Patent ID: 7657598
Filing Date: 2010-02-02
Classification: G06Q,H04L

Abstract:
1. A computer system having a processor and a computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executing on the processor, the computer system comprises: an address book database having a reference identifier (ID) that identifies a contact, the address book database having a plurality of entries, each of the plurality of entries being correlated to a unique reference ID; an address book object that, under programmable device control, stores information to the address book database, the address book object under programmable device control, retrieves information from the address book database; an address extractor that, under programmable device control, receives an e-mail message from a sender, wherein the email message indicates a sender email address associated with an email account that sent the email message and, responsive to receiving the email message, extract from the received email message at least one email address associated with the email account that sent the email message and request from the address book object information regarding whether the at least one email address is associated with the reference ID in the address book database and, in response to a determination that the at least one email address is associated with the reference ID in the address book, determine Instant Messaging (IM) presence data associated with at least one of a plurality of Instant Messaging addresses that are associated with the reference ID and determine a prioritized order of the plurality of Instant Messaging addresses, wherein the system provides an IM presence indicator in an email read message window that provides the IM presence data associated with at least one of the plurality of Instant Messaging addresses that are associated with the reference ID, and wherein the email read message window, upon selection of a launch IM option, sequentially attempts to establish an IM messaging session directly from the email read message window with a first IM address in the prioritized order of the plurality of Instant Messaging addresses, and if the first IM address is not responsive, attempting a second IM address in the prioritized order of the plurality of Instant Messaging addresses, and wherein the system permits a user to initiate an IM session with one or more contacts at various IM addresses without manually logging into multiple IM accounts, allow the user to type an IM message at a user input window, wherein the typed message is translated or reformatted into a native protocol associated with each of other participants' IM services and the typed message is displayed to each of the other participants in an IM chat session, wherein the translating or reformatting comprises removal of the user's IM address and then creating a message content from an IM message with the IM address of a first contact, the address extractor for sequentially retrieving IM addresses until either an error message or one IM address is returned, if the error message is returned for an extracted email address, then the error message is conveyed by the address book object to a read window for displaying to the user that no IM Internet presence information is available for the extracted email address.