Patent ID: 9246707
Filing Date: 2016-01-26
CPC Classification: G06Q,H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method of cost-based email message routing, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of email messages for a plurality of recipient domains from one or more clients; receiving cost information associated with sending the plurality of email messages to the plurality of recipient domains from a plurality of Mail Transfer Agents (MTAs), the cost information indicating both latency associated with processing one or more email messages by one or more of the plurality of MTAs, and latency associated with receipt of the one or more email messages by one or more remote hosts; maintaining, using a database system, a database storing data objects identifying one or more process flags for each of the MTAs, the one or more process flags for an MTA configured to indicate a status of one or more email messages processed by the MTA; grouping, based on one or more of the process flags, ones of the plurality of email messages having the same recipient domain or having recipient domains in geographical proximity to each other to produce one or more batches of email messages; determining, based on the cost information, using one or more processors in communication with one or more computer systems, a lowest cost MTA for sending each of the one or more batches of email messages; sending each of the one or more batches of email messages using the lowest cost MTA; and updating, responsive to sending each of the one or more batches of email messages, one or more of the process flags for the lowest cost MTA to reflect that each of the one or more batches of email messages have been sent.