Telephonic communications – Audio message storage – retrieval – or synthesis – Interacting voice message systems
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-30
2004-10-26
Foster, Roland (Department: 2645)
Telephonic communications
Audio message storage, retrieval, or synthesis
Interacting voice message systems
C379S088170
Reexamination Certificate
active
06810113
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present inventions relate to messaging systems, and particularly, relate to embodiments that present a sender of message with an announcement of a name or other information related to the recipient.
BACKGROUND
Telecommunications systems allow people to directly communicate over the telephone or other communication devices. Messaging systems have added features to telecommunications systems to allow people to also indirectly communicate in different ways. A common way for a person to indirectly communicate with another person is by “rollover messaging”, which is also commonly referred to as “telephone answering messaging”. In rollover messaging, a person calls another person, who fails to answer the call, and the calling person is transferred to a voicemail system to leave the other person a message that is referred to as a “rollover message”. A rollover message generally is a voicemail message left on a messaging system if the called person fails to answer a call. The person leaving the message is referred to as the “caller”, and the person for whom the message is intended is referred to as the “recipient”.
Rollover messaging generally includes a voicemail announcement feature that is provided when a caller reaches a recipient's messaging system to leave a rollover message. The voicemail announcement may be the enunciation of the person's name associated with the number dialed, or other information related to the recipient. For example, a caller leaving a rollover message may be greeted with a voicemail announcement such as: “You have reached the voice mailbox of Carl Bedingfield. Please leave a message.” Alternatively, the caller may simply be presented with the recipient's name such as: “Navneet Patel.” The voicemail announcement typically is in the form of a speech file recorded by or for the recipient.
Advantageously, the voicemail announcement is made by the recipient's system and received by the caller on an almost universal basis. Whether the recipient is using a network rollover service, an answering machine, or other device, the caller is provided with and hears the voicemail announcement typically whatever the type, model, age, brand, or manufacturer of communications device the caller is using. The caller generally hears the voicemail announcement whether he or she is using a local service provider for a local call or is calling over a long distance through a long distance carrier. Rollover messaging assures the recipient that rollover calls to the recipient's number are almost always provided with a voicemail announcement. As a result of this assurance, rollover messaging and the voicemail announcement feature have been well received by subscribers in their roles as recipients of voicemail messages.
Callers, who receive the voicemail announcement as part of rollover messaging, also have positively reacted to rollover messaging. The voicemail announcement feature has been well received because in one aspect the voicemail announcement functions as a confirmation or an alarm to the caller, who is about to leave a rollover message. The voicemail announcement serves as a confirmation when the caller hears the name of his or her intended recipient in the voicemail announcement. The voicemail announcement serves as an alarm when the caller does not hear the name of his or her intended recipient in the voicemail announcement.
Rollover messaging, however, is not the only indirect way of communicating through the use of messaging systems. Another way of indirectly communicating is by sending a message to another person's messaging system. This manner of indirect communication differs from rollover messaging in that the person sending the message does not try initially to call the recipient. Rather, the person just sends a message. Hence, this manner of indirect communication is referred to simply as “messaging” or “messaging service”. The person sending the message is referred to as the “sender”, and the person receiving the message is referred to as the “recipient”. The message may be a voicemail message or other type of message. The recipient may reply with a voicemail or other message, or the recipient may forward the message to others.
Messaging service differs from rollover messaging in at least another respect. Few messaging systems provide a feature such as or similar to the voicemail announcement feature used in rollover messaging to senders using a messaging service. A reason that an announcement feature is not typically provided to a message sender is that unlike in rollover messaging, the differences between the respective messaging systems or platforms of the sender and the recipient typically do not allow for such an announcement feature. The differences prevent the respective messaging systems or platforms from communicating to provide the announcement feature. The differences may exist as a result of a sender using a first type, model, or brand of messaging system or platform, and the recipient using a different type, model, or brand of messaging system or platform. The differences also may exist as a result of differences between the respective systems or platforms (or even other elements of same) in the use of protocols (types, versions), encoded information, programming, configuration, etc.
Generally, the messaging systems that provide a feature such as or similar to the voicemail announcement feature to senders using a messaging service provide such a feature only in limited circumstances. One such limited circumstance occurs when the sender of a message and a recipient are served by the same messaging platform. When a sender and a recipient are served by the same messaging platform, there are few if any issues related to differences that would prevent implementation of the announcement feature.
Another limited circumstance when an announcement feature is available in a messaging service occurs when the sender of a message and a recipient are served by the same messaging system that provides generally the same messaging services to the sender and the recipient. When a sender and a recipient are served by the same messaging system, then the messaging system may take action to eliminate or at least minimize any differences between the messaging services provided to the sender and the recipient. With the elimination of the differences, the announcement feature may then be provided to subscribers.
Except in the limited circumstances pointed out above, the differences in messaging systems or platforms generally preclude the provision of an announcement feature to a sender with respect to a message to be sent to a recipient. The respective systems or platforms are generally unable to communicate so as to exchange the information necessary to provide the announcement feature. Thus, there generally is no way for a messaging system to obtain information about a recipient to provide an announcement to the sender—at least until after the message has been sent. But an announcement provided after the message has been sent does not offer the same advantages of an announcement that is provided prior to the message being sent.
By failing to provide the sender with an announcement as to the recipient's identity when a sender sends a message to a recipient, the sender is deprived of the benefit of a confirmation that his or her message will be made available to the intended recipient. The sender also is deprived of the benefit of the alarm provided when the announcement conveys information other than what the sender expects. Without the announcement, the sender then has the choice of sending a message without confirmation that his or her message will reach the intended recipient, or of communicating with the intended recipient by other means.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method or system for use in connection with messaging systems that generally would allow messaging services to provide senders with announcements or other information regarding the recipients of messages even in the circumstances when the respect
Bedingfield James Carlton
Patel Navneet
BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation
Foster Roland
LandOfFree
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