Computerized method and system for managing the exchange and distribution of confidential documents
A method and system for sending, receiving and managing the exchange of messages between an intranet and multiple external users using a secure server as an intermediary interface for Internet communications. In one form, the secure server operates in a replication mode with a Lotus Domino server wherein secure transmissions are designated by an @secure URL. In another form, secure transmissions are implemented by establishing a secure connection to the secure server using a browser addressing the server URL. The server operating system interfaces with the intranet so that the intranet user can use standard groupware, such as Lotus Notes, to create, send and receive secure documents. External users are notified by normal e-mail of the presence of secure documents at the server and must connect to the server in a secure mode to retrieve documents. Responses to documents are automatically returned to the sender's e-mail server using secure transmission.
1. A method for interchanging documents between a sender computer associated with a sending party, a server, and a plurality of receiver computers, each associated with a respective receiving party and each including a display mechanism for displaying a user interface to a respective receiving party, comprising:
storing one of the documents in a sender computer storage means;
uploading the document stored in the sender computer storage means into a server storage means as an uploaded document, wherein the uploading of the document from the sender computer storage means is carried out via encrypted data transmission;
selecting one or more of the receiving parties as recipients to which a given document is to be sent;
issuing a respective notification message from the server to the one or more receiver computers associated respectively with one or more selected recipients, each notification message indicating that the uploaded document is available in the server storage means;
downloading the uploaded document from the server storage means into a respective one of a plurality of receiver computer storage means associated with each of the receiver computers upon the issuance by a respective receiver computer of a download command signal to the server, wherein the downloading of the document from the server storage means is carried out via encrypted data transmission; and
transmitting a response message from the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients including at least one of: (i) a response to the document downloaded to a respective receiver computer storage means; (ii) an edited version of the document downloaded to a respective receiver computer storage means; and (iii) a new document from a respective receiver computer storage means, wherein the response message is transmitted from a respective receiver computer storage means of a respective receiver computer to the sender computer storage means of the sender computer via the server storage means of the server, and wherein the response message is transmitted via an encrypted data transmission;
wherein each notification message is customized based on a respective selected recipient and the customization of each notification message includes a mechanism for retrieving a customized user interface for each selected recipient for downloading the uploaded document.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of issuing the respective notification message further comprises issuing the respective notification message via email.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of uploading the document stored in the sender computer storage means further comprises uploading the document at predetermined time intervals.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the respective notification message includes data indicative of new documents uploaded into the server storage means from the sender computer storage means since the issuance of a previous respective notification message.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of issuing the respective notification message further comprises issuing a respective message report to at least one of the sending party and a manager of the server, wherein the respective message report includes data indicative of whether a document has been downloaded by a given recipient.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the steps of: a) selecting one or more of the receiving parties as recipients; b) uploading the document stored in the sender computer storage means into the server storage means; c) issuing a respective notification message from the server to the selected recipients; d) downloading the document from the server storage means into the receiver computer storage means associated with respective ones of each of the recipients; and e) transmitting a response message from the receiver computer storage means associated with a given one of the recipients to the sender computer storage means is carried out via a communications network.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the communications network is a global communications network.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of: (a) the interchanged documents; and (b) the response transmitted from the receiver computer storage means associated with a given one of the recipients to the sender computer storage means is in the form of a computer file.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the computer file includes one of at least text data, binary data, still image data, moving image data, and audio data.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sender computer storage means is local relative to the sender computer, the server storage means is local relative to the server, and the receiver computer storage means associated with a given one of the recipients is local relative to the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of uploading the document from the sender computer storage means further comprises authenticating an identity of the sender computer and an identity of the server.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of downloading the document to the receiver computer storage means associated with a given one of the recipients further comprises authenticating an identity of the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients and an identity of the server.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of transmitting a response message from the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients to the sender computer via the server further comprises authenticating an identity of the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients, an identity of the server, and an identity of the sender computer.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of selecting one or more of the receiving parties as recipients further comprises associating an email address with each of the recipients.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the step of associating an email address with each of the recipients further comprises adding a security designation to each email address of each recipient.
16. A system for interchanging documents between a sender computer associated with a sending party, a server, and a plurality of receiver computers, each associated with a respective receiving party and each including a display mechanism for displaying a user interface to a respective receiving party, comprising:
sender computer storage means for storing one of the documents;
uploading means for uploading the document stored in the sender computer storage means into a server storage means as an uploaded document, wherein the uploading of the document from the sender computer storage means is carried out via encrypted data transmission;
selecting means for selecting one or more of the receiving parties as recipients to which a given document is to be sent;
notification message issuing means for issuing a respective notification message from the server to the one or more receiver computers associated respectively with one or more selected recipients, each notification message indicating that the uploaded document is available in the server storage means;
downloading means for downloading the uploaded document from the server storage means into a respective one of a plurality of receiver computer storage means associated with each of the receiver computers upon the issuance by a respective receiver computer of a download command signal to the server, wherein the downloading of the document from the server storage means is carried out via encrypted data transmission; and
transmitting means for transmitting a response message from the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients including at least one of: (i) a response to the document downloaded to a respective receiver computer storage means; (ii) an edited version of the document downloaded to a respective receiver computer storage means; and (iii) a new document from the receiver computer storage means, wherein the response message is transmitted from a respective receiver computer storage means of a respective receiver computer to the sender computer storage means of the sender computer via the server storage means of the server, and wherein the response message is transmitted via an encrypted data transmission; and
wherein each notification message is customized based on a respective selected recipient and the customization of each notification message includes a mechanism for retrieving a customized user interface for each selected recipient for downloading the uploaded document.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the notification message issuing means further comprises means for issuing the respective notification message via email.
18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the uploading means for uploading the document stored in the sender computer storage means further comprises means for uploading the document at predetermined time intervals.
19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the respective notification message includes data indicative of new documents uploaded into the server storage means from the sender computer storage means since the issuance of a previous respective notification message.
20. The system of claim 16 , wherein the notification message issuing means further comprises means for issuing a respective message report to at least one of the sending party and a manager of the server, wherein the respective message report includes data indicative of whether a document has been downloaded by a given recipient.
21. The system of claim 16 , wherein at least one of: (a) the interchanged documents; and (b) the response transmitted from the receiver computer storage means associated with a given one of the recipients to the sender computer storage means is in the form of a computer file.
22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the computer file includes one of at least text data, binary data, still image data, moving image data, and audio data.
23. The system of claim 16 , wherein the sender computer storage means is local relative to the sender computer, the server storage means is local relative to the server, and the receiver computer storage means associated with a given one of the recipients is local relative to the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients.
24. The system of claim 16 , wherein the uploading means for uploading the document from the sender computer storage means further comprises means for authenticating an identity of the sender computer and an identity of the server.
25. The system of claim 16 , wherein the downloading means for downloading the document to the receiver computer storage means associated with a given one of the recipients further comprises means for authenticating an identity of the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients and an identity of the server.
26. The system of claim 16 , wherein the transmitting means for transmitting a response message from the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients to the sender computer via the server further comprises means for authenticating an identity of the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients, an identity of the server, and an identity of the sender computer.
27. The system of claim 16 , wherein the selecting means for selecting one or more of the receiving parties as recipients further comprises means for associating an email address with each of the recipients.
28. The system of claim 27 , wherein the means for associating an email address with each of the recipients further comprises means for adding a security designation to each email address of each recipient.
29. The system of claim 16 , wherein the uploading means further comprises a sender client software program associated with the sender computer in communication with a server software program associated with the server.
30. The system of claim 29 , wherein the sender client software program comprises a web browser and the server software program comprises a web server software program.
31. The system of claim 16 , wherein the downloading means and the transmitting means further comprise a receiver client software program associated with the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients in communication with a server software program associated with the server.
32. The system of claim 31 , wherein the receiver client software program comprises a web browser and the server software program comprises a web server software program.
33. The system of claim 16 , wherein the sender computer has installed thereon a client groupware software program, wherein the sender computer is connected to an intranet, wherein the intranet includes an intranet server, wherein the intranet server has installed thereon a server groupware software program for communicating with the client groupware software program, and wherein the sender computer communicates with the server via the intranet server.
34. The system of claim 33 , wherein the client groupware software program is a Lotus Notes software program and wherein the server groupware software program is a Lotus Domino software program.
35. A system for interchanging documents between a sender computer which is associated with a sending party and which includes a sender computer storage means, a server which includes a server storage means, and a plurality of receiver computers, each of which is associated with a receiving party, each of which includes a receiver computer storage means and each of which includes a display mechanism for displaying a user interface to a respective receiving party, comprising:
uploading means for uploading one of the documents stored in the sender computer storage means into the server storage means as an uploaded document, wherein the uploading of the document from the sender computer storage means is carried out via encrypted data transmission;
selecting means for selecting one or more of the receiving parties as recipients to which a given document is to be sent;
notification message issuing means for issuing a respective notification message from the server to one or more receiver computers associated respectively with one or more selected recipients, each notification message indicating that the uploaded document is available in the server storage means;
downloading means for downloading the uploaded document from the server storage means into a respective one of a plurality of receiver computer storage means associated with each of the receiver computers upon the issuance by a respective receiver computer of a download command signal to the server, wherein the downloading of the document from the server storage means is carried out via encrypted data transmission; and
transmitting means for transmitting a response message from the receiver computer associated with a given one of the recipients including at least one of: (i) a response to the document downloaded to a respective receiver computer storage means; (ii) an edited version of the document downloaded to a respective receiver computer storage means; and (iii) a new document from a respective receiver computer storage means, wherein the response message is transmitted from a respective receiver computer storage means of a respective receiver computer to the sender computer storage means of the sender computer via the server storage means of the server, and wherein the response message is transmitted via an encrypted data transmission;
wherein each notification message is customized based on a respective selected recipient and the customization of each notification message includes a mechanism for retrieving a customized user interface for each selected recipient for downloading the uploaded document.
36. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mechanism for retrieving from the server a customized user interface comprises an HTML email.
37. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mechanism for retrieving from the server a customized user interface comprises a web browser link including a location of the uploaded document and instructions for generating the customized user interface for each selected recipient.
38. The method of claim 1 , wherein the customized user interface for each selected recipient makes it appear that each selected recipient is connected to an internal client server distinct from the server from which the notification message was issued.
39. The method of claim 1 , wherein the customized user interface for a first one of the selected recipients makes it appear that the first one of the selected recipients is connected to a first company server associated with a first company, wherein the customized user interface for a second one of the selected recipients makes it appear that the second one of the selected recipients is connected to a second company server associated with a second company, and wherein the first company and the second company are distinct from one another.
40. The system of claim 16 , wherein the mechanism for retrieving from the server a customized user interface comprises an HTML email.
41. The system of claim 16 , wherein the mechanism for retrieving from the server a customized user interface comprises a web browser link including a location of the uploaded document and instructions for generating the customized user interface for each selected recipient.
42. The system of claim 16 , wherein the customized user interface for each selected recipient makes it appear that each selected recipient is connected to an internal client server distinct from the server from which the notification message was issued.
43. The system of claim 16 , wherein the customized user interface for a first one of the selected recipients makes it appear that the first one of the selected recipients is connected to a first company server associated with a first company, wherein the customized user interface for a second one of the selected recipients makes it appear that the second one of the selected recipients is connected to a second company server associated with a second company, and wherein the first company and the second company are distinct from one another.
44. The system of claim 35 , wherein the mechanism for retrieving from the server a customized user interface comprises an HTML email.
45. The system of claim 35 , wherein the mechanism for retrieving from the server a customized user interface comprises a web browser link including a location of the uploaded document and instructions for generating the customized user interface for each selected recipient.
46. The system of claim 35 , wherein the customized user interface for each selected recipient makes it appear that each selected recipient is connected to an internal client server distinct from the server from which the notification message was issued.
47. The system of claim 35 , wherein the customized user interface for a first one of the selected recipients makes it appear that the first one of the selected recipients is connected to a first company server associated with a first company, wherein the customized user interface for a second one of the selected recipients makes it appear that the second one of the selected recipients is connected to a second company server associated with a second company, and wherein the first company and the second company are distinct from one another.