U.S. patent application number 13/207440 was filed with the patent office on 2012-02-16 for apparatus and method for handling a message.
This patent application is currently assigned to MOBIMATE LTD.. Invention is credited to Amir KIRSHENBOIM.
Application Number | 20120042024 13/207440 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45565571 |
Filed Date | 2012-02-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120042024 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
KIRSHENBOIM; Amir |
February 16, 2012 |
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR HANDLING A MESSAGE
Abstract
The subject matter discloses a method and a computer readable
medium, storing a message handling program, to read and execute
following steps: receiving the message, said message is generated
by a machine in a structured format, the message comprises a link
to a web address; extracting the link from the received message;
determining an action to be performed by a user of the computerized
device according to the pattern associated with the received
message; associating the link with the action.
Inventors: |
KIRSHENBOIM; Amir; (Tel
Aviv, IL) |
Assignee: |
MOBIMATE LTD.
Lod
IL
|
Family ID: |
45565571 |
Appl. No.: |
13/207440 |
Filed: |
August 11, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61372879 |
Aug 12, 2010 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/206 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0267 20130101;
H04L 51/02 20130101; G06Q 50/14 20130101; H04L 51/18 20130101; G06F
3/0482 20130101; G06Q 30/0255 20130101; H04M 1/72445 20210101; G06F
40/134 20200101; G06F 40/205 20200101; G06Q 10/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/206 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16 |
Claims
1. A method of handling a message at a computerized device,
comprising, receiving the message, said message is generated by a
machine in a structured format, the message comprises a link to a
web address; extracting the link from the received message;
determining an action to be performed by a user of the computerized
device according to a pattern associated with the received message;
associating the link with the action.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the link comprises
mark-up language.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the link is a deep-link
enabling inputting information into a specific web page.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the link includes
information that is required to be passed to fields in the web
page.
5. The method according to claim 4, further comprises a step of
automatically filling fields in the web page.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the step of
automatically filling fields in the web page is performed by a
server.
7. The method according to claim 1, further comprises a step of
displaying the action on a display unit of the computerized
device.
8. The method according to claim 7, further comprises a step of
determining the time in which the action is suggested and
displaying the action on the determined time.
9. The method according to claim 7, further comprises a step of
generating an icon on the display unit of the computerized device,
said icon displays the action, such that pressing the icon
activates one or more commands that perform the message in a manner
transparent to the user.
10. The method according to claim 1, further comprises a step of
associating the received message to a known pattern to determine
the action associated with the received message.
11. A computer readable medium, storing a message handling program,
to read and execute following steps: receiving the message, said
message is generated by a machine in a structured format, the
message comprises a link to a web address; extracting the link from
the received message; determining an action to be performed by a
user of the computerized device according to the pattern associated
with the received message; associating the link with the action.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to web-based services provided
to users of computerized devices and overlaying uniform user
interfaces over equivalent services in particular.
[0003] 2. Discussion of the Related Art
[0004] Travel suppliers such as airlines typically provide
customers a website and possibly a mobile website where customers
can take actions like checking-in to a flight, selecting a seat,
checking flight information and the like. Such customers are users
of the travel suppliers websites or computerized applications and
need to navigate to the site URL to use such services. In the site,
customers are also required to navigate a menu system to reach the
page of the desired action. While these services are generally
comparable, each supplier has a separate website, at a different
address (URL), with a different menu system and look-and-feel.
Furthermore, the different settings of each site are changed from
time to time by the suppliers. Typically, to reach such a site,
users need to manually enter the URL, or click a link provided in a
message such as an email or SMS to reach the specific address or
perform a specific action within the site. Separate bookmarks or
messages are required for each supplier or action. This lack of
consistency is detrimental from the user's perspective as the user
needs to learn how to navigate and use multiple different systems
that essentially perform the same operations, and needs to manually
retrieve the right addresses for each supplier and/or action.
[0005] In order to provide a user with one-click access to these
services, a set of bookmarks or messages needs to be stored on the
customer's mobile device or computerized device a-priori, taking
into account all the possible travel suppliers that may provide
such services. In such a system, all these addresses also have to
be updated from time to time in case a provider is added or changes
the location or structure of their mobile website. Also in such a
case, specific information pertaining to a future reservation made
by a traveler or a customer cannot be encoded as it is not known
a-priori.
[0006] Alternatively, the user is required to either manually enter
a URL in real time, or find the link in a message sent to him. Each
of these actions is time consuming and relatively uncomfortable to
perform on a mobile device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is an object of the subject matter to disclose a method
of handling a message at a computerized device, comprising
receiving the message, said message is generated by a machine in a
structured format, the message comprises a link to a web address;
extracting the link from the received message; associating the
message to a known pattern to determine an action to be performed
by a user of the computerized device according to the pattern
associated with the received message; and associating the link with
the action.
[0008] In some cases, the link comprises mark-up language. In some
cases, the link is a deep-link enabling inputting information into
a specific web page. In some cases, the link includes information
that is required to be passed to fields in the web page. In some
cases, the method further comprises a step of automatically filling
fields in the web page. In some cases, the step of automatically
filling fields in the web page is performed by a server.
[0009] In some cases, the method further comprises a step of
displaying the action on a display unit of the computerized device.
In some cases, the method further comprises a step of determining
the time in which the action is suggested and displaying the action
on the determined time. In some cases, the method further comprises
a step of generating an icon on the display unit of the
computerized device, said icon displays the action, such that
pressing the icon activates one or more commands that perform the
message in a manner transparent to the user.
[0010] It is another object of the subject matter to disclose a
computer readable medium, storing a message handling program, to
read and execute the steps disclosed above.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] Exemplary non-limited embodiments of the disclosed subject
matter will be described, with reference to the following
description of the embodiments, in conjunction with the figures.
The figures are generally not shown to scale and any sizes are only
meant to be exemplary and not necessarily limiting. Corresponding
or like elements are optionally designated by the same numerals or
letters.
[0012] FIG. 1 shows a computerized environment for handling
messages in a user's device, according to exemplary embodiments of
the subject matter;
[0013] FIG. 2 shows a computerized method for handling messages at
a user's device, according to exemplary embodiments of the subject
matter;
[0014] FIG. 3 shows a computerized system for handling messages at
a user's device, according to exemplary embodiments of the subject
matter;
[0015] FIG. 4 shows a method for handling messages and components
used to implement the method, according to exemplary embodiments of
the disclosed subject matter;
[0016] FIG. 5 shows a user's device behavior in for handling
messages, according to exemplary embodiments of the subject
matter.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0017] The subject matter discloses a system and method for
providing a uniform user experience and simplifying user
interaction by handling messages sent to a computerized device,
such as a Personal computer or a mobile device. The messages may be
sent from a supplier to a consumer associated with a message
account such as an email account or an SMS account. The subject
matter may be used for messages sent from travel suppliers, retails
suppliers, entertainment suppliers and the like.
[0018] The method comprises a step of receiving a message
concerning an action. The message may be received by an email
client, at the email server, at an SMS server and the like. After
detection of the message, the message is parsed to determine
whether an action is contained in the received message. Such action
may be checking in, making a reservation, updating reservation,
paying, verifying a purchase, checking stock values, buying,
selling and the like.
[0019] According to some exemplary embodiments of the subject
matter, the message sent to the user contains a link. The link may
be a standard URL link to a web page or another data representing
an address. The link may be to a content provider, for example a
website of the travel supplier. The website can alternatively be a
computerized application available only upon receipt of the message
from the supplier, not to any person surfing the internet.
[0020] After receiving the message that contains the link, the
processor that handles the message associates the message with one
or more actions. The actions may be described in the message
itself. Alternatively, the action is derived from or identified by
the data stored at the address targeted in the link. In such case,
the processor retrieves data from the link target and determines
the action according to the data stored at the link. A storage unit
communicating with the processor stores a plurality of actions and
settings related to the actions, such as formats and data fields.
The storage unit may store identifiers of actions and link targets,
such that a link target is associated with an action using the
identifiers.
[0021] In some exemplary cases, the message is not associated with
an action, but includes links to actions as a by-product. In
addition, the message is not processed to figure out the actions
but to match to an existing pattern--in which the actions were
already figured out. Rather, the specific URL for the specific
action by the specific user is extracted.
[0022] FIG. 1 shows a computerized environment for detecting
messages in a user's device, according to exemplary embodiments of
the subject matter. The computerized environment 100 comprises a
sender 110 for sending messages to a receiver's device 130 via a
network 120. The sender may be a colleague, a travel agency, a
hotel, a theatre, a service provider, a retail manager or another
person or entity related to an action to be performed by the user
of the receiver's device 130.
[0023] The receiver's device 130 comprises a communication
receiver, such as an email client 140 or another unit for detecting
other messages such as SMS, MMS, instant messages and the like. The
receiver's device 130 may also comprise a communication detector,
such as a communication grabber 150, for detecting messages
received at the communication receiver. The communication detector
comprises a set of rules according to which a detected message is
associated with a predetermined action, such as purchase of
commodity. The grabber 150 listens to messages received at a user's
account. The grabber 150 may also analyze the received message to
decide how to handle it. If the grabber 150 is located at the
receiver's device 130, the first step is determining whether the
received message should be handled or not. In some cases, the
second level parsing and the extraction of the data from the
received message are performed at the server.
[0024] The communication detector may comprise a parser unit for
parsing at least a portion of the detected message. The parsing
unit may parse only a predetermined field or segment of the
detected message, for example the sender field, the subject, the
first 100 characters and the like. The parsing may include two
phases. The first phase provides for parsing the message according
to the domain from which the message was sent, for example from a
domain listed in a storage connected to the communication grabber
150. Such storage includes a set of rules and domain names related
to the predetermined field, such as domain names of travel
agencies, car rental agencies, service providers and the like. The
second phase of the parsing includes exclusion of keywords such as
reminder and cancellation, detecting regular expressions on subject
and attachment name, and searching in email body. The set of rules
on the user's device 130 may be modified frequently or according to
actions made by the user. Such modifications may result from
periodic updates mechanism or pushed updates etc received from a
central unit handling the rules. The user's device 130 also
communicates with a website 170. The website 170 comprises a web
page or an online application to which the link of the received
message points.
[0025] FIG. 2 shows a computerized method for handling messages at
a user's device, according to exemplary embodiments of the subject
matter. In step 210, the message is received at the user's device.
The message may be an email, SMS, instant messaging communication
and the like. The user's device may be a mobile device, a personal
computer, laptop and the like. The message received at the user's
device is generated by a machine, not by a person. The message may
have a standard format sent to multiple users or recipients. In
step 215, the received message is parsed by a parser. In some
cases, the parser contains data related to the location of specific
data fields in the message, when the message is provided in
patterns.
[0026] In step 220, data is extracted from the received message.
Such data may include time, action, supplier such as a car rental
agency, prices and the like. In some cases, the content of the
message is compared with a list of actions stored at the user's
device or at a server performing the method of the disclosed
subject matter. The list of actions may contain actions such as
"update", "cancel", "check-in", "book", "buy", "change" and the
like. In some other exemplary cases, the message is associated with
a pattern of messages, such as a standard message from a specific
company. The pattern is analyzed to associate an action with the
data extracted from the pattern. As a result, the received message
is associated with an action according to the pattern
[0027] In step 230, a link contained in the received message is
extracted from the message. The link may be a standard link to a
web page or another data representing an address or a location in
the website of an entity associated with the message. The entity
associated with the message may be the sender or another supplier
of services or goods offered or included in the message. For
example, a message from a travel agency may include a link to a
hotel website or a link to a hotel mobile application. The website
can alternatively be a computerized application available only upon
receipt of the message from the supplier, not to any person surfing
the internet. In some cases, the message may be compared to a known
pattern, in which links to actions are embedded, to retrieve the
specific links sent to the user in the message.
[0028] In step 240, the link and other data extracted from the
received message are associated with an action. For example, when
receiving an email message concerning a flight that requires the
user to check-in, a link to check-in appears in the message. The
action, check-in, also appears in the message. In some exemplary
cases, the link and action are also associated with an event, such
as the time a purchased item is to be delivered to the person who
received the message. Such event may also be a flight.
[0029] In step 245, an icon is generated on the user's device.
Generation of the icon may be performed at the user's device or by
a server communicating with the user's device. The icon enables the
user to perform the action extracted from the received message. The
action may be performed by pressing the icon, as pressing the icon
activates a command or several commands. Such commands may be
filling data at a predefined address, sending a cancellation
message and the like.
[0030] In step 250, a time may be associated with the action. The
time is used to determine when to display the action associated
with the received message. Such time may also be associated with
the event, and with a general rule concerning the event. For
example, when the message contains the action of checking in a
flight, the flight time is relevant to the time the user is
required to check-in. Such time may be 24 hours before the flight
for suggesting the user to check-in. In some cases, the actions are
displayed immediately after associated with the data extracted from
the received message.
[0031] In step 260, the action is displayed to the user. The action
may be displayed by an icon generated in step 245. The action may
be displayed using an icon on the user's display device. Activating
the action enables the user to directly point at the specific web
page or web application without the requirement to look for the
message, which in many cases is received weeks before the date of
the action, or otherwise locate or enter the link. The format of
the action displayed to the user may be generic. In such cases,
displaying the action to the user when performing the action makes
the format of the message irrelevant. In step 270, the link is
opened using a browser. When the link is opened, a software agent
in the computerized device, such as user's device 130, may fill
data fields in the webpage in order to facilitate the action for
the user. In some cases, the link contains the data to be inputted
in the data fields in the webpage. In some other cases, inputting
data in the data fields is performed using a screen scraping
method. The data inputted in the data fields may enable
authentication of the user of the computerized device, may reduce
the number of data fields to be inputted by the user and the like.
The data automatically inputted in step 270 may be stored in the
computerized device or in the application server, such as 160 of
FIG. 1.
[0032] FIG. 3 shows a computerized system for handling messages at
a user's device, according to exemplary embodiments of the subject
matter.
[0033] The system 300 comprises a receiver 330. The receiver 330
receives a new message at the message account of the user, for
example an incoming SMS or an email message. The receiver 330 may
listen to the email account of the user's device or to an email
server associated with the user's email account. The receiver 330
may be implemented in a copy of the message account stored in the
application server or in the user's computerized device. Upon
receiving a new message to the user, the receiver 330 notifies a
processor 310 of the system 300 that a message has been received.
The receiver 330 may not be connected to the message account of the
user, as in some cases the user of the computerized device actively
sends the message to the system.
[0034] The processor 310 receives the message from the receiver 330
or retrieves the message from the message server. The processor 310
may parse the received message and extract the link from the
message. The processor 310 may further determine which of a
plurality of links is associated with the computerized device used.
For example, the message may contain two or more links for
performing the same action, such as "update", each meant to be used
on a specific class of computerized device--for instance a desktop
computer, a Smartphone and the like. In such case, the processor
310 determines the proper link according to the device in which the
action is to be performed. The processor 310 may further extract an
action from the message. Extracting the action may be performed by
comparing the message against a known pattern. Extracting the
action may also be performed by comparing data parsed from the
message with a plurality of actions stored at storage 340. The
processor 310 may also associate the extracted link and the action.
Such association may be performed by a set of rules or by the
content of the message. The processor 310 may also determine the
time to use the link to perform the action. The time determined by
the processor 310 may be used to activate a reminder on the user's
device to perform the extracted action. Such time may be 2 hours
before the action, for example in case the action requires opening
the link to register for a lecture, or 24 hours, for example in
case the event is a flight and the action is checking in the
flight.
[0035] The processor 310 may be connected to a storage unit 340
that contains rules concerning identifying a link and an action
from the received message. In some exemplary cases, the storage
unit 340 stores rules that are received from a server that may also
extract data from the received message. Such rules received from
the server concern extraction of content from messages and
associating time with the action and the link. The rules may also
be sent from an application server such as 160 of FIG. 1.
[0036] The system 300 may also comprise a transmitter 320 for
transmitting messages to an entity external to the system 300. The
transmitter 320 may alternatively send messages from a remote
location such as an email server when the system 300 is located
externally to the user's mobile device. The transmitter 320 may
also send an alert in case the action is required at a specific
time and the user did not perform it using the suggested link.
[0037] The system 300 may further comprise a user interface module
350. The user interface module 350 provides the user a display of
the link. The user interface module 350 may display the link in a
generic format or in a format related to the action or to the link,
or according to a rule defined by the user or according to a rule
stored in the storage unit 340.
[0038] FIG. 4 shows a method for handling messages and components
used to implement the method, according to exemplary embodiments of
the disclosed subject matter. The message is received at a user's
inbox 410. The user's inbox 410 may reside at an email server.
Alternatively or simultaneously, the message may be received at the
user's computerized device 420, such as the user's mobile device.
The received message may be a travel message 425 or any other
message that involves an action. The received action may also
relate to entertainment, culture, politics, sports, education and
the like.
[0039] A parsing unit 430 parses the received message. The parsing
may extract the action and other relevant data from the received
message. Such relevant data may be time, sender identity, message
type, computerized device used to perform the action, link and the
like. The parsing unit may receive a message at a predefined
format. For example, travel agencies and flight companies send
email messages at a predefined format. Such format may be stored at
the parsing unit for extracting data fields from known
patterns.
[0040] The parsing unit 430 determines whether the received message
relates to a flight 442, a car registration 444, a hotel
registration 446 and the like. The parsing unit 430 further
extracts actions 450. The data extracted from the parsing unit 430
is transmitted to a logic unit 455. The logic unit 455 analyzes the
data extracted from the parsing unit. For example, the logic unit
455 generates icons associated with the actions 450. The import
logic 455 determines the actions 450 to be suggested to the user.
The import logic further determines other offers to be suggested to
the user 470, not only actions. Such offers may relate to update or
change parameters related to previous registrations. For example,
in case the import logic 455 stores a hotel registration that fits
the user more than a previous registration. For example, in case
the user registered to a hotel and two weeks later the hotel has a
better price, the import logic 455 may send a message to the user
470 with the relevant data and a link to an action of cancelling
the previous order and performing a new one.
[0041] The import logic 455 may also be connected to a trip
database 460. The trip database stores data related to the user's
trips. In some cases, the import logic is a server communicating
with multiple users and the trip database 460 stores data related
to multiple users trips. The trip database 460 stores dates,
prices, events, meetings and the like. Data records related to the
trip may be stored at the trip database 460. Similarly, data
related to other topics may be stored in other databases such as
family database, work database, entertainment database and the
like. The data records stored in the trips database 460 may be a
flight record 475 and a hotel record 480. The flight record 475 is
associated with flight action 472 and the hotel record 480 is
associated with a hotel action 482. The user may review the
suggested actions and perform such actions from several systems and
architectures, such as email message 495, mobile application 492
and a website 490 associated with the method of the disclosed
subject matter.
[0042] FIG. 5 shows a user's device behavior in for handling
messages, according to exemplary embodiments of the subject matter.
The user's device 510 may be a smartphone, a cellular phone, a PDA,
a tablet, a laptop and the like. The user's device 510 comprises a
receiver 515 used to receive signals. The receiver 515 may be an
antenna. The signals may be messages handled by the method and
system of the subject matter. The user's device 510 comprises a
display unit. The display unit displays data to the user, for
example time, received messages, files, and the like. The user may
also use the display unit 540 to input data into the user's device
510, for example using a touch screen keyboard.
[0043] When a message is received at the user's device 510, an
action is extracted from the message or identified by a
computerized entity handling the received message. Along with the
action, the computerized entity may also determine a time for
performing the action, a link used to perform the action, and other
data relevant for facilitating the user in performing the
action.
[0044] The computerized entity may also determine to display an
icon on the display of the user's device 510. Such icon may be used
to perform the action in a manner transparent to the user. For
example, when a "cancel" icon 530 is generated, the icon 530 is
displayed immediately or at the time determined by the processor
310. When the user presses the "cancel" icon 530, a set of commands
or operations is activated. The set of commands or operations may
be stored at the user's device 510 or at a storage communicating
with the user's device and used to facilitate performing of such
actions. The user is not aware of any actual actions performed as
part of the set of actions, for example browsing, filling data,
activating an add-on software module and the like. Similarly, the
user may press "upgrade" icon 533 and "check-in" icon 535 to
perform these actions. The icons may also represent other actions,
such as update, confirm and the like. Data relevant to the actions
may be displayed in action display 520. For example, when the
actions in icons 530, 533 and 535 relate to a flight, the action
display 520 displays items related to the flight, such as the
flight number and the like.
[0045] In some cases, the information obtained from the received
message is not sufficient to perform the action, for example to
send the data to a service provider. For example, a "check-in" link
may include a user's e-ticket and last name, but the user may need
additional information to complete the action. Such additional
information may be the user's passport number or frequent flyer
number. In some cases, the system may complete such additional
information into an automated flow. The system of the disclosed
subject matter obtains the additional information from its own
databases, for example a database storing information about users,
a user profiles etc. The system may also obtain additional
information related to other types of information, such as user
preferences, for example `window seat`, `meal type` and the
like.
[0046] In some exemplary cases, the method of the subject matter
also comprises a step of automatically performing the actions
associated with the received message. For example, instead of
asking the user to press an icon or a button in order to command
execution of an action, the user may configure the system, either a
mobile application or website, to automatically perform some
actions. The system may use the data obtained from the received
message and data stored at the system in order to perform the
action. For example, the user may dictate automatic check-in 24
hours before flights. This facilitates the user and saves time and
energy.
[0047] While the disclosure has been described with reference to
exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in
the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be
substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope
of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to
adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings without
departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is
intended that the disclosed subject matter not be limited to the
particular embodiment disclosed as the best mode contemplated for
carrying out this invention, but only by the claims that
follow.
* * * * *