Simultaneous voice/data answering machine
DCFirst Claim
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1. A method for use in a modem for storing a message comprising the steps of:
- creating in the modem a pair of distinct interrelated fields for separately storing and retrieving a first message and a second message, assigning a discrete message identification number to each of the fields for use in subsequently retrieving said first message and said second message, where one field is associated with said first message and the remaining field is associated with said second message, retaining control of said first message and said second message within the modem;
controlling, from the modem, a first storage device to store the first message and the field associated with the first message on the first storage device; and
controlling, from the modem, a second storage device to store the second message and the field associated with the second message on the second storage device.
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Abstract
A simultaneous voice and data modem coordinates the storage of voice messages and data messages on an audio answering machine and a personal computer, respectively. This allows the called party to subsequently retrieve, via the simultaneous voice and data modem, both a voice message and an associated data message, i.e., a multimedia message, where the called party listens to the voice message while viewing the data message. The called party can retrieve the multimedia message either locally or from a remote location.
90 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method for use in a modem for storing a message comprising the steps of:
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creating in the modem a pair of distinct interrelated fields for separately storing and retrieving a first message and a second message, assigning a discrete message identification number to each of the fields for use in subsequently retrieving said first message and said second message, where one field is associated with said first message and the remaining field is associated with said second message, retaining control of said first message and said second message within the modem; controlling, from the modem, a first storage device to store the first message and the field associated with the first message on the first storage device; and controlling, from the modem, a second storage device to store the second message and the field associated with the second message on the second storage device. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A method for providing a message for use in answering data communications equipment, the method comprising the steps of:
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answering an incoming telephone call; alerting an audio answering device to the incoming telephone call; alerting a data terminal equipment to the incoming telephone call; providing a pair of distinct interrelated fields for separately storing and retrieving a first message and a second message, one message each to the audio answering device and the data terminal equipment for storage therein; providing an audio signal to the audio answering device for storage therein, where the audio signal represents a voice message generated by a calling party; and providing a data signal to the data terminal equipment for storage therein, where the data signal is generated by the calling party wherein the distinct interrelated pair of fields links the voice message and the data message.
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4. Apparatus for controlling an audio answering machine and a data terminal, the apparatus comprising:
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first port for coupling to the data terminal; second port for coupling to the audio answering machine; third port for coupling to a communications channel for receiving an audio message and a data message; and means for providing a distinct field associated with the received audio message to the audio answering machine for storage thereon and another distinct field associated with the received data message to the data terminal for storage thereon, for separately storing and retrieving the audio message and the data message. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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6. A modem for controlling voice and data answering machines, the modem comprising:
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means for receiving a voice signal and a data signal from a communications channel; means for providing a) a distinct first message identification field for separately storing and retrieving the voice signal, and b) the voice signal to the voice answering device; and means for providing a) a distinct second message identification field for separately storing and retrieving the data signal, and b) the data signal to the data answering device.
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7. A multimedia messaging system comprising:
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an audio answering device for storing an audio message; a data terminal equipment for storing a data message; and a modem apparatus that coordinates the retrieval of both the audio message and the data message for presentation to a user by creating a distinct first message identification field for separately storing and retrieving the audio message, and a distinct second message identification field for separately storing and retrieving the data message, where said modem retains control of said audio message and said data message. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A multimedia messaging system comprising:
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an audio answering device for storing an audio message; a data terminal equipment for storing a data message; a modem apparatus that coordinates the retrieval of both the audio message and the data message for presentation to a user where said modem retains control of said audio message and said data message; means for coupling to the audio answering device; means for coupling to the data terminal equipment; means for receiving a message field from the audio answering device, the message field including a message identifier associated with the audio message; and means for providing a command to the data terminal equipment to retrieve the data message, where the command includes the message identifier. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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Specification