Abstract:
Apparatus and method are provided for intelligently routing electronic messages to computers and pagers. Program code executable by a programmable controller is operative to monitor user activity at a computer workstation, for example. If the user appears to be at the workstation based on the detected activity of a computer workstation input device, the electronic message is forwarded to the computer workstation. If, however, no user activity is detected, the electronic message is forwarded to the user&#39;s pager.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention disclosed herein relates generally to processing of electronic mail (e-mail). More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for intelligently routing e-mail messages to computers and pagers by determining whether the intended recipient appears to be active at the computer. 
     It appears that modem professionals always want to stay “connected” in today&#39;s information-intensive society. Either a one-way or two-way wireless paging device (pager) with a small but fully functional keyboard provides this sense of connectivity. The pager allows people to receive information when one is out of the office, for example, late at night or early in the morning, by sending and receiving plain-text electronic (e-mail) messages. 
     While the e-mailing between pagers provides the feeling of being always “connected” with the world, there are certain limitations on the operation of pagers for sending messages. Typically, the pager starts to exhaust its memory capacity after about 120-150 messages, which represents at most a few day&#39;s worth of incoming e-mail for most users. This limited memory capacity, together with the somewhat difficult user interface, makes e-mailing via pagers not a preferred choice of communication. For these as well as other reasons, most users would prefer to receive e-mail via computers rather than pagers, if given a choice between the two. 
     Additionally, the conventional e-mail processing system merely forwards e-mail to a pager without determining first whether the intended recipient might be sitting at his workstation and reading e-mail, for example. As a result, the memory capacity of the pager is unnecessarily used. 
     Perhaps even more compelling issues are the elimination of annoying redundancy of information and the elimination of unnecessary distraction with respect to pagers. Whether the pager is producing an audible tone or vibrating, it necessarily has a mechanism for attracting the wearer&#39;s attention. Although useful when away from a computer, such attention-grabbing mechanism is irritating to many people when it is activated while the wearer happens to be sitting at a computer. It is not easy to turn off this attention-grabbing mechanism, and if the wearer did turn it off, he would run the risk of leaving it off when he went away from the computer. 
     Another problem is as follows. Once the user is away from the computer, he does not want to re-read those messages already displayed on his computer screen. The conventional e-mail operation with pagers is, once again, deficient in this respect. 
     A need therefore exists for an apparatus and method that address the above concerns and overcome the disadvantages of the conventional e-mail processing systems. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide electronic mail processing apparatus. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide the electronic mail processing apparatus for intelligent routing of electronic messages. 
     It is still another object of the present invention to provide the electronic mail processing apparatus for intelligent routing of electronic messages between computers and pagers. 
     The above and other objects are achieved by an apparatus for routing electronic messages to pagers and computers. The apparatus comprises means for receiving an electronic message transmitted from one pager or computer to another pager or computer. Also included in the apparatus is means for obtaining the intended recipient&#39;s status. The status is selected from active or inactive. The active status may indicate that the intended recipient is currently logged onto a network, and inactive status indicates the intended recipient is not currently logged in. The apparatus further comprises means for forwarding the electronic message to the intended recipient&#39;s computer if the obtained status is active. If the obtained status is inactive, the electronic message is forwarded to the intended recipient&#39;s pager. 
     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises means for detecting an activity by the recipient to determine the recipient&#39;s status. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention is illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings which are meant to be exemplary and not limiting, in which like reference characters are intended to refer to like or corresponding parts, and in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a functional flowchart describing the operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in accordance with the present invention; and 
     FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of storage mediums for storing program code executable by programmable controllers according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     As a general overview, the present invention detects activity at a computer operated by the user. If the user activity is detected, an e-mail message intended for the user is not forwarded to the user&#39;s pager. Instead, the message is redirected to the computer as the preferred choice for receiving e-mail. 
     FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. A person may use a computer to log onto the Internet, for example, while wearing a pager. For the purposes of this illustration in block diagram form, a person is identified as user  100  comprising a computer  104  and a pager  102  as shown in FIG.  1 . While browsing the Web, the user  100  finds an interesting story and decides to send an e-mail message to his friend, user  106 , indicating the address for the Web site that posted this story. Using a conventional e-mail program as known to those skilled in the art, the user  100  enters an e-mail address of the user  106  to send a brief message containing the Web site address. The computer  104  includes a storage medium  136  for storing a client program  120  containing executable code described below, and also includes a programmable controller  140  for executing the program code. The programmable controller  140  carries out the required instructions to connect to the network  116  using, for example, a dial-up modem (not shown) as well known to those skilled in the art. 
     After establishing the connection, the computer  104  transfers the message to a mail server  112  via the network  116 . As known to those skilled in the art, a mail server maintains mailboxes associated with each e-mail user authorized to use the system. The mailboxes are implemented as databases stored in a storage medium  132  as shown in FIG. 1. A mail server program  124  also stored on the storage medium  132  contains scripted commands for processing e-mail and runs continuously on the mail server  112 , such as an agent on a Lotus Notes® mail server. The mail server program  124  contains program code executable by a programmable controller  130  located in the mail server  112 . 
     Under control of the programmable controller  130 , the mail server program  124  constantly monitors input data for incoming e-mail. After detecting the arrival of e-mail and for each received e-mail message, the mail server program  124  determines whether the message is intended for the user or the mail server program. If the e-mail is intended for the user, the mail server program  124  identifies the intended recipient for that message. A collection of stored rules configurable by the user is applied to determine, for example, whether to send the entire message or a summary of the message containing the sender, subject, and length of the message to the pager. It is understood that the operations of the mail server program  124  are actually performed by the programmable controller  130  executing the program code of the mail server program  124 . 
     The mail server program  124  deposits a copy of the message in the mailbox of the user  100 . At some previous point in time, the mail server program  124  established a subscription for the user&#39;s status information with notification server  114 . The user&#39;s status may be active or inactive as described in detail below. When the subscription is established initially, the notification server  114  using notification server program  122  informs the mail server program  124  of the user&#39;s current status. At each subsequent point in time, if the user&#39;s status stored in the notification server  114  is changed, the notification server  114  immediately notifies the mail server program  124  of the change in the user&#39;s status. It is worth noting that such notification is performed without receiving any request from the mail server program  124 . It is understood by those skilled in the art that the notification server program  122  contains program code executable by a programmable controller  126  located in the notification server  114 . 
     Returning to the description of FIG. 1, the mail server program  124  checks its local version of the user&#39;s status when deciding to route the message. In combination, the notification server  114  and the local updating mechanism at the mail server  112 , which receives notifications from the notification server  114 , ensure that the local version of user&#39;s status substantially accurately reflects the user&#39;s status known remotely. This is advantageously performed at low cost in terms of network traffic and time delay. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the program code of the notification server  122  supports Notification Service Transfer Protocol (NSTP) for building synchronous groupware. In synchronous groupware, two or more people collaborate at what they perceive to be “the same time.” The coordination between various parts of their state is achieved via a notification service, such as NSTP. 
     According to NSTP, collaboration-critical state may be shared by several clients. The shared state is stored on a server, where it can be changed by clients. Each change to this shared state causes the server to deliver notifications of the change to other clients. Continuing with FIG. 1, the client programs  118  and  120  may be dubbed as a “colleague awareness” tool for detecting activity on respective computers  110  and  104 , whereby the user&#39;s status is obtained. The client programs  118  and  120  stored in the respective storage mediums  134  and  136  contain program code executable by the respective programmable controllers  138  and  140 . The client programs  118  and  120  are activity detection programs for monitoring an input device, such as a keyboard, mouse, etc., for activity. Similar to conventional screen-saver programs, the activity detection program restarts a timer each time, for example, a key on the keyboard is activated or a mouse is moved. If no key stroke or mouse movement is detected for a predetermined time interval, the activity detection program changes the user&#39;s status from active to inactive. 
     The notification server  114  is informed by the computer  110  of any detected changes in the status of user  106 . This notification is performed asynchronously and independently of the transmission of e-mail through the system. Namely, the notification server  114  takes any such change in user&#39;s status and distributes it immediately to any and all subscribers to that particular user&#39;s status, such as the mail server  112 . Hence, there is one system that conveys status information through the network from the computer  110  where it is first detected, through the notification server  114 , to the mail server  112 . There is a different system that conveys email through the network from sender to receiver. The point of overlap between these two systems is when the mail server program  124  examines its local status information to determine how to route the e-mail message. 
     Further describing FIG. 1, the mail server program  124  processes the local version of user&#39;s status to determine the most suitable message routing. If the user&#39;s status is inactive, indicating that the user  106  is most likely away from the computer  110 , the mail server program  124  routes the message to a pager  108  belonging to the user  106 . Alternatively, if the user&#39;s status is active, then the message is routed to the computer  110 . As a result, intelligent message routing is achieved with the present invention. 
     It is understood, of course, that an e-mail message may originate from the pager  102  of the user  100  to the user  106 . Alternatively, the user  106  may use the computer  110  or the pager  108  to send an e-mail message to the user  100 . 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, an e-mail address of pager  108  differs from that of the computer account for the user  106 . In this case, the programmable controller  130  accesses the storage medium  132  for cross-referencing between the e-mail address of the pager and the e-mail address of the computer account. Consequently, the user  106  may be able to receive the message via the computer  110  or the pager  108 . 
     FIG. 2 is a functional flowchart describing the operation of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in accordance with the present invention. In step  200 , the message is received by the mail server  112 . In step  202 , the mail server program  124  identifies the intended recipient of the message. In step  204 , the mail server program  124  examines the intended recipient&#39;s status (a local version saved at the mail server  112 ) to determine the most intelligent routing of the message. In step  206 , if the obtained status is active, the mail server program  124  routes the message to the recipient&#39;s computer  110  in step  208 . Otherwise, the message gets forwarded to the recipient&#39;s pager  108  in step  210 . 
     FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the storage mediums  132 ,  134  and  128  for storing program code executable by the respective programmable controllers  130 ,  138  and  126  according to the present invention. The storage medium  132  stores code  300  executed by the programmable controller  130  for receiving the message transmitted from the pager  102  or the computer  104 , as shown in FIG.  3 . Also. shown in FIG. 3 is code  302  executed by the programmable controller  130  for establishing a subscription for the intended recipient&#39;s status. Code  304  stored on the storage medium  132  and executed by the programmable controller  130  receives the status upon change or at predetermined time intervals. Also stored on the storage medium  132  and executed by the programmable controller  130  is code  306  for forwarding the message to the intended recipient&#39;s computer or pager according to the status: if the recipient&#39;s status is active the message is forwarded to the computer  110 , and otherwise the message is forwarded to the pager  108 . 
     FIG. 3 also shows the storage medium  134  storing code  308  for detecting user activity at the computer  110 . The code  308  is executed by the programmable controller  138  in the computer  110 . Further shown in FIG. 3 is code  310  stored in the storage medium  128  and executed by the programmable controller  126  in the notification server  114 . The code  310  is used for interfacing with the code  308  to transfer the intended recipient&#39;s status from the user  106  to the mail server  112 . 
     The present invention is advantageous in several aspects over conventional e-mail processing systems. According to the present invention, e-mail is not blindly sent to a pager when, in fact, the user may be working at his computer and is able to read the email more conveniently there. Additionally, the intelligent approach to message routing of the present invention prevents the unnecessary usage of the pager memory capacity because the excessive e-mail is not sent to a pager. 
     In the preferred embodiment described hereinabove, the activity detection program monitors an input device. However, it is understood that the present invention is not limited thereto, and other activitydetection techniques may be used. Such techniques may include motion detectors, active badges, Global Positioning System (GPS), dead-reckoning via accelerometers, video cameras, heat detectors, pressure-sensitive floors or chairs, microphones, network traffic monitoring, etc., as known to those skilled in the art. 
     Further, it will be appreciated that computers and pagers may be located on separate and different networks. In this case, code  306  in FIG. 3 is modified accordingly to support the capability of routing e-mail via separate and different networks, based on the user&#39;s status. 
     While the invention has been described and illustrated in connection with preferred embodiments, many variations and modifications as will be evident to those skilled in this art may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and the invention is thus not to be limited to the precise details of methodology or construction set forth above as such variations and modification are intended to be included within the scope of the invention.