Patent ID: 8837507

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for establishing a communications link between a source and a target, the method comprising: storing a source communication profile that identifies one or more first communication channels that were specified by the source and through which the source may communicate; storing a target communication profile that identifies one or more second communication channels that were specified by the target and through which the target may communicate; after storing the source communication profile and the target communication profile, receiving, at a server, an email that includes (1) source data that is associated with the source and (2) target data that is associated with the target; in response to receiving the email: retrieving the source communication profile, retrieving the target communication profile, comparing the one or more first communication channels of the source communication profile to the one or more second communication channels of the target communication profile to identify one or more possible communication links between the source and the target, wherein (a) at least one of the one or more first communication channels is of a different type than any of the one or more second communication channels or (b) at least one of the one or more second communication channels is of a different type than any of the one or more first communication channels, and opening a particular communications link, of the one or more possible communication links, between the source and the target.