Email Directory Smart Search (17-Sep-2009)

Email Directory Smart Search

Current name lookup functionality within an email system will find a match or display a list of close matches based upon the exact spelling of a user's name or internet address. With the introduction of Email Directory Smart Search, the name lookup feature will allow for a valid list of results displayed even if the user's name or internet address is misspelled.

Within present day email systems, when addressing a message to a recipient, the sender of the message must spell the recipient's name or address correctly in order for the name to be properly resolved. Email Directory Smart Search will take into account common letter combinations and spelling variations to compensate for any user misspellings when normal name lookup does not display the correct result.

When using Email Directory Smart Search, the following will occur:

1) User begins to enter the recipient's name
2) System checks entered name against database and finds possible matches based on similarity to the entered name. System also searches for popular letter combinations based upon the entered name
4) System displays list of matches to user sorted by relevance beginning with a group of names which match, followed by the text "Did you mean…" then a group of alternative recipient option(s) based upon a fuzzy logic search
5) User selects the email address he/she wishes to use from the list
6) Message is addressed to the correct recipient.

Figure

1

To illustrate how Email Directory Smart Search will improve upon the current name lookup functionality, here are two examples comparing the current name lookup function to the new name lookup function with Email Directory Smart Search.

Example 1: How email applications currently work in regards to name lookup

-A user would like to address a message to another...