Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Microsoft Corporation

Vivien Park

Cornelis K Van Dok

Joel K Grossman

Jonathan David Perlow

Melissa Wood Dunn

Oliver Griffith Fisher

Sean Olin Blagsvedt

Marc Adam Silbey

Paul R Erickson

Joseph J Brychell

Jon Perlow

Debra L Weissman

Kim Cameron

Gail Giacobbe

Ahsan Syed Kabir

John-Anthony Owens

Denise L Chen

Jordan Luther King Schwartz

Cees Van Dok

Hilary Palmen

Koichi Tsunoda

Sandra B Barnat

Michelle D McKelvey

Gilad Israeli

Sandra Barnet

Jonathan D Perlow

The present invention is directed to utilizing contact data controls to simplify access to schematized contact data. Contact data controls abstract the formatting of schematized contact data from applications. In some embodiments, applications that lack the configuration to natively access schematized contact data (e.g., lack the functionality to convert between schematized and non-schematized data or are not authorized) forward requests to access schematized contact data to an external contact data control. In other embodiments, applications that lack the configuration to natively access schematized contact data forward non-schematized data, which is to be used to update schematized contact data, to an external contact data control. External contact data controls appropriately interact with the schematized data and can provide user-interface such that an application designer need not have extensive knowledge of contact schemas associated with the schematized contact data.

Simplifying application access to schematized contact data

Systems and methods are disclosed for synchronizing data stored in remote stores. Data stored in locations such as computer applications, consumer electronic devices and Internet websites is synchronized with a central database within a computer device. The computer device may also store constraints that limit the type of data that may be synchronized with individual stores. A graphical user interface may use different formats or icons to distinguish between data stored in a store and data included within the central database.

Synchronization view

A computing system and a user interface display requested data corresponding with a contact at a display device. The requested data includes contact information, communication histories, and files associated with the contact. The requested data is obtained from one or more contact information directories located locally and/or remotely from the computing system. The user interface also displays contact-centric tasks that may be engaged in between the user and the contact based upon the capabilities of the corresponding computing systems or that can be performed on a contact. Some of the contact information can be edited with an edit mode of the user interface. The contact may be a person, group, organization, or household.

Contact page

A user is able to informatively control how contact information is provided to one or more applications through the use of a persona interface object, corresponding personas and contact information, and an information picker interface. The persona interface identifies available personas, each persona having different contact information. The user can select a persona to use in response to an applications request for information. The personas can be modified and developed through the information picker interface, which can also be used to inform the user about what information is being requested and how it will be used.

Information picker

The present invention is directed to a system and method for identifying the most likely recipients for a message or other communication from a source and building a most frequently used list of recipients. The present invention utilizes a contact list and determines the likelihood that a list of recipients from that contact list are the intended targets for a current message. The likelihood determination is made using both how recent and how frequent prior communications were made to particular individuals or groups of recipients. Further, a user is able to switch between a most frequently used list of recipients and full list of contacts.

Identifying likely recipients of a message

An interface for enabling a user to quickly access contact information and contact-centric tasks is displayed when an appropriate request for a contact card associated with a contact is received. The contact card displays contact information corresponding with the contact as well as contact-centric tasks that may be engaged in between the client computing system and the computing system of the contact. The list of contact-centric tasks is organized according to predetermined criteria, such as whether the contact-centric task is associated with an application that has provided contact information to the client computing system and whether the contact is a member of a group utilizing a contact-centric task. The contact card may also include an object comprising a type-in line for launching communication with the contact.

Contact card

One or more contact controls associated with one or more corresponding contacts are displayed by a computing system at a display device. The contact controls can be hosted by any number of third party applications. The contact controls may include static and/or animated images associated with the contact to reflect a desired behavior, emotion, status or action. The contact controls are linked to contact information, such that a selection of the contact controls enables a user to access the contact information and data sources associated with the contact. A communicative action can also be initiated with the contact control by dragging and dropping the contact control onto an icon or object associated with the communication application.

Contact controls

An interface for enabling different contact information for a plurality of different contacts to be aggregated from numerous data stores into a single contact management system includes a window frame for displaying the contact information in a variety of rich views that graphically illustrate patterns existent within the contact information. Some of the available views include hierarchical, organizational, chronological, social, geographical and operational views of the contact information. The interface also enables a user to search through the aggregate contact information by search term and by filter. The interface also includes another window frame for displaying exploded, detailed, or additional information about selected directories and contacts.

Contact user interface

An interface for enabling a user to quickly access contact information automatically displays a list of expected contacts that are most likely to be selected by the user when attention is directed to a type-in line requiring contact information. When a contact is selected, the corresponding and appropriate contact information is automatically entered into the type-in line. If a user does not select a listed contact, but instead begins manually typing in the contact information then the interface performs a search and displays a list of unexpected contacts having contact information matching the typed input from the user. The interface also provides a menu with additional search options for searching for desired contact information. The additional search options include directory searching and filtered searching. The application hosting the interface can specify the appropriate contact information that it requires.

Contact picker

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Vivien Park