Message Forwarding Interface for Email to SMS Conversion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile communication devices require users to manually copy and paste SMS messages into email clients, making the process of forwarding SMS messages to email recipients tedious and time-consuming, lacking intuitive user experience.
Innovation Solution
A method and graphical user interface that allows users to forward email messages to SMS recipients by presenting a single user interface screen with selectable destination addresses, automatically setting a default address if associated with a mobile device, and indicating if the message will be sent as multiple segments, facilitating seamless conversion between message types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users manually copy and paste SMS messages into email clients, then message forwarding between different services is achieved, but the process becomes tedious and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a message handler as an intermediary component that mediates between different message services (SMS, email, instant messaging). This handler automatically converts messages between different formats and protocols, eliminating the need for manual copying and pasting between separate applications. The intermediary handles the technical complexity of format conversion and service integration, making the forwarding process automatic and intuitive.
Solution Approach 2:
The message handling service is designed with multi-functionality to handle multiple types of messages (SMS, email, instant messaging) through a single unified interface. This universal handler can receive messages from one service type and forward them to another service type automatically, consolidating what would otherwise require multiple separate applications into a single integrated system that performs multiple functions.
2Reliability
If separate client applications are used for different message services, then each service can be optimized independently, but the user interface becomes complex and operation becomes tedious
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate message handling applications into a single unified message handler that can process and forward different types of messages (SMS, email, instant messaging). This consolidation maintains the optimization benefits of separate services while presenting a simplified unified interface to users, reducing the complexity of switching between applications and managing multiple user interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified message handler implements universality by providing a single application that can handle multiple message types through different protocols. This multi-functional design allows the system to maintain specialized optimization for each service type internally while presenting a consistent, simplified user interface externally, thereby reducing perceived complexity without sacrificing service quality.
3Productivity
If users manually copy message payload to clipboard, then message content can be transferred, but the process requires multiple application switches and is non-intuitive
Solution Approach 1:
The message handler acts as an intelligent intermediary that automatically extracts message content from the source application and formats it for the destination application. This eliminates the manual clipboard copying process by having the intermediary application perform the content extraction and format conversion automatically, making the transfer process intuitive and efficient without requiring users to manually copy and paste.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically extracting and preparing message content before the user initiates the forwarding operation. The message handler pre-processes the content, converts formats, and prepares the destination message structure in advance, so that when the user triggers forwarding, the entire process executes automatically without requiring manual intervention at each step.
Data Source
AI summary
In one aspect, a computing device such as a wireless mobile communication device may receive a first type of message (e.g. an e-mail message) over a first message handling service. The device may further receive an indication, e.g. from a user interacting with the device, that the message should be forwarded to a specified recipient as a second type of message (e.g. an SMS message) over a second, different message handling service. The device may display multiple selectable destination addresses (e.g. telephone numbers) for the second type of message, each being associated with the specified recipient. If one of the destination addresses is associated with a device (e.g. a mobile telephone) that is more suitable for receiving the second type of message than any device associated with the other destination addresses, a default destination address for the second type of message may be automatically set to be that destination address.