Patent ID: 9369416
Filing Date: 2016-06-14
CPC Classification: G06Q,H04L

Claim Text:
1. A network element comprising: a computer processor; and a communications subsystem configured for sending and receiving electronic mail messages, wherein the network element is configured to: determine, via the computer processor, for a user of an electronic mail account, whether out-of-office messaging is active for the user of the electronic mail account; upon determining that the out-of-office messaging is active, determine whether there has been use of the electronic mail account by the user of the electronic mail account prior to a return date configured for the out-of-office messaging; upon determining that there has been use of the electronic mail account prior to the return date from a predefined location, provide a notification to the user of the electronic mail account that the out-of-office messaging is still active and restrict further notifications for a predetermined period; and upon determining that there has been use of the electronic mail account prior to the return date from a location other than the predefined location, provide no notification to the user that the out-of-office messaging is still active.