Patent ID: 7810160

Claim:
A computerized method executable by a processor of a messaging server for applying a common communication policy over at least two user groups of an organization, said processor configured for: receiving a communication from a sender user for transmission to at least one recipient user, wherein at least one of said sender user and said recipient user is a user in one of said at least two user groups; identifying characteristics of the sender user, including the identity of the sender user and the user group in which the sender user is a member; identifying characteristics of the at least one recipient user, including the identity of the at least one recipient user and the user group in which the at least one recipient user is a member; accessing a communication rules store common to the at least two user groups, said communication rules store storing communication rules implementing a common communication policy, said communication rules store independent of the received communication from the sender user so that the communication rules are not part of or specified by the received communication; selecting the communication rules in the rules store applicable to the received communication based upon at least one of the identified characteristics of the sender user, the identified characteristics of the at least one recipient user, and the content of the received communication; and applying the applicable rules to the communication, said applying comprising one of: sending the communication to the at least one recipient user if the rules allow such a communication; sending a modified communication to the at least one recipient user if the rules require such a modified communication; and blocking the communication to the at least one recipient user if the rules do not allow such a communication.