WO2008110705A2

WO2008110705A2 - Method and device for transmitting an instantaneous message, emitter terminal, receiver terminal, instantaneous messaging server and corresponding computer software

Info

Publication number: WO2008110705A2
Application number: PCT/FR2008/050060
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yann Gestraud; Martinho Dos Santos
Original assignee: France Telecom
Priority date: 2007-01-16
Filing date: 2008-01-14
Publication date: 2008-09-18
Also published as: WO2008110705A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for transmitting an instantaneous message from a message emitter terminal (2) to a message receiver terminal (4) having a displayed presence state on the emitter terminal (2) and a real presence state, characterised in that it comprises transmitting the instantaneous message of a particular type from the emitter terminal to the receiving terminal (4) whatever the displayed presence state of the receiving terminal (4).

Description

Method and device for transmitting an instant message, sending terminal, destination terminal, instant messaging server and corresponding computer programs.

The present invention relates to a method for transmitting an instant message from a terminal transmitting the message to a destination terminal of the message, said destination terminal having a presence state displayed on the transmitting terminal and a real presence state.

It also relates to a device for transmitting an instant message, a transmitting terminal, a destination terminal, an instant messaging server and computer programs for this application.

More particularly, the invention relates to the field of instant communication and more precisely IM or IM ("Instant Messaging").

In the context of instant messaging, users can exchange text messages in near real time. The "Presence" component of instant messaging allows a list of authorized contacts to see if the person is available on his or her communication terminal and therefore able to receive a message immediately.

Change its presence state can be, in some IM services used as a means of filtering. Thus, a person may put himself in "invisible" state to avoid being disturbed during a certain period of time when he needs all his attention, for example when he is in a work meeting.

In addition, the instant messaging systems allow via user-defined special contact lists to block the transmission and / or reception of messages and / or presence information during certain periods of time. When such filters are enabled, a user may be unreachable. Using the previous example of the working meeting, a user can block any communication with people other than those participating in this meeting. The mechanisms of comfort (invisibility, filtering lists ...) have the disadvantage of not leaving enough flexibility to the user. A state of presence "unavailable" or "not connected" does not mean that the user is not for example in front of his communication terminal with the instant messaging software launched and therefore unable to receive a message. This does not mean that the user would like this filtering to be complete. Activating filtering remains a way in most uses to avoid interruptions deemed inappropriate, but it would be interesting to be able to receive messages of a particular type, for example urgently in exceptional cases. For now, instant messaging systems do not offer it.

The present invention provides a solution that does not have the drawbacks of the state of the art.

For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a method for transmitting an instant message from a terminal transmitting the message to a destination terminal of the message, said destination terminal having a presence state displayed on the sending terminal and a state real presence, characterized in that it comprises the transmission of an instant message of a particular type from the transmitting terminal to the destination terminal regardless of the presence state displayed on the destination terminal.

Thus, the invention makes it possible to overcome the drawbacks of instant messaging systems of the state of the art by making it possible to convey an instant message of a particular type from a first user to a second user even if the latter is not not displayed at the terminal of the first user. Messages of the particular type can for example be sent between close persons like the members of a family for problems of family order or household.

Other features of the invention are set forth below.

The transmission method comprises: an authorization step by the destination terminal of receiving instant messages of said particular type from the transmitting terminal;

a step of sending the instant message of said particular type from the transmitting terminal to an instant messaging server; a step of recognition by the instant messaging server of the particular type of the instant message;

a step of verification by the instant messaging server that the destination terminal has authorized the transmitting terminal to send instant messages of said particular type;

a step of routing by the instant messaging server of the instant message of said particular type to the destination terminal; and

a step of receiving the instant message of said particular type by the destination terminal. These different steps of the method allow efficient management shared between the sending terminal and the destination terminal as well as the messaging server of the message transmission mechanism of a particular type. The authorization step allows the destination terminal to control the number of messages of a particular type. The step of forwarding the instant message of said particular type to the destination terminal is associated with a step of deletion by the instant messaging server of the authorization by the destination terminal of receiving instant messages of said particular type from the transmitter terminal. This makes it possible to have a temporary and non-permanent authorization by the receiving terminal of receiving instant messages of a particular type from the transmitting terminal.

According to another characteristic, the step of receiving the instant message of said particular type is associated with a step of re-authorization by the destination terminal of the reception of instant messages of said particular type on the part of the transmitting terminal.

This allows the destination terminal, if it wishes, to renew the authorization of receiving instant messages of a particular type from the transmitting terminal. The step of verification by the instant messaging server that the destination terminal has authorized the transmitting terminal to send instant messages of said particular type is subject to a verification step of the actual presence status of the destination terminal. This makes it possible to perform the routing of an instant message of a particular type to the destination terminal only if it is actually present.

According to another aspect, the invention also relates to a device for transmitting an instant message from a terminal transmitting the message to a destination terminal of the message, said destination terminal having a presence state displayed on the sending terminal and a state real presence, characterized in that it comprises means for transmitting an instant message of a particular type from the transmitting terminal to the destination terminal regardless of the displayed presence state of the destination terminal. The advantages stated for the process according to the invention are transposable to this device.

According to yet another aspect, the subject of the invention is also a transmitting terminal characterized in that it comprises sending means, whatever the state of presence displayed of a destination terminal on said transmitting terminal, of an instant message of a particular type to the destination terminal.

Thus, thanks to the invention, a first user can send messages having a particular character to a second user who is not displayed here.

According to yet another aspect, the invention also relates to a destination terminal characterized in that it comprises:

means for authorizing the reception of instant messages of a particular type on the part of a transmitting terminal; and

means for receiving an instant message of said particular type. This allows the user to choose the people who can send him messages of a particular type even when it is a priori not available.

According to yet another aspect, the invention also relates to an instant messaging server characterized in that it comprises:

recognition means of the particular type of an instant message sent by a transmitting terminal to a destination terminal; means for verifying a real presence state of the destination terminal;

means for verifying that the destination terminal has authorized the transmitting terminal to send instant messages of said particular type; and means for conveying the instant message of said particular type to the destination terminal.

Thus, it is at the server level that the verification of the conditions necessary for the processing of the message as being of the particular type is carried out. It is also the server that carries the routing of such a message.

According to a first variant, and with reference to the method of the invention, the server comprises means for deleting the authorization by the destination terminal (4) of receiving instant messages of said particular type from the sending terminal (2). ). According to a second variant, the server comprises means for re-authorization by the destination terminal (4) of receiving instant messages of said particular type from the sending terminal (2).

According to yet another aspect, the subject of the invention is a computer program comprising code instructions which, when this program is executed on a transmitting terminal, implement the sending, regardless of the state of presence displayed. from a destination terminal on said transmitting terminal, from an instant message of a particular type to the destination terminal.

According to yet another aspect, the invention relates to a computer program comprising code instructions which, when this program is executed on a destination terminal, implement the steps of:

allow the reception of instant messages of a particular type from a transmitting terminal;

receive an instant message of said particular type.

According to yet another aspect, the subject of the invention is a computer program comprising code instructions which, when this program is executed on an instant messaging server, implement the steps of:

- recognize the particular type of an instant message sent by a transmitting terminal to a destination terminal; - Check a real presence status of the destination terminal;

- Check that the destination terminal has authorized the sending terminal to send instant messages of said particular type; and

- Forward the instant message of said particular type to the destination terminal. These computer programs allow the implementation of the operations performed by the transmitting terminal, the destination terminal and the mail server.

Thus, the invention makes it possible to provide a method allowing messages of a particular type, for example emergency messages (or MIUs for Instant Emergency Message) to be transmitted to their recipient, or to a list of recipients. determined by the system, regardless of their presence status and their authorization lists for messages and presence.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which will follow, given solely by way of example and with reference to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 represents a block diagram illustrating the structure and operation of a method and a device for transmitting an instant message of a particular type implemented according to the invention; and FIG. 2 represents a flowchart illustrating the operation of the method for transmitting an instant message of a particular type according to the invention.

As mentioned previously, the invention relates to a method and a device for transmitting an instant message from a terminal transmitting the message to a destination terminal of the message, said destination terminal having a state of presence displayed on the terminal. transmitter and a real presence state.

The implementation of a mechanism for transmitting an instant message of a particular type, for example emergency, according to a particular embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG.

According to this transmission mechanism realized using a device 1, a first user provided with a transmitting terminal designated by the general reference 2 in this figure wishes to transmit an emergency instant message to a second user provided with a device. recipient terminal designated by the reference 4, through an instant messaging system designated by the reference 6 having an instant messaging server designated by the reference 8.

Both terminals 2 and 4 are provided with instant message display means such as a screen. According to one embodiment of the invention, the instant messaging system 6 comprises an instant messaging database designated by the reference 10.

The instant messaging server 8 is connected to the database 10 via information transmission means 11.

Furthermore, according to one embodiment of the invention, in the instant messaging system 6, connection front ends designated by the reference 12 are provided.

The connection front ends 12 are specialized computers connected to the instant messaging server 8 and serve as a connection interface between the users' terminals and the instant messaging server 8.

The connection front ends 12 are connected to the instant messaging server 8 via information transmission means 13.

In addition, instant messaging software (not shown in the figures) is installed at terminals 2 and 4 to enable them to use the instant messaging server 8 implemented by the instant messaging system 6.

In our exemplary embodiment, the users of the instant messaging system 6 can declare that they agree to receive emergency messages and the list of users likely to send them. Users are thus protected from unwanted solicitations.

According to the invention, the destination terminal 4 configures a list of contacts 14 associated with it at the level of the instant messaging database 10 by initializing it for example with the list of its relatives and / or friends and / or his colleagues who are themselves users of the instant messaging system 6. During the configuration of his contact list 14, the destination terminal 4 allocates via a new interface provided by the invention, a token 16 for each element of its contact list 14 that he authorizes him to send instant emergency messages. Moreover, the destination terminal 4 has the possibility of deleting the token

16 assigned to a particular element of his contact list 14 if he so wishes.

When the destination terminal 4 validates its action of assigning or removing the token 16 associated with a given element of its contact list 14, an order is transmitted via the connection front end 12 and the information transmission means 13 of the instant messaging software installed on the destination terminal 4 to the instant messaging server 8 to update through the transmission means of the information 11, the instant messaging database 10.

For each element of the contact list 14 to which a token 16 is assigned, a corresponding flag is positioned in the contact list 14 at the instant messaging database 10.

The structure of the instant messaging system according to the invention being described, the operation of the emergency instant message transmission method through this system is described below with reference to FIG. 2.

According to the invention, the sending terminal 2 sends at 18 the instantaneous emergency message to the instant messaging server 8.

For this, he chooses the destination terminal 4 of this message from his contact list through a human-machine interface provided in the instant messaging software. The destination terminal 4 can be chosen even if it appears not present.

Indeed, the man-machine interface provided according to the invention allows the sending of emergency messages regardless of the state of presence of the destination.

The first step in the processing of the message sent by the sending terminal 2 by the instant messaging server 8 consists in recognizing the urgency of the message. According to one embodiment of the invention, this recognition is performed by the instant messaging server 8 by means of unrepresented means of textual recognition of the state of the art provided at the level of the instant messaging server. .

If the result of this recognition reveals that the message is not urgent at 22, the instant messenger server 8 processes at 23 this instant message in any conventional manner of the state of the art. This case will not be detailed in this description.

On the other hand, if the result of the recognition at 24 confirms the urgency of the instant message, the instant messaging server 8 verifies at 26 that the destination terminal 4 is actually connected to the instant messaging system. turns into 28 as the destination terminal 4 is not connected, the instant messaging server 8 sends a notification message 30 to the sending terminal 2 to warn him of the failure of his attempt.

In this case, if a token 16 was associated with the transmitting terminal 2 in the contact list 14 of the destination terminal 4, this token 16 is not consumed.

However, if it turns out at 32 that the destination terminal 4 is connected, the instant messaging server 8 checks at 34, that the destination terminal 4 has authorized the sending terminal 2 to send emergency instant messages. For this, it verifies that there exists in the contact list 14 of the destination terminal 4 a token 16 associated with the transmitting terminal 2. In our exemplary embodiment, if there is no token 16 at 36, the server IM 8 sends a notification 38 to the transmitting terminal 2 to indicate the impossibility of its request.

According to a particular embodiment, in the case where the sending terminal 2 has sent in 18 more than one emergency instant message, this notification is returned only for the first emergency instant message.

If there is a token 16 associated with the transmitting terminal 2 at 40, the instant messaging server 8 creates at 42 a temporary context for this emergency dialogue. For this, it shortcuts the traditional processing of instant messages to avoid any filtering mechanism and availability implemented by the destination terminal 4.

It processes, preferably in priority, this message and routes it without delay at 44 to the destination terminal 4. During the processing at 42 of the instantaneous emergency message, the instant messaging server 8 deletes the token 16 associated with the sending terminal 2 in the contact list 14 of the destination terminal 4 in the instant messaging database 10.

Following the priority routing 44 of the instant emergency message, this message is displayed on the screen of the destination terminal 4. The destination terminal 4 can then indifferently:

- ignore the message and delete it; or

- acknowledge the message and delete it. A notification message is then sent through the instant messaging system 6 to warn the transmitter terminal 2 of the good taking into account of the original message. In our example, this notification has the effect of once again authorizing the receipt of an emergency message. This new authorization is achieved for example by repositioning the token 16 associated with the sending terminal 2 in the contact list 14 of the destination terminal 4. For example, this token may be a binary number that can take the values 0 and 1. If it is considered that the value 0 of the token means that the destination terminal 4 does not allow the reception of emergency message, a repositioning consists in giving the value 1 to the token signifying that the destination terminal 4 authorizes the reception of an emergency message; or - acknowledge the message and respond to it. The response message is then sent through the instant messaging system 6 to the sending terminal 2. This response has the effect of repositioning the token 16 associated with the sending terminal 2 in the contact list 14 of the destination terminal 4.

Thus, the method and apparatus of the invention rely at the instant messaging software level on the ability to send emergency messages regardless of the recipient's presence state and to display messages intrusively. emergencies received with the ability to acknowledge or reply or ignore, emergency messages received.

At the level of the instant messaging database 10, the invention is based on the addition of the concept of authorization, for example using the token 16, some contacts of the list 14 to send messages of emergency.

At the instant messaging server 8, the invention is based on the following treatments:

- upstream recognition of the urgency of the message; if the destination terminal 4 is connected to the instant messaging system 6 and if a token 16 is present, the token 16 is deleted and the message bypasses any other filtering rule;

priority routing with respect to other tasks of the instant messaging server. Of course, still other embodiments can be envisaged.

Claims

A method for transmitting an instant message from a transmitting terminal (2) of the message to a destination terminal (4) of the message, said destination terminal (4) having a presence state displayed on the transmitting terminal (2) and a real presence state, characterized in that it comprises the transmission of an instant message of a particular type from the transmitting terminal (2) to the destination terminal (4) regardless of the displayed presence state of the destination terminal (4).

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises:

a step of authorization by the destination terminal (4) of the reception of instant messages of said particular type from the sending terminal (2); a step of sending (18) the instant message of said particular type from the sending terminal. (2) to an instant messaging server (8);

- a recognition step (20) by the instant messaging server (8) of the particular type of the instant message;

a verification step (34) by the instant messaging server (8) that the destination terminal (4) has authorized the sending terminal (2) to send instant messages of said particular type;

a routing step (44) by the instant messaging server (8) of the instant message of said particular type to the destination terminal (4); and a step of receiving the instant message of said particular type by the destination terminal (4).

3. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that the routing step (44) of the instant message of said particular type to the destination terminal (4) is associated with a delete step (42) by the instant messaging server. (8) the authorization by the destination terminal (4) of receiving instant messages of said particular type from the sending terminal (2)

4. Method according to claim 2 or 3 characterized in that the step of receiving the instant message of said particular type is associated with a step re-authorization by the destination terminal (4) of receiving instant messages of said particular type from the transmitting terminal (2).

5. Method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the verification step (34) by the instant messaging server (8) that the destination terminal (4) has authorized the transmitting terminal (2) sending it instant messages of said particular type is subject to a verification step (26) of the actual presence state of the destination terminal (4).

6. Device (1) for transmitting an instant message from a transmitting terminal (2) of the message to a destination terminal (4) of the message, said destination terminal (4) having a presence state displayed on the transmitting terminal (2) ) and a real presence state, characterized in that it comprises means for transmitting an instant message of a particular type from the transmitting terminal (2) to the destination terminal (4) regardless of the state of displayed presence of the destination terminal (4).

7. Transmitting terminal (2) characterized in that it comprises sending means, regardless of the displayed state of presence of a destination terminal (4) on said transmitting terminal (2), an instant message of a particular type to the destination terminal (4).

8. Destination terminal (4), characterized in that it comprises: means for authorizing the reception of instant messages of a particular type from a transmitting terminal (2);

means for receiving an instant message of said particular type.

9. IM server (8) characterized in that it comprises: - recognition means of the particular type of an instant message sent by a transmitting terminal (2) to a destination terminal (4);

means for verifying a real presence state of the destination terminal (4);

- Verification means that the destination terminal (4) has authorized the transmitting terminal (2) to send instant messages of said particular type; and

means for forwarding the instant message of said particular type to the destination terminal (4).

10. Server according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises means for deleting the authorization by the destination terminal (4) of receiving instant messages of said particular type from the transmitting terminal (2).

1 1. Server according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that it comprises means for re-authorization by the destination terminal (4) of receiving instant messages of said particular type from the transmitting terminal (2).

12. Computer program comprising code instructions which, when this program is executed on a sending terminal (2), implement the sending, regardless of the displayed presence state of a destination terminal (4) on said transmitting terminal (2), an instant message of a particular type to the destination terminal (4).

A computer program comprising code instructions which, when this program is executed on a destination terminal (4), implement the steps of:

- allow the reception of instant messages of a particular type from a transmitting terminal (2), and

receive an instant message of said particular type.

A computer program comprising code instructions which, when this program is executed on an instant messaging server (8), implement the steps of:

- recognize the particular type of an instant message sent by a transmitting terminal (2) to a destination terminal (4); - Check a real presence status of the destination terminal (4);

- verifying that the destination terminal (4) has authorized the sending terminal (2) to send instant messages of said particular type; and

- Forward the instant message of said particular type to the destination terminal (4).