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  Systems and methods for providing in-band and out-of-band message processingUSPTO Application #: 20070094387Title: Systems and methods for providing in-band and out-of-band message processing Abstract: A personal messaging agent (220) performs enhanced messaging services. The personal messaging agent (220) includes a user profile (310), a message filter (320), and at least one external helper (330). The user profile (310) stores user preferences for processing messages. The message filter (320) receives messages, performs in-band processing on the messages based on the user preferences, and generates at least one event for triggering out-of-band processing of the messages. The external helpers (330) perform the out-of-band processing of the messages in response to the event(s). (end of abstract) Agent: Verizon Patent Management Group - Arlington, VA, US Inventors: Mark J. Hahn, Kevin Brophy, Anita L. Chow, Luis D. Letjer, David C. Robbins USPTO Applicaton #: 20070094387 - Class: 709224000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Electrical Computers And Digital Processing Systems: Multicomputer Data Transferring, Computer Network Managing, Computer Network Monitoring The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070094387. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/652,908, filed Aug. 31, 2000, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119 based on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/185,382, filed Feb. 28, 2000, the disclosures of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates generally to messaging systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods that provide enhanced services for e-mail messages. [0004] 2. Description of Related Art [0005] Electronic mail ("e-mail") is quickly becoming a standard mode of communication. E-mail's popularity can be attributed to the ease with which e-mail messages may be transmitted and the speed with which a transmitted message arrives at its intended destination. For example, to transmit a single e-mail message, the sender typically inputs a message and addresses the message with the recipient's e-mail address. When the message is complete, the sender commands the e-mail software to transmit the message, and the message is then delivered over a network, such as the Internet. The delivered message is quickly received by the recipient via a computer or the like. [0006] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a conventional e-mail system 100. The e-mail system 100 includes a message arrival component 110, user mailboxes 120, message retrieval component 130, and e-mail clients 140. The message arrival component 110 connects to a network, such as the Internet, to receive e-mail messages from one or more e-mail senders, using, for example, computer devices. The message arrival component 110 includes a server 112 and a local delivery agent 114. The server 112 uses a standard transfer protocol, such as the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), to process the e-mail messages and place them in the appropriate user mailboxes 120, typically using the services of a local delivery agent 114. The local delivery agent 114 includes the appropriate software and/or hardware to perform the message delivery. [0007] The user mailboxes 120 include storage locations of one or more memory devices assigned to particular e-mail recipients. The user mailboxes 120 typically store e-mail messages for retrieval by the recipients. The message retrieval component 130 includes a server 132 that uses a conventional message access protocol, such as Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) or Internet Message Access Protocol 4 (IMAP4), to retrieve the e-mail messages from the user mailboxes 120. The e-mail clients 140 receive instructions from the e-mail recipients and, via the server 132, provide content and state information regarding the messages in the user mailboxes 120 to the e-mail recipients. [0008] Processing by the e-mail system 100 typically commences with an e-mail sender using a computer device to construct and transmit an e-mail message. The e-mail message from the sender is encoded as an RFC822/MIME stream and routed through the network, based on its destination address, to a specific domain using a standard message transfer protocol, such as SMTP. Within that domain, the message stream is routed to the specific SMTP server, such as server 112, responsible for placing the message in the destination mailbox 120. The server 112 sends the message to the local delivery agent 114 for storage in the destination mailbox 120. The local delivery agent 114 delivers the message to the destination mailbox 120 and notifies the server 112 of the delivery status. [0009] When an e-mail recipient desires to retrieve messages from the destination mailbox 120, the recipient uses a computer device to invoke an e-mail client 140 that instructs the server 132 to access the destination mailbox 120. The server 132 uses a standard message access protocol, such as POP3 or IMAP4, to open the destination mailbox 120 and return the content/state information about the message to the e-mail recipient. [0010] Conventional e-mail service providers offer enhanced messaging services that are of value to the user to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Some examples of enhanced messaging features include extracting/blocking unwanted messages or removing unwanted parts of messages; inserting a targeted advertisement (to support low-cost/no-cost mail service); replacing a media file attachment with streaming controls (to reduce download time); notifying the user of the new message (e.g., sending a pager notification, displaying a dialog box, etc.); and redirecting the message to other preferred mail account(s). [0011] Some conventional e-mail providers offer these services by providing an enhanced e-mail client. The enhanced e-mail client, however, is rigid in the sense that it restricts the available services to only those services that the e-mail client was originally designed to provide. Other conventional e-mail providers embed additional functionality into the e-mail message itself, independent of the e-mail client. This approach, however, increases network requirements and costs, both to the provider and the user. [0012] As a result, a need exists for a flexible mechanism to offer enhanced e-mail services without substantially increasing requirements and costs to the provider or the user. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0013] Systems and methods consistent with the present invention address this need by providing one or more personal messaging agents that intelligently process e-mail messages on behalf of a specific user, independent of the e-mail clients used to retrieve the messages. [0014] In accordance with the purpose of the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, a personal messaging agent performs enhanced messaging services. The personal messaging agent includes a user profile, a message filter, and at least one external helper. The user profile stores user preferences for processing messages. The message filter receives messages, performs in-band processing on the messages based on the user preferences, and generates at least one event for triggering out-of-band processing of the messages. The external helpers perform the out-of-band processing of the messages in response to the event(s). [0015] In another implementation consistent with the present invention, a message arrival system includes a server, multiple personal messaging agents, and a local delivery agent. The server receives message streams from message senders. Each of the message streams may be destined for one or more message recipients. The personal messaging agents receive the message streams from the server, process the message streams based on preferences of the one or more message recipients to create modified message streams, and output the modified message streams. The local delivery agent receives the modified message streams and delivers the modified message streams to mailboxes associated with the message recipients. [0016] In yet another implementation consistent with the present invention, an e-mail system includes a message arrival component and a message retrieval component. The message arrival component includes a server, a personal messaging agent, and a local delivery agent. The server receives an e-mail message from an e-mail sender that is destined for one or more e-mail recipients. The personal messaging agent receives the e-mail message from the server, processes the e-mail message based on preferences of the e-mail recipients to create a processed e-mail message, and outputs the processed e-mail message. The local delivery agent receives the processed e-mail message and places the processed e-mail message in one or more mailboxes associated with the e-mail recipients. The message retrieval system retrieves the processed e-mail message from the mailboxes and delivers the processed e-mail message to the e-mail recipients. [0017] In a further implementation consistent with the present invention, a method for performing personal e-mail services includes storing e-mail processing preferences for one or more e-mail recipients; receiving an e-mail message from an e-mail sender that is destined for one or more of the e-mail recipients; processing the e-mail message based on the e-mail processing preferences; and providing the processed e-mail message for delivery to the e-mail recipients. [0018] In another implementation consistent with the present invention, personal messaging agents provide enhanced messaging services. Each of the personal messaging agents includes a user profile and a message filter. The user profile stores user preferences of a message recipient for processing a message. The message filter receives a message destined for the message recipient, processes the message based on the user preferences to produce a processed message, and delivers the processed message to the message recipient. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0019] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart oft his specification, illustrate the invention and, together with the description, explain the invention. In the drawings, [0020] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a conventional e-mail system; Continue reading... Full patent description for Systems and methods for providing in-band and out-of-band message processing Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Systems and methods for providing in-band and out-of-band message processing patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. 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