Forwarding to automatically prioritized IM accounts based upon priority and ...

(54) FORWARDING TO AUTOMATICALLY

PRIORITIZED IM ACCOUNTS BASED UPON
PRIORITY AND PRESENCE

(75) Inventors: W. Todd Daniell, Marietta, GA (US);

Larry G. Kent, Jr., Loganville, GA
(US); Brian K. Daigle, Marietta, GA
(US); Joel A. Davis, Marietta, GA (US);
Lee G. Friedman, Alpharetta, GA (US)

(73) Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.,

Reno, NV (US)

( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 1110 days.

(21) Appl.No.: 10/364,274

(22) Filed: Feb. 10, 2003

(65) Prior Publication Data

US 2004/0158609 Al Aug. 12, 2004

(51) Int. CI.

G06F15/16 (2006.01)

(52) U.S. CI 709/206; 709/203; 709/204;

709/207; 709/230

(58) Field of Classification Search None

See application file for complete search history.

(56) References Cited

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

Systems for forwarding incoming instant messages comprise a primary IM processing device configured to send and receive IM messages. The primary IM processing device is further configured to forward incoming IM messages to an available secondary IM processing devices based upon presence information and availability information on a plurality of secondary IM processing devices. A router is configured to route IM messages between the primary IM processing device and the secondary IM processing devices. An IM server is coupled to a communications network and is configured to send and receive presence information from the primary IM processing device and the secondary IM processing devices. The primary IM processing device is further configured to maintain presence information on the secondary IM processing devices including the secondary IM processing devices that were unavailable to receive a forwarded instant message. Other systems and methods are also provided.

20 Claims, 16 Drawing Sheets

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

2004/0128356 Al 7/2004 Bernstein et al.

2004/0143633 Al 7/2004 McCarty

2004/0193722 Al * 9/2004 Donovan 709/230

2004/0203947 Al 10/2004 Moles

2005/0004992 Al * 1/2005 Horstmann et al 709/206

2005/0030937 Al 2/2005 Wicketal.

2006/0116139 Al 6/2006 Appelman

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

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Author(s): Miller et al.; Litle: XMPP Instant Messaging, draft-millerxmpp-im-00; Jun. 21, 2002; pp. 1-32.

Website: http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/trillian/features-l .html; Cerulean Studios Lrillian; printed Apr. 23, 2003; pps. include: Features Lour, Messaging Enhancements, Interface Overview, Connect to 5 Mediums, and 3 individual Feature tours, © 1999-2003. Applicant's Statement, in IDS.

Day; "A Model for Presence and Instant Messaging", Feb. 2000, pp. 1-17.

Day; "Instant Messaging/ Presence Protocol Requirements", Feb. 2000, pp. 1-26.

Daniell; U.S. Appl. No. 10/364,693, filed Feb. 10, 2003.
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Daniell; Final Rejection mailed Apr. 30, 2008 for U.S. Appl. No. 11/476,260, filed Jun. 28, 2006.

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* cited by examiner