Server system supporting collaborative messaging based on electronic mail

摘要

A collaborative electronic mail system is integrated into traditional electronic mail on the server end. The collaborative electronic mail allows users to have online discussions without the clutter of numerous related individual electronic mails in the inbox. The collaborative electronic mail system discussed herein describes the extensions used in the server infrastructure to distribute the collaborative electronic mail. Different embodiments support different server configurations, including configurations where copies of a collaborative electronic mail message are maintained at each server associated with a recipient or author of the collaborative electronic mail message, as well as configurations where a single copy of a collaborative electronic mail message is maintained at a centralized location.