Email system that allows sender to check recipient's status before sending an email to the recipient

In an email system having a first and a second email server coupled together and a first and a second plurality of email client applications coupled to the first and second servers, respectively, each having an email address, a method of determining status of a recipient email address, comprising

• (A) maintaining status of the recipient email address in a status table associated with the first server, wherein the recipient email address is assumed by one of the first plurality of applications, wherein the table stores status information of all of the first plurality of applications and is searchable with an email address;
• (B) sending an inquiry from a sender application to the second email server for the status of the recipient email address when a user of the sender application has specified the recipient email address to send a message to the recipient email address, wherein the sender application is one of the second plurality of applications;
• (C) forwarding the inquiry from the second server to the first server;
• (D) searching the table with the recipient email address for the status of the recipient email address and returning the status to the sender application via the first and second email servers before a message is sent to the recipient email address.

In an email system having a sender email client application coupled to a sender email server and a recipient email client application coupled to a recipient email server, a system of determining status of a recipient email address assumed by the recipient application, comprising:

• a status table in the recipient server that stores the status of the recipient email address, wherein the table is searchable by an email address and the sender and recipient servers are coupled together;
• a first status notification module in the recipient server that stores the status of the recipient email address in the status table;
• a second status notification module in the sender server that forwards inquiries of the status of the recipient email address to the recipient server;
• a status check module in the sender application that sends an inquiry with the recipient email address to the first status notification module via the second status notification module in the sender application when the recipient email address is determined in the sender application, wherein the first status notification module accesses the status table with the recipient email address to obtain and return the status of the recipient email address to the sender application before the sender application sends any message to the recipient email address.