Automatic Reply Detection via Travel Context

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users often forget to activate automatic replies on their email accounts when traveling or indisposed, leading to inconsistent access and potential missed communications.

Innovation Solution

Systems and methods that detect when a user is away from their home location or has travel-related events, prompting them to activate automatic replies through user interfaces on client devices, with options to select or customize pre-generated reply messages.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If users manually activate automatic replies, then they can control when to send them, but users often forget to activate them when traveling or indisposed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveactivation reliabilityVSAvoidmanual activation requirement

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by detecting travel conditions (flight bookings, calendar events, location data) before the user needs to send emails, and proactively prompts them to activate automatic replies in advance, preventing the forgetting problem

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system monitors the user's own data (calendar, bookings, location) and automatically detects when they are traveling or indisposed, then prompts them to activate automatic replies without requiring manual intervention to remember

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

2Reliability

If automatic replies are always active, then no communications are missed, but users may receive unnecessary automatic replies when available

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecommunication coverageVSAvoidcontext-awareness

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The automatic reply status transitions from static (always on/off) to dynamic (automatically activated based on detected travel conditions), adapting to the user's current state without requiring manual intervention

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously monitors user data (calendar, bookings, location) and uses this feedback to determine when automatic replies should be activated, creating a closed-loop system that adapts to changing conditions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Reliability

If the system prompts users to activate automatic replies, then activation reliability improves, but users may experience additional notifications

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveactivation reliabilityVSAvoidnotification system

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The notification system provides targeted, context-specific prompts only when travel conditions are detected, rather than generic notifications, making the interaction more relevant and less intrusive

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentUS10819662B2Detecting automatic reply conditions

Publication Date: 2020.10.27 OMNISSA LLC

AI summary

Disclosed are various examples for facilitating the detection of conditions associated with an automatic reply associated with an email account. The automatic reply capability associated with an email account can be automatically activated in response to a condition associated with a client device, an email message, or an event stored in the user's calendar. An automatic reply message can be activated automatically or overridden by a user.