Patents by Inventor Robert W. Serr

Robert W. Serr has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8819132
    Abstract: Groups within an organizational directory are set up as real-time groups enabling subscribers of those groups to receive incoming content via feeds or to interact with the group through real-time chat sessions. Subscribers are enabled to switch between interaction modes, employ different real-time communication modalities for chat sessions, and access stored records of incoming content, discussions, and similar data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Robert W. Serr, Mark D. McClelland, Scott A. Huddleston
  • Patent number: 8438225
    Abstract: Users are enabled to traverse seamlessly between electronic mail and real time communications such as text messaging, group chats, and similar forms. A context of communications such as a history of the email exchange, attached or related documents, links, trail of exchanged text messages, and comparable information is used to automatically determine addressees for the communication form after the traverse and to provide context information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2013
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Robert W. Serr, Amit Gupta, Mark McClelland, Scott Huddleston, Santhosh Misro
  • Patent number: 8200758
    Abstract: In general, this disclosure describes techniques of controlling communications occurring in a unified communications system. As described herein, a directory is established at a server system that hosts the unified communications system. The directory includes a plurality of hierarchically-organized categories. Each category specifies a set of users. One or more conferences may be associated with each of the categories. All communications occurring in the unified communications system occur within the context of one of the conferences. A user can only communicate within a conference if the conference is associated with the category that specifies a set of users that includes the user. By appropriately structuring the categories in the directory and the sets of users specified by the categories, the techniques of this disclosure may serve to prevent a user from using the unified communications system to communicate with certain other individuals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2012
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Robert W. Serr, Scott Alan Huddleston, Jason Hendrick Bubolz, Mark D. McClelland, Mark Madsen
  • Publication number: 20100312836
    Abstract: Users are enabled to traverse seamlessly between electronic mail and real time communications such as text messaging, group chats, and similar forms. A context of communications such as a history of the email exchange, attached or related documents, links, trail of exchanged text messages, and comparable information is used to automatically determine addressees for the communication form after the traverse and to provide context information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2009
    Publication date: December 9, 2010
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Robert W. Serr, Amit Gupta, Mark McClelland, Scott Huddleston, Santhosh Misro
  • Publication number: 20100306317
    Abstract: Groups within an organizational directory are set up as real-time groups enabling subscribers of those groups to receive incoming content via feeds or to interact with the group through real-time chat sessions. Subscribers are enabled to switch between interaction modes, employ different real-time communication modalities for chat sessions, and access stored records of incoming content, discussions, and similar data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2009
    Publication date: December 2, 2010
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Robert W. Serr, Mark D. McClelland, Scott A. Huddleston
  • Publication number: 20100205664
    Abstract: In general, this disclosure describes techniques of controlling communications occurring in a unified communications system. As described herein, a directory is established at a server system that hosts the unified communications system. The directory includes a plurality of hierarchically-organized categories. Each category specifies a set of users. One or more conferences may be associated with each of the categories. All communications occurring in the unified communications system occur within the context of one of the conferences. A user can only communicate within a conference if the conference is associated with the category that specifies a set of users that includes the user. By appropriately structuring the categories in the directory and the sets of users specified by the categories, the techniques of this disclosure may serve to prevent a user from using the unified communications system to communicate with certain other individuals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2010
    Publication date: August 12, 2010
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Robert W. Serr, Scott Alan Huddleston, Jason Hendrick Bubolz, Mark D. McClelland, Mark Madsen
  • Patent number: 7739333
    Abstract: In general, this disclosure describes techniques of controlling communications occurring in a unified communications system. As described herein, a directory is established at a server system that hosts the unified communications system. The directory includes a plurality of hierarchically-organized categories. Each category specifies a set of users. One or more conferences may be associated with each of the categories. All communications occurring in the unified communications system occur within the context of one of the conferences. A user can only communicate within a conference if the conference is associated with the category that specifies a set of users that includes the user. By appropriately structuring the categories in the directory and the sets of users specified by the categories, the techniques of this disclosure may serve to prevent a user from using the unified communications system to communicate with certain other individuals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Robert W. Serr, Scott Alan Huddleston, Jason Hendrick Bubolz, Mark D. McClelland, Mark Madsen
  • Publication number: 20090327419
    Abstract: In general, this disclosure describes techniques of controlling communications occurring in a unified communications system. As described herein, a directory is established at a server system that hosts the unified communications system. The directory includes a plurality of hierarchically-organized categories. Each category specifies a set of users. One or more conferences may be associated with each of the categories. All communications occurring in the unified communications system occur within the context of one of the conferences. A user can only communicate within a conference if the conference is associated with the category that specifies a set of users that includes the user. By appropriately structuring the categories in the directory and the sets of users specified by the categories, the techniques of this disclosure may serve to prevent a user from using the unified communications system to communicate with certain other individuals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2008
    Publication date: December 31, 2009
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATIONI
    Inventors: Robert W. Serr, Scott Alan Huddleston, Jason Hendrick Bubolz, Mark D. McClelland, Mark Madsen