Communications relays

Abstract

Described herein are examples of methods that include receiving, at a communications relay, a first electronic communication from a third party device. The methods also include determining a sender identity associated with the first electronic communication. The methods include storing, on an electronic data storage unit associated with the sender identity, a communication digest of the first electronic communication associated with the sender identify; generating, at the communication relay, a unified network interface for accessing a set of electronic communications directed to the customer. The method includes providing, to the customer via a network, access to the unified network interface.

1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, at a communications relay, a first electronic communication from a third party device, wherein: 
 the first electronic communication directed to a customer of the communications relay, and 
 the first electronic communication includes a first communication identifier associated with a first communications channel used to send the first electronic communication; 
   determining a sender identity associated with the first electronic communication;   storing, on an electronic data storage unit associated with the sender identity, a record of the first electronic communication associated with the sender identify;   generating, at the communication relay, a unified network interface for accessing a set of electronic communications directed to the customer, wherein the set of electronic communications includes the first electronic communication; and   providing, to the customer via a network, access to the unified network interface.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, via the unified network interface, a request to access the first electronic communication;   altering the first electronic communication based on the at least one of the sender identity or the communication digest; and   providing, via a second communication channel, the first electronic communication that was altered.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the first communication channel is different than the second communication channel. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, via the unified network interface, a second electronic communication in reply to first electronic communication, wherein the second electronic communication includes the sender identity;   retrieving, based on the sender identity, the first communication identifier associated with the first communications channel,   altering the second electronic communication for delivery on the first communication channel based on the first communication identifier; and   providing the second electronic communication, which was altered, to the third party device via the first communication channel.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein altering the second electronic communication comprises recasting the second electronic communication, the recasting comprising:
 determining a second communication identifier to be associated with the customer, wherein the second communication identifier is compatible with the first communication channel; and   associating the second communication identifier with the second electronic communication.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein providing the second electronic communication comprises:
 sending the second electronic communication over the first communication channel using the first communication identifier and the second communication identifier.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein storing a communication digest comprises:
 converting at least a portion of the first electronic communication to a new format.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the record is a communication digest. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the set of electronic communications accessible in unified network interface different types of electronic communications. 
     
     
         10 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, at a communications relay, an outgoing electronic communication from a customer that is directed to a third party device, wherein the outgoing electronic communication includes an relay identifier associated with a recipient of the outgoing electronic communication;   selecting a first communication identifier from a group of communication identifiers associated with the customer;   generating, from the outgoing electronic communication, an altered electronic communication for delivery on a first communication channel using the first communication identifier; and   providing the altered electronic communication to the recipient over the first communication channel.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 retrieving, using the relay identifier, a second communication identifier associated with the recipient, wherein the second communication identifier is used to provide the altered electronic communication to the recipient over the first communication channel.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the relay identifier is used to store communications from the recipient in the relay. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , generating, from the outgoing electronic communication, the altered electronic communication comprises formatting the outgoing electronic communication for delivery on the first communication channel. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 generating a digest for the outgoing electronic communication, and   storing the digest on an electronic data storage unit.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the first communication channel comprise at least one of a messaging service, a telephony service, or an email service. 
     
     
         16 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, at a communications relay, a first electronic communication over a first communications channel from a sender;   generating, from the first electronic communication, a first altered electronic communication for delivery to a customer of the relay, wherein the first altered electronic communication includes a relay identifier that uniquely identifies the sender of the first altered electronic communication;   receiving, at the communications relay, a second electronic communication over a second communications channel from the sender; and   generating, from the second electronic communication, a second altered electronic communication for delivery to the customer of the relay, wherein the second altered electronic communication includes the relay identifier.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 upon receiving an initial electronic communication for the sender, generating the relay identifier, wherein the relay identifier is utilized to identify all communications of the sender sent to the customer.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 storing at least a portion of the first electronic communication and the second electronic communication.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 receiving, at the communications relay, a reply communication that includes the relay identifier;   determining whether the reply communication corresponds to the first electronic communication and the second electronic communication; and   generating an altered reply communication based on the determination of whether the reply communication corresponds to the first electronic communication and the second electronic communication, wherein: 
 if the reply communication corresponds to the first electronic communication, the altered reply communication is formatted according to the first communication channel, and 
 if the reply communication corresponds to the second electronic communication, the altered reply communication is formatted according to the second communication channel. 
   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 retrieving a communication channel identifier for the sender based on the relay identifier.