Email Rule Management via Contact Data Association
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Solution Overview
Problem
Email systems fail to automatically sort messages from additional or new email addresses associated with a contact, requiring users to manually update rules for each address change.
Innovation Solution
The system automatically applies rules to email messages received from a first email address by associating contact data with a second email address, allowing for automatic updates when the contact data is modified, and synchronizes these rules across devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a rule is created to sort email messages from a specific sender email address, then email messages from that sender are sorted into a separate mailbox, but the rule does not apply to additional or new email addresses from the same sender
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by extending the email sorting rule to apply to multiple email addresses associated with the same contact. Instead of creating separate rules for each email address, the system links the rule to the contact entity, which may have multiple email addresses. This allows a single rule to universally apply across all email addresses of a contact, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces contact data as an intermediary between the user and the email sorting system. The contact data serves as a mediator that stores multiple email addresses and links them to a single sorting rule. This intermediary layer allows the system to automatically apply rules to multiple email addresses without requiring direct user input for each address, thus improving ease of operation while maintaining adaptability.
2Reliability
If a user manually creates and updates rules for each sender email address, then precise control over email sorting is achieved, but user time and effort are significantly increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-establishing the connection between contact data and sorting rules. When a contact is created or updated with multiple email addresses, the system proactively configures the sorting rule to apply to all associated addresses. This preliminary configuration eliminates the need for users to manually update rules when new email addresses are added, significantly reducing time investment while maintaining reliable email sorting.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies self-service by automatically detecting when a contact has multiple email addresses and autonomously applying the sorting rule to all of them. The system monitors contact data changes and self-adjusts the rule application without requiring user intervention. This self-service mechanism ensures reliable email sorting across multiple addresses while eliminating the time users would otherwise spend manually managing rules.
3Extent of automation
If the system applies rules to all email addresses associated with a contact, then automatic rule updates are enabled, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies merging by combining the management of multiple email addresses under a single contact entity. Instead of treating each email address as an independent rule target, the system merges them into a unified contact structure. This consolidation reduces system complexity by managing email addresses collectively rather than individually, while still enabling automatic rule application to all addresses through the merged contact data.
Data Source
AI summary
Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems receive an instruction to establish a rule to take an action on each email message received from a first email address, determine that the first email address is associated with contact data, determine that the contact data is associated with a second email address, and apply the rule to take the action on each email message received from the second email address.