Apparatus and method for advanced contacts management within an integrated message/document management system

Abstract

A method is described comprising: storing contact information for a plurality of contacts within a contacts database, the contact information including the contact name, address, email address and telephone number; and associating a message forwarding code with one or more of the plurality of contacts, the message forwarding code usable to forward messages to the contact from a telephone having a standard numeric keypad.

1 . A method comprising: 
 storing contact information for a plurality of contacts within a contacts database, the contact information including the contact name, address, email address and telephone number; and    associating a message forwarding code with one or more of the plurality of contacts, the message forwarding code usable to forward messages to the contact from a telephone having a standard numeric keypad.    
   
   
       2 . The method as in  claim 1  further comprising: 
 providing a user with access to electronic messages from a telephony communication channel;    detecting entry of a particular message forwarding code by the user over the telephony communication channel; and    forwarding the message to an electronic messaging inbox of a contact associated with the particular message forwarding code.    
   
   
       3 . The method as in  claim 2  wherein the electronic messages are email messages, instant messages or text messages.  
   
   
       4 . The message as in  claim 1  further comprising: 
 providing a user with access to electronic messages from a telephony communication channel;    detecting entry of a particular message forwarding code by the user over the telephony communication channel; and    forwarding the message to an electronic messaging inboxes of a group of contacts associated with the particular message forwarding code.    
   
   
       5 . The method as in  claim 1  wherein the telephone comprises a voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephone and the electronic messages comprise email messages.  
   
   
       6 . A machine-readable medium having program code stored thereon which, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform the operations of: 
 storing contact information for a plurality of contacts within a contacts database, the contact information including the contact name, address, email address and telephone number; and    associating a message forwarding code with one or more of the plurality of contacts, the message forwarding code usable to forward messages to the contact from a telephone having a standard numeric keypad.    
   
   
       7 . The machine-readable medium as in  claim 6  comprising additional program code to cause the machine to perform the operations of: 
 providing a user with access to electronic messages from a telephony communication channel;    detecting entry of a particular message forwarding code by the user over the telephony communication channel; and    forwarding the message to an electronic messaging inbox of a contact associated with the particular message forwarding code.    
   
   
       8 . The machine-readable medium as in  claim 7  wherein the electronic messages are email messages, instant messages or text messages.  
   
   
       9 . The message as in  claim 6  comprising additional program code to cause the machine to perform the operations of: 
 providing a user with access to electronic messages from a telephony communication channel;    detecting entry of a particular message forwarding code by the user over the telephony communication channel; and    forwarding the message to an electronic messaging inboxes of a group of contacts associated with the particular message forwarding code.    
   
   
       10 . The machine-readable medium as in  claim 6  wherein the telephone comprises a voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephone and the electronic messages comprise email messages.  
   
   
       11 . A method comprising: 
 storing contact information for a group of contacts, the contact information including both electronic messaging information and telephony information for each contact in the group;    associating a plurality of message processing rules for each contact in the group, the message processing rules including both electronic message processing rules and telephony-based processing rules;    receiving a plurality of electronic messages from contacts within the group over electronic messaging communication channels, and receiving a plurality of telephone calls from contacts within the group over telephony communication channels; and    applying the electronic message processing rules to process the electronic messages and applying the telephony-based processing rules to process the telephone calls.    
   
   
       12 . The method as in  claim 11  wherein the electronic messages include email messages, instant messages and text messages.  
   
   
       13 . The method as in  claim 11  wherein the electronic message processing rules comprise one or more email addresses to which all electronic messages from contacts within the group are to be forwarded.  
   
   
       14 . The method as in  claim 11  wherein the telephony-based processing rules comprise a particular voicemail box to which all telephone calls from contacts within the group are to be forwarded.  
   
   
       15 . The method as in  claim 11  wherein the contacts group is a “friends” group comprising contacts who are friends of the user.  
   
   
       16 . A method comprising: 
 defining departments and/or locations within the jurisdiction of a particular manager;    assigning a plurality of users to the departments and/or locations;    receiving a command from the manager to transmit a message to the plurality of users, the message having a telephony format and an electronic messaging format; and    transmitting the message to the plurality of users in both the telephony format and the electronic messaging format.    
   
   
       17 . The method as in  claim 16  wherein the telephony format comprises a voicemail message.  
   
   
       18 . The method as in  claim 16  wherein the electronic messaging format comprises an email message.  
   
   
       19 . The method as in  claim 16  further comprising: 
 receiving an indication of a personnel change associated with one of the plurality of users; and    automatically removing the user from the departments and/or locations responsive to the personnel change.    
   
   
       20 . The method as in  claim 16  further comprising: 
 displaying the message within a primary message location in each user's messaging user interface.    
   
   
       21 . A machine-readable medium having program code stored thereon which, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform the operations of: 
 defining departments and/or locations within the jurisdiction of a particular manager;    assigning a plurality of users to the departments and/or locations;    receiving a command from the manager to transmit a message to the plurality of users, the message having a telephony format and an electronic messaging format; and    transmitting the message to the plurality of users in both the telephony format and the electronic messaging format.    
   
   
       22 . The machine-readable medium as in  claim 16  wherein the telephony format comprises a voicemail message.  
   
   
       23 . The machine-readable medium as in  claim 16  wherein the electronic messaging format comprises an email message.  
   
   
       24 . The machine-readable medium as in  claim 16  comprising additional program code to cause the machine to perform the operation of: 
 receiving an indication of a personnel change associated with one of the plurality of users; and    automatically removing the user from the departments and/or locations responsive to the personnel change.    
   
   
       25 . The machine-readable medium as in  claim 16  comprising additional program code to cause the machine to perform the operation of: 
 displaying the message within a primary message location in each user's messaging user interface.    
   
   
       26 . A method comprising: 
 storing a plurality of system-level contact information in a system-level contacts database, the system-level information including the contacts' names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses;    receiving personal information for one or more of the contacts, the personal information input by a user;    linking the personal information input by the user to the system-level information;    storing both the system-level information and the personal information in a user's database;    receiving a command to delete the system-level information;    deleting the system-level information from the system-level contacts database but retaining both the system-level information and the personal information within the user's database.    
   
   
       27 . A machine-readable medium having program code stored thereon which, when executed by a machine, causes the machine to perform the operations of: 
 storing a plurality of system-level contact information in a system-level contacts database, the system-level information including the contacts' names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses;    receiving personal information for one or more of the contacts, the personal information input by a user;    linking the personal information input by the user to the system-level information;    storing both the system-level information and the personal information in a user's database;    receiving a command to delete the system-level information;    deleting the system-level information from the system-level contacts database but retaining both the system-level information and the personal information within the user's database.