Patent ID: 8037029

Claim:
A method for managing records, comprising: at a computer with a processor and with a records management system and a process engine, in response to a user composing an e-mail message that relates to one or more records that are managed within the records management system and that are each attached to the e-mail message, identifying the one or more records from the e-mail message, wherein the one or more records are stored in a category of a file plan, and wherein the category has associated disposition rules; delivering the e-mail message to one or more recipients; receiving a respective receipt in response to the e-mail message from at least one of the one or more recipients, wherein the receipt is returned upon the e-mail message being opened; and for each received respective receipt, declaring the respective receipt as a new record within the records management system; storing the new record of the respective receipt in the category of the file plan storing the identified one or more records; initiating a process in the process engine to apply one or more pre-defined disposition rules to the new record of the respective receipt that are associated with the category; and controlling disposition of the new record of the respective receipt based on the disposition schedule in the category of the file plan for the one or more identified records to prevent destruction of the new record of the respective receipt until the one or more identified records have passed a particular milestone.