Sender-Controlled Reduced Alert Messaging System

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current communication systems lack the ability for senders to control alert preferences for recipients, potentially disrupting sensitive environments or situations, and do not allow for non-intrusive messaging options beyond email or instant messaging.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a message delivery system that enables senders to configure reduced or silent alerts for recipients, which can override existing notification preferences, providing options like quiet visual and haptic alerts or no alerts until the message is opened by the recipient.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a user sends a communication to a recipient, then the recipient is notified of the communication, but the notification may interrupt or disturb the recipient in sensitive environments

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecommunication deliveryVSAvoidnotification interruption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system changes the alerting parameters (notification type, volume, visibility) based on the sending user's preferences and the recipient's context. The communication can be delivered with modified alerting characteristics such as reduced volume, different notification modes, or delayed alerts, allowing the same communication to have different impact levels depending on the situation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Ease of operation

If a user sets standard alert preferences on their device, then they receive full notifications for all communications, but this cannot accommodate sensitive environments or situations

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenotification preference controlVSAvoidenvironmental adaptability

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The alerting system becomes dynamic rather than static. Instead of fixed pre-set preferences, the system can adapt alerting behavior in real-time based on the sending user's intentions, the recipient's current context, and environmental factors. The notification characteristics can change dynamically from standard to reduced or silent modes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system allows modification of alerting parameters such as notification type, volume, and visibility based on contextual factors. This enables the same communication infrastructure to serve multiple environments (office, home, sensitive situations) by adjusting parameters rather than requiring separate systems.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Ease of operation

If a sending user wants to convey an important message without interrupting the recipient, then they can use email or instant messaging, but this creates a complex messaging hierarchy and loses real-time communication

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenon-intrusive messagingVSAvoidmessaging channel complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The communication system is made multi-functional by allowing a single communication channel to serve multiple purposes: urgent notifications, non-urgent messages, and silent deliveries. The same infrastructure can adapt its behavior based on the message priority and user preferences, eliminating the need for separate channels for different communication needs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses parameter changes (alerting characteristics, priority levels, notification modes) to differentiate message types within a single communication channel. This allows important but non-intrusive messages to be conveyed through the same channel as urgent notifications, just with modified parameters, simplifying the overall messaging architecture.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

4Reliability

If a recipient has alerting preferences set to standard notifications, then they receive all communications promptly, but this cannot allow senders to control or reduce alerting for specific messages

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecommunication receiptVSAvoidsender control over alerting

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system introduces dynamic control where alerting behavior can be adjusted based on the sending user's preferences and the specific communication context. Rather than static recipient-only control, the system becomes flexible and adaptable, allowing senders to influence alerting characteristics while maintaining recipient autonomy over their notification preferences.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentUS10470006B2Method and system for altered alerting

Publication Date: 2019.11.05 AVAYA INC

AI summary

The methods and systems of the present disclosure can configure, by a microprocessor, a message from a sending user to a recipient device; set, by the microprocessor, a reduced alert for the message, where the reduced alert is set by the sending user; and send the message to the recipient device, wherein the recipient device provides the reduced alert upon receipt of the message.