System and method for providing configuration data such as for configuring electronic mail access
View Patent ↗A system, method and computer-readable medium provides configuration data, such as for electronic mail access. A configuration module retrieves the configuration data from a source of configuration data, such as a user system. The configuration in one aspect could be for accessing different electronic mailboxes of a user. Data object are generated. Each data object is submitted as a distributed object module to a web service. The web service in one aspect of the invention could be for a pass-through access for configuring electronic mailboxes.
1. A system for providing configuration data for remotely accessing electronic mail (email) on a plurality of source mailboxes, the system comprising:
a user system comprising
a processor,
at least one email client using said processor for accessing the plurality of source mailboxes, and
a mailbox configuration data source having configuration parameters stored therein for configuring access to the plurality of source mailboxes from said at least one email client;
a web service for allowing said user system to access the plurality of source mailboxes; and
a configuration module for retrieving from said mailbox configuration data source, without user intervention, respective configuration parameters for at least one source mailbox, and for configuring said web service also without user intervention;
said configuration module having at least a portion remote from said user system and comprising an import module having at least one mailbox import agent corresponding to said at least one email client for retrieving, without user intervention, configuration parameters from said mailbox configuration data source and generating respective configuration data objects for each respective one of the plurality of source mailboxes;
said web service comprising a configuration web age for allowing said user system to download and execute at least a portion of the remote portion of said configuration module.
2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein said web service comprises an internet service provider (ISP) that uses configuration parameters for accessing electronic mail from another internet service provider.
3. The system according to claim 1 , wherein said plurality of source mailboxes comprises a plurality of interfaces that use the configuration parameters on-the-fly for accessing respective electronic mailboxes.
4. The system according to claim 1 , and further comprising a web service interface module that formats the configuration data objects for submission to said web service.
5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein said user system comprises one of a web browser and email client.
6. The system according to claim 1 , wherein said user system comprises one of a personal computer and mobile communications device.
7. The system according to claim 1 , wherein said configuration module is implemented as a component object module.
8. The system according to claim 1 , wherein said configuration module is implemented as an ActiveX control.
9. A method for providing configuration data for remotely accessing electronic mail (email) on a plurality of source mailboxes, the method comprising:
providing a user system comprising
at least one email client for accessing the plurality of source mailboxes, and
a mailbox configuration data source having configuration parameters stored therein for configuring access to the plurality of source mailboxes from the at least one email client;
configuring a web service to allow the user system to access the plurality of source mailboxes; and
configuring a configuration module to retrieve from the mailbox configuration data source, without user intervention, respective configuration parameters for at least one source mailbox, and for configuring the web service also without user intervention;
the configuration module having at least a portion remote from the user system and comprising an import module having at least one mailbox import agent corresponding to the at least one email client for retrieving, without user intervention, configuration parameters from the mailbox configuration data source and generating respective configuration data objects for each respective one of the plurality of source mailboxes;
the web service including a configuration web age for allowing the user system to download and execute at least a portion of the remote portion of the configuration module.
10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein configuring the web service comprises configuring the web service as an internet service provider (ISP) and using configuration parameters for accessing electronic mail from another internet service provider.
11. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising forming an interface that uses configuration parameters on the-fly for accessing an electronic mailbox.
12. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising formatting the configuration data objects for submission to the web service.
13. The method according to claim 9 , wherein configuring the configuration module comprises implementing the configuration module as a component object module.
14. The method according to claim 9 , wherein configuring the configuration module comprises implementing the configuration module as an ActiveX control.