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Abstract

The present invention relates to systems and methods that mitigate the intrusiveness of communications between message senders and receivers while facilitating more courteous, seamless, and timely interactions. In one aspect, instant messaging and other forms of communications, such as push-to-talk voice communications, can be improved via employment of time-bounded policies and parameters. When-Free communications allows users to send When-Free messages, that act as near-instant messages that wait until a user or recipient is not in one of a list of states defined as busy or unavailable states. A sender can encode, with a quick gesture or via a standing profile, how long a message is to remain alive before being erased or retracted, or shifted to another communication modality. When-Free variants enable recipients to define policies for handling messages if unavailability persists beyond some time threshold, including the generation of automated responses and the shifting of instant messages to email communications, by moving the conversational thread to an email inbox for later review and response via email or to launch an instant message session that continues where the communication left off.

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First Claim