Patent ID: 8346871

Claim:
A computer messaging system, comprising: a communications medium; an output device; and a computer connected to the communications medium and the output device, configured to: determine whether the computer is in a presentation mode; automatically select a configured alert mode in response to determining that the computer is in the presentation mode; receive message data through the communications medium; process the message data according to the automatically selected alert mode when the computer is in the presentation mode; and transfer the message data to an alternate recipient; where the computer is further configured to determine whether the computer is in the presentation mode by being configured based upon a configuration selected from a group consisting of: being configured to detect if more than one output device is displaying a same information; being configured to compare the output device with a list of known projection devices; being configured to query the output device for properties that are known to belong to projection devices; and being configured to query a power management mode to determine if a user has placed the computer in the presentation mode or a viewing mode.