Instant messaging to and from PBX stations
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for enabling a telephone to send and receive electronic messages, comprising:
- (a) providing at least one of a switch and server, said at least one of a switch and server being in communication with at least one internal telephone; and
(b) performing, at the at least one of a switch and server, at least one of a first, second, and third set of operations, wherein the first set of operations comprises the steps of;
(i) receiving an electronic text message intended for a user associated with the at least one internal telephone;
(ii) determining that the electronic message is to be directed to the at least one internal telephone; and
(iii) causing the text of the electronic message to be displayed on a display of the at least one internal telephone; and
wherein the second set of operations comprises the steps of;
(i) receiving, from the at least one internal telephone, a plurality of signals associated with activation of one or more activators;
(ii) associating the plurality of signals with one or more corresponding letters and/or numbers to provide text for a message;
(iii) forming the text into an electronic message comprising a source address, a destination address, and the text; and
(iv) forwarding the electronic message to the destination address; and
wherein the third set of operations comprises the steps of;
(i) receiving, from the at least one internal telephone, a request to view text of a selected electronic message; and
(ii) causing the text of the electronic message to be displayed on a display of the at least one internal telephone.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a message interfacing agent 224 enables a circuit-switched communication device 106, such as a telephone, to receive and respond to electronic messages and the feature server 228 enables external endpoints to access switch/server functionality using packet-switched communications.
101 Citations
46 Claims
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1. A method for enabling a telephone to send and receive electronic messages, comprising:
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(a) providing at least one of a switch and server, said at least one of a switch and server being in communication with at least one internal telephone; and
(b) performing, at the at least one of a switch and server, at least one of a first, second, and third set of operations, wherein the first set of operations comprises the steps of;
(i) receiving an electronic text message intended for a user associated with the at least one internal telephone;
(ii) determining that the electronic message is to be directed to the at least one internal telephone; and
(iii) causing the text of the electronic message to be displayed on a display of the at least one internal telephone; and
wherein the second set of operations comprises the steps of;
(i) receiving, from the at least one internal telephone, a plurality of signals associated with activation of one or more activators;
(ii) associating the plurality of signals with one or more corresponding letters and/or numbers to provide text for a message;
(iii) forming the text into an electronic message comprising a source address, a destination address, and the text; and
(iv) forwarding the electronic message to the destination address; and
wherein the third set of operations comprises the steps of;
(i) receiving, from the at least one internal telephone, a request to view text of a selected electronic message; and
(ii) causing the text of the electronic message to be displayed on a display of the at least one internal telephone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for accessing switch functionality from an external endpoint, comprising:
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providing at least one of a switch and server, at least one internal endpoint, and at least one external endpoint, each of the at least one internal and external endpoints being in communication with the at least one of a switch and server and associated with a common user, wherein the at least one internal endpoint comprises a plurality of feature activators for activating a plurality of features;
receiving from the at least one external endpoint an incoming contact comprising a packet-switched communication comprising an identity of at least one of a feature activator and a feature;
determining when the identified at least one of a feature activator and feature has a corresponding entry in a stored list of identifiers, the entries in the stored list of identifiers being associated with at least one of (i) a plurality of feature activator identifiers associated with the plurality of feature activators and (ii) a plurality of feature identifiers associated with the plurality of features; and
when the identified at least one of a feature activator and feature has a corresponding entry in the stored list, activating at least one of the associated feature activator and feature. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method for configuring a communication device for electronic messages, comprising:
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providing a communication device comprising a plurality of feature activators, wherein in a first operational mode the plurality of feature activators are associated with a first set of symbols and/or functions; and
reconfiguring the plurality of feature activators in a second operational mode of the communication device, wherein in the second operational mode the plurality of feature activators are associated with a second set of symbols and/or functions, the first and second sets being different. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification