Instant Messaging Session Postponement and Resumption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional instant messaging systems lack the ability to continue or resume conversations at a later time, leading to incomplete communication and breaks in interactions, as they do not provide a mechanism for postponing or scheduling follow-up discussions.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for operating an instant messaging application that allows users to postpone conversations by determining a future restart time, terminating the current session, and initiating a new session at the scheduled time, with the option to store conversation files and send reminders to participants, ensuring continuity and completion of discussions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If instant messaging conversations are conducted in real-time only, then the simplicity and immediacy of IM communication is maintained, but the ability to continue conversations at a later date is lost, leading to breakdown in communication continuity
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by storing conversation data and participant information before the conversation ends. When a postponement signal is received, the system has already prepared the necessary data structures and session information, enabling quick resumption without requiring manual re-setup of the conversation context.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the temporal parameter of the conversation session by introducing a future restart time. The conversation session is transformed from a strictly real-time interaction to a time-flexible interaction model, where the session can be suspended and resumed at a predetermined future time, thus adapting to user availability while maintaining communication continuity.
2Reliability
If the system stores conversation files and schedules future sessions, then communication continuity is improved, but the system complexity increases due to additional scheduling and storage mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The instant messaging server is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a real-time communication platform and a scheduling system. The same server infrastructure handles both active conversations and postponed session management, eliminating the need for separate scheduling hardware or software and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides self-service by automatically managing conversation storage, scheduling, and resumption without requiring external calendar systems or manual intervention. The IM server itself handles the scheduling logic, data persistence, and session restoration, making the complexity contained within a single unified system rather than requiring integration with external scheduling tools.
3Productivity
If users can postpone and reschedule IM sessions, then workload management is improved, but the ease of operation decreases due to additional postponement and scheduling steps
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces dynamics by making the conversation session flexible rather than static. Users can dynamically change the state of a conversation from active to postponed and back to active. The session adapts to user needs in real-time, allowing postponement when convenient and automatic resumption when appropriate, thus improving workload management while keeping the interface adaptable to user preferences.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring users to manually initiate each new conversation, the system inverts the approach by allowing conversations to be automatically resumed based on pre-agreed schedules. The burden shifts from users repeatedly starting conversations to the system automatically restoring them, simplifying the user's operational burden while maintaining the ability to manage workload effectively.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of operating an instant messaging application comprises running an instant messaging dialogue session across a plurality of participant devices. When a user wishes to postpone the session, the application receives a postponement signal from a participant device, determines a future restart time and future participant devices, terminates the current instant messaging dialogue session, and initiates a new instant messaging dialogue session at the restart time for the future participant devices.