Apparatus and method for providing a unified messaging integration tool
First Claim
1. A unified messaging system, comprising:
- a network;
a first messaging system connected to the network;
at least one additional messaging system connected to the network;
a network-connected device employing a software tool to integrate said messaging systems, said software tool comprising;
means to accept lists of messages from each messaging system, means to correlate changes to said messages based on definable parameters selected from the group consisting of;
size, date, type, and status, and means to replicate and synchronize said messages between all of the messaging systems so that they contain identical content.
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Abstract
The software tool of the present invention operates on a network connected to plural messaging systems and is a synchronization engine to provide a unified messaging system. It consists of a series of intelligent logic functions and filters. The engine periodically polls the various messaging systems and is able to accept lists of messages from any messaging system (voice, e-mail, fax, or otherwise), correlate changes to the messages based on definable parameters (such as: size, date, type, status), and then replicate and synchronize the messages between all of the messaging systems in appropriate formats. By doing this, each messaging system can contain identical content using the most recent version so that any of the messaging systems can be accessed and the exact same data can be independently accessed and modified. The present invention'"'"'s logic functions are optimized to eliminate copying of unchanged messages.
39 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A unified messaging system, comprising:
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a network;
a first messaging system connected to the network;
at least one additional messaging system connected to the network;
a network-connected device employing a software tool to integrate said messaging systems, said software tool comprising;
means to accept lists of messages from each messaging system, means to correlate changes to said messages based on definable parameters selected from the group consisting of;
size, date, type, and status, andmeans to replicate and synchronize said messages between all of the messaging systems so that they contain identical content.
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2. The unified messaging system of claim [c1], further comprising a shared file system connected to said network.
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3. The unified messaging system of claim [c2], wherein said shared file system includes means for storing flat files.
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4. The unified messaging system of claim [c3], wherein said shared file system comprises an additional messaging system.
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5. The unified messaging system of claim [c1], wherein said means to accept accepts messages selected from the group consisting of voice, e-mail, fax, SMS, IM, and pager.
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6. The unified messaging system of claim [cl], wherein said means to replicate reproduces message content in an appropriate standard format for each messaging system.
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7. A method of unifying messaging on a network, comprising:
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accepting lists of messages from a plurality of messaging systems connected to said network, correlating changes to said messages based on definable parameters selected from the group consisting of;
size, date, type, and status, andreplicating and synchronizing said messages between all of the messaging systems so that they contain identical content.
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8. A method of unifying messaging of claim [c7], further comprising storing flat files on a shared file system connected to said network.
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9. A method of unifying messaging of claim [c8], further comprising employing said shared file system as an additional messaging system.
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10. A method of unifying messaging of claim [c7], wherein messages accepted in forms selected from the group consisting of voice, e-mail, fax, SMS, IM, and pager.
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11. A method of unifying messaging of claim [c7], wherein said replicating step reproduces message content in an appropriate standard format for each messaging system.
Specification