U.S. patent application number 14/318676 was filed with the patent office on 2015-12-31 for system and method for email management through detection and analysis of dynamically variable behavior and activity patterns.
This patent application is currently assigned to Avaya Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Avaya Inc.. Invention is credited to Reinhard Klemm, Parameshwaran Krishnan, Navjot Singh.
Application Number | 20150381533 14/318676 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 54931782 |
Filed Date | 2015-12-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150381533 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Klemm; Reinhard ; et
al. |
December 31, 2015 |
System and Method for Email Management Through Detection and
Analysis of Dynamically Variable Behavior and Activity Patterns
Abstract
Techniques for aiding an email recipient in the management of
inbound email by detecting, and configurably responding to,
dynamically variable patterns of activity and behavior are
described. Characteristics are extracted from new email messages
originated by senders and intended for a recipient. One or more
patterns of sender activity, recipient message management behavior,
and/or message response behavior, relating to treatment of messages
from individual senders and/or plural senders in the aggregate, are
identified. The patterns are identified by analyzing statistics
collected by the extraction of characteristics from email messages
previously received by the recipient. Before the recipient reads a
new email, a determination is made as to whether any deviation from
an identified pattern exists; and, if so, a pre-existing rule for
treatment of the new message is enforced and/or a new rule
specifying treatment of at least some messages from the sender of
the email is proposed.
Inventors: |
Klemm; Reinhard; (Basking
Ridge, NJ) ; Krishnan; Parameshwaran; (Basking Ridge,
NJ) ; Singh; Navjot; (Somerset, NJ) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Avaya Inc. |
Santa Clara |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Avaya Inc.
Santa Clara
CA
|
Family ID: |
54931782 |
Appl. No.: |
14/318676 |
Filed: |
June 29, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
709/206 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 51/02 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04L 12/58 20060101
H04L012/58; G06N 5/04 20060101 G06N005/04 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: extracting email
characteristics from a new message received, at a messaging server,
from a first sender and intended for a recipient; identifying, from
statistics derived from previously received messages, at least one
of a pattern of recipient message management or message response
behavior relating to treatment of messages from each of a plurality
of senders, or a pattern of sender activity; detecting, prior to
reading of the new message by the recipient, whether any deviation
from a pattern identified during the identifying exists; and if a
deviation is detected, at least one of performing an action on the
received message or proposing, to the recipient, a rule for
treatment of email messages from the first sender.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the detecting includes
determining at least one of a contemporaneous volume or rate of
change in a volume of new e-mail messages from the first sender and
intended for the recipient; a contemporaneous volume or rate of
change in a volume of new e-mail messages from a plurality of
senders and intended for the recipient; a contemporaneous rate of
change in a volume of at least one of new messages received from
the first sender and read by the recipient or email messages
received from the first sender and managed by the recipient; or a
contemporaneous rate of change in a volume of at least one of new
messages received from a plurality of senders and read by the
recipient or email messages received from the plurality of senders
and managed by the recipient.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the identifying
includes accessing a recipient profile for the recipient containing
at least one of sender frequency statistics, recipient response
statistics or management rate statistics gathered by extraction of
email characteristics from prior email messages received by the
recipient.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the extracting and
identifying are performed by a server.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the extracting and
identifying are performed by a client email application from which
the recipient accesses an email account inbox containing the
received new email message.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein an action is taken or a
rule is proposed to the recipient based on detecting that a
contemporaneous rate of receiving messages originating from the
first sender exceeds a threshold rate applicable to the specific
sender or a threshold rate applicable to all senders.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein a rule is proposed to
delete the new message and all future messages from the first
sender.
8. The method according to claim 1, further including generating a
recipient profile for the recipient from previously received e-mail
messages, by: receiving, within a monitoring period, a plurality of
email messages from respective senders and intended for the
recipient; extracting email characteristics from the received first
plurality of email messages; and gathering usage statistics from
the extracted email characteristics, the usage statistics including
at least one of sender frequency statistics, recipient response
statistics or management rate statistics.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the generating further
includes determining, from sender frequency statistics, how often
each of a respective plurality of senders sends email to the
recipient.
10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the generating further
includes a step of identifying a sender frequency threshold
applicable to at least one of the first sender, a subset of
senders, or all senders.
11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the generating further
includes determining, from recipient response statistics, a
sender-specific average time elapsed between delivery to or receipt
of respective messages, originated by a specific sender, and
initiation of corresponding responses by the recipient to the
specific sender.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the generating
further includes determining, from the recipient response
statistics, an aggregate average time elapsed between delivery to
or receipt of respective messages, originated by each sender of a
plurality of senders, and initiation of corresponding responses by
the recipient.
13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the generating
further includes a step of identifying a recipient responsiveness
threshold applicable to at least one of the first sender, a subset
of senders, or all senders.
14. The method according to claim 11, further including sending an
automated reply message to the first sender when a rate of incoming
new email messages exceeds a contemporaneous rate at which the
recipient has managed email messages in an email account inbox.
15. The method according to claim 11, wherein response statistics
for the recipient are derived based on at least one of replies to
received emails by the recipient, forwarding of emails by the
recipient to another recipient, or telephone calls conducted
between the recipient and a sender.
16. The method according to claim 11, further including at least
one of determining that a contemporaneous rate at which the
recipient has managed email messages exceeds an average response
rate or threshold response rate, or determining that the recipient
deletes messages from the first sender without reading them; and
prompting the user to accept a rule enforced by an email server or
email application to delete, upon receipt, emails received from the
first sender.
17. An apparatus comprising: a computer having one or more
processors, memory and at least one network interface, and further
comprising: a message manager module, including instructions
executable by the one or more processors and configured to: receive
a new email message for a recipient from a first sender; extract
email characteristics from the received email message; determine at
least one of a contemporaneous volume or rate of change in a volume
of new e-mail messages from the first sender and intended for the
recipient; a contemporaneous volume or rate of change in a volume
of new e-mail messages from a plurality of senders and intended for
the recipient; a contemporaneous rate of change in a volume of at
least one of new messages received from the first sender and read
by the recipient or email messages received from the first sender
and managed by the recipient; or a contemporaneous rate of change
in a volume of at least one of new messages received from a
plurality of senders and read by the recipient or email messages
received from the plurality of senders and managed by the
recipient; access a recipient profile containing usage statistics
comprising at least one of sender frequency statistics, recipient
response statistics or management rate statistics gathered by
extraction of email characteristics from prior email messages; and
perform, on the received email message, an action according to at
least one of the recipient profile or a determined contemporaneous
volume or rate.
17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein responsive to
performance of the action, the message manager module is operative
to generate and transmit, over the network interface, a message to
the first sender.
18. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein responsive to
performance of the action, the message manager module is operative
to generate and transmit a message to the recipient.
19. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the message
manager module is operative to collect the usage statistics a
period of time.
20. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the message
manager is operative to retrieve the usage statistics from a remote
server over the network interface.
21. A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions
that, when executed by a processor, cause a system to: extract
email characteristics from a new message received, at a messaging
server, from a first sender and intended for a recipient; identify,
from statistics derived from previously received messages, at least
one of a pattern of recipient message management or message
response behavior relating to treatment of messages from each of a
plurality of senders, or a pattern of sender activity; detect,
prior to reading of the new message by the recipient, whether any
deviation from a pattern identified during the identifying exists;
and if a deviation is detected, perform an action on the received
message or propose taking of such action to the recipient.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to
messaging in communication systems and, more particularly, to
systems and methods for managing high volumes of incoming
messages.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] The volume of e-mail, inclusive of voice-to-text messages,
arriving in a recipient's inbox can be both unpredictable and
overwhelming. Depending on a person's meeting schedule, there may
be insufficient time to read, let alone acknowledge and respond to,
even a fraction of the e-mail that may arrive in the course of a
business day. This issue is only exacerbated when the recipient
must travel, attend training or seminars, or is out of the office
(e.g., on vacation).
[0005] While rules-based approaches to dealing within the
management of e-mail messages are well known, they are somewhat
inflexible and typically require a substantial effort on the part
of the user for setup and maintenance. As a result, e-mail users
may be slow or unwilling to embrace such approaches.
[0006] Moreover, the inventors herein have observed that current
email applications, whether hosted at a server or executing as a
client application on a recipient's communication terminal, neither
track dynamically changing e-mail account patterns in email usage,
activity, or behavior, nor provide any suggestion of what action
might be taken on the recipient's behalf, when certain patterns or
changes in patterns are detected. A lack of effective techniques
and systems for dealing with such problems as a transient increase
in the volume of unread messages in an inbox can be stressful to
the email recipient and result in less efficient usage of email as
a business tool.
[0007] A need therefore exists for configurable, dynamically
adaptive, and user friendly techniques for managing excessive email
volumes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts
in a simplified form that are further described below in the
Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key
features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor
is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the
claimed subject matter.
[0009] A method for aiding an email recipient in the management of
inbound email by detecting, and configurably responding to,
dynamically variable patterns of activity and behavior is
described. According to one or more embodiments, the method
extracts characteristics from new email messages addressed to the
recipient and received from a plurality of senders. In some
embodiments, the method analyzes statistics accumulated from the
extraction of characteristics from email messages previously
received by the recipient. In embodiments, the statistics include
time and date of receipt in the recipient's inbox, time and date
first read by the recipient, the frequency of email messages
received by the recipient from each of a plurality of senders over
time, and the rate(s) at which emails received from each sender
and/or a plurality of senders in the aggregate are read, responded
to, and/or managed by the recipient. The method identifies one or
more patterns of behavior or activity in the accumulated
statistics.
[0010] In some embodiments, the method identifies patterns specific
to the e-mail messages sent by a particular sender, patterns
applicable to the way the recipient responds to and/or manages
email sent by a particular sender, and/or patterns applicable to
the way the recipient responds to and/or manages email sent by a
group of senders in the aggregate, wherein the group may comprise
all senders from whom the recipient has received email messages, or
a subset of such senders. As used herein, "manages" includes
categorizing emails, filing email under various subfolders,
flagging email as "To Do" items, and deleting emails. Before the
recipient reads and/or manages a new email message, a determination
is made as to whether any deviation from an identified pattern
exists; and, if so, a pre-existing rule for treatment of the new
message can be enforced and/or a new rule specifying treatment of
at least some messages from the sender of the email is proposed. In
some embodiments, a pre-existing rule is slightly modified based on
a combination of recently monitored behavior and longer term
behavioral history? Or, if such a rule does not exist yet, a new
own is established based on the recipient's behavior.
[0011] In another embodiment, an apparatus for aiding an email
recipient in the management of inbound messages by detecting, and
configurably responding to, dynamically variable patterns of
activity and behavior is described. A computer having one or more
processors, memory and at least one network interface, further
comprises a message manager module including instructions
executable by the one or more processors. According to one or more
embodiments, the message manager module is operative to receive a
new email message for a recipient from a first sender, and to
extract email characteristics from the received email message. In
an embodiment, the message manager module is further operative to
determine one or more of the following: (a) a contemporaneous
volume or rate of change in a volume of new e-mail messages from
the first sender and intended for the recipient; (b) a
contemporaneous volume or rate of change in a volume of new e-mail
messages from a plurality of senders and intended for the
recipient; (c) a contemporaneous rate of change in a volume of at
least one of new messages received from the first sender and read
by the recipient or email messages received from the first sender
and managed by the recipient; and (d) a contemporaneous rate of
change in a volume of at least one of new messages received from a
plurality of senders and read by the recipient or email messages
received from the plurality of senders and managed by the
recipient. In an embodiment, the message manager module is further
operative to access usage statistics comprising at least one of
sender frequency statistics, recipient response statistics or
management rate statistics gathered by extraction of email
characteristics from prior email messages, and to perform, on the
received email message, an action according to a determined
contemporaneous volume or rate.
[0012] In yet another embodiment, a computer readable medium for
aiding an email recipient in the management of inbound messages by
detecting, and configurably responding to, dynamically variable
patterns of activity and behavior is described. According to one or
more embodiments, the computer readable medium comprises
instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a system to:
extract email characteristics from a new message received from a
first sender and intended for a recipient, and to identify, from
statistics derived from previously received messages, at least one
of a pattern of recipient message management or message response
behavior relating to treatment of messages from each of a plurality
of senders or a pattern of sender activity. The medium further
comprises instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a
system to detect, prior to reading of the new message by the
recipient, whether any deviation from an identified recipient
response/management pattern exists and, if a deviation is detected,
to perform an action on the received message or propose taking of
such action to the recipient.
[0013] In an embodiment, if the system detects the absence of any
recipient action, contrary to an identified behavioral pattern on
the part of the recipient, the system proposes taking the "typical"
action normally undertaken by the recipient. For example, if the
recipient typically reads an email from a particular sender within
ninety minutes but now fails to do so, the system could remind the
user to read that particular sender's email.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1A is a block diagram depicting a communication system
configured to aid email recipients in the management of their
email, through detection and analysis of dynamically variable
behavior and activity patterns, according to one or more network
centric embodiments;
[0015] FIG. 1B is a block diagram depicting a communication system
configured to aid email recipients in the management of their
email, through detection and analysis of dynamically variable
behavior and activity patterns, according to one or more
communication terminal (e.g., "endpoint") centric embodiments;
[0016] FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting, in greater detail, the
interaction between the functional components according to the
embodiments exemplified by FIG. 1A;
[0017] FIG. 3A is a graphical representation depicting the
frequency at which a plurality of senders have sent messages,
including email messages, to a recipient over time, forming a
portion of statistics gathered according to one or more
embodiments;
[0018] FIG. 3B is a graphical representation depicting the time
taken by a recipient to respond to email messages received from a
plurality of recipients over time, as well as average response
times computed for selected senders, forming a portion of
statistics gathered according to one or more embodiments;
[0019] FIG. 3C is a graphical representation depicting monitored
changes in the rate at which new unread messaged are accumulated in
a recipient's email inbox, over a time window preceding but
contemporaneous with receipt of email messages from a plurality of
senders vs. monitored changes in the rate at which the recipient
has replied to or managed received email messages during the same
time window;
[0020] FIG. 3D is a graphical representation depicting the
classification of e-mail management outcomes over a time window
preceding but contemporaneous with receipt of email messages from a
plurality of senders, during which a recipient has either archived,
forwarded, deleted, replied to, or forwarded messages received from
one specific sender;
[0021] FIG. 3E is a graphical representation depicting the
classification of e-mail management outcomes over a time window
preceding but contemporaneous with receipt of email messages from a
plurality of senders, during which a recipient has either archived,
forwarded, deleted, replied to, or forwarded messages received from
another specific sender;
[0022] FIG. 3F is a graphical representation depicting the
correlation of recipient response times to received email messages
to the presence of one or more key words in those messages, over a
time window preceding but contemporaneous with receipt of email
messages from a plurality of senders;
[0023] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting a technique for aiding
recipients in the management of their email, through detection and
analysis of dynamically variable behavior and activity patterns,
according to one or more embodiments;
[0024] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting discrete sub-steps
applicable to the identification of one or more patterns through
analysis of collected email account statistics, according to
embodiments exemplified by FIG. 4;
[0025] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting discrete sub-steps
applicable to the analysis of contemporaneous email account
statistics in order to indentify deviations from identified
patterns, according to embodiments exemplified by FIG. 4;
[0026] FIG. 7A is a screen shot depicting a user interface,
displayed on a recipient's communication terminal, obtained by
local execution of an e-mail messaging client application by a
processor of the terminal and depicting an inbox managed through
detection and analysis of dynamically variable behavior and
activity patterns, according to one or more embodiments;
[0027] FIGS. 7B and 7C are respective screen shots depicting the
display of an alert notification generated by an email message
management application, and the corresponding prompt displayed to
the recipient, each according to one or more embodiments.
[0028] While the method and apparatus is described herein by way of
example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those
skilled in the art will recognize that the method and apparatus for
dynamically responding to requests and queries for information
relating to one or more event invitees or attendees is not limited
to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood,
that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended
to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed. Rather, the
intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and
alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the method and
apparatus for dynamically responding to requests and queries for
information relating to one or more event invitees or attendees
defined by the appended claims. Any headings used herein are for
organizational purposes only and are not meant to limit the scope
of the description or the claims. As used herein, the word "may" is
used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to),
rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly,
the words "include", "including", and "includes" mean including,
but not limited to.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0029] Systems and techniques for aiding an email recipient in the
management of inbound email by detecting, and configurably
responding to, dynamically variable patterns of activity and
behavior are described. Characteristics are extracted from new
email messages originated by a plurality of senders and intended
for a recipient. Patterns of sender activity, recipient message
management behavior, and/or message response behavior are
identified by analyzing statistics collected by the extraction of
characteristics from email messages previously received by the
recipient and correlating them with recipient behavior Before the
recipient reads or manages a new email, a determination is made as
to whether any deviation from an identified pattern exists with
respect to the volume or a rate of change in the volume of new
emails in the recipient's email account, or the rate at which the
recipient is to read or manage (e.g., to reply, delete without
reading, delete after reading, forward, flag, categorize, or
archive new incoming emails). Examples of a deviating pattern or
behavior change detected according to one or more embodiments
include an inability to read or respond to any new inbound email
messages over a period of selectable duration, an inability to
reduce the volume of new/unread email messages in an inbox below a
threshold for a period of time, or the existence of a scheduled
conference call or meeting at a time when the number of new unread
email messages exceeds a selectable threshold.
[0030] Current email applications hosted at a server or executing
as a client application on a recipient's communication terminal
neither track dynamically changing e-mail account patterns in email
usage, activity, or behavior, nor provide any suggestion of what
action might be taken on the recipient's behalf, when certain
patterns or changes in patterns are detected. A lack of effective
techniques and systems for dealing with such problems as a
transient increase in the volume of unread messages in an inbox can
be stressful to the email recipient and result in less efficient
usage of email as a business tool.
[0031] Various embodiments of a method and apparatus for aiding an
email recipient in the management of inbound email by detecting,
and configurably responding to, dynamically variable patterns of
activity and behavior are described. In the following detailed
description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a
thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. However, it will
be understood by those skilled in the art that claimed subject
matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other
instances, methods, apparatuses or systems that would be known by
one of ordinary skill have not been described in detail so as not
to obscure claimed subject matter.
[0032] Some portions of the detailed description that follow are
presented in terms of algorithms or symbolic representations of
operations on binary digital signals stored within a memory of a
specific apparatus or special purpose computing device or platform.
In the context of this particular specification, the term specific
apparatus or the like includes a general-purpose computer once it
is programmed to perform particular functions pursuant to
instructions from program software. Algorithmic descriptions or
symbolic representations are examples of techniques used by those
of ordinary skill in the signal processing or related arts to
convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An
algorithm is here, and is generally, considered to be a
self-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processing
leading to a desired result. In this context, operations or
processing involve physical manipulation of physical quantities.
Typically, although not necessarily, such quantities may take the
form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,
transferred, combined, compared or otherwise manipulated. It has
proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common
usage, to refer to such signals as bits, data, values, elements,
symbols, characters, terms, numbers, numerals or the like. It
should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms
are to be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are
merely convenient labels. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as
apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated that
throughout this specification discussions utilizing terms such as
"processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining" or the like
refer to actions or processes of a specific apparatus, such as a
special purpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic
computing device. In the context of this specification, therefore,
a special purpose computer or a similar special purpose electronic
computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming
signals, typically represented as physical electronic or magnetic
quantities within memories, registers, or other information storage
devices, transmission devices, or display devices of the special
purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing
device.
[0033] Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary
embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are
illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the
same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to
refer to the same or like parts
[0034] FIG. 1A is a block diagram depicting a communication system
100 configured to aid email recipients in the management of their
email, through detection and analysis of dynamically variable
behavior and activity patterns, according to one or more network
centric embodiments. According to some embodiments, system 100
includes a unified communication server 102 having a messaging
manager module 110 which includes a behavior analyzer 140, a data
repository 150 containing email user account behavior profiles 152
("recipient profiles"), including the recipient profile of a user
of communication terminal 160 which executes an e-mail browser
client or client email application program 162. Message manager
module 110 further includes a message management agent 170. System
100 further includes one or more messaging servers including at
least an email server and optionally an instant messaging server,
and SMS messaging server, and a voice mail server and corresponding
speech to text processor, collectively referred to as messaging
server 120, and an event calendar server 130.
[0035] FIG. 1B is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of a
communication system 100' configured to aid email recipients in the
management of their email, through detection and analysis of
dynamically variable behavior and activity patterns, according to
one or more communication terminal ("user endpoint") centric
embodiments. The arrangement of and interrelationships between the
various functional components of the embodiment of FIG. 1B are very
similar to those of the embodiment of FIG. 1A. A principal
difference between the respective embodiments is that in the former
case, contemporaneous monitoring and evaluation of contemporaneous
e-mail behavior and/or activity patterns against a recipient
profile, are performed locally by a message manager module 110'
program executed locally on the recipient device rather than at a
central server. In the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 1A, on the
other hand, at least some of the message manager module's
behavior/activity data collection and/or pattern and usage
monitoring functions are performed remotely at a central
server.
[0036] In an embodiment, system 100' includes a communication
terminal 160' having a central processing unit (CPU) 107', support
circuits, a memory 109' containing an operating system 111' and
applications executable by CPU 107', and an associated display
162'. One of the applications residing in memory 109', message
manager module 110' contains message management agent 170', which
is communicatively coupled by a network connection to one or more
remote messaging server(s) 120'. Also communicatively coupled to
the message management agent 170' are an event calendar application
130', a behavior analyzer application module 140', and a recipient
profile 152' containing information derived from email usage and
behavior statistics collected over time for the user of
communication terminal 160'.
[0037] Each of the embodiments of FIGS. 1A and 1B require the
adoption and enforcement of a set of rules which, after a period of
monitoring email account usage to identify baseline usage, behavior
and/or activity patterns and thresholds, are proposed to and/or
adopted by the user. According to some embodiments, message manager
agent is programmed to: [0038] inspect the sender field of each
email envelope over time, gathering frequency statistics to
determine how often a particular sender sends email to a recipient
of email using terminal 160. In an embodiment, if the message
management agent determines that the send rate from a particular
sender exceeds a threshold set, for example, at the mean plus
3*standard deviation, a prompt is generated to ask if the user
wishes to adopt a new rule by "unsubscribing " to future emails
from the sender and, if so, message management agent 170 thereafter
enforces that rule by, for example assigning the senders email to a
folder; [0039] gather response statistics so as to enable message
management agent 170 to determine how often and how quickly the
recipient responds to email from a particular sender (e.g., as by
reply email, return phone call, a phone call responsive to the
email, or forwarding an email or voice mail message to a colleague
for attention). According to some embodiments, message management
agent 170 analyzes the response statistics to determine if a
contemporaneous response rate (which may be, for example, an
aggregate average response rate applicable to all message
senders/originators, a sender-specific average rate applicable only
to the specific sender, or both)--collected during a monitoring
interval immediately prior to or encompassing the time of receiving
a current new message--is at or below or above a threshold. By way
of illustrative example, the threshold may be set at the mean plus
2*standard deviation; [0040] monitor the rate at which new email is
arriving in the recipient's inbox. According to an embodiment,
message management agent 170 compares the new incoming rate to the
recipient's contemporaneous inbox management rate (e.g. the rate at
which the recipient has been recently/currently replying to,
filing, deleting before reading, deleting after reading, archiving,
or forwarding emails and, optionally, voice mails). In an
embodiment, if message management agent 170 detects that the
incoming email rate exceeds the management rate by a threshold
number or fraction, one or more rules are enforced, or proposed to
the user for future enforcement. For example, for those senders
identified by message management agent 170 as being persons or
entities to whom the recipient responds, on average, below a
threshold rate, a message is automatically sent (with an optional
prompting to the recipient to confirm that it should be sent) to
notify the sender that the message has been received and that the
user will respond shortly but is currently in a meeting (or is
otherwise unavailable); [0041] determine, according to an
embodiment, whether one or more senders who have, on average,
received a response within a first threshold during a time have
sent an email or left a message at a time when the recipient's
contemporaneous ratio of incoming email rate to management rate is
above a second threshold. In an embodiment, message management
agent 170 is operative to deal with an apparently transient drop in
responsiveness/management wherein it may be an indefinite but
lengthy amount of time before the recipient will be able to respond
to the email of important senders. To this end, message management
agent 170 is configured, in accordance with a rule or with
temporary authority requested from and granted by the recipient),
to automatically generate and transmit an automated e-mail response
(or voice mail message, as the case may be). Examples of such a
message include "I am overwhelmed with e-mail" or "I currently have
limited availability, but will get to your email as soon as I can",
or the like; [0042] prompt the recipient to specify whether s/he
would like to unsubscribe from e-mails sent, by a particular
sender, from which point that sender's messages (email and,
optionally voicemail as well) would be deleted upon receipt. In
some embodiments, message management agent 170 determines whether
there is a prolonged delay (e.g., in excess of a selectable or
default threshold), on average, for reading/responding or
reading/deleting messages from certain message originators (or
email domains). In an embodiment, the aforementioned prompt is
sent, or corresponding action taken by message management agent, if
the message management agent 170 determines also that the
recipient's response to email and/or voice mail messages from this
particular originator/sender is often/always to delete the email
unread, or that the sender/originator typically deletes emails from
a sender very quickly (e. g., within 10 seconds of receipt), and
this manner of treatment recurs over time. In some embodiments, a
distinction is made between "destructive" pattern deviations as
opposed to "constructive" ones. For example, if the recipient
typically does not respond to Sender A's emails, but more recently
has done so (which may or may not be an incipient "constructive"
trend), the system can keep silent (or prompt the recipient to
adopt a new rule). If, on the other hand, the recipient has
historically responded to Sender B's emails but now deletes one
from that sender unread (which may or may not be an incipient
"destructive" trend), the system could alert the recipient; [0043]
take into account the recipient's event calendar such that any of
the illustrative actions discussed above, which might otherwise be
proposed or taken by message management agent 170 based on
contemporaneous measurements of incoming rate vs. management rate
are modified or suspended based on the recipient's current and
upcoming ("near term") schedule. For example, if a recipient has
seventeen new emails and back-to-back meetings scheduled in 2
minutes, different messages can be sent to senders which take this
into account, and prompts can be directed to the recipient to
proactively take action on the recipient's behalf; [0044] identify
and monitor any correlation between received email content and
recipient action and, in some embodiments, alert the user if the
user breaks a pattern. In an embodiment, message management agent
170 examines not just the envelope but also the content of a
message. If an email account user tends to read/respond quickly to
those emails or voicemails that contain certain keywords, and then
departs from the standard treatment message management agent is
operative to generate and send an alert to the recipient. In some
embodiments, the key words are predefined by the user, and in
others, words and phrases contained in email messages which are
recurrently responded to quickly are stored, automatically and
without user intervention, as data attributes in a data repository.
Over time, a weighted distribution based on such criteria as
frequency, average response time, sender identity, markings of
critical or urgent in the message envelop, and the like can be used
to refine the contents of the database. In some embodiments, after
a period of monitoring, a list of keywords generated automatically
can be presented to the user for further refinement (i.e.,
supplementation by the adding of keywords and phrases, the
redaction of key words and phrases, or the like. As an example, if
emails or voicemail message containing a combination of the words
"meeting", "review", "performance" are consistently responded to
with dispatch, and the user invokes an email client action to
delete a message containing such keyword(s) without reading the
email, then message management agent 170 generates an alert and
asks the user to confirm such action. [0045] deduce an "out of
office" situation based on a detected sender/receiver
email/response pattern. The user management agent 170 can then
follow the user by sending a notification of a proposed action
outside of corporate email: it can call, text, instant message,
personal-email the intended recipient and install out of office
messages automatically based on a received response; [0046]
automatically (or with user consent) simulate a "bounce back" to
mitigate spam based on the speed of email deletion or prior
deletion of unread emails originating from a particular sender.
Such an implementation can be implemented from the client
application, enabling the granular application of user defined or
automatically rules in a way that is not supported by hosted
commercial email servers and solutions; and [0047] "override" any
rules developed, proposed and implemented according to one or more
embodiments, as in the case of a recipient's key colleagues,
supervisors, and subordinates. According to an embodiment, the user
of systems 100 or 110, so that exempt individuals or groups of
individuals (by name, title, domain) can be defined--responses to
such individuals could be subject to a different set of rules from
those specified above, or to no rules at all.
[0048] FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting, in greater detail, the
interaction between the functional components in a system 200
according to embodiments exemplified by FIG. 1A. The various
components of system 200, including unified communication server
202, email server 220, calendar/contact management server 230,
voicemail messaging server 240, call server 250, and an LDAP
directory server 254, and user communication terminals 260-1 to
260-n are connected by one or more network links. Some of the links
are established by a network which includes a communication system
that connects computers (or devices) by wire, cable, fiber optic
and/or wireless link facilitated by various types of well-known
network elements, such as hubs, switches, routers, and the like.
The network interconnecting some components may also be part of the
Intranet using various communications infrastructure, such as
Ethernet, Wi-Fi, a personal area network (PAN), a wireless PAN,
Bluetooth, Near field communication, and the like.
[0049] The various servers 202, 220, 230, 240, 250 and 254, are
each a computing device, or may be the same computing device as,
for example, a desktop computer, laptop, tablet computer, and the
like, or they may be cloud based servers e.g., a blade server,
virtual machine, and the like. For each provisioned
calendar/contract management services user or subscriber,
calendar/contact management server 230 provides services to a
calendar application on user terminals 260-1 to 260-n. For example,
calendar server 230 provides to user terminal 260-1 an event
calendar 232, including schedule information, directory services
("Contacts") 234, event history 236, and email services. Likewise,
for each provisioned voice mail user or subscriber, voice mail
server 240 maintains a voice mail message queue 242 and message
envelope date 244 indicating a date and time when a voice mail
message was left for the user, an identification of the caller or
caller's extension (if available), whether and when a voice mail
message was forwarded to another extension (a voice message
forwarded to another party qualifying as a "response" according to
one or more embodiments), and an indication of a date and time when
the user first accessed the voice mail. In some embodiments, server
202 further includes a speech-to-text interface (not shown)
operative to convert voice messages into email messages.
[0050] For each provisioned telephony services user or subscriber,
call server 250 maintains call event logs 252 The call event logs
include an incoming call log indicating a date and time when a call
for the user was received, an identification of the caller's
identity, phone number or extension (if available), and an
indication of whether and when (date/time) each call was answered
by the user or forwarded to voice mail message or to another
extension (with answering or forwarding a call received from an
email sender each qualifying as a "response" to an email message
received from the sender if performed subsequent to receiving and
reading the email message, according to some embodiments), and an
indication of a date and time when the user first accessed the
voice mail. By way of illustrative example, a speech to text
converter (not shown) associated with unified communication system
202 may be configured to search transcribed content of the dialog
between a caller and call recipient to identify the presence of any
key words in the call also present in the received email.
[0051] The call event logs 252 further include an outgoing call log
indicating a date and time when a call by the user was made, an
identification of a number of the number dialed, and an indication
of the duration of the call. According to one or more embodiments,
a call log entry indicating that the user called the sender of an
email qualifies as a "response" to an email message received from
the sender if performed subsequent to receiving and reading the
email message. As already mentioned, speech to text converter (not
shown) associated with unified communication system 202 may be
configured to search transcribed content of the dialog between a
caller and call recipient to identify the presence of any key words
in the call also present in the received email. According to one or
more embodiments, LDAP directory server 254 provides caller and
call recipient directory lookups as needed to support the
aforementioned response classifications.
[0052] For each provisioned email user or subscriber, email server
sever 220 maintains an email message queue 222 and message envelope
information 224 identifying the sender's email address, recipient's
email address, the date and time of delivery to an email inbox, and
user account settings 226 including rules and preferences 228 and
rules 229 defined by the user. Such rules are enforceable by the
email server 220 and are typically designed to reduce the amount of
email which must be stored on the server pending user review, to
separate and prioritize email for the user so that the limited time
the user may have to review his or her email is effectively
utilized, to organize the user's email to make it easier to find
and/or reference email as needed, and/or to send a simple message
to email senders during a particular time interval selected by the
user. According to one or more network embodiments, these rules are
supplemented by rules generated and proposed, for adoption by the
email account user, by detecting, and configurably responding to,
dynamically variable patterns of activity and behavior. In an
embodiment, some or all of the supplemental rules, once adopted by
an email user, are stored as part of the rules 229.
[0053] To this end, according to some embodiments, unified
communication server 202 includes a messaging manager module 210
comprising a set of instructions residing in memory 204 and
executable by a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 201. The CPU 201 may
include one or more commercially available microprocessors or
microcontrollers that facilitate data processing and storage.
Various support circuits 203 facilitate the operation of the CPU
201 and include one or more clock circuits, power supplies, cache,
input/output circuits, and the like. The memory 204 includes at
least one of Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM),
disk drive storage, optical storage, removable storage and/or the
like.
[0054] In addition to message manager module 210, memory 204
includes an operating system 205, and a plurality of applications
including 206 including the aforementioned optional speech-to-text
converter. Message manager module 210 includes a message management
agent 270 comprising a notification manager 272 for generating
prompts and alerts to be sent or presented to the users of
terminals 260-1 to 260-n as well and for generating notifications
to be sent or presented to email senders according to one or more
rules or preferences 274 adopted by the user and in response to
patterns and/or activity monitored by volume/management monitor
("monitor") 276. In some embodiments, monitor 276 is operative,
through instructions executed by CPU 201, to monitor the flow of
incoming new email messages over a contemporaneous monitoring
window. Such monitoring can include refers to counting the number
of new email messages over the monitoring window, from which
calculations like a rate of change in the volume of new and/or
unread email messages with respect to time can be computed. As used
herein, a "contemporaneous monitoring window" or, simply,
"monitoring window" refers to a period of time (whether of
predetermined or selectable duration) that immediately precedes or
encompasses a moment in time when a particular new message to be
processed by message management agent 270, has been received in a
recipient ("user") inbox. The messages include emails, but can also
include voice mail messages, as well as SMS text messages, and
instant messages received by SMS and Instant Messaging servers (not
shown), respectively. By way of illustrative example, a
contemporaneous monitoring window may be from four minutes in
duration to four hours in duration.
[0055] Monitor 276 is further operative, through instructions
executed by CPU 201, to collect instantaneous message management
rate volume measurements over a contemporaneous monitoring window.
The management rate refers, according to some embodiments, to the
rate at which the user performs on or more actions on new or unread
messages. The actions typically include reading plus one more
action such as forwarding a message to a colleague, sending a
reply, sending a text message, sending an SMS, sending an instant
(IM) message, calling or leaving a voice mail to the originator of
the message. Even the act of reading a message, however, is
included as part of the management rate in some embodiments,
however. By tracking the number of such actions over time, monitor
276 is able to perform instantaneous computations of the rate of
change in unread message volume. By comparing the ratio of the
management rate to the new email incoming rate and/or the unread
message accumulation rate, or the numbering distance between these
values, message management agent 270 can identity any change in the
pattern substantial enough to be a deviation from the historical
pattern.
[0056] To allow such identification to take place, however, message
manager module 210 further includes a behavior analyzer 280 which
comprises an envelope/calendar event inspector/call log inspector
("inspector") 282, a management rate analyzer ("analyzer") 284, and
a volume analyzer 286. Similar in all respects to monitor 276 (and
is combined therewith in some embodiments), inspector 282 is
operative, through instructions executed by CPU 201, to collect
incoming (new) rate, and/or accumulated unread rate, as well as
management rate statistics. However, these are collected over a
longer time frame and form the basis of deriving and identifying a
baseline for user and sender behavior and/or activity patterns. The
longer time frame is referred to herein as a baseline pattern
identification window (or, simply "baseline window"). The baseline
window can be substantially longer than the contemporaneous
monitoring window and generally precedes (though it can also
encompass) the moment in time when a particular new message, to be
processed by message management agent 270, has been received in a
recipient (or "user") inbox. By way of illustrative example, a
baseline pattern identification window may be from 5 minutes in
duration to 5 months in duration.
[0057] Management rate analyzer 284 includes a window selector
which allows the duration of the baseline window to be dilated or
compressed, as needed, depending for example, on the volume of
email and other messages which might be accumulated by an
especially busy recipient vs. one who has fewer incoming emails on
an average basis but periodic spikes requiring individualized
treatment. Volume analyzer 286 also includes a window selector 287,
as well as a threshold selector 288. The latter selector, in some
embodiments allows independent and selectable configuration of
multiple thresholds as will be explained shortly, and therefore
enables fine tuning specific to each recipient over time as the
base of statistics collected for a particular recipient grows.
[0058] Message manager module 210 further includes data repository
290. In some embodiments, data repository 290 includes an
envelope/calendar datastore 292 containing such data as currently
scheduled meeting dates and times (retrieved, for example, from the
event calendar 234 of server 230), as well as previously scheduled
meeting dates and times (retrieved from event history 236 of server
230). Contact information, including the email address of other
meeting invitees (any of whom may be originators of email,
voicemail, SMS, IM and other kinds of messages managed by messaging
manager module 210 according to one or more embodiments). Data
repository 290 further includes user behavior profiles (also
referred to herein as "recipient profiles) 294. Each recipient
profile 294 includes, for example, message volume statistics and
management rate statistics accumulated over the baseline windows
and monitoring windows applicable to a particular recipient.
[0059] Each of user communication terminals or devices 260-1 to
260-n is a computing device, for example a desktop computer,
laptop, tablet computer, Smartphone, and the like that includes or
is connected to a display and user input devices such as a mouse,
keyboard, touch screen, camera, microphone, etc. The user device
260-1, for example, is a computer tablet that includes a touch
screen display (not shown), Central Processing Unit (CPU) 207,
support circuits 208, a memory 209, as well as a network interface
adapted to communicatively couple terminal 260-1 to server 202 via
a wireless internet connection or other network connection.
[0060] CPU 207 includes one or more commercially available
microprocessors or microcontrollers that facilitate data processing
and storage. The various support circuits 208 facilitate the
operation of CPU 207 and include one or more clock circuits, power
supplies, cache, input/output circuits, and the like. The memory
209 includes at least one of Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access
Memory (RAM), disk drive storage, optical storage, removable
storage and/or the like. The memory 209 includes an operating
system 211 that provides a computing foundation for software
applications 213 of the user device 260-1. The memory 209 includes
applications such as a locally installed messaging application or a
browser application for invoking a client messaging hosted by
server 202.
[0061] FIGS. 3A-3F depict the gathering of statistics for
detecting, and the setting of one or more thresholds for use in
responding to dynamically variable patterns of activity and
behavior according to one or more embodiments.
[0062] FIG. 3A is a graphical representation depicting the
frequency at which a plurality of senders have sent messages,
including email messages, to a recipient over time, forming a
portion of statistics gathered according to one or more
embodiments. In the representative example of FIG. 3, the number of
new messages received by recipient R.sub.1 from senders S.sub.1 to
S.sub.n over a 24 day monitoring window is shown. As a consequence
of Sender S.sub.1 exceeding the threshold T.sub.1R.sub.1, a
possible response by message management agent 270 would be to offer
the recipient R.sub.1 the opportunity to "unsubscribe" to messages
from that sender, as previously described.
[0063] FIG. 3B is a graphical representation depicting the time
taken by recipient R.sub.2 to respond to email messages received
from a plurality of recipients (S.sub.1 to S.sub.m) over time, as
well as average response times computed for selected senders,
forming a portion of statistics gathered and evaluated according to
embodiments. Different average response (e.g., reply, forwarding,
return call, etc) are computed and shown. For comparison an
threshold T.sub.2R.sub.2 is set at, say the mean response
time+3*standard deviation, such that those senders who receive
responses below this threshold, such as sender S1 in the instant
example, may receive special notifications generated by message
management agent 270 at times when the recipient cannot respond or
is not responding with the same usual level of dispatch reserved
for that recipient. As an alternative threshold, an average
response time is computed for all senders, in which case sender
S.sub.2 may receive the same treatment as sender S.sub.1.
[0064] FIG. 3C is a graphical representation depicting monitored
changes in the rate at which new unread messaged are accumulated in
a recipient's email inbox, over a time window preceding but
contemporaneous with receipt of email messages from a plurality of
senders vs. monitored changes in the rate at which the recipient
has replied to or managed received email messages during the same
time window. In the instant case a spike in the accumulation of
new/unread email messages in the inbox of recipient R1 is
experienced beginning at about 8 hours into the twenty four hour
monitoring window depicted. A message received during this time,
for example, might receive a message automatically generated and
transmitted by message management agent to the effect that the
recipient is currently in a meeting or otherwise unavailable but
that the recipient's message is important and will receive
immediate attention upon return. Other possible treatments might be
to route the message to a colleague or even prompt the colleague of
recipient R.sub.1 to schedule a call with the sender.
[0065] FIG. 3D is a graphical representation depicting the
classification of e-mail management outcomes over a time window
preceding but contemporaneous with receipt of email messages from a
plurality of senders, during which a recipient R.sub.1 has either
archived, forwarded, deleted, replied to, or forwarded messages
received from one specific sender S.sub.n-2. For granular treatment
of senders according to one or more embodiments, it may be helpful
to track the disposition of each message and the speed at which the
disposition was reached. FIG. 3E, for comparison purposes, is a
graphical representation depicting the classification of e-mail
management outcomes over a time window preceding but
contemporaneous with receipt of email messages from a plurality of
senders, during which the same recipient (R2) has either archived,
forwarded, deleted, replied to, or forwarded messages received from
another specific S.sub.n-1. In this case, however, all of the
messages received over the monitoring window were deleted without
reading the messages. In this case, even without a baseline window
representing a broader data set for comparison, message management
agent 270 might prompt the recipient R.sub.1 to "unsubscribe" to
email messages received from sender S.sub.n-1. Should the recipient
accepting this new rule of application, the current messages as
well as any future messages from that sender are deleted or sent to
an archive or trash folder upon receipt.
[0066] FIG. 3E is a graphical representation depicting the
classification of e-mail management outcomes over a time window
preceding but contemporaneous with receipt of email messages from a
plurality of senders, during which a recipient has either archived,
forwarded, deleted, replied to, or forwarded messages received from
another specific sender.
[0067] FIG. 3F is a graphical representation depicting the
correlation of recipient response times to received email messages
to the presence of one or more key words in those messages, over a
time window preceding but contemporaneous with receipt of email
messages from a plurality of senders. As noted previously, the
keyword(s) and phrases can be identified a priori by the user/email
subscriber or they can be identified automatically by selecting all
keywords for certain senders and/or certain read and/or reply time
thresholds.
[0068] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting a technique for aiding
recipients in the management of their email, through detection and
analysis of dynamically variable behavior and activity patterns,
according to one or more embodiments. The method 400 starts at step
402 and proceeds to step 404. At step 404 the method receives a new
email message (or voice-, SMS-, text-, or IM-message) originated by
a first sender and intended for a recipient. At step 406, the
method extracts email envelope information from the received email
message. This includes data and time of receipt and phone number of
the sender. In some embodiments, other information available for
the sender such as the sender's phone number may be associated with
the extracted information. At step 408, the method identifies at
least one pattern, from email account statistics of the recipient.
The identified pattern may relate to prior sender activity
(frequency of sending to the recipient), recipient response
activity, and/or message management activity. At step 410, the
method 400 analyzes the extracted envelop information and/or
contemporaneous recipient message response activity and/or
contemporaneous recipient message management activity. The method
400 proceeds to determination step
[0069] At step 412, the method determines whether the recipient has
replied to or otherwise managed the received new message. If so,
the method classifies the response at step 414, stores the
time/date and classification of the response at step 416, and
proceeds to determination step 418. Otherwise, the method proceeds
directly to step 418. At step 418, the method determines whether a
deviation from any identified pattern is detected. If not, then the
method returns to step 404 and receives another new message as so
far described. If so, however, the method 400 determines first
whether a rule for the deviation already exists and, if so this
rule is enforced at step 422. If, not, then a new rule is proposed
at step 424. In an embodiment, the rule proposes a treatment to be
applied to all messages from the sender. In another embodiment, the
treatment proposed applies only during certain times (such, for
example, as in the event of a gross mismatch between accumulating
unread email messages and management rate). The process then
terminates at step 426 or returns to step 404 for processing of
other messages already in the user's inbox.
[0070] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting discrete sub-steps
applicable to the identification of one or more patterns through
analysis of collected email account statistics, according to
embodiments exemplified by the method 400 of FIG. 4. From step 406
of method 400, the method 500 retrieves, at step 502, sender email
frequency statistics, for a first sender, from the recipient
messaging profile. The method proceeds to step 504. At step 504,
the method computers an average frequency for the first sender over
a collection or baseline window. At step 506, the method determines
whether an existing volume or rate threshold has been set for the
first sender. If not, one is generated at step 508, otherwise the
method proceeds directly to step 510. At step 510, the method
retrieves sender-specific response time statistics derived from
receipt and transmit times, respectively, for emails received from
the first sender and replies to the emails by the recipient (which
can be via SMS text, IM, and voice mail as well as email in some
embodiments). The method advances to step 512.
[0071] At step 512, the average time taken by the recipient to
reply, call back or otherwise respond to the first sender (i.e.,
"response time) is computed. At step 514, aggregate response time
statistics, derived from dates/times of messages to and from all or
a subset of all recipients (each, "a plurality") is retrieved and
at step 516, an average aggregate response rate is computed. At
step 518, the method determines whether an existing threshold
response rate has been set for use in evaluating the
sender-specific response rate. If not, one is generated at step 520
and the process proceeds to step 522. At step 522, aggregate
management rate statistics are derived from recipient reply,
deletion and forwarding activity. For purposes of the aggregate
rate calculation, the deletions without reading are excluded since
these would tend to reduce the overall management rate and have
little to no diagnostic value in an aggregate metric.
[0072] At step 524, the method retrieves a set of key words and
phrases from all emails responded to by the sender in a faster than
average time for a specific sender, faster than an average response
time computed for all senders, and faster than average for senders,
and/or faster than a threshold time. As previously described, when
a user fails to respond to emails containing certain key words at a
historic baseline rate, this could mean that the recipient has
inadvertently skipped over the message.
[0073] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting discrete sub-steps
applicable to the analysis of contemporaneous email account
statistics in order to indentify deviations from identified
patterns, according to embodiments exemplified by the method 400 of
FIG. 4. The method 600 is entered at the initiation of step 410 of
method 400, and at step 602, the method 600 retrieves
contemporaneous statistics corresponding to a rate of change in a
volume of messages received from the first sender or to a number of
unread messages from the first sender currently in the recipient's
email inbox. At step 604, the method retrieves contemporaneous
statistics corresponding to a rate of change in a volume of
messages received from all or a subset of all senders or to a
number of unread messages from this plurality of senders and
currently in the recipient's email inbox.
[0074] At step 606, the method 600 retrieves contemporaneous
statistics corresponding to a rate of change in a volume of
messages received from the first sender and read and/or managed by
the recipient. At step 608, the method retrieves contemporaneous
statistics corresponding to a rate of change in a volume of
messages received from all or a subset of all senders and read
and/or managed by the recipient. At step 610, statistics
corresponding to any messages received by any recipient containing
a key word from a set of key words and phrases previously responded
to by the recipient, on average, within a response time faster than
average time for a specific sender, faster than an average response
time computed for all senders, and faster than average for senders,
and/or faster than a threshold time.
[0075] FIG. 7A is a screen shot depicting a user interface 700,
displayed on a recipient's communication terminal, obtained by
local execution of an e-mail messaging client application by a
processor of the terminal and depicting an inbox managed through
detection and analysis of dynamically variable behavior and
activity patterns, according to one or more embodiments. According
to some embodiments, a user of communication terminal 160' accesses
an email client application or a browser application providing the
interface of a hosted email application. In some embodiments, the
requests are transmitted to, and the responses are returned by, a
remote server having access to one or more data sources and the
analytical resources needed to analyze accessible data attributes.
Buttons 702-708 enable the user to navigate between individual
functions of the messaging client application, and buttons 710 to
716 enable the user to reply, forward, delete and save specific
messages, respectively, when using the email client
application.
[0076] FIGS. 7B and 7C are respective screen shots depicting the
display of an alert notification generated by an email message
management application, and the corresponding prompt displayed to
the recipient, each according to one or more embodiments.
[0077] Although the invention has largely been described and
illustrated in the context of email volume management, the
invention should also be understood as being directed to other
types of incoming messages, including voice mails, SMS (text
messages), and instant messages. The difference between the
different communication modalities is the action taken, which
depends on the technology that this communication modality
provides. For example, for incoming voice mails the system could
automatically change the outgoing voice message. For instant
messaging systems, the system could change the presence indicator
and text associated with the recipient, in addition to blocking
incoming messages from particular senders or auto-responding to
them.
[0078] The embodiments of the present invention may be embodied as
methods, apparatus, electronic devices, and/or computer program
products. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present invention may
be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware,
resident software, micro-code, etc.), which may be generally
referred to herein as a "circuit" or "module". Furthermore, the
present invention may take the form of a computer program product
on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having
computer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied in the
medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution
system. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or
computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store,
communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in
connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or
device. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a
computer-usable or computer-readable memory that may direct a
computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to
function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored
in the computer usable or computer-readable memory produce an
article of manufacture including instructions that implement the
function specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or
blocks.
[0079] The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for
example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,
electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus,
device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a
non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium include the
following: hard disks, optical storage devices, a transmission
media such as those supporting the Internet or an intranet,
magnetic storage devices, an electrical connection having one or
more wires, a portable computer diskette, a random access memory
(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only
memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, and a compact
disc read-only memory (CD-ROM).
[0080] Computer program code for carrying out operations of the
present invention may be written in an object oriented programming
language, such as Java.RTM., Smalltalk or C++, and 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 and/or any other lower level assembler languages. It will
be further appreciated that the functionality of any or all of the
program modules may also be implemented using discrete hardware
components, one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits
(ASICs), or programmed Digital Signal Processors or
microcontrollers.
[0081] The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has
been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the
illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or
to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many
modifications and variations are possible in view of the above
teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to
best explain the principles of the present disclosure and its
practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art
to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various
modifications as may be suited to the particular use
contemplated.
[0082] The methods described herein may be implemented in software,
hardware, or a combination thereof, in different embodiments. In
addition, the order of methods may be changed, and various elements
may be added, reordered, combined, omitted, modified, etc. All
examples described herein are presented in a non-limiting manner.
Various modifications and changes may be made as would be obvious
to a person skilled in the art having benefit of this disclosure.
Realizations in accordance with embodiments have been described in
the context of particular embodiments. These embodiments are meant
to be illustrative and not limiting. Many variations,
modifications, additions, and improvements are possible.
Accordingly, plural instances may be provided for components
described herein as a single instance. Boundaries between various
components, operations and data stores are somewhat arbitrary, and
particular operations are illustrated in the context of specific
illustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality are
envisioned and may fall within the scope of claims that follow.
Finally, structures and functionality presented as discrete
components in the example configurations may be implemented as a
combined structure or component. These and other variations,
modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the
scope of embodiments as defined in the claims that follow.
[0083] While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the
present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention
may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and
the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
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