WO2016075707A1

WO2016075707A1 - System and method to automatically manage email communication

Info

Publication number: WO2016075707A1
Application number: PCT/IN2015/050160
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lakshminarasimha GUNDAPPA BHARADWAJ; Narasimhan NARASIPUR KRISHNA IYENGAR; Sudheendra GURURAJ PANDURANGARAO MULABAGILUGURURAJ PANDURANGARAO MULABAGILU
Original assignee: Gundappa Bharadwaj Lakshminarasimha; Narasipur Krishna Iyengar Narasimhan; Gururaj Pandurangarao Mulabagilugururaj Panduranga
Priority date: 2014-11-10
Filing date: 2015-11-10
Publication date: 2016-05-19

Abstract

The embodiments herein relate to email platform and, more particularly, to enhance productivity, utility, automation, provide management tools, solutions, and services and so on in the email platform. A system and method are provided wherein, from within a communication system, a user can manage/handle work aspects, like projects, activities, tasks, meetings, resources, other users, secure communication, attachments, and so on and information, data can be provided on a dashboard in the form of graphs, reports, and so on.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD TO AUTOMATICALLY MANAGE EMAIL

COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL FIELD

[001] The embodiments herein relate to email communications and, more particularly, to enhance productivity, utility, automation, provide management tools, solutions, and services and so on in the email communication system.

BACKGROUND

[002] Communication tools have emerged as a vital resource for any business nowadays. With increasing dependency on email communication and multifold rise in data ands information exchange, it is difficult to manage, comprehend after a point as this data and information with is scattered over multiple emails and/or email accounts. An email user, broadly does the following - compose, reading, writing & sending response, forwarding mails, deleting mails, deferring mails, access, add, delete attachments in email etc., and so on.

[003] Email users are increasingly aspiring for email inboxes with a minimal amount of emails. To manage data, information overload, and various emailing solutions came up. For example, to manage, organize emails, folders similar to filing papers in pre-defined files/folders (using tags/labels, which can be pre-defined) are used. Emails can be flagged to highlight as to indicate say important or for easy access when deferred or to attend later, write predefined rules to sort, filter mails, and so on, and there are email settings, rules that can be edited according to our need so as to get the desired result. All the above mentioned solutions are dependent on the skill and capability of the user to use them. In case of rules/filters, a limited set of options such as sending mails to specific folders, redirecting mails to another recipient and so on, based on fields such as 'sender's name' , 'subject' or 'copied to', and so on.

[004] Also, emails may have different types of files, such as documents, presentations, images, and so on. Presently, to find a relevant file attachment, it is important for the user to first identify the mail which has the file attachment, Further, the user has only limited options to access the document; say open, download, save to a location and so on. There is no easy way to fetch those attachments other than accessing respective emails.

[005] When it comes to task management, every task has a life cycle from start to closure and data, information, status updates etc, are exchanged between people for the same. On an email platform, there is no way to automatically track these tasks, see the priority of the tasks, status of the tasks, progress of tasks, and so on.

[006] In such scenarios, information can be missed and the user has to spend time doing a manual search. When it comes to resource management, starting from engaging to disengage an assigned resource, engaged to perform task, activity and so on. Currently, users use separate, independent systems, software application, tools, dashboards, and so on for graphically projecting and presenting data, information, metrics, actionable insights and so on, for reporting, understanding, decision making, track status, progress and so on. Further, the user has no control on an email and its attachment, once a recipient receives the emails.

[007] When a sender wants to communicate using emails in a secure manner, (say for example maintain confidentiality), after mail is sent, the sender has a minimal or almost no level of control on the actions performed by the recipient on the email and its attachments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[008] The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which:

[009] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an email productivity management system, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates block diagram of the communication management module, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0011] FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting the work management module, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0012] FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting the process of work management, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0013] FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting the process of managing work using the work management module, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0014] FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting the process of exploring email attachments using attachment explorer utility, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0015] FIGs. 7a, 7b and 7c are example screenshots that depicts the process of configuring a project, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0016] FIG. 8 is an example screenshot depicting the user defining meetings, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0017] Fig. 9 is an example screenshot depicting the routing of a received email according to project context, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0018] FIG. 10 is an example screenshot depicting the meetings being displayed to an invitee, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0019] FIG. 11 is an example screenshot depicting the process of preparing minutes for a meeting, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0020] FIG. 12 is an example screenshot depicting the process of managing tasks, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0021] FIG. 13 is an example screenshot depicting the process of a user providing information about his availability, as disclosed in embodiments herein;

[0022] FIGs. 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d and 14e depict example screenshots of a dashboard, as disclosed in embodiments herein; and

[0023] FIG. 15 illustrates a computing environment implementing the method for analyzing communications, as disclosed in the embodiments herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0024] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

[0025] The embodiments herein disclose an automatic email integration and utility and productivity enhancement system. Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 15, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments.

[0026] Email platform herein refers to anything that is presently related to email such as communication protocols (Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP), Post Office Protocol (POP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and so on), email, exchange servers, email clients (Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, and so on), Cloud/Browser based email provisioning technologies (Gmail, Yahoo, and so on), and so on.

[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of email productivity management system, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The communication management module 101 can be present within the device comprising the emails, such as a user device, and so on. The communication management module 101 can be present in an external server and be connected to the user device and at least one email server using suitable connection means. The communication management module 101 can be present in the email server, and can communicate with at least one user device using at least one communication means. The communication management module 101 can be present partially in one or more entities, such as a user device, an email server, an external server, the cloud, and so on. The communication management module 101 can connect to other entities directly or indirectly (using any communication means such as wired, wireless, serial, parallel communication, usb, BlueTooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS/3G/LTE/4G (General Packet Radio Services/3G/Long Term Evolution/4G), Short Messaging Service (SMS), HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP/HTTPS), web services, Virtual Private Network (VPN), proxies, and so on).

[0028] The communication management module 101 can interact with at least one remote email host/platform 104. The communication management module 101 can request the remote host 104 for email data, at periodic intervals. The communication management module 101 can request the remote host 104 for email data, on emails being available at the remote host. The remote host 104 can push emails to the communication management module 101, on emails being received. The remote host 104 can push emails to the communication management module 101, at pre-defined intervals. The communication management module 101 can connect to at least one external communication system 102 for exchange, extracting data, information for sharing, updating, reporting, communicating and so on, catering to the needs and services of users. The communication management module 101 can be further configured to provide at least one option for a user to extract all email addresses from an emailing application the communication management module 101 has been associated with, and display the extracted email addresses to the user. The communication management module 101 can be further configured to provide an option to synchronize changes made to an email content, across multiple user devices in which the email is present at the moment, even after sending the email to a t least one recipient. The communication management module 101 can be further configured to define permissions/rights to an email such that the recipient of the email is allowed to perform only selected actions (as configured by the sender), with the email.

[0029] FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting the communication management module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The communication management module 101 can interact with at least one external entity (such as user devices, the external communication system 102, and the remote host 104 and so on) using the communication interface 202. The communication interface 202 can comprise of at least one of a wired communication means, or a wireless communication means not restricting to any communication technology. The communication interface 202 can be expandable by means of adding at least one suitable connector.

[0030] The work management module 201 can provide a set of utilities and provisioned as a platform for work management or any activity management entity. The work management module 201 can be deployed in a team environment which uses email as a form of communication, enabling members of a team to engage with each other and collaborate, using email or an external communication system 102.

[0031] The secure module 203 can enable exchanging information, data in a secure manner using emails. The secure module 203 can enable the user to select from multiple options related to security for sending a secure email. The secure module 203 can be configured to send all mails in a secure manner. The secure module 203 can be configured to send only selected mails in a secure manner. The secure module 203 can encrypt/decrypt outgoing and incoming mails in a suitable manner, such as SSL (Secure Socket Layer), TLS (Transport Layer Security), encryption, public key cryptography, Bitmessage, OpenPGP, S/MIME, steganography, and so on. The secure module 203 can enable the security, authentication means to be used for encryption/decryption, such as a password, public/private encryption key, a biometric means, digital signature, and so on. The secure module 203 can enable options such as restricting the options of the receiver (such as forwarding the message, printing the email and/or attachments, saving the attachments, and so on), automatic expiry of a message and so on.

[0032] For example, when a confidential mail is sent, the secure module 203 can enable the sender of the email, by configuring corresponding email setting accordingly, to disallow operations like printing, print screen, copying, editing, storing, deleting, further forwarding of the mail and so on by recipients. In another example, the secure module 203 can enable the user to set an expiry date and time to remove mail from the inbox/email server of the receiver, after a preset duration.

[0033] The communication management module 101 can comprise of a banking module 204, and a survey management module 205 to execute various functionalities associated with banking and survey services (which may be accessed through emails). The banking module 204 can offer utilities, tools, services and so on, suitable for banking and financial institutions and provide information to the user (in a manner as desired by the user). The survey management module 205 can manage mails related to surveys, feedback and so on, received by the user.

[0034] The utility module 206 can be configured to provide at least one or more features, tools for making the email usage more responsive, reduce time, effort, enhance utility, productivity and easy to use and so on. The utility module 206 can be scaled by adding or removing features, according to the requirements of the user. Examples of features are searching, sorting, filtering attachments, bundling selected mails for storage, and tagging emails with specific user defined phrases/labels, and so on. A few examples of tags that may be added to emails are Appreciation, Thank You, Happy Birthday, Project, Activities, Tasks, Milestones, Goals, Escalation, Expecting Response, Presentations, Demos, and Town Halls and so on. The features can also be aesthetic features such as the font colours, background colours, and so on.

[0035] In the context of communication between a sender of an Email & Recipient(s) of the mail, a sender has an option used discretely to address to the recipient as "To", "CC", "BCC", "FWD", and so on, which has varied significance to the recipient of the mail. When a recipient receives mails from one or more senders, the communication management module 101 segregates / sorts / filters etc, the received emails based on how the sender has addressed the intended recipient(s), in an automatic manner. The recipient can configure categories such as "TO ONLY" (wherein the recipient is present in the "TO" field of the mail and if the recipient is the only person present in the TO field), the only primary recipient (wherein the recipient is present in the "TO" field of the mail and if there are multiple persons present in the TO field), a "FWD" email (if the sender forwards a mail, to the recipient), "CC" (Carbon copy in an email, if the sender marks a copy to the recipient), BCC (Blind Carbon copy, where a sender marks a copy to recipient(s) and the recipients are invisible to all the other recipients of the message including other recipients) and so on.

[0036] The communication management module 101 can enable the user to filter email download based on one or more categories and only download those mails to his user device. In an example, the user can download mails that are directly "To only" and "To" on mobile/laptop/other email client.

[0037] The communication management module 101 can enable a sender to restrict access or hide a mail attachment for some recipients, where an attachment has to be sent to many recipients. The communication management module 101 can provide the sender with an option in the mail body, with attachment(s) to choose the recipient's who can access or see the attachment after it is sent.

[0038] The communication management module 101 can enable the recipient to bundle similar emails and store or put them in any location say for example a folder with a suitable means such as selecting the email, right click and selecting the bundle option.

[0039] The communication management module 101 can track all actions performed by the user on the email platform on any one his user device, with corresponding time stamps. The communication management module 101 can detect any activity performed by the user. On detecting at least one activity, the communication management module 101 can logically group and report the data and inputs obtained.

[0040] FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting the work management module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The work management module 201 can comprise one or more of an activity management module 301, a task management module 302, a meeting management module 305, a report module 306, a survey module 307, a resource management module 308, a cost management module 309, a reminder module 310, an issue, risk management module 313, a dashboard module 315 and so on as needed and the work or activity demands covering all work management aspects like planning, organising, leading, staffing, implementing, measuring, controlling etc..

[0041] The task management module 302 can track and manage tasks assigned in form of an email, a meeting invite received in the mailbox, or any other equivalent means. The task management module 302 can enable an administrator or a super-user (such as a user who manages a team and can be considered as a super-user for the team that he manages) to see the status of all tasks assigned by him to at least one other user. The task management module 302 can enable an authorized user to view a graphical representation of tasks assigned, status of the tasks (such as in-progress, completed, delayed, and so on); on-time information and so on. The task management module 302 covers all aspects of complete task cycle from start to finish and can create different views and interact options (such as request/update task status, and so on) depending on the privileges and rights assigned to the user.

[0042] The meeting management module 305 can handle activities related to an event such as automatic meeting invite, sending meeting reminders, sharing meeting outcome reports (minutes of the meeting), and so on. If the meeting is a virtual meeting, the meeting management module 305 can create a bridge (if required to connect to one more external entities 102) for a conference call (at least one of a voice conference call, a video conference call, a call with screen sharing and so on) and distribute the access details with all the invitees by click of a button. The meeting management module 305 can provide an alert and auto dial into bridge. The meeting management module 305 can initiate the conference session from the email item. The meeting management module 305 can further record and store the meeting details (which can be in the form of documents, files, text, video, voice, transcripts, and so on) and distribute the stored meeting. The meeting module 305 can be further configured to identify context of emails in which at least 2 members are involved as sender and recipient, and tag the communication with the identified context. Further, the data collected is used by the communication management system 101 to identify the people involved in the email communication as a team, and provide related applications such as but not limited to one touch mass mailing options to the user.

[0043] The report module 306 can enable the user to create reports directly from their mailbox. Depending upon the contextual information extracted from various communication channels, the report module 306 can generate reports, as configured by the user. The report module 306 can use a suitable means to represent information in the report. For example, the report module 306 can use at least one of any text, graphical, pictorial representation like Gantt chart, a pie chart, a bar chart, graphs, line graphs, and so on, with baseline to track the tasks, activities, milestones, goals and objectives related to the project. By clicking on any of the activity or task or the bar on the chart, the report module 306 can trace the corresponding details to mails of that activity or the task will open. This can also be achieved by integrating with any project management software.

[0044] The survey module 307 can enable users to create surveys, opinion polls, selection, agree/disagree inputs from and so on (collectively referred to hereinafter as surveys). The survey module 307 can enable the user to provide options which are to be present in the survey, the type of survey required, how the user wants to view the results, and so on. Based on the provided options and/or default options, the survey module 307 can create the survey. On creating the survey, the survey module 307 can share the created survey with at least one other user. On the user completing the survey, the survey module 307 can collate the results and share the results with the user. The report module 306 can create reports based on the collated results, and share the results with the user(s).

[0045] The resource management module 308 covers all aspects of Human Resource Management, and also other resources like material (inventory), machines etc, and for example can provide information to users about availability of resources at any given point in time. The resources can be other users, physical resources, and so on, wherein the user can receive reports about their availability/non-availability and so on in the form of an email, or equivalent means. The resource management module 308 can use information from the task management module 302. Based on their availability, the resource management module 308 can enable the user to manage the resources, such as assigning roles/tasks, define hierarchies, assign resources, process leave requests, and so on. The resource management module 308 can update the availability of the resources based on information present in emails received by the user. The resource management module 308 can provide information about the leave pattern of an employee. This will help employee to manage his/ her leaves efficiently and managers to decide the course of action for a project according to the availability of human resource in their team at a given time. The resource management module 308 can enable a user to transition his tasks and activities to at least one other user, wherein the transition can also comprise of knowledge transfer.

[0046] The reminder module 310 can automatically remind the user about various events scheduled like meetings, project submission dates, deadlines for tasks, activities, demos, town hall, presentations and so on. The reminder module 310 can extract information to set these reminders from emails, from any other external systems or from any other equivalent means of communication.

[0047] The issue management module 313 can identify and resolve an issue in a business scenario, based on information present in email or any other equivalent forms of communication and knowledge about business processes life cycle starting from origin, history of an issue, action performed, report status, progress on resolution to closure of an issue, and so on. The issue management module 313 can track life cycle of an issue/issues which will help a new/old user to take decisions based on how an issue was resolved in past or based on how it originated and progressed.

[0048] The dashboard module 315 can enable a user to see compiled information of all the things related and associated with work management such as project, meetings, task, activity, milestones, goals, assigned to/ assigned for his/ her team and self with tools to project infographics to have a graphical view of all the information. The dashboard module 315 can draw a pattern and mail communication network. The dashboard module 315 can be equipped with separate metrics for task management, meeting management, resource management, email statistics, and so on. In a preferred embodiment, the work management module 201 may provide scaling options so that other modules may be added or removed, as per requirements. The dashboard module 315 can enable the user to initiate, exchange data and information with at least one external entity.

[0049] FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting the process of work management, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The automatic email integration and productivity enhancement module 101 collects (401) input from a user pertaining to at least one action to be triggered related to at least one service being hosted by the system. Further, by processing the collects input(s), the automatic email integration and utility and productivity enhancement module 101 identifies (402) the action to be triggered. If the action is related to activity management, then the request is forwarded to the activity management module 301, which in turn processes the request and triggers (404) corresponding action. If the action is related to meeting management, then the request is forwarded to the meeting management module 305, which in turn processes the request and triggers (406) corresponding action. If the action is related to task management, then the request is forwarded to the task management module 303, which in turn processes the request and triggers (408) corresponding action. If the action is related to leave management, then the request is forwarded to the leave management module 315, which in turn processes the request and triggers (412) corresponding action. If the action is related to issue management, then the request is forwarded to the issue management module 313, which in turn processes the request and triggers (414) corresponding action. If the action is related to cost management, then the request is forwarded to the cost management module 309, which in turn processes the request and triggers (416) corresponding action. If the action is related to resource management, then the request is forwarded to the resource management module 308, which in turn processes the request and triggers (410) corresponding action. The various actions in method 400 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 4 may be omitted.

[0050] FIG. 5 is a flowchart depicting the process of managing work using the work management module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. Embodiments herein allow a plurality of new projects to be created (501). Sets of utilities and features can be provisioned as a platform for project management or any other activity management entity. Embodiments herein deploy a team environment engaging every member in a team and acts as a collaboration platform, gluing all activities on an email communication backbone. An UI approach where a User (Project Manager (PM)), can define (502) project/activities, sub activities, mile stones, phases and so on, in a hierarchal fashion, as per any terminology followed in any industry. Embodiments herein define the work breakdown structure. Embodiments herein further create a structure where frequent communication on a particular topic(s) and its subsets, contexts or subject(s) are tagged/labelled either by the user or automatically. This can subsequently be termed as a project, activity, sub activity, and so on and users can be emailed on being part of this conversation evolves into a team. The PM can define (503) roles in a hierarchal fashion as per any terminology followed in any industry and associate team members forming a team. The various actions in method 500 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 5 may be omitted.

[0051] FIG. 6 is a flowchart depicting the process of exploring email attachments using attachment explorer utility, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. At (601), a user can access an attachment explorer. A separate view is projected (602) that comprises the entire attached files and associated fields such as name, time, date, type, sender of the email, subject of the email, and so on. These files can be searched (603) on the criteria based on any of the fields. The user can view (604) the results of the search, without the user having to go to the inbox. All the attachments shown in the window can be saved in separate folders by drag drop or copy paste. Stripping attachments a utility can detach the attachment from mail, and place a logical link to the attachment which is made to store locally in a file system folder. The various actions in method explained in FIG 6 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 6 may be omitted.

[0052] FIGs. 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e and 7f are example screenshots that depicts the process of configuring a project. The user can provide basic details such as timelines, team members, holidays, and so on. The user can configure these details at any point in time. For example, if the team size has changed, the user can reconfigure the team size. In another example, if the timelines have changed, the user can reconfigure the timelines. FIG. 7b is an example of a screenshot, where the user defines a work breakdown structure. The user can list at least one activity, at least one sub-activity, and so on. The user can list the activity(ies) and/or sub- activity(ies) in a hierarchical fashion along with timelines. Embodiments herein enable tracking of this activity (ies). FIG. 7c is an example of a screenshot, where the user can define roles. The user can create company specific roles in a desired manner (such as hierarchical fashion, and so on). The user can assign specific people to the created roles, thus defining a project team. The user can assign team members to activities, tasks, and so on. The user can view role based reports. FIGs. 7d, 7e and 7f depict sharing of a project with at least one team member and the project being reflected in the device of the team member. Embodiments herein can organize work with a uniform folder structure, based on the team structure and work breakdown, for all the team members. FIG. 7d depicts the creation of a folder structure, wherein the folder structure can be created automatically based on the team structure. FIG. 7e depicts a screenshot where a user shares the project configuration (including the folder structure) with the team members using a suitable means such as selecting an option from a right clock menu, pressing a shortcut on the keyboard, and so on. FIG. 7d depicts the communication management module 101 replicating the project configuration (including the folder structure) across all the team members, on the team members receiving an email comprising of the project configuration.

[0053] FIG. 8 is an example screenshot depicting the user defining meetings. Embodiments herein enable the user to define meetings. The user can also specify details related to the meetings such as time slots, participants for the meetings, purpose of the meeting, meeting mode (such as telephone, video conferencing, screen sharing, and so on) and so on. Embodiments herein enable the user to track the meetings, obtain reports on the meeting, and so on. Embodiments herein enable the user to evaluate factors related to the meeting such as meeting effectiveness, productivity, team participation, and so on.

[0054] Fig. 9 is an example screenshot depicting the routing of a received email according to project context. Embodiments herein are project context driver and organized communications in an automatic manner, based on the project context. This enables the user to avoid spending time in organizing communication. Embodiments herein enable the user to drag and drop communications into a folder.

[0055] FIG. 10 is an example screenshot depicting the meetings being displayed to an invitee. On receiving an invite using email or an equivalent communication means, the communication management module 101 can display the meeting information (such as date and time of the meeting, the participants in the meeting, and so on) and configuration automatically. The meeting can result in at least one calendar of the invitee. The invitee can generate reports, minutes associated with the meeting using a suitable means such as selecting an option from a right clock menu, pressing a shortcut on the keyboard, and so on.

[0056] FIG. 11 is an example screenshot depicting the process of preparing minutes for a meeting. On the user or an invitee providing details associated with a meeting such as discussions held, information shared, decisions held, and so on, the communication management module 101 can populate details such as chair of the meeting, invitees, date and time of the meeting, agenda and so on based on communications. The communication management module 101 can enable the user to edit the populated information. The communication management module 101 can treat action items as tasks and reflect the tasks into a task window of the user and/or at least one invitee. The communication management module 101 can create minutes and/or other reports based on the received and populated information. The communication management module 101 can further record the meeting, wherein the recording can comprise of at least one of audio, or video.

[0057] FIG. 12 is an example screenshot depicting the process of managing tasks. The communication management module 101 can enable the user to update tasks from a single screen. The communication management module 101 covers the complete task life cycle. The communication management module 101 can enable the user to request for updates about tasks from other users. The communication management module 101 can roll up tasks, collate the tasks and reflected in the user device. The communication management module 101 can capture the information about the task(s) and project data and metrics to the user automatically.

[0058] FIG. 13 is an example screenshot depicting the process of a user providing information about his availability. The communication management module 101 can enable a user to declare their absence during the course of a project and/or task, by providing associated details such as date and time of his absence, his availability on the phone, and so on. The communication management module 101 can provide the information to at least one other user who is associated with the task and/or project.

[0059] FIGs. 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d and 14e depict example screenshots of a dashboard. The dashboard enables a user to determine status of a project and/or task at a glance. The dashboard can enable the user to drill down on a plurality of factors such as activities, tasks, meetings, resource availability, and so on.

[0060] FIG. 15 illustrates a computing environment implementing the method for analyzing communications, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. As depicted, the computing environment 1502 comprises at least one processing unit 1504 that is equipped with a control unit 1506 and an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) 1508, a memory 1510, a storage unit 1512, plurality of networking devices 1514 and a plurality Input output (I/O) devices 1516. The processing unit 1504 is responsible for processing the instructions of the algorithm. The processing unit 1504 receives commands from the control unit 1506 in order to perform its processing. Further, any logical and arithmetic operations involved in the execution of the instructions are computed with the help of the ALU 1508.

[0061] The overall computing environment 1502 can be composed of multiple homogeneous and/or heterogeneous cores, multiple CPUs of different kinds, special media and other accelerators. The processing unit 1504 is responsible for processing the instructions of the algorithm. Further, the plurality of processing units 1504 may be located on a single chip or over multiple chips.

[0062] The algorithm comprising of instructions and codes required for the implementation are stored in either the memory unit 1510 or the storage 1512 or both. At the time of execution, the instructions may be fetched from the corresponding memory 1510 and/or storage 1512, and executed by the processing unit 1504. In case of any hardware implementations various networking devices 1514 or external I/O devices 1516 may be connected to the computing environment to support the implementation through the networking unit and the I/O device unit.

[0063] The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing email management functions in coordination with other elements involved. The elements shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 include blocks that can be at least one of a hardware device, or a combination of hardware device and software module.

[0064] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims described in following complete specification.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A system for managing communication, wherein the communication comprises of at least one email and can be at least one of communication sent by a user; or communication received by a user, the system configured for

managing a project using a communication management module, wherein the system is further configured for

setting at least one option related to the project comprising timelines of the project, and at least one team member involved in the project;

listing activities related to the project;

assigning roles for the at least one team member;

sharing the project with at least one team member;

organising communication related to the project on at least one device used by the user and at least one device being used by the at least one team member in an automatic manner; and

tracking the progress of the project using the communication;

managing a meeting using the communication management module, wherein the system is further configured for

setting at least one option related to the meeting comprising time slots, at least one participant of the meeting, agenda of the meeting, purpose of the meeting, and meeting mode;

sharing the meeting with the at least one participant of the meeting;

generating and sharing minutes of the meeting, on the meeting being completed; and managing a task using the communication management module, wherein the system is further configured for

setting at least one option related to the task comprising at least one team member involved in the task; and

tracking the progress of the task using the communication management module.

2. The system, as claimed in clam 1 , wherein said system is further configured for routing the communication to pre-defined location on detecting communication to the user, based on context of the communication automatically.

3. The system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is configured for providing a secure means for exchanging communication.

4. The system, as claimed in claim 3, wherein the system is configured for enabling a user to set at least one option related to security, when sending a communication.

5. The system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is configured for enabling a user to provide information about is availability to at least one other user.

6. The system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is configured for tracking progress of a project, activity or a task based on communication automatically.

7. The system, as claimed in claim 6, wherein the system is configured for providing at least one report on progress of a project, activity or a task automatically.

8. The system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is further configured for

enabling a meeting to be performed using at least one of voice, video, text chat, screen sharing; and

sharing transcript of the meeting to all participants of the meeting.

9. The system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is configured to enable a user is to transition work related to one or more projects.

10. The system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is configured to extract and display details of one more attachment from communications containing attachments, without the user accessing the communication.

11. The system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is configured to provide a reminder about a response that has to be sent to a received communication, by a recipient.

12. The system, as claimed in claim 11, wherein the system is configured to

enable a user to configure a time during which a response from the recipient of the communication is to be sent; and

provide a reminder to the recipient about the configured time.

13. The system, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is configured to enable a user to initiate, exchange data and information with at least one external entity, from within the system.