System and Method for Email Management Through Detection and Analysis of Dynamically Variable Behavior and Activity Patterns

Abstract

Techniques for aiding an email recipient in the management of inbound email by detecting, and configurably responding to, dynamically variable patterns of activity and behavior are described. Characteristics are extracted from new email messages originated by senders and intended for a recipient. One or more patterns of sender activity, recipient message management behavior, and/or message response behavior, relating to treatment of messages from individual senders and/or plural senders in the aggregate, are identified. The patterns are identified by analyzing statistics collected by the extraction of characteristics from email messages previously received by the recipient. Before the recipient reads a new email, a determination is made as to whether any deviation from an identified pattern exists; and, if so, a pre-existing rule for treatment of the new message is enforced and/or a new rule specifying treatment of at least some messages from the sender of the email is proposed.

1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 extracting email characteristics from a new message received, at a messaging server, from a first sender and intended for a recipient;   identifying, from statistics derived from previously received messages, at least one of
 a pattern of recipient message management or message response behavior relating to treatment of messages from each of a plurality of senders, or 
 a pattern of sender activity; 
   detecting, prior to reading of the new message by the recipient, whether any deviation from a pattern identified during the identifying exists; and   if a deviation is detected, at least one of performing an action on the received message or proposing, to the recipient, a rule for treatment of email messages from the first sender.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the detecting includes determining at least one of
 a contemporaneous volume or rate of change in a volume of new e-mail messages from the first sender and intended for the recipient; 
 a contemporaneous volume or rate of change in a volume of new e-mail messages from a plurality of senders and intended for the recipient; 
 a contemporaneous rate of change in a volume of at least one of new messages received from the first sender and read by the recipient or email messages received from the first sender and managed by the recipient; or 
 a contemporaneous rate of change in a volume of at least one of new messages received from a plurality of senders and read by the recipient or email messages received from the plurality of senders and managed by the recipient. 
   
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the identifying includes accessing a recipient profile for the recipient containing at least one of sender frequency statistics, recipient response statistics or management rate statistics gathered by extraction of email characteristics from prior email messages received by the recipient. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the extracting and identifying are performed by a server. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the extracting and identifying are performed by a client email application from which the recipient accesses an email account inbox containing the received new email message. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein an action is taken or a rule is proposed to the recipient based on detecting that a contemporaneous rate of receiving messages originating from the first sender exceeds a threshold rate applicable to the specific sender or a threshold rate applicable to all senders. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein a rule is proposed to delete the new message and all future messages from the first sender. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , further including generating a recipient profile for the recipient from previously received e-mail messages, by:
 receiving, within a monitoring period, a plurality of email messages from respective senders and intended for the recipient;   extracting email characteristics from the received first plurality of email messages; and   gathering usage statistics from the extracted email characteristics, the usage statistics including at least one of sender frequency statistics, recipient response statistics or management rate statistics.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the generating further includes determining, from sender frequency statistics, how often each of a respective plurality of senders sends email to the recipient. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the generating further includes a step of identifying a sender frequency threshold applicable to at least one of the first sender, a subset of senders, or all senders. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the generating further includes determining, from recipient response statistics, a sender-specific average time elapsed between delivery to or receipt of respective messages, originated by a specific sender, and initiation of corresponding responses by the recipient to the specific sender. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the generating further includes determining, from the recipient response statistics, an aggregate average time elapsed between delivery to or receipt of respective messages, originated by each sender of a plurality of senders, and initiation of corresponding responses by the recipient. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the generating further includes a step of identifying a recipient responsiveness threshold applicable to at least one of the first sender, a subset of senders, or all senders. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 11 , further including
 sending an automated reply message to the first sender when a rate of incoming new email messages exceeds a contemporaneous rate at which the recipient has managed email messages in an email account inbox.   
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein response statistics for the recipient are derived based on at least one of replies to received emails by the recipient, forwarding of emails by the recipient to another recipient, or telephone calls conducted between the recipient and a sender. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 11 , further including at least one of
 determining that a contemporaneous rate at which the recipient has managed email messages exceeds an average response rate or threshold response rate, or   determining that the recipient deletes messages from the first sender without reading them; and   prompting the user to accept a rule enforced by an email server or email application to delete, upon receipt, emails received from the first sender.   
     
     
         17 . An apparatus comprising:
 a computer having one or more processors, memory and at least one network interface, and further comprising:
 a message manager module, including instructions executable by the one or more processors and configured to:
 receive a new email message for a recipient from a first sender; 
 extract email characteristics from the received email message; 
 determine at least one of
 a contemporaneous volume or rate of change in a volume of new e-mail messages from the first sender and intended for the recipient; 
 a contemporaneous volume or rate of change in a volume of new e-mail messages from a plurality of senders and intended for the recipient; 
 a contemporaneous rate of change in a volume of at least one of new messages received from the first sender and read by the recipient or email messages received from the first sender and managed by the recipient; or 
 a contemporaneous rate of change in a volume of at least one of new messages received from a plurality of senders and read by the recipient or email messages received from the plurality of senders and managed by the recipient; 
 
 access a recipient profile containing usage statistics comprising at least one of sender frequency statistics, recipient response statistics or management rate statistics gathered by extraction of email characteristics from prior email messages; and 
 perform, on the received email message, an action according to at least one of the recipient profile or a determined contemporaneous volume or rate. 
 
   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus according to  claim 16 , wherein responsive to performance of the action, the message manager module is operative to generate and transmit, over the network interface, a message to the first sender. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus according to  claim 16 , wherein responsive to performance of the action, the message manager module is operative to generate and transmit a message to the recipient. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus according to  claim 16 , wherein the message manager module is operative to collect the usage statistics a period of time. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus according to  claim 16 , wherein the message manager is operative to retrieve the usage statistics from a remote server over the network interface. 
     
     
         21 . A computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a system to:
 extract email characteristics from a new message received, at a messaging server, from a first sender and intended for a recipient;   identify, from statistics derived from previously received messages, at least one of
 a pattern of recipient message management or message response behavior relating to treatment of messages from each of a plurality of senders, or 
 a pattern of sender activity; 
   detect, prior to reading of the new message by the recipient, whether any deviation from a pattern identified during the identifying exists; and   if a deviation is detected, perform an action on the received message or propose taking of such action to the recipient.