Contextually prompting users to switch communication modes

Abstract

A computer-implemented technique can include detecting, by a first computing device, a set of user communications at least one of transmitted to and received by from a second computing device via a first communication mode, identifying a second communication mode that is available for communication between the first and second computing devices, and obtaining an appropriateness score for the first and second communication modes based on a contextual feature of the set of user communications, wherein the contextual feature relates an appropriateness of a particular communication mode for the set of user communications, and wherein each appropriateness score is indicative of a level of the appropriateness of a particular communication mode for the set of user communications. The technique can also include selectively outputting a suggestion to switch from the first communication mode to the second communication mode.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 detecting, by a first computing device having one or more processors, a set of user communications, each user communication being transmitted to or received from a second computing device via a first communication mode that defines a first communication protocol for communication between the first and second computing devices;   identifying, by the first computing device, a second communication mode that is available for communication between the first and second computing devices, the second communication mode defining a different second communication protocol for communication between the first and second computing devices;   obtaining, by the first computing device, an appropriateness score for the first and second communication modes based on a contextual feature of the set of user communications, wherein the contextual feature relates an appropriateness of a particular communication mode for the set of user communications, and wherein each appropriateness score is indicative of a level of the appropriateness of a particular communication mode for the set of user communications; and   when the appropriateness score for the second communication mode satisfies a threshold, outputting, by the first computing device, a suggestion to switch from the first communication mode to the second communication mode.