Patent ID: 8126975

Claim:
A method for automatically converting an email thread into a collaborative workspace comprising: detecting an addition of a reply message to an existing email thread of an email system by an email conversion handler, wherein said existing email thread comprises a main message and at least one reply message; when user-defined conversion criteria are satisfied, automatically converting the existing email thread into an artifact of a collaborative workspace within a collaborative environment, wherein said collaborative workspace is specific to the existing email thread, wherein said collaborative workspace contains an identifier associated with the existing email thread, wherein designated participants of the existing email thread are provided access to the collaborative workspace, wherein the designated participants are members of the email system; copying data associated with the existing email thread from the email system into the created collaborative workspace, wherein said data comprises message contents and file attachments associated with the existing email thread; and replacing the existing email thread within the email system repository with a redirection message, wherein the redirection message informs the designated participants of the creation of the collaborative workspace for the existing email thread.