Delayed instant messaging for assured communication

1 . A computer-readable storage medium containing a set of instructions for a general purpose computer having a user interface, the set of instructions comprising:

an instant messaging session associated with said user interface for permitting an originating party to communicate with a destination party in real time comprising:

an input messaging routine associated with the instant messaging session for allowing the originating party to input a message to be sent to the destination party;

a delay messaging routine associated with the input messaging routine for placing an outgoing instant message in a buffer for a predetermined time frame; and

a send messaging routine associated with the delay messaging routine for sending the outgoing instant message to the destination party after the predetermined time frame has passed.

2 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time frame ranges from greater than 0 seconds to 10 seconds

3 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time frame is selected by the originating party.

4 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined time frame is determined by an instant messaging routine provider.

5 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the user interface is a graphical user interface.

6 . The medium of claim 5 , wherein the graphical user interface provides a graphical indication when the instant message is being held in the buffer.

7 . The medium of claim 6 , wherein the graphical user interface provides a graphical indication when the instant message has been sent.

8 . An apparatus for conducting instant messaging, comprising:

means for inputting an instant message;

means for delaying the message for a predetermined amount of time when an originating party sends the message; and

means for sending the message to a destination party in real time after the predetermined amount of time has expired.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the user interface is a graphical user interface.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the graphical user interface provides a graphical indication when the instant message is being held in a buffer.

11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the graphical user interface provides a graphical indication when the instant message has been sent.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the graphical indication is a graphical button which changes colors when the instant message is delayed and when it has been sent.

13 . The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising a means to correct the instant message when the instant message is delayed.

14 . A method for instant messaging from an originating party to a destination party, comprising:

receiving inputted instant messaging data from a user interface;

processing inputted instant messaging data;

storing the instant messaging data on a storage medium;

delaying the instant messaging data for a predetermined amount of time when the originating party sends the message; and

sending the instant message data to a destination party in real time after the predetermined amount of time has expired.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising the step of preventing the instant messaging data from being sent if the originating party identifies an error with the instant messaging data.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising the step of correcting the instant messaging data with the error.

17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising the step of sending the corrected instant message.

18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein a graphical user interface provides a graphical indication when the instant message is delayed.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the graphical user interface provides a graphical indication when the instant message has been resent.

20 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the instant message is held in a buffer to prevent the instant message from being sent for the predetermined amount of time.