WO2011051963A2

WO2011051963A2 - A system and method for enabling communication between users

Info

Publication number: WO2011051963A2
Application number: PCT/IN2010/000666
Authority: WO
Inventors: Menon Balamuralikrishna
Original assignee: LIVEMOBS TECHNOLOGIES PVT Ltd
Current assignee: LIVEMOBS TECHNOLOGIES PVT Ltd
Priority date: 2009-10-07
Filing date: 2010-10-07
Publication date: 2011-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 2012-04-07
Also published as: WO2011051963A3

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system for enabling flow of information between a sender and at least a recipient user on the system, where the sender specifies a unique identifier of the recipient user on the system, and the system delivers a message from the sender to the recipient via any one of a plurality of independent communication modules like email, SMS, and Twitter(TM), based on presence information of the recipient.

Description

TITLE:

A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN USERS TECHNICAL FIELD:

The present invention relates to the field of online communication. Particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method of mapping user requests and servicing flow of information via multiple media like the mobile devices, internet - linked devices and data kiosks.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION:

It is the object of the present invention to provide a system and method for enabling communication between users requesting it through the information services. Further, using these information services, acumen for the purpose of inter-operability through an internet and mobile-linked device can be achieved.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention relates to a. system for enabling flow of information between a sender and at least a recipient user on the system, where the sender specifies a unique identifier of the recipient user on the system, comprising of: a. a centralized server serving as a facilitator to at least send or receive the said information from and to any medium of communication like email, SMS, Twitter;

b. a platform housing plurality of independent communication modules like email, SMS, Twitter and other mediums of communication;

c. a processor coupled with the said platform that interfaces with the said centralized server;

d. a router interfacing between said processor and said platform, which keeps track of the recipients' presence on said media of communication by continuously communicating with the said recipient;

e. a data storage means connected to at least said centralized server, said platform, said processor or said router;

wherein

f. information from the said sender is stored in the said data storage means;

g. information of the recipient is retrieved from the said data storage means at any given point of time;

h. said information from the said sender is forwarded to said processor, which assigns a unique identifier to the said sender;

i. said processor routes it through the said router to the said platform into one of the said independent communication modules; j. said independent communication module processes the said information and routes it to the said recipient user through the said centralized server to the medium of communication the said recipient user is present on.

The information of the recipient which is retrieved from the said data storage means is in the form of a phone number, email address, Twitter username, etc.

The present invention also relates to a method for enabling flow of information between a sender and at least a recipient user, comprising of:

a. storing sender information in a data storage means, such that the said sender information includes a unique identifier of the recipient user;

b. sending the said sender information to a processor such that said processor assigns a unique identifier to the said sender; c. retrieving information of the recipient from a data storage means; d. routing the said information through a router keeping track of the recipients' presence on any medium of communication to a platform housing independent communication modules and into one of the said independent communication modules;

e. processing said information from the said independent communication modules to the said recipient user through the said centralized server to the medium of communication the said recipient user is present on. A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the figures accompanying the specification wherein: Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the system.

Referring to the figure 1, the system comprises of various sub-systems. These subsystems are explained below:

1 ) The centralized server (1): The centralized server (1) acts as the interface between the system and the mediums of communications. It provides a point of aggregation for information to be sent and received by the system. The centralized server (1) has entry points for the mediums of communication for information from and to the users of the system. 2) The processor (2): The processor (2) is connected to the data storage (5) mechanism within the system. The processor (2) provides a way for providing a unique identifier for the sender by querying the data storage (5) to search for information about the sender linked to a specific unique identifier. If a link is not found, the processor (2) assigns a unique identifier for corresponding sender (phone number, email address, etc) credentials.

The processor (2), then, along with the unique identifier of the sender sends the information across to the router (2).

The following examples describe the above: Casel : Registered user sends an SMS to a registered user-

The user composes a text message to the hash.me gateway number in their country.

- They precede the message with the unique identifier of the recipient.

Once they send it, it is received by the hash.me server.

The server identifies the recipient from the text message and tries to figure out where the recipient is.

If the user is online on his profile page, the server would archive the message and then push the message to his profile.

If the user is not online on his profile page but is on another website that follows the HashBeat protocol, the server after archiving the message, pushes the message on to the page the user's on currently.

- The message is read by the user and the user could reply back to the message.

When the recipient replies, hash.me will figure out the presence of the sender and deliver the message there and archiving it before routing it.

Case2: Registered user sends a message on Twitter to another user:

The user can send a message to a registered user on hash.me via Twitter. There are two ways of accomplishing this. The user could either 'direct message' @hhme (http://twitter.com/hhme) on twitter with the unique identifier of the recipient anywhere in the message or update their status on Twitter mentioning @hhme in the tweet and including the unique identifier of the recipient.

Hash.me continually (at an interval of five minutes) connects with Twitter to check for new messages to the server. Once messages with a recipient is found, it is then forwarded onto the server to process and send them to the recipients following the procedure as described in the example above.

Every message on Twitter has a unique identifier. Hash.me keeps track of the last message fetched from Twitter on to the server by storing the unique identifier of the last Tweet fetched and only fetching newer Tweets than that in the next operation.

Case3: Non-registered user sending a text message to a registered user

A user who hasn't registered with hash.me could send a message to a registered user on hash.me. We take the case of a non-registered user sending a message to a hash.me user using SMS (text messaging). The user composes a text message to the gateway number of hash.me for the country he's in with the message body comprising with the unique identifier of the user he wishes to send the message to.

Hash.me then receives the message from the text messaging hub to the server. The server then identifies the sender as a non-registered user.

It then stores the sent message in a message queue and sends a message to the sender asking for the sender's full name before sending the message across to the recipient (hash.me user).

Once the sender replies with their name, hash.me then processes the queue and sends the message to the recipient with the unique identifier of the sender as the prefix to the message thereby masking the sender's phone number.

This unique identifier could then be used to "text message" the non- registered user using hash.me by anyone else.

The other blocks of the figure 1 are explained below: ) The router (2): The router (2) acts as the presence feedback mechanism in the system. The router (2) identifies the unique identifier in the message sent by the sender. The receiver's unique identifier is queried for from the message store for the credentials of the user on various other

communication mediums. The router (2) once, identified the credentials of the user on other mediums, sends the request to the platform (4) and it's module (m)s to query independent communication mediums to figure out where is user is present on. Once the feedback on the user's presence has been sent from the platform (4), the router (2) then sends the information (message) along with the credentials of the recipient on that particular communication medium to the platform (4)'s module (m) (m) to route it to the user along with the sender information to send it back to the user via the centralized server (1 ) (1). ) The platform (4): The platform (4) houses the independent communication module (m)s that query communication mediums supported by the system to constantly keep track of a user's presence on the medium and storing them in the data storage (5) (5). Once information is passed along to the module (m) (m), the module (m) then sends the information to the recipient(s) through the centralized server (1)(1).

Examples of routing:

Case4: Registered user sending a message to a registered user after logging in to his profile page on hash.me

Every registered user on hash.me gets their own profile page on hash.me. The page allows for the user to login and then send messages, chat with other users (if they're online too) in real-time and read archived messages for them on hash.me. Hash.me automatically keeps track of a user's presence on hash.me. So, when a user wants to send a message to another user on hash.me, they click on 'talk with', search for the user and based on the user's presence (online or offline), hash.me would provide them with two different options. If the user's offline, which means if the user's not logged into their profile page on hash.me, the server would give the user the option to message the other user. The logged in user could then click on the message icon and then choose to send the other user a message.

Hash.me would then archive and route the message for the other user as described in the first use case.

If the recipient user is online, the server would return and option for the user to 'talk' with the other user. When the user clicks on that icon, a new chat session is opened between the logged in user with the other users and they could chat in real-time, the server relaying messages sent by one to the other user in near real-time.

Case5: Registered user sending a message to another registered user on hash.me via email

If a user of hash.me wishes to send another user on hash.me as message via email, they could do so. To send a message to another user on hash.me they simply compose a message to: unique-identifier-of-the- recipient@hash.rne. So if my unique identifier on hash.me is #bala, then for another user on hash.me to send me a message via email, they'll have to email me on #bala(¾hash.me. Hash.me would then receive the message on the server via the mail exchanger and then figure who the sender of the message is. If the sender's email address matches the address of a registered user on hash.me then it will go on to figure the recipient from the first part of the email address, in this case #bala. It will then determine #bala's presence, archive and then route the message to #bala making the message seem from #sender(¾hash.me.

Case6: Non-registered user sending a message via email to a registered user on hash.me

A non-registered user could send a message to a registered user via email. The user could send the message to another user as described above. When the message is fetch from the mail exchanger on the server and the server fails to find a user with the sender's email addressa as their registered email address, it will then find out the sender's name from the email and assign a unique identifier for the user before sending it across to the recipient with the sender as the assigned id.

Case7: Non-registered user sending a message via Twitter

A non-registered user could message a user of hash.me via Twitter. As explained in the Twitter example above, the user, if not registered on hash.me will be created a unique identifier using their Twitter id before forwarding and archive the message to the recipient on hash.me Case8: A non-registered user sending a message to a registered user on hash.me by visiting their public profile page on hash.me (Eg:

http://hash.me/bala).

Anyone with a Google, Yahoo, Twitter or a Facebook account who aren't registered on hash.me could come to the profile page of a user, login using their login credentials on any of the four above mentioned websites and send the user a message. Hash.me, based on their successful login would create a unique identifier for them and send them a message.

Although the invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments and applications, one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of this teaching, can generate additional embodiments and modifications without departing from the spirit of or exceeding the scope of the claimed invention. It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly any "preferred" embodiments, are merely possible examples of the invention of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the drawings and descriptions herein are proffered by way of example to facilitate comprehension of the invention and should not be construed to limit the scope thereof.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A system for enabling flow of information between a sender and at least a recipient user on the said system, where the said sender specifies a unique identifier of the recipient user on the said system, comprising of:

k. a centralized server serving as a facilitator to at least send or receive the said information from and to any medium of communication; 1. a platform housing plurality of independent communication modules;

m. a processor coupled with the said platform that interfaces with the said centralized server;

n. a router interfacing between said processor and said platform, which keeps track of the recipients' presence on said media of communication;

o. a data storage means connected to at least said centralized server, said platform, said processor or said router;

wherein

p. information from the said sender is stored in the said data storage means;

q. information of the recipient is retrieved from the said data storage means;

r. said information from the said sender is forwarded to said processor, which assigns a unique identifier to the said sender; s. said processor routes it through the said router to the said platform into one of the said independent communication modules; t. said independent communication module processes the said information and routes it to the said recipient user through the said centralized server to the medium of communication the said recipient user is present on.

2. A system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the said information intended to be received by the recipient user from the said sender is stored for retrieval at any given point of time.

3. A system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said medium of communication can be email, SMS, Twitter.

4. A system as claimed in Claim 1 , wherein said independent communication modules can be email, SMS, Twitter and other mediums of communication.

5. A system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said router keeps track of said recipients' presence by continuously communicating with the said recipient.

6. A system as claimed in Claim 1 , wherein said information of the recipient which is retrieved from the said data storage means is in the form of a phone number, email address, Twitter username.

7. A method for enabling flow of information between a sender and at least a recipient user, comprising of:

u. storing sender information in a data storage means, such that the said sender information includes a unique identifier of the recipient user;

v. sending the said sender information to a processor such that said processor assigns a unique identifier to the said sender; w. retrieving information of the recipient from a data storage means; x. routing the said information through a router keeping track of the recipients' presence on any medium of communication to a platform housing independent communication modules and into one of the said independent communication modules;

y. processing said information from the said independent communication modules to the said recipient user through the said centralized server to the medium of communication the said recipient user is present on.

8. A method for enabling flow of information between a sender and at least a recipient user as claimed in Claim 7 using the system as claimed in Claims 1 to 6.