PROVIDING VOICE MESSAGES THROUGH DUAL ACCESS POINTS
First Claim
1. At a voice message provider, a method of retrieving delivering voice messages to an intended recipient, comprising:
- receiving a voice message from a sender directed to an intended recipient;
storing the voice message in a database;
assigning a retrieval telephone number to the received voice message;
correlating the retrieval telephone number and the received voice message to one or more recipient identifiers for identifying the intended recipient;
preparing a notification message including at least the retrieval telephone number assigned to the received voice message; and
sending the notification message to the intended recipient that, when selected by the intended recipient, causes the voice message to be retrieved from the database.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A voice message service provider enables users to access voice messages through a first access point for creating voice messages and a second access point for retrieving the created voice messages. In one implementation, a user calls the first access point to create a message, and the voice message provider indexes the created voice message with a message retrieval telephone number and one or more recipient identifiers. A notification message containing the message retrieval telephone number is sent to the intended recipient to provide notification of the voice message. The intended recipient may retrieve the voice message by calling the message retrieval number contained within the notification message and providing the recipient identifier. The voice message service provider identifies the voice message associated with the message retrieval number and recipient identifier and returns the voice message to the intended recipient.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. At a voice message provider, a method of retrieving delivering voice messages to an intended recipient, comprising:
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receiving a voice message from a sender directed to an intended recipient; storing the voice message in a database; assigning a retrieval telephone number to the received voice message; correlating the retrieval telephone number and the received voice message to one or more recipient identifiers for identifying the intended recipient; preparing a notification message including at least the retrieval telephone number assigned to the received voice message; and sending the notification message to the intended recipient that, when selected by the intended recipient, causes the voice message to be retrieved from the database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. At a handheld device of an intended recipient and in a computerized environment in which intended recipients receive one or more voice messages from senders through a voice message provider, a method of retrieving voice messages, comprising:
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receiving a notification message from a voice message provider, the notification message notifying an intended recipient of a voice message stored at a central storage location and addressed to the intended recipient, the notification message including a retrieval telephone number; receiving an indication from the intended recipient that the voice message is to be retrieved; automatically calling the retrieval telephone number included in the voice message; and accessing the voice message from a voice message provider. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A voice messaging system, comprising:
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a first access point configured to receive a voice message from a voice message sender directed to an intended recipient; a storage device configured to store the voice message received from the voice message sender; an index configured to correlate a message retrieval telephone number to the voice message and to one or more recipient identifiers for identifying the intended recipient, wherein each combination of a given message retrieval telephone number and recipient identifier is unique; a notification module configured to send a notification message to the intended recipient, wherein the notification message includes the message retrieval number correlated to the voice message, that when dialed, enables the intended recipient to access the voice message; and a second access point configured to receive a call initiated by the intended recipient by dialing the message retrieval telephone number contained in the notification message, and further configured to return the voice message correlated with the recipient identifier and the retrieval number to the voice message recipient. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification