Patent ID: 7627759

Claim:
In a network environment that includes a plurality of computing systems that operate using a plurality of different transport protocols, the plurality of computing systems including a sending computing system capable of transmitting electronic messages and a receiving computing system capable of receiving electronic messages transmitted by the sending computing systems, a method for the sending computing system reliably sending an electronic message to the receiving computing system in a manner that is independent of what, or how many, transport protocols are used to transmit the electronic message, the method comprising the following: an act of the sending computing system constructing an outgoing electronic message that includes tracking information that uniquely identifies the outgoing electronic message; an act of passing the outgoing electronic message with the included tracking information to a transport layer associated with the sending computing system; an act of instructing the transport layer to send the outgoing electronic message to the receiving computing system; and an act of accessing an incoming electronic message from the transport layer, the incoming electronic message originating from the receiving computing system and including an acknowledgement that the receiving computing system received the outgoing electronic message.