Patent ID: 7546379

Claim:
A system for providing message prioritization in a networking environment, comprising: a computer comprising a processor; and instructions which execute on the computer, using the processor, to implement functions comprising: receiving, at a network device from each of a plurality of application programs, a plurality of outbound messages for forwarding to intended recipients thereof, wherein a message header of each of the outbound messages received from at least two of the application programs specifies message-specific classification input information generated by the application program to influence message-specific prioritization of the plurality of outbound messages generated by that application program and wherein the message-specific classification input information in the message header differs among at least two of the outbound messages received from at least one of the application programs; classifying the plurality of received outbound messages, by the network device, using prioritization policy information accessible to the network device and, for the received outbound messages specifying the classification input information in their message header, the classification input information, to assign per-message priority information that balances message handling priority among the plurality of received outbound messages received from the plurality of application programs; storing the assigned per-message priority information in the message header of each of the received outbound messages and, for each of the received outbound messages specifying the classification input information, replacing the classification input information from the message header with an encrypted version thereof, such that the encrypted version will automatically be returned to the network device in a related subsequent inbound message, if any, from the intended recipient and can thereby be decrypted by the network device when classifying the related subsequent inbound message; and forwarding each of the received outbound messages from the network device to the intended recipient thereof in an order that is determined using the assigned per-message priority information.