Message management system

• US 5,586,173 A
• Filed: 05/12/1994
• Issued: 12/17/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/1986
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mavenir Ltd. (Mavenir Group Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Comverse Technology, Inc. (Verint Systems Incorporated), Efrat Future Technology Ltd. (Verint Systems Incorporated)
• Inventors: Sandlerman, Nimrod, Misholi, Boaz, Danziger, Itzchak, Kowarsky, Stephen R.
• Primary Examiner(s): BROWN, THOMAS
• Application Number:
  US08/241,990
• Time in Patent Office: 950 Days
• Field of Search: 379/100, 379/96, 379/94, 379/88, 379/89, 358/403, 358/440, 358/468
• US Class Current: 379/88.13
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/54 Store-and-forward switching systems packet switching systems H04L45/00, H04L47/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5307 for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components
• 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: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32 Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device H04N1/38, H04N1/387 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0034 Details of the connection, e.g. connector, interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3261 of multimedia information, e.g. a sound signal

Abstract

A message management system comprising apparatus for producing a multi-media message, including a visually sensible portion and an aurally sensible portion, control apparatus for transmitting the multi-media message to a selected subscriber and apparatus for providing notification to the selected subscriber of the arrival of a multi-media message.

Claims

1. A message management system comprising:

a memory subsystem;

means for interfacing with a telephone network to which a plurality of facsimile machines and associated telephone sets are connected;

means for receiving and storing a combined multi-media message having a facsimile portion and a related aurally sensible portion from one of said facsimile machines and an associated one of said telephone sets, respectively, in said memory subsystem; and

single control means for receiving a subscriber'"'"'s command from a remote location over said telephone network to enable said message, including both said facsimile portion and said related aurally sensible portion, to be received by another at a future time designated by said command.

2. A message management system comprising:

means for interfacing with a telephone network to which a plurality of facsimile machines and associated telephone sets are connected;

means for receiving and storing a combined multi-media message having a facsimile portion and a related aurally sensible portion from one of said facsimile machines and an associated one of said telephone sets, respectively;

single control means, connected to said interfacing means and said receiving means, for;

     1) receiving a command from a remote location over said telephone network to send said combined message, including both said facsimile portion and said related aurally sensible portion, to said plurality of facsimile machines and associated telephone sets, respectively, and

     2) causing said combined message to be sent to each of said plurality of facsimile machines and associated telephone sets specified in said command.

3. A message management system comprising:

means for receiving facsimile messages for a particular subscriber; and

means, associated with said receiving means and responsive to a command received before receipt of said facsimile messages by said receiving means, for automatically forwarding, without subscriber intervention, said facsimile messages received subsequent to said command over a telephone network to a facsimile machine defined by said command.

4. A message management system comprising:

means, connected to a telephone network, for receiving facsimile messages for a particular subscriber from facsimile machines and commands from telephone sets connected to said telephone network; and

means, associated with said receiving means and responsive to one of said commands received over said telephone network from a telephone set before receipt of said facsimile messages by said receiving means, for automatically forwarding, without subscriber intervention, said facsimile messages received subsequent to said one of said commands over said telephone network to a facsimile machine defined by said one of said commands.

5. A message management system comprising:

means for storing facsimile messages in any of a plurality of mailboxes;

means for interfacing said storing means with a telephone network to which a facsimile machine and a telephone set are connected; and

means, connected to said interfacing means and said storing means, for accepting a command from said telephone set to forward any later received facsimile message intended for a particular one of said mailboxes over said telephone network to a facsimile machine defined by said command.