Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Message storage or retrieval
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-16
2001-05-08
Urban, Edward F. (Department: 2683)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Message storage or retrieval
C340S870030, C379S093240, C379S093220, C379S088140, C455S351000, C455S558000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06230003
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to telephone calling cards, and more particularly to a telephone calling card capable of receiving notification that a message has arrived at a messaging system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As the prevalence of electronic mail (“e-mail”) and voice mail systems increases, subscribers feel a growing need to retrieve such mail virtually as soon as it arrives. However, to promptly receive an incoming message requires that a subscriber who is away from his or her home or office carry a wireless telephone or a portable computer. In many cases this is not a practical approach because of the size and expense of such devices. However, it may be sufficient if the subscriber is simply notified when such mail arrives. Once notified, the user can then use a nearby telephone or computer terminal to retrieve the message.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a small, inexpensive device that can notify a subscriber when an e-mail or voice mail message has arrived.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a method and apparatus is provided for notifying a subscriber via a telephone calling card that a message has arrived at the message center of a service subscriber. The messaging center may be a voice mail or e-mail system. In accordance with the method, the service provider receives and stores an incoming message for the subscriber. The service provider then transmits a radio signal to the telephone calling card of the subscriber indicating that the incoming message has arrived.
In one embodiment of the invention the telephone calling card includes a housing having a planar surface substantially equal in dimension to a credit card. An encoded data strip extends over the planar surface for transmitting encoded data to a card reader. A wireless receiver is embedded in the housing for receiving the radio signal that indicates notification of the arrived message. A receiver that is suitably compact for this purpose is a slimline antenna such as the Murata chip antenna available from Murata, Inc. A processor and memory are embedded in the housing for processing and storing the received notification of the arrived message. A display extends over the planar surface for displaying the notification of the arrived message. Such a notification may include, for example, the type of message that has arrived (e.g., voice or e-mail), the time at which the message was received, and the telephone number or e-mail address of the calling party.
REFERENCES:
patent: D. 331055 (1992-11-01), Massey et al.
patent: D. 351162 (1994-10-01), Kwon et al.
patent: D. 351163 (1994-10-01), Kwon et al.
patent: 4797914 (1989-01-01), Vaello
patent: 4935745 (1990-06-01), Mori et al.
patent: 5192947 (1993-03-01), Neustein
patent: 5245245 (1993-09-01), Goldenberg
patent: 5307508 (1994-04-01), Rollins et al.
patent: 5317308 (1994-05-01), Tribbey et al.
patent: 5369399 (1994-11-01), Tribbey et al.
patent: 5479408 (1995-12-01), Will
patent: 5511114 (1996-04-01), Stimson et al.
patent: 5675627 (1997-10-01), Yaker
patent: 5793861 (1998-08-01), Haigh
patent: 5796394 (1998-08-01), Wicks et al.
patent: 5870454 (1999-02-01), Dahlén
patent: 5905777 (1999-05-01), Foladare et al.
patent: 5930350 (1999-07-01), Johnson
patent: 5950919 (1999-09-01), Adams
patent: 5952931 (1999-09-01), Chotichanon et al.
patent: 5953504 (1999-09-01), Sokal et al.
patent: 6023700 (2000-02-01), Owens et al.
patent: 6061718 (2000-05-01), Nelson
Avaya Technology Corp.
Mayer, Fortcort & Williams
Perez-Gutierrez Rafael
Urban Edward F.
LandOfFree
Telephone calling card having a wireless receiver for... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Telephone calling card having a wireless receiver for..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Telephone calling card having a wireless receiver for... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2476022