Patent ID: 6691153
Filing Date: 2004-02-10
Classification: G06Q,G07F,H04L

Abstract:
An apparatus for facilitating a process interaction among participants in a group, comprising:a data store comprising one or more stored electronic media, each electronic medium having dynamic content associated therewith and stored in the data store, each electronic medium comprising one or more process interaction elements; a processor that is communicatively coupled to the data store; a memory that is communicatively coupled to the data store and comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of: generating and sending a first electronic message to one or more selected participants among the group, wherein the first electronic message is associated with a first electronic medium in the data store by one or more dynamic content elements in the first electronic message; asynchronously receiving, from one or more of the selected participants, one or more information updates relating to the process interaction elements of the first electronic medium; dynamically updating the dynamic content of the first electronic medium based on the one or more information updates; receiving information specifying a first open action from a first participant among the selected participants who has received the first electronic message; and serving the dynamic content, including all then-current updates thereto, to the first participant in response to the first open action; the apparatus further comprising one or more templates stored in the data store, wherein each of the templates defines a format of one of the electronic media; and instructions in the memory which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of: retrieving a first template from the data store; receiving user input providing one or more network addresses of recipients and one or more dynamic content items for association with the first template; creating and storing a second electronic medium in the data store based on the first template and the user input; and sending a second electronic message to each of the recipients, wherein the second electronic message references the second electronic medium.