Patent ID: 8116444
Filing Date: 2012-02-14
Classification: G06Q,H04M

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method of publishing contact information, the method comprising: receiving, at a server, a command to publish a collection of contacts to a plurality of recipients, wherein the collection of contacts is maintained by a network address book service associated with a network address book of a sender; receiving a distribution list that identifies the plurality of recipients; determining whether each recipient of the plurality of recipients is a customer of the network address book service; sending an automated message to each recipient of the plurality of recipients that is a non-customer of the network address book service, wherein the automated message includes an invitation to become a customer of the network address book service; sending a notification from the server to each recipient of the plurality of recipients that is a customer of the network address book service, including any recipient that accepted the invitation to become a customer of the network address book service, wherein the notification includes an option to subscribe to the collection of contacts and an option to receive a preview of the collection of contacts; converting the collection of contacts to one or more formats displayable by devices associated with recipients that subscribed to receive access to the collection of contacts, including any recipient that accepted the invitation to become a customer and subscribed to receive access to the collection of contacts; and sending the collection of contacts from the server to each recipient that subscribed to the collection of contacts, wherein the collection of contacts is sent to a device associated with a particular recipient in a format usable by the device.