Temporary suspension of electronic communications

Disclosed are various embodiments for a transmission service to suspend temporarily transmission of electronic communications to a recipient. In one embodiment, the transmission service receives a request to suspend receiving electronic communications temporarily for a suspension period. In response, the transmission service suspends transmitting electronic communications to the recipient during the duration of the suspension period. Then, the transmission service resumes transmitting electronic communications to the recipient upon the expiration of the suspension period.

FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to computer technology, including hardware and software, that is usable to allow a transmission of an electronic message to be suspended.

BACKGROUND

Commercial and non-commercial entities engage in marketing campaigns to promote the sale of a variety of products and services, and/or elicit contributions. For example, retailers may distribute advertisements, fliers, mailings, electronic communications and/or other types of marketing materials to announce sales and promote the sale of items. Retailers may communicate directly with the potential customer through electronic communications such as email, social network and/or SMS messaging.

Recipients of the electronic communications may wish to stop the transmission of the electronic communications for a period of time. For example, a recipient may wish to stop the transmission of electronic communications to prevent overcrowding of an inbox while on vacation or during a particular season such as the Christmas holiday season. Recipients may then desire to resume receiving electronic communications subsequent to a particular time. Current systems are capable of receiving requests from recipients to remove the recipients' identification from mailing lists, but are not capable of sending electronic communications to recipients after a certain time period. However, the transmission of electronic communications may not resume after the period of time expires if the recipient does not re-subscribe receiving the electronic communications. Accordingly, systems and methods are desirable that can allow a recipient to suspend temporarily receipt of certain electronic communications.

SUMMARY

One aspect is a tangible computer-readable medium that embodies a program executable in a computing device. The program includes code that can receive a first request to suspend transmission of electronic communications to a recipient during a suspension period. The first request can be associated with a recipient identifier (ID). The program includes code that can associate the recipient ID with a suspension state in response to receiving the first request to suspend transmission of the electronic communications. The program includes code that can receive a second request to transmit an electronic communication to the recipient. The program includes code that can prevent transmitting the electronic communication to the recipient during the suspension period based on the association of the recipient ID with the suspension state.

In another embodiment, a system includes at least one computing device and a transmission service that is executable in the at least one computing device. The transmission service includes logic configured to receive a request to suspend transmission of electronic communications to a recipient during a suspension period. The transmission service further includes logic configured to suspend transmitting the electronic communications to the recipient during the suspension period by associating a suspension state to a recipient ID representing the recipient. The transmission service includes logic configured to resume transmitting the electronic communications to the recipient after the suspension period expires.

In another embodiment, a method is provided. The method includes receiving, by a computing device executing code stored on a tangible medium, a request to suspend transmission of promotional electronic communications to a recipient for a suspension period. The request includes a recipient ID for the recipient. The recipient ID is associated with a suspension state by a computing device. Transmission of the promotional electronic communications to the recipient is suspended by the computing device during the suspension period by preventing the promotional electronic communications from being transmitted to the recipient based on the suspension state being associated with the recipient ID. The recipient ID is de-associated with the suspension state by the computing device and at least one of the promotional electronic communications is transmitted to the recipient in response to determining an expiration of the suspension period.

These illustrative aspects are mentioned not to limit or define the disclosure, but to provide examples to aid understanding thereof. Additional aspects and embodiments are discussed in the Detailed Description, and further description is provided there. Advantages offered by one or more of the various aspects and embodiments may be further understood by examining this specification or by practicing one or more aspects and embodiments presented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain aspects and embodiments relate to suspending temporarily the transmission of electronic communications to a recipient in response to receiving a request from the recipient to suspend transmission for a definite period of time. Certain embodiments obviate the need to remove a recipient identification permanently from a list of recipients (i.e. by placing the recipient identification on a “do not contact” list), while also allowing recipients more control over the electronic communications transmission process.

Systems according to some embodiments can leverage data relationships between, for example, a recipient identifier (ID), an active status indicator, and a suspension status indicator, to avoid disrupting an electronic communication process. For example, an electronic communication transmission engine can formulate electronic communications for each recipient ID in a table that is associated with an active status that represents that the respective recipient is in an active status, which may mean that the engine is to formulate and transmit an electronic communication to the recipient. The active status may be periodically updated using a second table that includes suspension information associated with recipient IDs. For a recipient ID associated with a suspension status that indicates the respective recipient has requested a temporary suspension, the system can update the first table using the relationship of the first table and the second table to change the active status in the first table to indicate that the engine is to not send the recipient an electronic communications. The second table can include suspension information such as a date to resume electronic communications transmission to a recipient that is associated with the recipient ID. In some embodiments, the system can determine that the date to resume electronic communications transmission is the current date or a past date, and change the active status in the first table during the next periodic update. Subsequently, the engine can formulate an transmit electronic communications to the associated recipient.

In one embodiment, a transmission service that includes the engine may insert a selectable hyperlink in the electronic communications. The hyperlink may correspond to a request to suspend transmission of electronic communications temporarily. Selection of the hyperlink by a recipient causes a recipient ID and the temporary suspension request to be transmitted to the system. In response to receiving the request, the transmission service configures the data associated with the recipient ID accordingly, e.g. the data in the second table described above, or may deliver to the recipient a web page that includes options for affirming the temporary suspension request and receiving from the recipient a suspension end date. In another embodiment, the transmission service provides a network page that is accessible to the recipient, such as through a browser and/or through a hyperlink included in the electronic communication. The network page can include fields to receive from the recipient information associated with the temporary suspension request. The information may include recipient contact information, affirmation of the request, a suspension end date, and/or any other recipient provided instructions.

In the following discussion, a general description of the system and its components is provided, followed by a discussion of the operation of the same.

FIG. 1illustrates a networked environment100according to some embodiments. The networked environment100includes a computing device103, a client106, and a network109. The network109includes, for example, the Internet, intranets, extranets, wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wired networks, wireless networks, or other suitable networks, etc., or any combination of two or more such networks.

The computing device103may include, for example, a server computer or any other system capable of providing computing capability. Although one computing device103is depicted, certain embodiments of the networked environment100include more than one computing device. For example, one or more computing devices103may be employed and arranged, for example, in one or more server banks or computer banks or other arrangements. The computing devices together may include a cloud computing resource, a grid computing resource, and/or any other distributed computing arrangement. Such computing devices may be located in a single installation or may be distributed among many different geographical locations. For purposes of convenience, the computing device103is referred to herein in the singular.

Various applications and/or other functionality may be executed in the computing device103according to certain embodiments. In addition, various data is stored in a data store113that is accessible to the computing device103. The data stored in the data store113, for example, may be accessed, modified, removed, and/or otherwise manipulated in association with the operation of the applications and/or functional entities described below.

The components executed on the computing device103can include a transmission service116, and other applications, services, processes, systems, engines, or functionality not discussed in detail herein. The transmission service116can be executed to transmit electronic communications146to recipients. In one embodiment, the transmission service116provides for the recipient to suspend receiving electronic communications temporarily for a specified period of time. In some embodiments, during the suspension period, the transmission service116may store the electronic communications146scheduled to be delivered to the recipient in a data store to be accessed at a later time. In other embodiments, the transmission service116avoids transmitting electronic communications146to the recipient that are scheduled for transmission during the suspension period.

The data stored in the data store113includes, for example, one or more recipient data119, one or more source data120, and potentially other data. The source data120includes various data associated with commercial and non-commercial entities that provide electronic communications for transmission to the recipients. Each source data120may include a source name that may be represented by a unique source143identifier. Additionally, each source data120includes electronic communications146provided by the source143. For example, the electronic communications146may include promotional material, such as, advertisements, marketing information, and/or other promotional material. In one instance, the electronic communications146may be emails advertising an ongoing sale for a product offered by the source143. In another embodiment, the electronic communications146may not be of a promotional variety. For example, the electronic communications may include newspapers, newspapers, periodicals, journals, magazines, and/or other publications provided by a variety of entities.

The recipient data119includes various data associated with each one of the authorized recipients of the electronic communications146. Each recipient data119may include recipient names, such as a unique recipient123identifier, and/or other data. Additionally, each recipient data119also includes correspondence information126, a suspension state129, a suspension period133, and a set of suspension preferences136. In one embodiment, the correspondence information126may include a plurality of email addresses, social networking handles, short message service (SMS) handles, facsimile handles, and/or any other type of correspondence information that can be used to transmit electronic communications146to the recipient123. The correspondence information may be provided by the recipient123and/or another source.

The suspension state129indicates whether the recipient123has requested to suspend temporarily receiving electronic communications146. In one embodiment, the suspension state129may be a Boolean value (i.e., ‘1’ or ‘0’) that indicates whether the recipient123has suspended receiving electronic communications. For example, a Boolean ‘1’ may indicate that that the recipient123has suspended receiving electronic communications and a Boolean ‘0’ may indicate that the recipient123has not suspended receiving electronic communications. In other embodiments, the suspension state129may be represented in a variety of other ways, such as, for instance, a multi-digit numerical value, a character, a character string, and/or other data types.

The suspension period133represents a period of time during which transmission of the electronic communications146to the recipient123has been temporarily suspended. In one embodiment, the transmission service116may receive from the recipient123a range of dates, a number of days, weeks, months, and/or other duration during which transmission of the electronic communications146should be suspended. Additionally, the transmission service116may receive from the recipient123a resume date that represents the date when transmission of electronic communications146should resume. In another embodiment, the suspension period133may be a default duration and/or a duration.

The suspension preferences136represents a listing of preferences received by the transmission service116that regulate the suspension of receiving electronic communications. For example, the transmission service116may receive a request from the recipient123to suspend receiving electronic communications146from a particular sender, with keywords in a subject line, related to a specified subject matter, and/or any other suspension preference136. Additionally, the recipient123may specify suspending receipt of all electronic communications146except for those electronic communications146that satisfy the suspension preferences136.

Additionally, in some embodiments, the recipient data119may also include a collection of suspended communications representing a plurality of stored electronic communications146that were scheduled to be delivered to the recipient123during the suspension period133. In one embodiment, the recipient123may request that the electronic communications146be stored for accessing at a later time. For example, the recipient123may wish to browse the suspended communications at a later time. In another embodiment, the collection of suspended communications representing the stored electronic communications146may be automatically delivered to the recipient123when the suspension of the receipt of electronic communications146expires. For example, the collection of suspended communications may be packaged together and transmitted to the recipient as one communication.

The client106is representative of one or more client devices that may be coupled to the network109. The client106may include, for example, a processor-based system such as a computer system. Such a computer system may be embodied in the form of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant, a cellular telephone, set-top box, music players, web pads, tablet computer systems, game consoles, or other devices with like capability.

The client106may be configured to execute various applications such as a client side application149, a browser153and/or other applications. The client106may be configured to execute client side applications149applications such as, for example, email applications, instant message applications, and/or other applications. The browser153may be executed in a client106, for example, to access and render network pages156, such as web pages, or other network content provided by the computing device103and/or other servers. For instance, the browser153may render the network pages156on a display159associated with the client106.

A recipient123on a client106registers a recipient data119with the transmission service116by manipulating one or more network pages156generated by the transmission service116. For example, the transmission service116may prompt the recipient123to provide identifying information such as, a unique recipient identifier, correspondence information126, and/or any other data. In one embodiment, registering a recipient account may allow the transmission service116to facilitate transmission of electronic communications146.

The recipient123may then wish to suspend receipt of electronic communications146. In one embodiment, the transmission service116may include a hyperlink148to request the suspension in each electronic communication146transmitted to the recipient123. For example, the hyperlink148may be included at the end of an email communication transmitted to the recipient123. Further, the hyperlink148may include descriptive text, such as, “Click here to suspend receiving emails,” or the like. Additionally, a unique identifier may be embedded within the hyperlink148that uniquely identifies the recipient123invoking the hyperlink148. When the recipient invokes the hyperlink148, the transmission service116receives the request to suspend receipt of electronic communications146and the unique identifier identifying the recipient123.

Additionally, the transmission service116may include more than one hyperlink148in the electronic communication146where each one transmits a different type of suspension request when invoked by the recipient123. For example, invoking one of the hyperlinks148transmit a request to suspend receipt of the electronic communications146for a default suspension period133. The default suspension period133may be any period of time established by the transmission service116, provided by the source143of the electronic communications146, and/or any other period. Invoking other hyperlinks148may transmit requests to suspend receipt of electronic communications146for different suspension periods133. For example, the hyperlinks may include descriptive text indicating a duration of the suspension period133, such as, a number of days, a number of weeks, a number of months, and/or any other duration of time.

In another embodiment, the recipient123may access the transmission service through a network page156to suspend receipt of electronic communications146. Upon accessing, the transmission service116may prompt the recipient123to indicate a suspension period133and list any suspension preferences136. For example, the recipient123may wish to suspend receipt of electronic communications146from a specified source143, about a specified item, and/or any other characteristic. In response, the transmission service116may then manipulate the suspension state129associated with the recipient123to indicate that the recipient123has temporarily suspended receipt of the electronic communications146. Additionally, the recipient123may request to store the electronic communications146scheduled to be delivered to the recipient123during the suspension period133for access at a later time. For instance, the transmission service116may store those electronic communications146as suspended communications in association with the recipient data119of the recipient123.

In another embodiment, the transmission service116may automatically determine to suspend transmission of electronic communications146based on external factors. For example, the transmission service116may identify a magnitude of sales to a recipient123that is related to the transmission of the electronic communications146. If the magnitude of sales does not exceed a threshold level, the transmission service116may determine to suspend transmission of the electronic communications146for a predetermined suspension period133. In this embodiment, a sale may be related to the transmission of the electronic communication146if the recipient123initiates a transaction by invoking a hyperlink included in the electronic communication146. The transmission service116may suspend transmission of the electronic communications146to the recipient123if the magnitude of sales resulting from the transactions do not exceed a threshold level.

In one embodiment, the transmission service116operates to transmit electronic communications146with content provided by one or more sources143to recipients123on a period basis, such as, for instance, hourly, daily, and/or any other frequency. The transmission service116may receive a distribution list147that includes correspondence information126of all the recipients123scheduled to receive the electronic communications146. Alternatively, the transmission service116may generate the distribution list147based on information contained within the recipient data119, as can be appreciated.

Upon identifying the distribution list147, the transmission service116parses the entries in the distribution list147to identify a first recipient123on the distribution list147, the correspondence information126of the first recipient123, and the suspension state129of the first recipient123. The transmission service116then determines whether the suspension state129indicates that the first recipient123has temporarily suspended receiving electronic communications146. For example, the suspension state129may be a Boolean value indicating that the first recipient123has not temporarily suspended receiving the electronic communications146. In this instance, the transmission service116facilitates the transmission of electronic communications146to the first recipient123.

As another example, the suspension state129may be a Boolean value indicating that the first recipient123has temporarily suspended receiving the electronic communications146. In this instance, the transmission service116does not facilitate the transmission of the electronic communications146to the first recipient123. In one embodiment, the recipient123may have requested that the electronic communications146scheduled to be delivered during the suspension period133be stored for accessing at a later time. Accordingly, the transmission service116may insert the electronic communications146in the collection of suspended communications associated with the first recipient123. For example, the suspended communications may be a collection of communications that can be modified to insert the electronic communications146. Upon processing the first recipient123on the distribution list147, the transmission service116advances to the next recipient123on the distribution list147and initiates the transmission process, as described above, until all of the recipients123in the distribution list147have been processed.

Data relationships can be used to allow the transmission service116to determine whether to transmit an electronic communication146to a recipient123.FIG. 2depicts examples of data relationships that can be stored in the data store113or in a separate storage device, such as a database, that is communicatively coupled to the computing device103. The data relationships include two tables of data that can be associated with each other through a recipient identifier (shown in the tables as “Recipient_ID”). The recipient identifier can be decrypted from a code or can be associated with a randomly generated code. Alternatively, the recipient identifier may be similar to the recipient123data stored in the data store113.

The mailing table includes the recipient123(“Recipient_ID”) and active indicator (“Active_Status”). The mailing table may include a variety of entries where each of the entries depict data from the recipient data119. In this example, the “Recipient_ID” may represent the recipient123and the “Active_Status” indicates whether to include the recipient123represented by the “Recipient_ID” in the distribution list147. For instance, the “Active_Status” may be represented by a Boolean value where a “1” indicates that the recipient123represented by the “Recipient_ID” should be included in the distribution list147. Similarly, a Boolean of “0” may indicate that the recipient123represented by the “Recipient_ID” should not be included in the distribution list147. The transmission service116may build the distribution list147by processing each entry in the mailing table as described above.

The transmitting table includes the recipient123(“Recipient_ID”), a suspension state129(“Suspension_Status”), and a suspension period133(“Resume_Date”). The transmitting table may include several entries of recipients123(“Recipient_ID”) that are associated with the “Active_Status.” The “Suspension_Status” may be a Boolean value indicating whether the recipient123has requested that transmission of electronic communications146be temporarily suspended. For instance, a Boolean value of “1” may indicate that the recipient123associated with the “Recipient_ID” has previously requested that transmission of the electronic communications146be suspended. In one embodiment, the “Suspension_Status” may be similar to the suspension state129.

Additionally, the “Date_Resume” may represent a date on which transmission of electronic communications146to the recipient123resumes. In one embodiment, the “Date_Resume” field may only be active for a “Recipient_ID” when the recipient123associated with the “Recipient_ID” has requested the temporary suspension. The “Date_Resume” may indicate a date for resuming transmission of the electronic communications146to the recipient123. In one embodiment, the “Date_Resume” may be a character string that is similar to the suspension period133.

FIG. 3is one example of a network page156, denoted herein as network page156a, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the network page156ais generated by the transmission service116(FIG. 1) and provided by the computing device103(FIG. 1). The browser153then renders the network page156aon the display159of the client106. The blocks and components that comprise network page156arepresent one example of an approach to present the content depicted in the network page156a.

In this embodiment, network page156adepicts an interface for the recipient123(FIG. 1) to request a temporary suspension of receipt of electronic communications146(FIG. 1). The network page156aincludes a recipient ID203, a sender field206, a recipient field209, a subject line field213, a keywords field216, a suspension field219, a store communications block223, a deliver stored communications block226, a submit button229, and a reset button233. In one embodiment, the recipient ID203represents the unique recipient identifier of the recipient123currently accessing the network page156a.

The sender field206, recipient field209, subject line field216, and keywords field219provide for the recipient123to indicate a number of suspension preferences136(FIG. 1). For example, in the sender field206, the recipient123may provide identifying information of a sender of electronic communications146such as, names, email addresses, social networking handles, fax numbers, and/or any other type of contact information. In the recipient field209, the recipient123may provide identifying information of distribution lists, recipient groups, social networking groups, and/or any other listing of recipient groups to which electronic communications146are addressed. For example, the recipient123may belong to an email distribution list147(FIG. 1) for shoppers of a particular item. The recipient123may wish to temporarily suspend all emails transmitted to the email accounts listed in the distribution list147.

In the subject line field213, the recipient123may provide identifying keywords that may appear in a subject line of electronic communications146. For example, the recipient123may wish to suspend receiving communications advertising holiday sales in the subject line, such as, any Valentine's Day sales, Black Friday sales, back to school sales, and/or any other type of holiday sale. Additionally, the recipient123may wish to temporarily suspend electronic communications146with any other keyword that may appear in the subject line, such as, for example, names of items, geographic locations of retailers, magnitude of discounts, and/or any other keyword. Similarly, in the content field216, the recipient123may provide keywords that may appear in the content of the electronic communications146, as can be appreciated.

In the suspension field219, the recipient123may indicate a suspension period133(FIG. 1) to indicate the duration of the temporary suspension. For example, the recipient123may provide a range of dates to indicate the duration, a resume date when transmission of electronic communication resumes, a month during which transmission of electronic communications will be suspended, and/or other input to indicate the duration. In one embodiment, the suspension field219may include a default value and/or a drop down menu from which the recipient123may select a suspension period133.

In the store communications block223, the recipient123may indicate whether to store the electronic communications146scheduled to be delivered during the suspension period133. For example, the recipient123may wish to access those electronic communications146at a later time, as described above. In this example, the transmission service116may store the electronic communications146as suspended communications in association with the recipient data119(FIG. 1) of the recipient123. Additionally, in the deliver stored communications block226, the recipient123may indicate whether to deliver the contents of the suspended communications to the recipient123when the suspension period133expires. For example, the recipient123may wish to receive all of the suspended communications as a single email communication at the end of the suspension period133.

Additionally, invoking the submit button229transmits the request to the transmission service116to suspend transmitting electronic communications146to the recipient123according to the suspension preferences136for the suspension period133. Invoking the reset button233transmits a request to reset the fields and blocks depicted in the network page156a.

InFIG. 4, shown is one example of a network page156, denoted herein as network page156b, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the network page156bis generated by the transmission service116(FIG. 1) and provided by the computing device103(FIG. 1). The browser153then renders the network page156bon the display159of the client106. The blocks and components that comprise network page156brepresent one example of an approach to present the content depicted in the network page156b.

In this embodiment, network page156bdepicts an interface for the recipient123(FIG. 1) to manage the suspension of electronic communications146(FIG. 1) after the recipient123has already requested the electronic communications146to be suspended. As shown inFIG. 4, the network page156bincludes a view suspension details button253, a reconfigure suspension button256, a terminate suspension button259, and a view stored communications button263. In one embodiment, invoking the view suspension details button253transmits a request to the transmission service116to generate a new network page156to depict the suspension configurations previously established by the recipient123. For example, the new network page156may depict the suspension period133(FIG. 1), the suspension preferences136(FIG. 1), and/or any other suspension related setting.

Additionally, invoking the reconfigure suspension button256transmits a request to the transmission service116to re-establish the suspension settings. For instance, the recipient123may be presented with the contents of network page156a(FIG. 3) to provide a new set of parameters for the fields included in network page156a. Invoking the terminate suspension button259transmits a request to the transmission service116to terminate the suspension of receipt of electronic communications previously requested by the recipient123. For example, the recipient123may request the terminate being in the suspension state129(FIG. 1) prior to the expiration of the suspension period133(FIG. 1). Finally, invoking the view stored communications button263transmits a request to the transmission service116to view the suspended communications stored in the data store113(FIG. 1). For example, the transmission service116may provide a new network page156that depicts the contents of the suspended communications, as can be appreciated.

FIG. 5is a flowchart that provides one example of the operation of a portion of the transmission service116according to various embodiments. It is understood that the flowchart ofFIG. 5provides merely an example of the many different types of functional arrangements that may be employed to implement the operation of the portion of the transmission service116as described herein. As an alternative, the flowchart ofFIG. 5may be viewed as depicting an example of steps of a method implemented in the computing device103(FIG. 1) according to one or more embodiments.

Beginning with box503, the transmission service116identifies a recipient123(FIG. 1) to transmit an electronic communication146(FIG. 1). For instance, the transmission service116may parse a distribution list147(FIG. 1) to identify recipients123to whom an electronic communication146is scheduled for transmission. The transmission service116may process each recipient123on the distribution list147in a sequential manner to determine whether to transmit an electronic communication to each of the respective recipients123, as described above.

In box506, the transmission service116determines whether the recipient123has suspended receiving electronic communications146. In one embodiment, the recipient123may have previously transmitted a request to the transmission service116to suspend electronic communications146for a suspension period133(FIG. 1), as shown on network page156a(FIG. 3). The transmission service116may have updated the suspension state129(FIG. 1) when the recipient123previously submitted the request to suspend. Thus, in one embodiment, the transmission service116may determine whether the recipient123has previously suspended receiving electronic communications146by analyzing the suspension state129associated with the recipient123. For example, the suspension state129may be represented by a Boolean value indicating the preference of the recipient123.

If the transmission service116determines that the recipient123has not suspended receiving electronic communications146, then the transmission service116proceeds to box509to transmit the electronic communication146to the recipient123. For example, the transmission service116may facilitate an email transmission of a electronic communication146(FIG. 1) provided by a source143(FIG. 1), as described above. The transmission service116then returns to box503to process a next recipient123listed in the distribution list147.

Returning to box506, if the transmission service116determines that the recipient123has suspended receiving electronic communications146, then the transmission service116suspends the transmission of the electronic communication146to the recipient123, as shown in box513. In one embodiment, the transmission service116may proceed to box503and advance to the next recipient123listed in the distribution list147to repeat the process, as described above. In another embodiment, the transmission service116advances to box516to determine whether the recipient123has requested to store the electronic communications scheduled for delivery during the suspension period133.

If the transmission service116determines that the recipient123has requested to store the electronic communications146, then transmission service116proceeds to box519to store the electronic communications146. In one embodiment, the transmission service116stores the electronic communications146as suspended communications, as described above. Upon storing the electronic communications146, the transmission service116proceeds to box503to process a next recipient123in the distribution list147, as described above. Returning to box516, if the transmission service116determines that the recipient123has not requested to store the electronic communications146, then the transmission service116proceeds to box503to process a next recipient123in the distribution list147, as described above.

With reference toFIG. 6, shown is a schematic block diagram of the computing device103according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The computing device103includes at least one processor circuit, for example, having a processor603and a memory606, both of which are coupled to a local interface609. To this end, the computing device103may comprise, for example, at least one server computer or like device. The local interface609may comprise, for example, a data bus with an accompanying address/control bus or other bus structure as can be appreciated.

Stored in the memory606are both data and several components that are executable by the processor603. In particular, stored in the memory606and executable by the processor603are a transmission service116, and potentially other applications. Also stored in the memory606may be a data store113and other data. In addition, an operating system may be stored in the memory606and executable by the processor603.

It is understood that there may be other applications that are stored in the memory606and are executable by the processors603as can be appreciated. Where any component discussed herein is implemented in the form of software, any one of a number of programming languages may be employed such as, for example, C, C++, C#, Objective C, Java, Javascript, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic, Python, Ruby, Delphi, Flash, or other programming languages.

A number of software components are stored in the memory606and are executable by the processor603. In this respect, the term “executable” means a program file that is in a form that can ultimately be run by the processor603. Examples of executable programs may be, for example, a compiled program that can be translated into machine code in a format that can be loaded into a random access portion of the memory606and run by the processor603, source code that may be expressed in proper format such as object code that is capable of being loaded into a random access portion of the memory606and executed by the processor603, or source code that may be interpreted by another executable program to generate instructions in a random access portion of the memory606to be executed by the processor603, etc. An executable program may be stored in any portion or component of the memory606including, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard drive, solid-state drive, USB flash drive, memory card, optical disc such as compact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, magnetic tape, or other memory components.

In addition, the processor603may represent multiple processors603and the memory606may represent multiple memories606that operate in parallel processing circuits, respectively. In such a case, the local interface609may be an appropriate network109(FIG. 1) that facilitates communication between any two of the multiple processors603, between any processor603and any of the memories606, or between any two of the memories606, etc. The local interface609may comprise additional systems designed to coordinate this communication, including, for example, performing load balancing. The processor603may be of electrical or of some other available construction.