Short voice message (SVM) service method, apparatus and system
First Claim
1. Method for use in a network element of a telecommunications network for providing messages between terminals used by users, comprising the steps of:
- receiving in said network element a short voice message transmitted from a first terminal for forwarding to a second user at a second terminal, said short voice message spoken by a first user at said first terminal, and checking availability of said second terminal or user thereof using a presence service, and sending from said network element the short voice message to the second terminal if available.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Tiresome entry of numerous letters of the alphabet into a hand-held device for assembling a short text message for transmission via a short message service (SMS) to a second terminal is avoided by the sending of a short voice message (SVM). The SVM is recorded in the sending terminal and sent to a SVM service center (SVMSC). The SVMSC may notify the intended recipient of the arrival of the SVM and await acceptance before sending it, or send it immediately if the presence of the intended recipient is detected. The second terminal may then commence a bidirectional communication so that an instant voice message session can be established. Alternatively, the problem can be overcome by converting the spoken SVM to text in the user terminal by means of voice recognition software and sending the converted text to the recipient by means of the traditional SMS infrastructure for display as text or for playback as text converted to voice.
43 Citations
42 Claims
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1. Method for use in a network element of a telecommunications network for providing messages between terminals used by users, comprising the steps of:
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receiving in said network element a short voice message transmitted from a first terminal for forwarding to a second user at a second terminal, said short voice message spoken by a first user at said first terminal, and checking availability of said second terminal or user thereof using a presence service, and sending from said network element the short voice message to the second terminal if available. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Apparatus for use in a network element of a telecommunications network for providing messages between terminals used by users, comprising:
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means in said network element for receiving a short voice message from a first terminal spoken by a first user at a first terminal and sent to said network element by the first user for a second user at a second terminal;
means in said network element for checking availability of said second terminal using a presence service; and
means in said network element for sending the received short voice message to the second terminal if available. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A short voice message system including a plurality of terminals and a voice message service center, said service center comprising:
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means for receiving a short voice message from a first user terminal used by a first subscriber to a presence service;
means for storing the received short voice message from the first terminal;
means for checking availability of an intended second user subscriber to said presence service at a second terminal; and
means for sending the stored short voice message received from the first terminal to the second terminal if the second user subscriber at the second terminal is available. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. User equipment for use in a voice message system, comprising:
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voice recognition means for receiving a short voice message spoken by a first user and for converting the short voice message to a short text message;
memory means for storing said short text message; and
means for retrieving the short text message from storage and for sending the short text message as an outgoing short message to a short message service center for transfer to second user. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A data structure embodied in a computer-readable medium for storage in a physical device, characterized in that
the data structure is a short voice message presence information database for storing short voice message presence tuples, each tuple having a status marker indicative of availability for receipt of short voice messages, and a communication address indicative of at least one of a short voice message service and a short voice message inbox address.
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42. A voice message system including a plurality of terminals and a voice message service center, said service center comprising:
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means for receiving a voice message from a first user terminal;
means for storing the received voice message from the first terminal;
a presence service for checking availability of an intended second user at a second terminal; and
means for sending the stored received message from the first terminal to the second terminal if the second terminal is available, wherein one or more of said plurality of terminals comprises;
means for receiving said voice message at said first user terminal spoken by a first user for providing said voice message from said first user terminal to said means for receiving said voice message at said service center;
means for storing voice messages including said voice message spoken by said first user;
means for receiving a designation signal from said first user designating a second user as an intended recipient;
means for retrieving the stored voice message in response to the designation signal for providing the voice message retrieved from storage and the designation signal; and
means for sending the voice message retrieved from storage and the designation signal to the second user of the voice message system as an outgoing voice message.
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Specification