ELECTRONIC MAIL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FOR INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS
First Claim
1. An electronic mail gateway to facilitate delivery of cross-media messages from an online information service to a telecommunications service comprising:
- an electronic mail messaging system of an online information service for managing electronic mail messages addressed to subscribers of said online information service;
a subscriber profile database for storing rules to be applied to electronic mail messages arriving at said electronic mail messaging system, said rules comprising subscriber preferences for receiving electronic mail messages at a telecommunications service;
a telecommunications service mailbox associated with said electronic mail messaging system for delivering to said telecommunication service electronic mail messages addressed to said subscribers of said online information service;
an electronic mail distributor connected to said electronic mail messaging system for;
(1) applying said rules to electronic mail messages addressed to said subscribers of said online information service arriving at said electronic mail messaging system;
(2) accessing a telecommunications service routing information database to locate routing information for said telecommunications service mailbox; and
(3) modifying said electronic mail messages according to said routing information for routing of said electronic mail messages to said telecommunications service mailbox for receipt by a computer at said telecommunications service that facilitates access to said electronic mail messages by subscribers specifying a preference for receiving electronic mail messages at said telecommunications service.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system is disclosed for integrated electronic mail, voice mail, and fax mail messaging. A common message format is defined for use by an electronic mail service and a telecommunications service so electronic mail messages that may include voice and fax mail attachments may be exchanged between the services. Message senders and receivers may choose from a variety of filter and forward options that allow them to manage their communications and specify a preference for receiving messages at the electronic mail or telecommunications service. Forwarding and conversion of messages is performed automatically. The options are used to define a set of rules to be applied to inbound and outbound messages so that messages are sent and received in accordance with the preferences of the senders and receivers.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An electronic mail gateway to facilitate delivery of cross-media messages from an online information service to a telecommunications service comprising:
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an electronic mail messaging system of an online information service for managing electronic mail messages addressed to subscribers of said online information service; a subscriber profile database for storing rules to be applied to electronic mail messages arriving at said electronic mail messaging system, said rules comprising subscriber preferences for receiving electronic mail messages at a telecommunications service; a telecommunications service mailbox associated with said electronic mail messaging system for delivering to said telecommunication service electronic mail messages addressed to said subscribers of said online information service; an electronic mail distributor connected to said electronic mail messaging system for; (1) applying said rules to electronic mail messages addressed to said subscribers of said online information service arriving at said electronic mail messaging system; (2) accessing a telecommunications service routing information database to locate routing information for said telecommunications service mailbox; and (3) modifying said electronic mail messages according to said routing information for routing of said electronic mail messages to said telecommunications service mailbox for receipt by a computer at said telecommunications service that facilitates access to said electronic mail messages by subscribers specifying a preference for receiving electronic mail messages at said telecommunications service. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for facilitating delivery of cross-media messaging from an online information service to a telecommunications service comprising:
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(a) associating a telecommunications service mailbox with an electronic mail messaging system of said online information service, said telecommunications service mailbox for receiving electronic mail messages addressed to subscribers of said online information service; (b) storing in a subscriber profile database rules to be applied to electronic mail messages arriving at said electronic mail messaging system, said rules comprising subscriber preferences for receiving electronic mail messages at said telecommunications service; (c) applying said rules to electronic mail messages arriving at said electronic mail messaging system of said online information service; (d) accessing a telecommunications service routing information database to locate routing information for said telecommunications service mailbox; (e) routing certain ones of said electronic mail messages to said telecommunications service by formatting said electronic mail messages with said routing information for delivery to said telecommunications service mailbox; and (f) processing a request for delivery of said electronic mail messages from said telecommunications service mailbox to a telecommunications service computer that facilitates access to said electronic mail messages by subscribers specifying a preference for receiving electronic mail messages at said telecommunications service. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for delivering electronic mail messages to a telecommunications service for retrieval by recipients of said electronic mail messages comprising the steps of:
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(a) accepting at an electronic mail gateway of an online information service an electronic mail message from an electronic messaging system, said electronic mail message comprising an address for delivering said electronic mail message to a recipient mailbox at said online information service; (b) locating from a profile database a profile associated with a recipient of said electronic mail message, said profile including forwarding instructions; (c) accessing a telecommunications service routing information database to locate routing information for an electronic mailbox in association with said telecommunications service; (d) routing said electronic mail message in accordance with said forwarding instructions and said routing information for said electronic mailbox in association with said telecommunications service; (e) processing at said electronic mail gateway a request for delivery of said electronic mail messages from said electronic mailbox in association with said telecommunications service by a computer that facilitates access to said electronic mail messages by recipients that have specified a preference for receiving electronic mail messages at said telecommunications service. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification