Provision of voice mail messaging indicator and voice mail access services via common instant communications clients

• US 20050180548A1
• Filed: 03/12/2004
• Published: 08/18/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Business Global LLC (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Moore, Richard Garrett
• Granted Patent: US 7,167,546 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.120
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4536 Voicemail combined with text-based messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2218 Call detail recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42085 Called party identification service
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4211 where the identifier is used to access a profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42195 Arrangements for calling back a calling subscriber when the wanted subscriber ceases to be busy H04M3/48
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/436 Arrangements for screening incoming calls , i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53325 Interconnection arrangements between voice mail systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/537 Arrangements for indicating the presence of a recorded message , whereby the presence information might include a preview or summary of the message
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0009 where voice calls remain entirely in the telephone network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0033 Notification or handling of incoming calls by a computer
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/125 Details of gateway equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13034 A/D conversion, code compression/expansion
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13091 CLI, identification of calling line
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13336 Store & forward, messaging systems email H04Q2213/13375
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13389 LAN, internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/72 Finding out and indicating number of calling subscriber

Abstract

An approach is provided for supporting telephony services over a data network. The approach aggregate message waiting indication information from one or more voice mail systems for notifying a user of the presence of a voice mail message resident on any one of the voice mail systems. According to a user profile, a notification message is transmitted over the data network to one or more instant communication clients based upon the aggregated message waiting indication information, wherein the notification message specifies the presence of the voice mail message.

Claims

1. A method for supporting telephony services over a data network, the method comprising:

retrieving message waiting indication information from a voice mail system designated by a user, wherein the message waiting indication information specifies existence, within the voice mail system, of a voice mail message for the user;

determining an instant communication client of the user; and

forwarding the message waiting indication information over the data network to the instant communication client for display.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the voice mail system is among a plurality of voice mail systems associated with the user, the method further comprising:

receiving another message waiting indication information associated with a different one of the voice mail systems; and

forwarding the other message waiting indication information to the instant communication client, wherein the instant communication client displays the plurality of message waiting indication information concurrently.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the instant communication client is among a plurality of instant communication clients, the method further comprising:

forwarding the message waiting indication information to one or more of the instant communication clients.

4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

accessing a user database for a profile of the user, wherein the profile specifies the voice mail system and the instant communication client for displaying the message waiting indication information.

5. A method according to claim 4, further comprising:

receiving a request to modify the profile of the user; and

modifying the profile based on the request.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the instant communication client is resident on one of a computer system, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular phone, a gaming console, and a web appliance.

7. A method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving an identifier associated with a called station served by the voice mail system; and

forwarding the identifier to the instant communication client, wherein the instant communication client displays the identifier along with the message waiting indication information.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the identifier is derived from one of a Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) number and Automatic Number Identification (ANI).

9. A method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

determining whether the instant communication client is available; and

if the instant communication client is not available, storing the message waiting indication information for later delivery.

10. A method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

appending supplemental information including one of time stamp information and advertisement information to the message waiting indication information.

11. A method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

associating a user with one or more voice mail systems; and

associating the user with one or more instant communication clients including the instant communication client.

12. A method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

generating a command message to the voice mail system to activate or deactivate message waiting indication function of the voice mail system.

13. A method according to claim 1, the method further comprising:

generating a voice mail indicator message to notify a computing system hosting the instant communication client or an intermediate system, wherein the voice mail indicator message includes an identification field for the instant communication client and one or more fields indicating presence of voicemail in respective voice mail systems.

14. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions for supporting telephony services over a data network, the one or more sequences of one or more instructions including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

retrieving message waiting indication information from a voice mail system designated by a user, wherein the message waiting indication information specifies existence, within the voice mail system, of a voice mail message for the user;

determining an instant communication client of the user; and

forwarding the message waiting indication information over the data network to the instant communication client for display.

15. A computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the voice mail system is among a plurality of voice mail systems associated with the user, the computer-readable medium further including instructions for causing the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving another message waiting indication information associated with a different one of the voice mail systems; and

forwarding the other message waiting indication information to the instant communication client, wherein the instant communication client displays the plurality of message waiting indication information concurrently.

16. A computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the instant communication client is among a plurality of instant communication clients, the computer-readable medium further including instructions for causing the one or more processors to perform the step of:

forwarding the message waiting indication information to one or more of the instant communication clients.

17. A computer-readable medium according to claim 14, the computer-readable medium further including instructions for causing the one or more processors to perform the step of:

accessing a user database for a profile of the user, wherein the profile specifies the voice mail system and the instant communication client for displaying the message waiting indication information.

18. A computer-readable medium according to claim 17, the computer-readable medium further including instructions for causing the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving a request to modify the profile of the user; and

modifying the profile based on the request.

19. A computer-readable medium according to claim 14, wherein the instant communication client is resident on one of a computer system, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular phone, a gaming console, and a web appliance.

20. A computer-readable medium according to claim 14, the computer-readable medium further including instructions for causing the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving an identifier associated with a called station served by the voice mail system; and

forwarding the identifier to the instant communication client, wherein the instant communication client displays the identifier along with the message waiting indication information.

21. A computer-readable medium according to claim 20, wherein the identifier is derived from one of a Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) number and Automatic Number Identification (ANI).

22. A computer-readable medium according to claim 14, the computer-readable medium further including instructions for causing the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

determining whether the instant communication client is available; and

if the instant communication client is not available, storing the message waiting indication information for later delivery.

23. A computer-readable medium according to claim 14, the computer-readable medium further including instructions for causing the one or more processors to perform the step of:

appending supplemental information including one of time stamp information and advertisement information to the message waiting indication information.

24. A computer-readable medium according to claim 14, the computer-readable medium further including instructions for causing the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

associating a user with one or more voice mail systems; and

associating the user with one or more instant communication clients including the instant communication client.

25. A computer-readable medium according to claim 14, the computer-readable medium further including instructions for causing the one or more processors to perform the step of:

generating a command message to the voice mail system to activate or deactivate message waiting indication function of the voice mail system.

26. A computer-readable medium according to claim 14, the computer-readable medium further including instructions for causing the one or more processors to perform the step of:

generating a voice mail indicator message to notify a computing system hosting the instant communication client or an intermediate system, wherein the voice mail indicator message includes an identification field for the instant communication client and one or more fields indicating presence of voicemail in respective voice mail systems.

27. A system for supporting telephony services over a data network, the system comprising:

a gateway configured to retrieve message waiting indication information from a voice mail system designated by a user, wherein the message waiting indication information specifies existence, within the voice mail system, of a voice mail message for the user, the gateway determining an instant communication client of the user; and

a server configured to forward the message waiting indication information over the data network to the instant communication client for display.

28. A system according to claim 27, wherein the voice mail system is among a plurality of voice mail systems associated with the user, the gateway being further configured to receive another message waiting indication information associated with a different one of the voice mail systems, the server forwarding the other message waiting indication information to the instant communication client, wherein the instant communication client displays the plurality of message waiting indication information concurrently.

29. A system according to claim 27, wherein the instant communication client is among a plurality of instant communication clients, the message waiting indication information being forwarded to one or more of the instant communication clients.

30. A system according to claim 27, further comprising:

a user database for storing a profile of the user, wherein the profile specifies the voice mail system and the instant communication client for displaying the message waiting indication information.

31. A system according to claim 30, wherein the server receives a request to modify the profile of the user, and the profile is modified based on the request.

32. A system according to claim 27, wherein the instant communication client is resident on one of a computer system, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular phone, a gaming console, and a web appliance.

33. A system according to claim 27, wherein the gateway receives an identifier associated with a called station served by the voice mail system, the identifier being forwarded to the instant communication client which displays the identifier along with the message waiting indication information.

34. A system according to claim 33, wherein the identifier is derived from one of a Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) number and Automatic Number Identification (ANI).

35. A system according to claim 27, wherein the gateway determines whether the instant communication client is available, and if the instant communication client is not available, the gateway stores the message waiting indication information for later delivery.

36. A system according to claim 27, wherein the gateway appends supplemental information including one of time stamp information and advertisement information to the message waiting indication information.

37. A system according to claim 27, wherein a user is associated with one or more voice mail systems, and the user is associated with one or more instant communication clients.

38. A system according to claim 27, wherein the gateway is further configured to generate a command message to the voice mail system to activate or deactivate message waiting indication function of the voice mail system.

39. A system according to claim 27, wherein the gateway is further configured to generate a voice mail indicator message to notify a computing system hosting the instant communication client or the server, wherein the voice mail indicator message includes an identification field for the instant communication client and one or more fields indicating presence of voicemail in respective voice mail systems.

40. A method for supporting telephony services over a data network, the method comprising:

aggregating message waiting indication information from one or more voice mail systems for notifying a user of presence of a voice mail message resident on any one of the voice mail systems; and

transmitting a notification message over the data network to an instant communication client based upon the aggregated message waiting indication information, wherein the notification message specifies the presence of the voice mail message.

41. A server for supporting telephony services over a data network, the method comprising:

means for aggregating message waiting indication information from one or more voice mail systems for notifying a user of presence of a voice mail message resident on any one of the voice mail systems; and

means for transmitting a notification message over the data network to an instant communication client based upon the aggregated message waiting indication information, wherein the notification message specifies the presence of the voice mail message.