Stand alone electronic mail notifying device
OwnerDan Tyrolerinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A device dedicated to providing information to a customer regarding e-mail messages. The device, in its simplest configuration has an annunciator showing the receipt of one or more e-mail messages held for the customer by a remote ISP. In more advanced configurations, the e-mail is prioritized and the device shows the messages having certain priority. In even more advanced configuration, the device may also display and or announce e-mail sender's name and may also display the subject of the e-mail message if this item was provided by the e-mail sender, and may also display the actual e-mail message text. The device may be disposed in small housing dedicated for e-mail display and announcement or alternatively may be incorporated into another device such as a telephone or any other electronic consumer equipment.
Claims20
A dedicated device for indicating e-mail messages sent to a specific user, comprising:
- a housing;
- a memory holding a list of senders who can send e-mail messages to the user, each sender being designated by the user, each sender being designated within said memory with a priority level;
- a controller for establishing communication with an ISP provider, said provider automatically receiving e-mail messages which originate from specifically identified senders, said controller being adapted to initiate a request to said provider for information regarding said e-mail message and to retrieve said information;
- said controller being adapted to designate a message priority level to each received message in accordance the priority designated to the respective sender in the memory;
- and
- disposed on said housing and including one or more lights for annunciating when said information indicates the presence of said e-mail messages and the priority of said e-mail messages when said e-mail messages are detected.
A device dedicated to indicate to a user the presence of e-mail messages addressed to the user, comprising:
- a housing;
- an indicator responsive to a command and disposed on said housing and including one or more lights for indicating when a customer has received an e-mail message having a designated priority;
- a dedicated controller disposed in said housing and adapted to generate a request to a remote server regarding the receipt of e-mail messages for a specific customer, said dedicated controller being adapted to detect the sender for each e-mail message and to designate said priority level for each received e-mail message by using a list of senders provided by the user;
- a communication interface for communication over a standard channel with said server, said interface transmitting said request to said server and receiving a response;
- and
- a memory that stores an address and said list of senders;
- wherein said controller receives said response and selectively activates said indicator by generating said command only if the address of a received message corresponds to an address in said memory.
A composite device without a general purpose computer comprising;
- a housing;
- a telephone interface for receiving audio messages;
- a memory storing a plurality of e-mail addresses designated by the user, said e-mail addresses, each e-mail address being assigned a priority level;
- a dedicated controller provided to manage e-mail messages for a customer and adapted to automatically send requests to a remote server through said telephone interface and to receive information indicating that e-mail messages are present for the customer from a specific sender identified by the customer, said e-mail being designated a priority level based on the identity of the sender;
- and
- a display adapted to display messages indicative of the presence of e-mail messages based on their designated priority as indicated by one or more lights disposed on said housing when said e-mail messages are detected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.