Method and apparatus for communication and collaborative information management

摘要

A communication system includes a communication server configured to receive a request to generate a communication and receive a request to associate the communication with one or more classifications from a plurality of classifications. The system further includes a store coupled to the communication server and configured to store the communications and/or store the classification received in the association request. The classifications are associated with a request for information from a recipient of the communication. The classifications are associated with a request for information from a recipient of the communication, a request for sharing information with the recipient of the communication, and a request for action from the recipient of the communication.

主权项

1. A communication system comprising:
a. a client processor configured to provide a client application comprising:
i. a software generating module configured to provide an interface to generate a communication life cycle by composing an email and assigning to the email one or more pieces of classification data from a plurality of pieces of classification data, wherein a first piece of classification data indicates an inquiry, a second piece of classification data indicates a task, and a third piece of classification data indicates an FYI, and wherein the interface comprises one or more interface elements to assign the one or more pieces of classification data to the email, and wherein the one or more pieces of classification data are stored in metadata of the email;ii. a software receiving module configured to receive the email, identify an email type based on the metadata of the email, and organize the email according to the email type, the email type comprising an inquiry, a task, or an FYI; andiii. a software responding module configured to provide an interface to respond to the email, wherein a response to a task email comprises one or more of accepting the task, declining the task, indicating an amount completion of the task, and delegating the task to another recipient, and wherein a response to an inquiry email comprises one or more of responding to the inquiry, forwarding the inquiry to another recipient, and deleting the inquiry email, and wherein a response to an FYI email requires generation of another communication life cycle; and b. a server comprising a store and a server processor configured to provide a server application comprising:
iv. a software parsing module configured to parse and store the metadata of the email, wherein the stored metadata comprises classification data and one or more of: identification information of a user sending the email, identification information of a user receiving the email, a task due date, a task completion date, a dependency between more than one task, a dependency between more than one inquiry, and a dependency between more than one user.