Automatic notification of receipt of electronic mail (e-mail) via telephone system without requiring log-on to e-mail server
DCFirst Claim
1. An automatic electronic mail (e-mail) notification system for use with a computer based communications system and a telephone system, the commnunications system comprising:
- a plurality of computers each having means for sending and receiving e-mail;
a network connecting the computers, the network including;
an e-mail server having means for receiving from the network e-mail messages addressed to selected recipients, andmeans for storing each of the e-mail messages in an addressable mail box having a recipient identifier associated therewith;
the telephone system comprising;
a plurality of telephone nodes, each node having a respective subscriber identifier;
a voice messaging system havinga voice mail notification signal generator for generating a voice mail notification signal in response to the receipt of a voice mail message, andsignal transmitting means for sending the voice mail notification signal to the telephone node corresponding to a subscriber identifier associated with the voice mail message;
the e-mail notification system comprising;
a recipient--subscriber correlator for correlating the recipient identifier of an e-mail message with a respective subscriber identifier;
an e-mail notification signal generator responsive to the receipt of an e-mail message by the e-mail server for actuating the voice mail system to send an e-mail notification signal the telephone node corresponding to the respective subscriber identifier; and
notification means connected to each of the telephone nodes for notifying the recipient of the receipt of the e-mail by the e-mail server in response to receipt of the e-mail notification signal.
2 Assignments
Litigations
1 Petition
Accused Products
Abstract
The automatic e-mail notification system provides for the automatic notification of an e-mail recipient of the presence of e-mail in the recipient'"'"'s e-mail box on a remote e-mail server. The automatic e-mail notification system comprises an e-mail server connected through a computer network to one or more computer systems for receiving e-mail from the computer systems. The e-mail server is also connected through the computer network to a mail notification server and a notification device at a recipient'"'"'s location. The notification device is activated and deactivated by a signal from the mail notification server. The e-mail server generates and sends a data signal containing a message received signal or a message retrieved signal to the mail notification server. The mail notification server in turn generates a notification signal which is sent using the subscriber'"'"'s phone number to the subscriber'"'"'s telephone node thereby activating or deactivating the notification device in response to a respective one of the message received or message retrieved signals. The mail notification server may be included as part of a telephone system voice messaging system. In this case the mail notification server controls the voice messaging system which generates and sends the notification signal.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. An automatic electronic mail (e-mail) notification system for use with a computer based communications system and a telephone system, the commnunications system comprising:
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a plurality of computers each having means for sending and receiving e-mail; a network connecting the computers, the network including; an e-mail server having means for receiving from the network e-mail messages addressed to selected recipients, and means for storing each of the e-mail messages in an addressable mail box having a recipient identifier associated therewith; the telephone system comprising; a plurality of telephone nodes, each node having a respective subscriber identifier; a voice messaging system having a voice mail notification signal generator for generating a voice mail notification signal in response to the receipt of a voice mail message, and signal transmitting means for sending the voice mail notification signal to the telephone node corresponding to a subscriber identifier associated with the voice mail message; the e-mail notification system comprising; a recipient--subscriber correlator for correlating the recipient identifier of an e-mail message with a respective subscriber identifier; an e-mail notification signal generator responsive to the receipt of an e-mail message by the e-mail server for actuating the voice mail system to send an e-mail notification signal the telephone node corresponding to the respective subscriber identifier; and notification means connected to each of the telephone nodes for notifying the recipient of the receipt of the e-mail by the e-mail server in response to receipt of the e-mail notification signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification