a second mortgage line of credit to
cover the costs associated with the home improvements are also
available from their partner (original sender). As another example,
the original sender 155 may still dispatch a message to the
recipient without directly contacting a partner. To continue the
theme introduced above, the original sender 155 may focus the
message on obtaining a second mortgage line of credit to cover the
costs associated with the home improvements and then provide a
listing of home improvement specialists in proximity to the
recipients 180.
[0034] Thus, it should now be understood that messages from senders
falling into "no interest" categories might be modified in several
ways. The examples have been discussed above are: (i) terminating
the messages; (ii) redirecting the message as originating from a
source other than the original sender; and (iii) editing the
message to suit an interest of the recipient. To facilitate this
process, the web server 110 may scrutinize the sender profiles 195
of other senders 155 in view of the recipient preference profile
190 and provide a listing of other senders that do match the
recipient's interest data 190d. Here again, whether the sender 155
desires to avail itself of this additional service may be
controlled by the notification setting data 195e.
[0035] Based on the above description and the associated drawings,
it should now be apparent that the present invention improves many
aspects of the exchange of messages between senders and recipients
by facilitating the delivery of recipient preference information to
senders.
[0036] Many features of the preferred embodiment represent design
choices selected to best exploit the inventive concept as
implemented in a particular messaging environment as pertaining to
individual private recipients. However, those skilled in the art
will recognize that various modifications can be made without
departing from the spirit of the present invention to adapt the
concepts of the present invention to address situations where the
recipient is a business. For example, a wide variety of database
management tools exist that can facilitate access to the recipient
preference profiles. The exact manner in which these activities
occur is subject to great variation due to practical design choices
of the hardware, software, communications and data involved. As
another example, the web server 110 may operate as the message
dispatcher. Thus, the senders 155 provide instructions to the web
server 110 that control the messaging process.
[0037] Therefore, the inventive concept in its broader aspects is
not limited to the specific details of the preferred embodiments
described above, but is defined by the appended claims and their
equivalents.
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