Granted Patent B2

US 9,872,157 · App. 15/362,750 · Granted Jan 16, 2018

Inventor: Barry Appelman (McLean, VA)

Assignee: Google Inc.

H04W4/14H04L51/14H04L63/104H04W4/12H04W4/16H04L51/04H04L51/066H04W88/184

Abstract

Claims (64)

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving an incoming message from a sender and an indication of a sender-specified first destination for the incoming message;

obtaining information indicating that the sender-specified first destination is not available for the incoming message;

in response to the sender-specified first destination being not available, obtaining information indicating that a second destination is associated with the sender-specified first destination; and

in response to the second destination being associated with the sender-specified first destination and the second destination being available to receive electronic messages, forwarding information to the second destination, wherein the information includes:

the incoming message; and

information configured to cause one or more options to be presented at a client device accessing the second destination, wherein the one or more options are configured to receive input from a user of the second destination to cause subsequent messages to be prohibited from being sent from the sender to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein forwarding information to the second destination includes forwarding an indication that the first destination was unavailable at the time of the forwarding.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein forwarding the information to the second destination includes:

forwarding the incoming message to the second destination as a first message; and

in response to forwarding the incoming message to the second destination, generating and sending a second message to the second destination separate from the first message, wherein the second message includes the indication that the first destination was unavailable at the time of the forwarding and includes the information configured to cause the one or more options to be presented at the client device accessing the second destination.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the second destination is an email address associated with the user of the second destination.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the second destination is a mobile telephone number associated with a mobile phone of the user of the second destination.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the indication that the first destination was unavailable at the time of the forwarding and the information configured to cause the one or more options to be presented at the client device accessing the second destination are sent to the second destination only a first time that the first destination is unavailable.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein forwarding the information to the second destination includes:

incorporating the incoming message with the indication that the first destination was unavailable at the time of the forwarding and the information configured to cause the one or more options to be presented at the client device accessing the second destination, wherein the incorporating results in a combined message; and

forwarding the combined message to the second destination as a single communication.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more options include an option configured to receive input from a user of the second destination to cause subsequent messages to be prohibited from being sent from a particular set of users to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein, in response to the second destination receiving the input from the user of the second destination, further comprising:

receiving an instruction indicating that the user of the second destination has selected at least one of the one or more options to prohibit subsequent messages from being sent to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable; and

causing a display of an indication that the user of the second destination has prohibited subsequent messages from being sent to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more options include at least one option to cause the subsequent messages to be:

prohibited from being sent from the sender to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable and in response to the user of the second destination being offline; and

enabled to be sent from the sender to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable and in response to the user of the second destination being signed onto a messaging account and away from a client device accessing the second destination.

11. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a computer-readable storage device storing instructions, which when executed on the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

receive an incoming message from a sender and an indication of a sender-specified first destination for the incoming message;

obtain information indicating that the sender-specified first destination is not available for the incoming message;

in response to the sender-specified first destination being not available, obtain information indicating that a second destination is associated with the sender-specified first destination; and

in response to the second destination being associated with the sender-specified first destination and the second destination being available to receive electronic messages, forward information to the second destination, wherein the information includes:

the incoming message;

an indication that the first destination was unavailable at the time of the forwarding; and

information configured to cause one or more options to be presented at a client device accessing the second destination, wherein the one or more options are configured to receive input from a user of the second destination to cause subsequent messages to be prohibited from being sent from the sender to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the at least one processor is configured to forward the information to the second destination including:

forward the incoming message to the second destination as a first message; and

in response to forwarding the incoming message to the second destination, generate and send a second message to the second destination separate from the first message, wherein the second message includes the indication that the first destination was unavailable at the time of the forwarding and includes the information configured to cause one or more options to be presented at the client device accessing the second destination.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the second destination is one of:

an email address associated with the user of the second destination; and

a mobile telephone number associated with a mobile phone of the user of the second destination.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the at least one processor is configured to forward the information to the second destination including:

incorporate the incoming message with the indication that the first destination was unavailable at the time of the forwarding and the information configured to cause the one or more options to be presented at the client device accessing the second destination, wherein the incorporating results in a combined message; and

forward the combined message to the second destination as a single communication.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the one or more options include an option configured to receive input from a user of the second destination to cause subsequent messages to be prohibited from being sent from a particular set of users to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein, in response to the second destination receiving the input from the user of the second destination, the at least one processor is configured to:

receive an instruction indicating that the user of the second destination has selected at least one of the one or more options to prohibit subsequent messages from being sent to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable; and

cause a display of an indication that the user of the second destination has prohibited subsequent messages from being sent to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable.

17. The system of claim 11 wherein the one or more options include at least one option to cause the subsequent messages to be:

prohibited from being sent from the sender to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable and in response to the user of the second destination being offline; and

enabled to be sent from the sender to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable and in response to the user of the second destination being signed onto a messaging account and away from a client device accessing the second destination.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with a computer executable program causing a processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving an incoming message from a sender and an indication of a sender-specified first destination for the incoming message;

obtaining information indicating that the sender-specified first destination is not available for the incoming message;

in response to the sender-specified first destination being not available, obtaining information indicating that a second destination is associated with the sender-specified first destination;

in response to the second destination being associated with the sender-specified first destination and the second destination being available to receive electronic messages, forwarding information to the second destination, wherein the information includes:

the incoming message;

an indication that the first destination was unavailable at the time of the forwarding; and

information configured to cause one or more options to be presented at a client device accessing the second destination, wherein the one or more options are configured to receive input from a user of the second destination to cause subsequent messages to be prohibited from being sent from the sender to the second destination in response to the first destination being unavailable.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 wherein the operation of forwarding the information to the second destination includes:

forwarding the incoming message to the second destination as a first message; and

in response to forwarding the incoming message to the second destination, generating and sending a second message to the second destination separate from the first message, wherein the second message includes the indication that the first destination was unavailable at the time of the forwarding and includes the information configured to cause one or more options to be presented at the client device accessing the second destination.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 wherein the operation of forwarding the information to the second destination includes:

incorporating the incoming message with the indication that the first destination was unavailable at the time of the forwarding and the information configured to cause the one or more options to be presented at the client device accessing the second destination, wherein the incorporating results in a combined message; and

forwarding the combined message to the second destination as a single communication.

Assignments (6)

Continuity (10)