Stand alone electronic mail notifying device

Details Stand alone electronic mail notifying device Stand alone electronic mail notifying device

1998-01-08

2001-11-20

Tsang, Fan (Department: 2645)

Telephonic communications

Telephone line or system combined with diverse electrical...

Having transmission of a digital message signal over a...

C709S206000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06320941

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to a device for notifying or indicating to a user the receipt of electronic mail messages and more particularly to a device which is a stand-alone device, or at least separate from a standard data processing device such as a computer, although it may be part of, or incorporated into other types of electronic devices used in the home or office, such as an answering machine, a telephone, a security system, or other electronic consumer devices.
B. Description of the Prior Art
Electronic mail, or e-mail as it is colloquially called refers to messages that are exchanged by users using computers, mainly over the Internet. Typically in such a system both the sender and a receiver have an account with a company which provides access to the Internet, normally referred to us as Internet Service Provider, or ISP. The two parties may have the same ISP, or may have different ISPs. In either case, each party is assigned a unique address on the Internet for sending or receiving an e-mail communication. The transmitter transmits the message by e-mail using his computer or other similar data processing equipment. The ISP of the receiver stores this message in a particular dedicated memory device configured for this purpose, which location is usually referred to as mail box since normally only the designated receiver may gain access to it. When the receiver signs on with his ISP, (by establishing communication between his computer and his ISP), he can either check his mail box, or depending on the particular ISP, may actually be notified on his computer monitor, that he has a message. The user then access his mail box and downloads from the mail box the message. Once the message is downloaded, the receiver can save the message, print it, and in general do anything that he can normally do with any other digital file. The messages may include text, still and moving pictures, audio files, and so on.
E-mail has become so popular that many reports have indicated that it is the cause of major slow-downs of the Internet. AOL, one of the largest provider of e-mail and other Internet services has recently reported that it was handling over 18 million e-mail messages a day.
Some customers have continuous connections to the Internet so that they can check or get notified of an e-mail message automatically as their ISP has received and processed their e-mail message. However, most customers do not have a direct connection to the ISP and can sign on only through a standard communication channel such as telephone line, cable line or satellite connection. The process of turning on the computer, waiting for it to boot up, and then waiting for it to establish communication connection with the ISP is not only time consuming but also a waste of time if this was the only purpose for establishing communication with the ISP and realizing that there was not any message awaiting for the user. Beside the fact that this process is usually time consuming, it may not be successful if during certain times of the day when electronic traffic is very high. Moreover certain ISPs and connection companies charge a premium for the service and/or the communication channel during certain times of the day, such as, during regular business hours.
OBJECTIVES AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a device capable of automatically indicating to a customer if e-mail messages awaiting for him, so that the customer does not have to access his Internet account via his computer or other similar data processing equipment, for this purpose.
A further objective is to provide a device which can be also automatically set to check for e-mail any time of the day, without any prompting from the customer.
A further objective is to provide a device which is relatively simple to implement and can be incorporated/embedded easily into other type of customer electronic devices.
Other objectives and advantages of the invention shall become apparent from the following description. Briefly, an e-mail annunciating device constructed in accordance with this invention includes a stand-alone housing, a controller for establishing communication with a remote ISP provider, said ISP provider receiving messages designated to the customer, and a display device for showing when a message designated for the customer has been received. The controller contacts the ISP provider, either at regular intervals, or on demand, and downloads information descriptive of the messages. This information may be simply indicative of presence or absence of new message, or may include other data, such as the address of the sender, the subject matter, and even the text of the message.
In the simplest embodiment, the presence or absence of messages is indicated by an LED light on the housing. In more complex embodiments, messages of various priorities may be indicated, as well as other information such as the subject matter of the message, the sender's address or even text from the message. Optionally, audio as well or instead of visual indication may be provided regarding received messages.


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