Single telephone number access to multiple communications services
First Claim
1. In a telecommunications system a method comprising the steps of:
- providing a group of services that are accessible through a single phone number for a subscriber;
offering a first caller at the single phone number a first subset of the group of services; and
offering a second caller of the single phone number a second subset of the services.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A platform provides access to multiple telecommunications services via a single telephone number. These services may include, for example, voicemail services. facsimile messaging services, paging services, and outbound calling services. A guest caller may call the single phone number to speak to a subscriber, leave a voicemail message for a subscriber, leave a facsimile message for a subscriber or place a page to a subscriber. A subscriber may call the phone number to place outbound calls. In addition, a subscriber may call the single phone number to retrieve or send facsimile messages and/or voicemail messages. A subscriber may also call the phone number to configure service options. For instance, a subscriber may select routing options and choose what services are available to Quest callers.
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Citations
109 Claims
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1. In a telecommunications system a method comprising the steps of:
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providing a group of services that are accessible through a single phone number for a subscriber;
offering a first caller at the single phone number a first subset of the group of services; and
offering a second caller of the single phone number a second subset of the services. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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- 2. The method of claim I wherein the first caller and the second caller provide information that identifies them as the first caller and the second caller, respectively.
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4. In a telecommunications system, a method comprising the steps of:
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providing via a single phone number a service for leaving a facsimile message and a service for adding a voice annotation to the facsimile message; and
calling the phone number to leave a given facsimile message and annotating the given facsimile message with a voice annotation. - View Dependent Claims (5, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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6. In a telecommunications system, a method comprising the steps of:
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providing via a single phone number a service for retrieving a voicemail message from a voice mailbox and an automatic callback service for calling a party that left a voicemail message; and
calling the phone number to retrieve the voicemail message from the voice mailbox and with the automatic callback service, determining a phone number of the party that left the voicemail message and calling the phone number of the party that left the voicemail message in response to the voicemail message. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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9. In a telecommunications system. a platform for providing access to multiple telecommunications services on behalf of a subscriber, comprising:
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an interface for providing access to the multiple telecommunications services via a single phone number;
a voicemail system for recording voicemail messages for a subscriber; and
a speech recognizer for converting the voicemail messages into textual representations. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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16. In a telecommunications system having a platform for providing access to multiple telecommunications services including voicemail services, on behalf of a subscriber, wherein said platform includes an interface for providing access to the multiple telecommunications services and a speech recognizer, a method comprising the steps of:
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providing a voicemail message that is stored for the voicemail service;
using the speech recognizer to translate the voicemail message into a textual representation; and
forwarding the textual representation to a subscriber-specified destination. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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20. In a telecommunications system having a platform for providing access to multiple telecommunications services including voicemail services, on behalf of a subscriber, wherein said platform includes an interface for providing access to the multiple telecommunications services and a speech recognizer, a computer-readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising the steps of:
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providing a voicemail message that is stored for the voicemail service;
using the speech recognizer to translate the voicemail message into a textual representation; and
forwarding the textual representation to a subscriber-specified destination. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 74, 75, 76, 77)
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24. In a telecommunications system that provides multiple services on behalf of a party, a method comprising the steps of:
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receiving an event in the system while the selected party is on a call;
generating an audio message that informs the selected party that the event has been received in the system; and
playing the audio message to the selected party while the selected party is on the call. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 78, 79, 80, 81)
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32. In a telecommunications system, a platform for providing access to multiple communications services on behalf of a subscriber, said platform comprising:
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an event facility for receiving events directed to the subscriber;
an audio message generator for generating audio messages informing the subscriber of events received at the event facility; and
an interface with a phone line over which the subscriber is conducting a call, to output audio messages from the audio message generator to inform the subscriber of the events that are received at the event facility. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 82, 83, 84, 85)
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38. In a message storage facility for storing messages on behalf of a subscriber, a method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a facsimile message for the subscriber at the message storage facility, attaching an electronic mail message to the facsimile message; and
forwarding the facsimile message with the electronic mail message to the subscriber. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 86, 87, 88, 89)
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41. In a message storage facility for storing messages on behalf of a subscriber, a computer-readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a facsimile message for the subscriber at the message storage facility;
attaching an electronic mail message to the facsimile message; and
forwarding the facsimile message with the electronic mail message to the subscriber. - View Dependent Claims (90, 91, 92, 93)
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42. In a telecommunications system, a service node for providing multiple services on behalf of a party, said node comprising:
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a facsimile messaging facility for receiving facsimile messages for the party;
an electronic mail facility for receiving electronic mail;
an attachment mechanism for attaching electronic mail to the facsimile messages; and
an interface for forwarding facsimile messages with electronic mail messages attached to the party. - View Dependent Claims (94, 95, 96, 97, 98)
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43. In a computer system having an interface to a telephone network, a method comprising the steps of:
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receiving multiple calls for a party, at least two of said calls being directed for different phone numbers of the party; and
generating a page in response to receiving the calls, said page identifying the calls and phone numbers to which the calls are directed. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104)
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46. In a computer system having an interface to a telephone network, a computer-readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising the steps of:
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receiving multiple calls for a party, at least two of said calls being directed for different phone numbers of the party; and
generating a page in response to receiving the calls, said page identifying the calls and phone numbers to which the calls are directed. - View Dependent Claims (105, 106, 107, 108, 109)
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47. In a telecommunications network having a data processing system that provides multiple telecommunications services for a party, a method performed by the data processing system comprising the steps of:
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providing a single phone number via which the services for the party are accessible;
receiving a call from a caller for the party;
in response to receiving the call, presenting the caller with service options that include call routing options and messaging options; and
receiving input from the caller. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50)
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Specification