Patent ID: 7996467

Claim:
A method for applying a policy to a communication, comprising: receiving a communication for an intended recipient client by a communication system from a sending client via a first channel of a plurality of communication channels; analyzing information for the communication with a policy enforcer executed by the communication system; determining by the communication system a status of the intended recipient client; determining by the communication system whether to apply a policy to the communication based on the status of the intended recipient client and said analyzing the information for the communication including at least one of an identity of a sender of the communication, a time of day of the communication, and content of the communication, wherein the action includes sending a subsequent communication to the sending client with information determined based on the at least one satisfied condition and wherein information for the subsequent communication includes at least one of a time, sender identity, recipient identity, target, and content of the communication, preference information for the intended recipient, and privacy information for the intended recipient; and in response to determining that a policy is to be applied, performing with the policy enforcer the steps of: selecting a policy to apply to the communication, the policy including at least one condition and at least one action, applying the policy to the communication whereby at least one condition is satisfied, and executing the action corresponding to the satisfied condition; and in response to determining that a policy is not to be applied, forwarding the communication from the communication system to the intended recipient client via the first channel without applying any policy by the communication system.