AU2007203464A1 - Method and system for Mobile Messaging - Google Patents

Description

Australia Patents Act 1990 Complete Specification Standard Patent Following the Provisional Australian Application Number 2006904179 Method and System for Mobile Messaging The following statement is a full description of the invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: N METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MOBILE MESSAGING FIELD OF THE INVENTION S 5 The present invention relates to the provision of network information services, such as Internet-based services, to personal communications devices a with basic short message service (SMS) messaging capabilities. In particular, the invention provides an SMS email management service, although the principles of athe invention are applicable to providing a range of information services via SMS-enabled devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, there has been an increasing importance placed upon information and communications services provided via public data communications networks, ie open, publicly-accessible data networks primarily and collectively identified as the Internet.

Initially, access to the Internet was restricted to fixed, ie wired, access points.

However, the provision of mobile, wireless services has become increasingly important to many users of a wide variety of information and communications services. Accordingly, more advanced mobile devices and technologies have been developed for providing wireless access to Internet services. Mobile devices include portable PCs, including laptop, notebook and pocket PCs, incorporating wireless Internet technologies. Also now available are sophisticated personal digital assistants (PDAs), which include wireless network interfaces and Internet-enabled software. Additionally, Internet-enabled applications, including email clients and web browsers, are increasingly being incorporated into advanced cellular mobile telephony handsets. As part of this ongoing trend, "hybrid" devices providing a range of functionalities traditionally separately associated with personal computers, PDAs and mobile telephony handsets are now becoming available. Indeed, there are now commercially 2 O available portable devices which provide the functions of handheld gaming N systems, PDAs, and mobile telephony handsets, all in a single unit.

To support these various devices, a range of different wireless r technologies now exist. These include wireless local area networks (LANs) provided within limited geographical areas by fixed access points, GPRS and WAP technologies, which enable the transport of Internet protocol traffic over digital cellular telephony networks, and advanced so-called 3G (Third Generation) Sdigital cellular systems, which specifically incorporate support for Internet protocols and services.

S 10 However, a number of outstanding issues remain in relation to these various wireless devices and technologies. These include the availability, within a particular area, of relevant wireless services and/or access points. Additionally, the portability, cost and practicality of more sophisticated wireless devices can be an issue for many users. Overall, the degree of market penetration by advanced mobile devices and access technologies remains relatively low.

By comparison, the basic short message service (SMS), which was originally introduced in GSM digital cellular telephony networks, making use of under-utilised bandwidth of signalling channels to transport short text messages, is now almost universally available within many developed countries. Virtually all digital cellular handsets support some form of SMS messaging. SMS messages are delivered rapidly, and at minimal cost. SMS messaging services are an affordable option for users of digital cellular telephony networks, as well as representing an increasingly strong source of revenue for network operators.

Subscription packages specifically targeted to high-volume users of SMS messaging services reduce the cost per message paid by the end-consumer to typically only a few cents.

It would therefore be highly desirable to enable at least some access to Internet-based information and communications services using only the basic SMS messaging capabilities, in order to provide affordable service to the largest possible number of users of personal communications devices. Email in particular has become a particularly important Internet-based communications tool for many people, and it would therefore be especially desirable to enable advanced email functionality for users of SMS messaging services.

3 O In this latter respect, a number of basic mobile email services are known in N the prior art. For example, some operators of Internet-based email services provide an associated SMS email-alerting service. According to the known art, a t user or subscriber to an email service, holding an email account with a service provider, is able to request that an SMS alert be sent to a specified mobile telephone number, when a new email message is delivered to the account. The SMS message delivered to the user informs them that an email message has Sarrived, and may identify the sender, the subject, and at least a portion of the content of the email message itself. However, such alerting services are limited in that they are associated only with a particular email account, and they can only be used to notify the user of received emails. In order to review the full content of each email message, the user may need to find an appropriate Internet access point in order to access their email in-box.

An email/SMS gateway partly mitigates the limitations of simple SMS alerting services. A typical gateway enables Internet users to send an SMS message to a particular mobile phone number using a conventional email client, by sending an email to an address associated, using the gateway service, with a corresponding mobile phone number of the recipient. The gateway converts the email message into a corresponding SMS message, and sends the SMS message to the associated mobile telephone number. An email/SMS gateway may also allow the reverse operation, ie the sending of an SMS message to a particular identifying telephone number associated with the gateway, whereby the SMS message is converted into a corresponding email message delivered to a particular identified email account.

However, an email/SMS gateway is essentially a simple relay, which translates and forwards messages between the mobile SMS messaging system and the Internet-based messaging system. It is necessary that emails and/or SMS messages be sent to dedicated addresses and/or numbers associated with the gateway service, and therefore gateway services do not generally enable a user to "go mobile" in a manner that is transparent and seamless to themselves or their correspondents. In particular, it would be desirable for the user to maintain one or more regular email addresses, independent of the mobile gateway service, such that other parties would have not need to know when the O user is mobile, and whereby all email messages are sent to and from regular N email addresses of the user, without the need for any explicit reference to addresses or telephone numbers associated with the gateway service.

o One system which recognises and mitigates the aforementioned disadvantage of gateway services is the proprietary Blackberry service.

Subscribers to the Blackberry service are provided with a proprietary Blackberry handset. The handset includes software for communicating, for example using SGPRS protocols over a digital cellular network, with a proprietary Blackberry server. Additional proprietary agent software must be installed either on the mail S 10 server which provides the user's regular email service, or on an associated server which is able to access the user's regular mail server. The Blackberry system implements proprietary communications protocols between the Blackberry handset and the agent software, mediated by the Blackberry server, enabling the mobile user of the handset to review, manage, and respond to emails held at their regular mail server.

Accordingly, the Blackberry system substantially enables the remote access and management of email at a particular email account of a user, subject to the availability and installation of the Blackberry agent software. In practice, this limits the range of email accounts of any given user that may be directly accessed and manipulated via the Blackberry handset. The entire system is essentially proprietary, providing the Blackberry service operator and the operators of the Blackberry-enabled mobile cellular networks with complete control over the range of services available to the end user, and the pricing of those services. Users are also, therefore, compelled to own or lease a Blackberry handset, thereby limiting their options to use an alternative personal communications device which may suit their particular requirements more precisely.

It would therefore be highly desirable to provide a system enabling the remote management and operation of a user's existing email account while avoiding the dependence on proprietary hardware and software, or the inconvenience of maintaining separate email/SMS gateway addresses.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to enable non-proprietary access to a range of information and communications services O using basic SMS messaging capabilities, with the remote operation and N management of users' email accounts being of particular interest.

Z SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect, the present invention provides a method of providing remote operation of an electronic mail account of a user via an SMS-enabled personal communications device, the method including: monitoring the user's electronic mail account via a public data communications network to determine when a new email message is received; retrieving said newly-received email message from the electronic mail account, and storing a copy thereof in a local email storage database; and sending an SMS message to said personal communications device notifying the user of details of the new electronic mail message.

Advantageously, the method does not rely on the incorporation of any proprietary software or protocols into existing systems. In particular, the method may be implemented for a user having any type of personal communications device that is able to send and receive SMS messages, via any existing mobile telephony network. Furthermore, the monitoring of one or more electronic mail accounts of the user may be performed via the public data communications network, ie typically the Internet, using existing standard communications protocols, such as POP3 and HTTP. There is absolutely no need for the user to install any new software, either in the personal communications device, which may be a basic mobile telephony handset, or at the email server hosting the email account. The method may be implemented, for example, on an independent server connected to the Internet, which may provide the mobile messaging service, for example on a subscription basis, to the user.

Since there are no changes to the user's existing email accounts or mobile handset, there is no need for any other party to be aware of the whereabouts of the user. All emails sent to the existing email account may be made accessible via the user's personal communications device, using only SMS messaging, in a manner that is completely transparent to other parties.

So that the user may also perform other management and communications operations remotely using the personal communications device, the method preferably also includes the steps of: O receiving a service request SMS message from the personal N communications device, the service request SMS message including instructions Z for performing a specified action; and processing the service request SMS message, and performing the specified action.

The specified action may be, for example, one or more of: sending an email message to a specified recipient; replying to a received email message Sstored in the local email storage database; and/or forwarding a received email message stored in the local email storage database. In the case of the action being sending, replying to or forwarding an email message, the step of performing said specified action preferably includes reformatting the email message sent so as to overcome limitations of the SMS message parameters, whereby a recipient of the message will receive an email message having the appearance of a message sent from a typical email client software application. Furthermore, the message sent when replying to or forwarding a received email message may incorporate the originally stored received message within the body of the reply or forwarded email. Forwarding of an email message may include forwarding of any attachments. Advantageously, the method thus improves the transparency of mobile email management and operation via SMS messaging, since a recipient of an email message need not be aware that the user is in fact operating their email account remotely using a personal communications device via SMS messaging.

Conversely, from the user's perspective, a number of conventional limitations of SMS-based email services are overcome, in particular the inability to effectively handle inclusion of original messages in replies and attachments, particularly when these components substantially exceed the 160 character limit of a single SMS message.

Additionally, or alternatively, the step of performing the specified action may include transmitting a service response SMS message to the personal communications device in reply to the received service request SMS message.

For example, a particular service request SMS message may include instructions to provide additional information relating to a received email message, and the service response SMS message may accordingly include requested additional information. The additional information may be, for example, O additional content of a long email message for further attributes of the email N message. Attributes of interest may include how many recipients were specified in the "to" field of the email message, how many in the "cc" field, how long the message, how many attachments are included and/or the total size of all attachments.

Alternatively, the service request SMS message may include instructions for performing a specified action that is unrelated to the operation or management Sof the user's email account. For example, the service request SMS message may include instructions to perform a specified operation or access a specified S 10 service via the public data communications network. In this case, the step of performing the specified action may include transmitting a service response SMS message including the results of performing the specified operation. The operation may be, for example, the completion of an enquiry conducted via the public data communications network, such as a dictionary lookup, thesaurus lookup, time query, weather query, general web search query, or other database query. Accordingly, the step of performing the specified action may include sending a request to a relevant server via the public data communications network, receiving a response, and formatting and transmitting a service response SMS message including details of the response.

The method may further include maintaining a configuration database containing preferences and/or configuration information of the user.

Preferably, the method also includes providing an interface to the configuration database accessible via the public data communications network, which enables the user to view and/or alter preferences and configuration information. In a particularly preferred embodiment, a web-based interface is provided.

The configuration database may include a list of email aliases mapping user-specified identifiers to individual email addresses and/or groups of email addresses. This feature provides particular advantages in the context of SMS messaging, since the use of user-specified aliases may substantially reduce the number of characters required to identify a particular recipient, or group of recipients. Accordingly, supporting email aliases may preserve valuable space in each SMS message for actual message content, and also reduces the number of 8 O characters that may need to be entered by the user in order to specify one or N more recipients.

Z Additionally, the configuration database may include a list of user-specified t filtering rules. It is particularly preferred that the filtering rules include an accept list (or "white list") and a reject list (or "black list"). According to conventional filtering procedures, emails matching patterns provided by the user in the reject list will not be received and/or forwarded via SMS messaging, unless they also match a pattern specified by the user on the accept list.

In some embodiments, the filtering rules may be consulted during the step S 10 of sending an SMS message, and the sending of the SMS message suppressed if the received email message is not passed by the filter. Alternatively, the filtering rules may be consulted during the step of retrieving a received email message, and the retrieval suppressed if the received email message is not passed by the filter.

The configuration database may further include details of one or more electronic email accounts to be monitored during the monitoring step. Such details may include email server details, user details (eg user name and password), a protocol to be used to retrieve email from the specified account, and so forth.

The configuration database may further include service preferences of the user, which may control one or more of the steps in preferred embodiments of the method. Such service preferences may include daily SMS messaging limits, parameters of SMS messages sent, and so forth.

In another aspect, the invention provides an email management server for providing remote operation of an electronic mail account of a user via an SMS-enabled communications device, the email management server including: at least one processor; a network interface operatively connected to a public data communications network; an associated local email storage database; and at least one storage medium operatively coupled to said processor, the storage medium containing program instructions for execution by the processor, said program instructions causing the processor to effect the steps of: O monitoring said electronic mail account via said public data N communications network to determine when a new electronic mail Z message is received; retrieving said newly-received email message from said electronic mail account, and storing a copy thereof in the local email storage database; and sending an SMS message to the personal communications device notifying the user of details of the new electronic mail message.

In preferred embodiments, the storage medium also contains program S 10 instructions causing the processor to effect the steps of: receiving a service request SMS message from the personal communications device, the service request SMS message including instructions for performing a specified action; and processing the service request SMS message and performing the specified action.

The specified action may be one of: sending an email message to a specified recipient; replying to a received email message stored in the local email storage database; forwarding a received email message stored in the local email storage database; and/or transmitting a corresponding service response SMS message to the personal communications device including information provided in accordance with the instructions included in the service request SMS message.

In another aspect the present invention provides a method of providing a service to a user of an SMS-enabled personal communications device, said service being available via a public data network, without requiring a direct connection of the personal communications device to the public data network, the method including the steps of: receiving a service request SMS message sent by the user from the personal communications device, the service request SMS message including instructions for performing a specified action relating to the service; performing said specified action by sending a request to a relevant server via the public data communications network, and receiving a corresponding response; and O formatting and transmitting an SMS message to the personal N communications device including details of the response.

Z The service may be, for example, an information service available via the t public data communications network, such as a dictionary service, thesaurus service, time service, weather service, web search service, or database query service. As will be appreciated, the method is equally applicable to the provision of a range of other online services via an SMS messaging mechanism.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the method of providing a service includes providing a remote electronic mail operation service, for operating an S 10 email account of the user, the provision of the remote email operation service including the steps of: monitoring the electronic mail account of the user via the public data communications network to determine when a new email message is received; retrieving said newly-received email message from the electronic mail account, and storing a copy thereof in a local email storage database; and sending an SMS message to the personal communications device notifying the user of details of the new electronic mail message.

Additional services may thereby be provided to the user in relation to the electronic mail account, via the receipt of service request SMS messages and the transmission of corresponding service response SMS messages. For example, additional services that may be provided include sending an email message to a specified recipient; replying to a received email message stored in the local email storage database; forwarding a received email message stored in the local email storage database; and/or providing the user with additional information or content of received email messages stored in the local email storage database.

In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a server for providing a service to a user of an SMS-enabled personal communications device, said service being available via a public data network, without requiring a direct connection of the personal communications device to the public data network, the server including: at least one processor; a network interface operatively connected to the public data communications network; O at least one storage medium operatively coupled to the processor, the N storage medium containing program instructions for execution by the processor, Z said program instructions causing the processor to effect the steps of: receiving a service request SMS message sent by the user from the personal communications device, the service request SMS message including instructions for performing a specified action relating to the service; performing the specified action by sending a request to a relevant server via the public data communications network and receiving a corresponding response; and formatting and transmitting an SMS message to the personal communications device including details of the response.

In various aspects and embodiment of the invention, various alternative means for sending and receiving of SMS messages may be employed. For example, a server or system according to an embodiment of the invention may include a wireless interface for accessing a digital cellular telephony network, whereby SMS messages may be directly sent or received via the wireless interface. Alternatively, a server or system according to an embodiment of the invention may utilise the services of a remote SMS messaging provider accessible via the public data communications network, eg over the Internet, and it will be understood that a number of such services are commercially available.

In still another aspect, the invention provides a method of a user accessing an email management service which provides remote operation of an electronic mail account of the user via an SMS-enabled personal communications device, the method including the steps of: the user receiving an SMS message via the personal communications device, the SMS message including details of an email message received at said email account, wherein the SMS message is provided using a method which includes the steps of: monitoring the electronic mail account via a public data communications network to determine when a new email message is received; 12 O retrieving said newly-received email message from the electronic N mail account, and storing a copy of thereof in a local email storage Z database; and sending an SMS message to said personal communications device notifying the user of details of their new electronic mail message.

In a further aspect, the present invention provides a method of a user accessing a service using an SMS-enabled personal communications device, Ssaid service being available via a public data network, whereby the personal communications device does not require a direct connection to the public data communications network, the method including the steps of: the user sending a service request SMS message from the personal communications device, the SMS message including instructions for performing a specified action relating to the service; and the user receiving a service response SMS message via the personal communications device, including details of a response to the instructions in the service request SMS message, wherein the service response SMS message is provided using a method which includes the steps of: performing the specified action by sending a request to a relevant server via the public data communications network and receiving a corresponding response; and formatting and transmitting the service response SMS message to the personal communications device including details of the corresponding response.

Further preferred features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention, which should not be considered to be limiting of the scope of the invention as defined in any of the preceding statements, or in the claims appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred embodiments of the invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like features, and wherein: O Figure 1 shows an exemplary networked system illustrating a preferred N embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a computer server for providing email management and/or other remote services in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing remote operation of an electronic mail account of a user according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing remote network S 10 services to a user according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating an architectural overview of a computer-implemented system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating a more detailed system architecture of the software system illustrated in Figure 5; and Figures 7 to 14 illustrate an exemplary web-based interface enabling a user to edit preferences and configuration settings of an email management server in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary networked system 100 within which the present invention may be embodied. The system 100 includes a server 102, which is configured, as described hereafter, to provide remote services to mobile users via SMS messaging. The system 100 further includes a public data network 104, which in accordance with preferred embodiments is the Internet.

The network 104 interconnects the server 102 with various other Internet-enabled servers, systems and devices. Associated with the server 102, is a local email storage database 106, which is used to store copies of user emails retrieved by the server 102 from user email accounts accessible via the Internet 104. The database 106 may also contain other user details, preferences and configuration settings.

Users of the services provided by server 102 are equipped with personal communications devices, such as the mobile telephone 108. Personal communications devices usable in accordance with preferred embodiments of the 14 invention include all devices capable of sending and receiving standard SMS C messages. In accordance with the illustrated embodiment 100, a separate SMS messaging server 110 is accessible via the Internet 104, to provide SMS n messaging services to personal communications devices, eg mobile telephone 108, via one or more mobile telephony networks, represented by the arrow 112. In accordance with the preferred arrangement 100, an operator of the server 102 subscribes to SMS messaging services provided by a third-party operator of server 110. As will be appreciated, such services are now commercially available from a number of providers. The server 102 is thereby enabled to send SMS messages to portable device 108 by sending required SMS message details to the messaging server 110 via the Internet 104, as indicated by the arrow 116. Similarly, messages may be sent from the portable device 108 via SMS to the messaging server 110, which are then communicated back to the server 102 via the Internet 104 as indicated by the arrow 114.

While a third-party SMS messaging server 110 is utilised in the embodiment 100, it will be appreciated that alternative arrangements for enabling the server 102 to communicate with portable devices 108 via SMS messaging are also possible. For example, the server 102 may be configured to include a mobile network interface, such as a GSM cellular wireless interface, such that the server 102 is enabled to send and receive SMS messages directly to and from a corresponding mobile telephony network, without need of the services of a third-party SMS messaging server, eg 110.

Also accessible from the server 102 via the Internet 104 are a number of electronic mail servers, such as the mail servers 118, 120. Users of the services provided by the server 102 may have existing email accounts maintained on the mail servers 118, 120. As will be appreciated, various types of email services are provided via the Internet 104. For example, mail server 118 may maintain email accounts of subscribers from which messages may be retrieved, eg by known email client software applications, using a standard protocol such as POP3. Also available via the Internet 104 are various types of web-based email servers, such as the web mail services provided by companies such as Yahoo, Hotmail and Google (gmail). While some web mail services also provide retrieval via protocols such as POP3, others are primarily accessed to enable the retrieval of email via a O web browser or equivalent, ie using the HTTP protocol. Whichever protocols are N used, the server 102 is configured to be able to retrieve email received by users of accounts on servers 118, 120 via the Internet 104, as indicated by the arrows to 122, 124.

(Ni Also shown in the preferred embodiment 100 is an SMTP server 126, ie an out-going mail server. The SMTP server 126 enables the server 102 to send emails to recipients at specified email addresses, eg in accordance with instructions received from the user via portable device 108. As will be appreciated, for security reasons SMTP servers do not generally allow arbitrary S 10 remote access to email transmission and forwarding facilities. Accordingly, the SMTP server 126 may be accessible to the server 102 via a private local area network link 128, or by suitable prearrangement via the Internet 104, as indicated by the arrow 130. In still a further possible arrangement, the SMTP server 126 need not be a separate computer system, but may be a software module, process or service executing on the same computer hardware as the server 102. In any case, all such embodiments ultimately enable the server 102 to send email messages to specified addresses of recipients, eg having email accounts hosted on further email server 132, via the global Internet 104, as indicated by the arrow 134.

Also accessible from the server 102 via the Internet 104 are a variety of other services, provided by remote servers eg 136. In this regard, relevant services include web searching services, database query services, online dictionaries, online thesaurus, and online time and weather reporting services. All of these services have in common that they are generally hosted on one or more Internet-based server systems, eg 136, and that they provide information in response to specific user queries. Accordingly, it is possible for the server 102 to send a query or request, as indicated by arrow 138, to a remote service hosted on server 136, and subsequently to receive a response, as indicated by the arrow 140. For example, if the emote server 136 provides a web searching service (such as that provided by Google), the request 138 may be a search query, and the reply 140 may be a relevant abstract(s) of one or more results returned in response to the query, or textual information relating to one or more search results.

16 O As will be described in greater detail below, the exemplary system 100, in N particular including the server 102 configured in accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention, enables the provision of a variety of t services to users of personal communications devices 108. A general objective of the present invention is to provide users with access to various Internet-based services, including the operation of existing user email accounts, via basic SMS messaging. In particular, the invention obviates the need for sophisticated Sportable devices, and access to mobile wireless Internet services, in order for users to retain a useful level of access to Internet services, including their existing S 10 email services, while mobile, and in particular while away from their usual wired or wireless Internet access points. Unlike various prior art services, such as conventional email/SMS gateways and/or the proprietary Blackberry service, the server 102, configured in accordance with embodiments of the invention, provides the user with continuing access to email and other Internet-based services in a transparent and non-proprietary manner.

Figure 2 illustrates schematically a number of key components of the exemplary server 102, however it will be appreciated that the figure does not show all peripherals, interfaces and components of the computer system 102 which are well known in the art, but which are not relevant to the present discussion. The server 102 includes at least one processor 200, which is interfaced in a conventional manner to a network interface 202. The processor 200 is also interfaced to one or more memory or storage devices eg 204. The network interface 202 provides a connection to the Internet 104, either directly or via one or more local and/or private networks. The memory or storage device204 relevantly contains program instructions for execution by the processor 200, for carrying out various operations of the system 102, including those related to the provision of remote services via SMS messaging in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. As will be appreciated, the memory or storage device 204 will also contain program instructions for execution by the processor 200 for performing a variety of other supporting functions, including various operating system functions of the computer system 102. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the components and functions of the server or system 102 may be hosted on a single computer, O having a single or multiple processors, or may be distributed over a number of Scooperating host computer systems. However, for simplicity, only a single-processor, single-host computer system is illustrated in the drawings. Also t illustrated in Figure 2 is the association between the server 102 and the email storage database 106. The database 106 may be maintained on a local storage device of the server 102, or may be remotely located on another computer system, for example a computer system accessible via network interface 202. All Ssuch variants in the general architecture and applicable arrangements for server 102, and associated database 106, will be readily apparent to those skilled in the relevant art.

Turning now to Figure 3, there is shown a flowchart 300 illustrating a method for providing remote operation of one or more electronic mail accounts of a user via a SMS-enabled personal communications device, eg 108, in accordance with preferred embodiments of the invention. The flowchart 300 exemplifies operations which may be carried out in software implemented as program instructions executed by the processor 200 of the server system 102. In accordance with a preferred method, electronic mail accounts of the user, such as accounts hosted on mail servers 118, 120, are monitored from the server 102, as represented by the step 302 in flowchart 300. This monitoring preferably consists of periodically connecting to one or more mail servers, eg 118, 120, providing corresponding credentials of the user (eg user name and password), and issuing appropriate queries to determine whether any new email messages have been received for the user. In accordance with the decision 304, if no new mail has been received, periodic monitoring is continued. However, upon the arrival of new mail for the user, the method involves the retrieval and storage of the newly arrived messages, as represented by step 306. That is, the server 102 retrieves new messages from the mail servers, eg 118, 120, and stores them in the local email storage database 106.

Once new email messages have been retrieved, the server 102 is configured to format and send notification of the newly arrived mail to the SMS-enabled personal communications device 108 via SMS messaging, using messaging server 110. Optionally, the retrieved and stored messages may be checked against filter rules, at step 308, prior to sending appropriate SMS O notifications at step 310. The operation of filter rules will be described in greater N detail below, with reference to Figure 12.

In accordance with preferred embodiments of the invention, each newly t retrieved and stored email message is allocated a unique message identifier.

The unique message identifier is stored in the email database 106 along with relevant details and content of the corresponding email message. The message identifier is useful because it enables specific messages held in the local email Sstorage database 106 to be referenced by the user in subsequent transactions with the server 102. Accordingly, the SMS notification transmitted to the personal S 10 communications device 108 via SMS messaging server 110 typically includes the unique message identifier of the message, a name representing the sender of the email message, an optional indicator (eg a single character such as an asterisk) indicating whether or not the original email included one or more attachments, a subject line of the original email message, if applicable, and a text string including at least an initial portion of the body of the email message. As will be appreciated, the limited size of a conventional standard SMS message (maximum 160 characters) generally precludes the transmission of an entire received email message in a single SMS message. As described below with reference to Figure 14, in preferred embodiments a user may optionally configure the server 102 so as to send multiple SMS messages containing a larger portion of the message body, or alternatively may subsequently issue SMS message requests to the server 102 in order to retrieve subsequent portions of a received email message.

As will be understood, the flowchart 300 illustrated in Figure 3 exemplifies a range of email operations implemented by server 102 in which the server proactively monitors user email accounts, and sends SMS messages to the personal communications device 108 of the user. However, in accordance with preferred embodiments and aspects of the invention, the server 102 is able to receive, and act upon, commands issued remotely by the user via personal communications device 108. Various methods of providing such remotely actuated services to the user of device 108 are illustrated in the flowchart 400 shown in Figure 4.

O In accordance with preferred methods, the user of communications N device 108, wishing to request a particular service or operation to be performed by the server 102, first composes and sends a suitably formatted SMS service t request message. At step 402 represented in the flowchart 400, the server receives the SMS service request of the user. In accordance with preferred embodiments of the invention, an SMS service request is a simple text-based command, consisting of at least one command character, followed by a number Sof parameters. The precise parameters available and/or required will typically depend upon the nature of the service being requested. While any text string S 10 could be used to represent a command, short command strings, ie of only one or two characters, are preferred due to the well-known length limitations of SMS messaging. The use of short command strings also facilitates easy entry of commands by the use of the personal communications device 108, particularly in view of the difficulties and limitations imposed by limited keypad entry means, such as the numeric keypads provided on basic mobile telephone handsets.

The flowchart 400 illustrates steps corresponding with a number of possible SMS service requests. The range of requests illustrated in the flowchart 400 is intended to be representative and exemplary only, and is in no sense exhaustive of the total range of services that may be provided. As will be appreciated from the following discussion, the main features of the service method of the present invention include receiving the service request SMS message sent by the user from the personal communications device 108, wherein the service request SMS message includes instructions for performing a specified action, eg the command string and corresponding pluralities (step 402). The SMS service request is interpreted by the server 102, which performs the requested service selected from the available services. In the case of certain services, particularly those relating to the processing of received email messages already stored in the local email storage database 106, the action specified in the service request may be completed without the need for sending an SMS service response back to the personal communications device 108. In the case of other services provided by the server 102, operations may be performed, for example to retrieve requested information via the Internet 104, and then an SMS response message may be formatted and transmitted back to the personal communications O device 108. Further details of specific services provided in preferred N embodiments or the invention will now be described.

A first preferred service provided by the server 102 enables the user of o personal communications device 108 to request that an email message be sent to a specified recipient. In this case, the server 102 determines that the SMS service request includes a "compose email" command at decision step 404.

According to a preferred embodiment, the compose email command consists of a command string which is followed by one or more names of intended email recipients, an optional subject line, and optional text for the message body. As S 10 will be described below with reference to Figures 8 to 11, specified recipient names need not be complete email addresses, but may be individual or group email aliases configured by the user and stored by the server 102. As represented by step 406 of flowchart 400, the server 102 then formats a corresponding email message, and sends it to the specified recipient or recipients via SMTP server 126. Advantageously, the server 102 is able to format the composed and sent email message in such a manner that it may appear to have been sent using a conventional, eg PC-based, email client software application.

That is, the email message sent need not appear to suffer from any of the formatting or length limitations generally associated with SMS-based email solutions.

A second operation preferably provided by the server 102 is a "reply" or "reply all" service. If the service request message includes a reply or reply all command, as determined by decision step 408, then the server 102 will compose and send a message in the form of a reply to an existing received message held in the email storage database 106. In the exemplary embodiment, a reply command commences with the command character while a reply all command commences with the characters A required parameter of both types of reply command is a valid message identifier, identifying an existing message within the email storage database 106. The command may also include a relevant subject line, and message text. At step 410, the server 102 retrieves the original message from the database 106, and then at step 412 formats and sends a reply via SMTP server 126. Advantageously, the recipient or recipients of the reply are extracted from the original sender and/or recipient list of the 21 O received email message, and the original text of the received message may be N included, for example in an indented format, within the reply message. Once again, therefore, it is possible for the server 102 to compose and send a reply email message that conforms to typical desktop email standards, and is not constrained by the SMS messaging limitations.

A further exemplary operation, represented by the decision step 414, is the "forward" operation. Preferably, two types of "forward" commands are implemented. The command is used to forward a message to one or more named recipients, along with an optionally provided subject line and additional S 10 text for inclusion in the forwarded message. The "FA" command, also forwards any attachments to the original email message. Both types of forward command require that an existing valid message identifier be provided as a parameter, to identify the message within the database 106 that is to be forwarded. As with the send command, recipient names may be complete email addresses or email aliases. In the event that a forward command is sent via SMS messaging, at step 416, the server 102 retrieves the original specified message from the storage database 106, and at step 418 formats and sends the forwarded message.

Again, the email message that is sent is not constrained in format, size or appearance by the limitations of the SMS messaging system, and includes the complete original message, and may even include the original message attachments.

Yet another email-related service is the provision of additional message information, as represented by decision step 420. According to the preferred embodiments, the command requests more text from the body of a previously received and notified email message having a specified valid message identifier.

Alternatively, the command may be used to retrieve various further attributes in relation to a specified valid message identifier, including how many recipients were named in the original message, both in the "to" field and/or the "cc" field, the total length of the message, the number of attachments, and/or the total size of all attachments. In both cases, the relevant information or further text is retrieved from the database 106, and the server 102 then formats and sends an SMS service response back to the mobile device 108, as indicated by step 422.

O A further general class of service provided in accordance with preferred N embodiments of the invention includes a range of Internet-based query services, as represented by decision step 424. Generically, all such services involve the r execution of the steps of sending a relevant request to an Internet-based server (step 426), receiving a corresponding response from the server (step 428), and formatting and sending a corresponding SMS service response message back to the portable device 108 (step 430). In one exemplary embodiment of the Sinvention, the range of such query services available includes a dictionary query, a thesaurus query, a time query, a weather query, a general web search query, and a movie query. Various online services are available for implementing such service requests, including a number of online dictionaries and thesaurus, time servers which can provide the current time in any specified location, weather services which can provide weather conditions and forecasts in specified locations, search engines, such as Google for performing general web searches, and the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), for providing important information relating to films, actors, directors and other film industry participants. In accordance with the exemplary embodiment, all service query commands consist of the initial command letter followed by a one or two letter query type parameter, and any further required parameters.

Generally, any of the aforementioned services which require the return of information to the personal communications device 108 via SMS messaging, may include an optional "count" parameter, specifying the maximum number of SMS message blocks that should be utilised in returning the query results. As will be appreciated, providing the user with control over the number of SMS messages sent or received is important, since in most circumstances the user will ultimately pay a fee for services which includes a component corresponding with the total number of SMS messages sent.

Figure 5 shows a block diagram 500 providing a general overview of the architecture of a software implementation of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The software architecture includes various modules implementing functionality of the server system 102. Functional modules of the software architecture include an SMS gateway module 502, a command line interpreter (CLI) module 504. An SMTP module 508, and a POP3 module 506.

As will be appreciated, the modules illustrated in the architecture block C diagram 500 merely exemplify the general architecture in order to clarify the implementation of the invention in preferred embodiments, and are certainly not n exhaustive of all modules included in the complete system. All modules draw on contents of the data stores of the server 102, being primarily the database 106, but also including information and data that may be held within the local memory or storage 204. The function of the SMS gateway module 502 is to receive and transmit SMS messages via the SMS messaging server 110. The CLI module 504 is responsible for the parsing and interpretation of commands or instructions sent to the server 102 in service request SMS messages transmitted using personal communications device 108. The SMTP module 508 implements the client-side of the SMTP protocol for sending email messages via SMTP server 126. Similarly, the POP3 module 506 implements the client-side of the POP3 protocol used to interrogate email server 118 and to retrieve received email messages therefrom.

Figure 6 shows a block diagram 600 illustrating in greater detail the software system architecture of an exemplary embodiment of the server 102.

The exemplary embodiment is implemented principally using the Java programming language, and accordingly is executed by a Java Virtual Machine 602. The server 102 is implemented using conventional computer hardware executing web server software, which is preferably the Apache web server software. As will be known to those skilled in the art, server-side Java technologies are readily supported on the Apache platform. In particular, the exemplary embodiment utilises the "Spring" J2EE programming framework 604.

Java servlet and Java Server Page (JSP) technologies are utilised to provide a web interface (as described in greater detail below in relation to Figures 7 to 14) on the Apache platform using the publicly-available "Tomcat" module. Further publicly-available Java software modules utilised in the implementation of the preferred embodiment of server 102 include "Hibernate" 608, providing an interface to the database 106 "Quartz" 610 providing job scheduling for the execution of various monitoring, transmission and reception tasks, "Log4J" 612 providing logging services within the Apache environment, and "ActiveMQ", which enables the various modules of the server system 102 to be distributed across 24 O multiple hardware platforms by providing transparent messaging services N between distributed components. All of these available software components will be familiar to persons skilled in the relevant art, as will their application in the r construction of software systems such as that required for the implementation of server 102. Also included in the detailed system architecture diagram 600 are the SMS gateway module, CLI module, SMTP module and POP3 module 502, 504, 508, 506, also appearing in Figure 5. Additionally, the detailed diagram 600 Sshows a web interface module 616, which implements a configuration interface for users which is accessible using a conventional web browser via the Internet 104 or other connected networks. Further details of the appearance, operation and use of an exemplary web interface will now be described with reference to Figures 7 to 14.

Figure 7 shows an exemplary web interface homepage 700, with which a user of the server 102 is presented upon first connecting using a web browser via the Internet 104. Relevantly, the homepage 700 includes text entry fields 702, 704 enabling the user to enter a unique user identifier and corresponding password respectively. In preferred embodiments, the user identifier may be a mobile telephone number of the personal communications device 108 belonging to the user to which relevant SMS messages and notifications will be sent. Once the user identifier and password have been entered, the user logs into the web interface of the system by clicking the login button 706.

Figures 8 to 11 illustrate the use of an address book facility provided by the server 102. As shown in the exemplary page 800 of Figure 8, the address book facility is accessed via the address book tab 802. On all pages, the left-hand portion of the display is reserved for general user and status information. For example, the user identifier, or mobile telephone number, is shown at 804, and a button 806 is provided to enable the user to log out of the system. Various system status information is provided in the region 808, including the number of messages received for the day to date, as well as network, messaging and mailbox status. The mail checking and notification service may be activated or deactivated by the user clicking on the button 810.

The address book is a user feature, details of which would generally be stored within database 106, enabling simplified management of user contacts, O including senders and recipients of email messages. The address book is N principally a database of individual and group email aliases. A listing of entries in the database is provided in the scrolling list 312. The user may add individual r entries to the database using button 814, and list individual entries using the list button 816. Additionally, group entries may be added using button 818, and the existing group entries be listed using the button 820. The scrolling list 812 includes four columns. The first column 822 contains email aliases specified by Sthe user. These email aliases are generally shortened names or identifiers that are used as equivalents for the full names of email contacts, which are listed in S 10 the second column 824, and/or the complete email addresses of contacts, as listed in the third column 826. The shortened email aliases listed in first column 822, as previously indicated, are generally used in SMS messages sent to the user in notifications, and in email commands sent by the user in SMS service request messages, in order to minimise the number of characters required to identify email senders and/or recipients in SMS messages of limited length.

Translations between full names, email addresses and shortened email aliases are automatically performed by the relevant software modules within the server 102.

A final column 828 in the list 812 includes icons which may be clicked upon by the user in order to modify and/or delete entries in the list 812.

Figure 9 is a web page 900 illustrating the "add individual entry" functionality accessed by clicking on the add button 814. The displayed page 900 includes entry fields 902, 904, 906 for providing individual email entry information.

The entry box 902 is used to enter a new email alias, the entry box 904 is used to enter a corresponding description (typically the contact's full name), while the entry box 906 is used to enter the corresponding full Internet email address. A save button 908 is provided to cause the entered information to be saved and added to the list 812, while a cancel button 910 enables exiting the page without modifying the database.

Figure 10 shows an exemplary display 1000 enabling the user to add a group entry, which is accessed by clicking on the group add button 818. The page 1000 includes text entry fields 1002, 1004 for adding a group alias and a group description respectively. The list 1006 includes all available individual O entries in the individual list 812, eg as created using the interface 900 illustrated N in Figure 9. A further list 1008 includes all available individual aliases that have been included by the user in the present group alias. Aliases may be transferred t from the available list 1006 to the group list 1008 using button 1010, and may be removed using the button 1012. When the new group alias is completed, it may be saved by the user clicking on the save button 1014, or the process may be cancelled using the cancel button 1016. As will be appreciated, a group alias represents all individual contacts added to the group list 1008, and may therefore be used as shorthand rotation for sending an email to a specified group of S 10 individual contacts.

Figure 11 illustrates an exemplary web page display 1100 including a list of group alias entries obtained by the user clicking on the group list button 820. A first list 1102 shows all of the group entries, including the group alias and the corresponding description as entered via the display 1000. In the example shown, one particular entry 1104 has been selected, and a second list 1106 shows all of the members currently included in that group entry.

Figure 12 shows and exemplary web page display 1200 obtained by clicking on the filtering tab 1202. This interface enables the user to configure email filtering options, associated with the filtering function, previously mentioned in relation to the filter step 308 included in the flowchart 300 of Figure 3. In accordance with conventional email filtering techniques, the filtering system includes a reject list 1204 and an accept list 1206. The reject list includes a list of specific email addresses, domains, user IDs, or other partial or complete email address specifications, which are not generally to be allowed by the filter. That is, any email message including a sender address which matches an entry on the reject list 1204, is not generally passed by the filter.

The accept list 1206 is a corresponding list of exceptions to the reject rules. That is, a message that would otherwise be blocked by the filter due to a match on the reject list, will instead be passed by the filter if it also matches an entry in the accept list 1206.

Email messages from senders that do not appear on either the reject list or the accept list will normally be accepted by default.

O A text entry field 1208, and corresponding add button 1210 are provided Nfor adding entries to the reject list, while further text entry field 1212 and add button 1214 are used to add entries to the accept list. Functions are also provided to enable messages to be rejected based on subject line as specified in the text entry field 1216, and to enable the user to reject email from addresses not appearing in the address book, via check box 1218.

Changes to the filtering settings may be saved back to the database 106 using the save button 1220, or the window may be exited without saving changes using the cancel button 1224.

S 10 Figure 13 shows and exemplary web page display 1300 used to modify configuration of user and email account details, accessed by using the profile tab 1302. The user is able to enter a contact name (appearing, for example, on outgoing email messages sent by the server 102) using the text entry field 1304.

The user's mobile number, to which SMS messages are sent, is shown, and may be changed by selecting the change button 1306. The user's email address (which, again, will typically be included in outgoing messages) may be entered into text entry field 1308, while the user's country may be selected using dropdown list 1310.

Additionally, details of one or more email accounts to be monitored by the server 102 may be entered from the profile page 1300. In order to configure an account for monitoring, the user must provide relevant details for accessing the email account. The "provider" field 1312 includes a dropdown list enabling the user to select one of a number of supported email access and retrieval protocols.

Commonly, ISP email accounts will be accessed using the POP3 protocol, for which the user will select the generic POP server option as shown in the figure.

Other options which may be available include the ability to retrieve mail from various specific web mail services, such as Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Gmail and so forth. Specific software modules will generally be provided in the server software architecture facilitating communications with the relevant web mail servers in order to check and retrieve mail from such services.

In the case of the POP3 protocol at least, a number of further parameters are required. The server host (e the email server from which emails will be checked and collected) is entered into text entry field 1314. The user is also O required to provide the corresponding user name 1316 and password 1318 N enabling access to the email account on the mail host server. Since the password is concealed for security purposes, a password check field 1320 is also t provided, in a conventional manner.

The settings may be saved using the save button 1322, or the user may cancel out of the page 1300 using the cancel button 1324. Figure 14 illustrates an exemplary preferences page 1400 accessed using the preferences tab 1402.

The page 1400 enables various configuration settings of the user account at the server 102 to be viewed and modified. As will be appreciated, a variety of S 10 different preferences and configuration settings may be available in various embodiments of the invention, and those illustrated in the display 1400 are not to be considered limiting of the overall scope of the invention.

Typical preferences that may be provided include a maximum daily limit 1404 on the number of SMS messages sent, the maximum number of SMS blocks to be sent per received and notified email (entry field 1406), and the maximum subject length in characters (1408). These settings in particular enable the user to exercise control over the volume and content of SMS messages received as email notifications, and thus in most circumstances influence the user's oontrol over the total costs incurred due to SMS messaging. As will be appreciated, a user may have little or no control over the number of email messages received in a given period, and may therefore wish to restrict the total number of SMS messages that can be delivered as email notifications, and which must therefore be paid for. By limiting both the number of messages sent during a given time period (eg one day), and the number of individual SMS blocks which may be sent per notification, the total costs may be controlled. The maximum subject length ensures a minimum content portion of a notification SMS message in which at least part of the body of the email may be received. The user may also elect for SMS messages to be sent with no body, using check box 1410.

The preferences display 1400 also enables the user to specify that a signature block be attached to outgoing (ie sent) messages, using the check box 1412, and the signature block itself is entered into multi-line text entry field 1414. The preferences are saved using save button 1416, and the page 1400 may be exited without saving changes using cancel button 1418.

29 It will be understood that while preferred embodiments of the invention C have been described herein, these should not be considered to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the claims appended hereto.

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Claims (11)

1. A method of providing remote operation of an electronic mail account of a user via an SMS-enabled personal communications device, the method including: Imonitoring the user's electronic mail account via a public data communications network to determine when a new email message is received; retrieving said newly-received email message from the electronic mail account, and storing a copy thereof in a local email storage database; and sending an SMS message to said personal communications device notifying the user of details of the new electronic mail message.

2. The method of claim 1, further including the steps of: receiving a service request SMS message from the personal communications device, the service request SMS message including instructions for performing a specified action; and processing the service request SMS message, and performing the specified action.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the specified action includes one or more of: sending an email message to a specified recipient; replying to a received email message stored in the local email storage database; and/or forwarding a received email message stored in the local email storage database.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein replying to or forwarding a received email message includes retaining in the reply or forwarded message any attachments associated with the received email message.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of performing the specified action includes transmitting a service response SMS message to the personal communications device in reply to the received service request SMS message. O

6. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of performing the specified action N includes sending a request to a relevant server via the public data Z communications network, receiving a response, and formatting and transmitting a service response SMS message including details of the response.

7. An email management server for providing remote operation of an Ielectronic mail account of a user via an SMS-enabled communications device, the email management server including: at least one processor; a network interface operatively connected to a public data communications network; an associated local email storage database; and at least one storage medium operatively couple to said processor, the storage medium containing program instructions for execution by the processor, said program instructions causing the processor to effect the steps of: monitoring said electronic mail account via said public data communications network to determine when a new electronic mail message is received; retrieving said newly-received email message from said electronic mail account, and storing a copy thereof in the local email storage database; and sending an SMS message to the personal communications device notifying the user of details of the new electronic mail message.

8. A method of providing a service to a user of an SMS-enabled personal communications device, said service being available via a public data network, without requiring a direct connection of the personal communications device to the public data network, the method including the steps of: receiving a service request SMS message sent by the user from the personal communications device, the service request SMS message including instructions for performing a specified action relating to the service; O performing said specified action by sending a request to a relevant server N via the public data communications network, and receiving a corresponding Z response; and formatting and transmitting an SMS message to the personal communications device including details of the response.

9. A server for providing a service to a user of an SMS-enabled personal communications device, said service being available via a public data network, Nwithout requiring a drect connection of the personal communications device to Cthe public data network, the server including: at least one processor; a network interface operatively connected to the public data communications network; at least one storage medium operatively coupled to the processor, the storage medium containing program instructions for execution by the processor, said program instructions causing the processor to effect the steps of: receiving a service request SMS message sent by the user from the personal communications device, the service request SMS message including instructions for performing a specified action relating to the service; performing the specified action by sending a request to a relevant server via the public data communications network and receiving a corresponding response; and formatting and transmitting an SMS message to the personal communications device including details of the response.

10. A method of a user accessing an email management service which provides remote operation of an electronic mail account of the user via an SMS- enabled personal communications device, the method including the steps of: the user receiving an SMS message via the personal communications device, the SMS message including details of an email message received at said email account, O wherein the SMS message is provided using a method which includes the N steps of: Z monitoring the electronic mail account via a public data r communications network to determine when a new email message is received; retrieving said newly-received email message from the electronic mail account, and storing a copy of thereof in a local email storage database; and sending an SMS message to said personal communications device notifying the user of details of their new electronic mail message.

11. A method of a user accessing a service using an SMS-enabled personal communications device, said service being available via a public data network, whereby the personal communications device does not require a direct connection to the public data communications network, the method including the steps of: the user sending a service request SMS message from the personal communications device, the SMS message including instructions for performing a specified action relating to the service; and the user receiving a service response SMS message via the personal communications device, including details of a response to the instructions in the service request SMS message, wherein the service response SMS message is provided using a method which includes the steps of: performing the specified action by sending a request to a relevant server via the public data communications network and receiving a corresponding response; and formatting and transmitting the service response SMS message to the personal communications device including details of the corresponding response. FIGURES 1-14 ATTACHED DATED this 25th day of July 2007 INVENTRI PTY LTD INVENTRI PTY LTD 365 LITTLE COLLINS STREET MELBOURNE VICTORIA 3000 AUSTRALIA STD1000AUP1