Method and system for collecting and presenting historical communication data

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

collecting historical data related to a plurality of existing communications;

tracking, via a computing device, an interaction by a user with a communication from the plurality of existing communications that includes one or more of: opening the communication, viewing the communication, and receiving the communication; and

presenting, based on the user interaction with the communication, at least a portion of the historical data to the user via the computing device, wherein presenting the historical data includes simultaneously displaying: contact information for an entity associated with the communication with which the user interacts, a list of contacts associated with the entity, a list of prior communications between the user and the entity, and communication statistics, wherein displaying the communication statistics includes displaying a graph comprising a plurality of times when communications were received from the entity and a relative volume of communications received at each of the plurality of times, and wherein displaying of the list of contacts associated with the entity comprises ranking each contact in the list of contacts based on a volume of communications between the respective contact and the user and displaying the contacts in the list of contacts in order of their respective rank;

wherein displaying the list of prior communications between the user and the entity further includes:

grouping a first subset of the prior communications together into a first conversation thread;

grouping a second subset of the prior communications together into a second conversation thread;

analyzing the first conversation thread and the second conversation thread and assigning a first rank to the first conversation thread and a second rank to the second conversation thread, the first rank being higher than the second rank, wherein assigning the first and second ranks is based on determining, from the analysis of the first conversation thread and the second conversation thread, that the first conversation thread contains communications that are work-related and the second conversation thread contains communications that are social in nature; and

displaying the first conversation thread ahead of the second conversation thread in the list of prior communications based on the first rank and the second rank.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the user interaction with the communication further includes one or more of performing a search, selecting a person's name, selecting a communication summary, and selecting an attribute associated with the historical data.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the historical data is collected from one or more of: e-mail body text, e-mail meta data, e-mail header information, e-mail attachments, web search engines, people search engines, social networks, e-mail clients, instant messages, personal web pages, telephone directories, scanned business card data, text messages, picture sharing websites, video sharing websites, personal profile pages, telephone communications, customer relationship management systems, airline flight data, on-line retailer data, news feeds, and stock quotes.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein collecting the historical data includes directly requesting information from one or more of a sender of a communication from the plurality of communications and a recipient of one or more of the plurality of communications.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the historical data is displayed within one or more of: an e-mail client, a web browser, an instant message window, a panel, and a pop-up window.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the historical data is presented using one or more display methods selected from the group comprising highlighting, underlining, adding hyper links, adding text, adding images, adding video, and adding attachments.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the historical data includes one or more of: contact information, communication summaries, conversation threads, attachments to communications, related contacts, travel information, weather information, and information related to on-line retail purchases.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the communication statistics further include one or more of: lengths of communications, subject matter of communications, titles of communications, participants in communications, sources of communications, response times of communications, and types of communications.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sharing at least a portion of the historical data among a network of participants.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein different amounts of the historical data are shared with each participant based on preference settings.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, from the user via the computing device, a selection from the presented historical data; and

automatically generating a communication in response to the user selection.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein presenting the historical data further includes simultaneously displaying: statistics regarding communications between the user and the entity, and a list of files exchanged between the user and the entity.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the entity is selected from the group consisting of: a person, an automated system, and a business entity.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the prior communications are grouped together in the conversation thread based on a subject common to the communications in the conversation thread.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein assigning the first and second ranks is further based on determining, from the analysis of the first conversation thread and the second conversation thread, that the first conversation thread contains more communications than the second communication thread.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer readable instructions, which when executed cause a system to:

collect historical data related to a plurality of existing communications;

track an interaction by a user with a communication from the plurality of existing communications that includes one or more of: opening the communication, viewing the communication, and receiving the communication; and

present, based on the user interaction with the communication, at least a portion of the historical data to the user, wherein presenting the historical data includes simultaneously displaying: contact information for an entity associated with the communication with which the user interacts, a list of contacts associated with the entity, a list of prior communications between the user and the entity, and communication statistics, wherein displaying the communication statistics includes displaying a graph comprising a plurality of times when communications were received from the entity and a relative volume of communications received at each of the plurality of times, and wherein displaying of the list of contacts associated with the entity comprises ranking each contact in the list of contacts based on a volume of communications between the respective contact and the user and displaying the contacts in the list of contacts in order of their respective rank;

wherein displaying the list of prior communications between the user and the entity further includes:

grouping a first subset of the prior communications together into a first conversation thread;

grouping a second subset of the prior communications together into a second conversation thread;

analyzing the first conversation thread and the second conversation thread and assigning a first rank to the first conversation thread and a second rank to the second conversation thread, the first rank being higher than the second rank, wherein assigning the first and second ranks is based on determining, from the analysis of the first conversation thread and the second conversation thread, that the first conversation thread contains communications that are work-related and the second conversation thread contains communications that are social in nature; and

displaying the first conversation thread ahead of the second conversation thread in the list of prior communications based on the first rank and the second rank.

17. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the user interaction with the communication further includes one or more of performing a search, selecting a person's name, selecting a communication summary, and selecting an attribute associated with the historical data.

18. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the historical data is collected from one or more of: e-mail body text, e-mail meta data, e-mail header information, e-mail attachments, web search engines, people search engines, social networks, e-mail clients, instant messages, personal web pages, telephone directories, scanned business card data, text messages, picture sharing websites, video sharing websites, personal profile pages, telephone communications, customer relationship management systems, airline flight data, on-line retailer data, news feeds, and stock quotes.

19. The medium of claim 16 , wherein collecting the historical data includes directly requesting information from one or more of a sender of a communication from the plurality of communications and a recipient of one or more of the plurality of communications.

20. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the historical data is displayed within one or more of: an e-mail client, a web browser, an instant message window, a panel, and a pop-up window.

21. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the historical data is presented using one or more display methods selected from the group comprising highlighting, underlining, adding hyper links, adding text, adding images, adding video, and adding attachments.

22. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the historical data includes one or more of: contact information, communication summaries, conversation threads, attachments to communications, communication statistics, related contacts, travel information, weather information, and information related to on-line retail purchases.

23. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the historical data includes one or more of: times of communications, lengths of communications, subject matter of communications, titles of communications, participants in communications, sources of communications, response times of communications, types of communications, and volume of communications.

24. The medium of claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of the historical data is shared among a network of participants.

25. The medium of claim 24 , wherein different amounts of the historical data are shared with each participant based on preference settings.

26. The medium of claim 16 , wherein the medium further stores instructions for:

receiving, from the user, a selection from the presented historical data; and

automatically generating a communication in response to the user selection.

27. A system comprising:

at least one hardware processor; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one hardware processor, cause the system to:

collect historical data related to a plurality of existing communications;

track an interaction by a user with a communication from the plurality of existing communications that includes one or more of: opening the communication, viewing the communication, and receiving the communication; and

present, based on the user interaction with the communication, at least a portion of the historical data to the user, wherein presenting the historical data includes simultaneously displaying: contact information for an entity associated with the communication with which the user interacts, a list of contacts associated with the entity, a list of prior communications between the user and the entity, and communication statistics, wherein displaying the communication statistics includes displaying a graph comprising a plurality of times when communications were received from the entity and a relative volume of communications received at each of the plurality of times, and wherein displaying the list of contacts associated with the entity includes ranking each contact in the list of contacts based on a volume of communications between the respective contact and the user and displaying the contacts in the list of contacts in order of their respective rank;

wherein displaying the list of prior communications between the user and the entity further includes:

grouping a first subset of the prior communications together into a first conversation thread;

grouping a second subset of the prior communications together into a second conversation thread;

analyzing the first conversation thread and the second conversation thread and assigning a first rank to the first conversation thread and a second rank to the second conversation thread, the first rank being higher than the second rank, wherein assigning the first and second ranks is based on determining, from the analysis of the first conversation thread and the second conversation thread, that the first conversation thread contains communications that are work-related and the second conversation thread contains communications that are social in nature; and

displaying the first conversation thread ahead of the second conversation thread in the list of prior communications based on the first rank and the second rank.

28. The system of claim 27 , wherein the user interaction with the communication further includes one or more of performing a search, selecting a person's name, selecting a communication summary, and selecting an attribute associated with the historical data.

29. The system of claim 27 , wherein the historical data is collected from one or more of: e-mail body text, e-mail meta data, e-mail header information, e-mail attachments, web search engines, people search engines, social networks, e-mail clients, instant messages, personal web pages, telephone directories, scanned business card data, text messages, picture sharing websites, video sharing websites, personal profile pages, telephone communications, customer relationship management systems, airline flight data, on-line retailer data, news feeds, and stock quotes.

30. The system of claim 27 , wherein collecting the historical data includes directly requesting information from one or more of a sender of a communication from the plurality of communications and a recipient of one or more of the plurality of communications.

31. The system of claim 27 , wherein the historical data is displayed within one or more of: an e-mail client, a web browser, an instant message window, a panel, and a pop-up window.

32. The system of claim 27 , wherein the historical data is presented using one or more display methods selected from the group comprising highlighting, underlining, adding hyper links, adding text, adding images, adding video, and adding attachments.

33. The system of claim 27 , wherein the historical data includes one or more of: contact information, communication summaries, conversation threads, attachments to communications, communication statistics, related contacts, travel information, weather information, and information related to on-line retail purchases.

34. The system of claim 27 , wherein the historical data includes one or more of: times of communications, lengths of communications, subject matter of communications, titles of communications, participants in communications, sources of communications, response times of communications, types of communications, and volume of communications.

35. The system of claim 27 , wherein at least a portion of the historical data is shared among a network of participants.

36. The system of claim 35 , wherein different amounts of the historical data are shared with each participant based on preference settings.

37. The system of claim 27 , wherein the memory further stores instructions for:

receiving, from the user, a selection from the presented historical data; and

automatically generating a communication in response to the user selection.