Voice processing system
First Claim
1. A voice processing system for connection to a public telephone network and having a digital communications link to two or more voice mail systems, each supporting a plurality of subscriber voice mailboxes, and wherein no subscriber mailboxes are stored on said voice processing system, said system including:
- means for receiving over the public telephone network a voice message for a subscriber to one of said two or more voice mail systems, said voice message being from a caller who is not necessarily a subscriber to any of said two or more voice mail systems;
means for determining the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox by accessing a directory listing substantially all the subscribers who have a voice mailbox on said two or more voice mail systems;
means for temporarily storing the received voice message; and
means, responsive to said determination, for transmitting in digital format the stored voice message to the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of providing a voice mail service is disclosed using a voice processing system having a communications link to one or more voice mail systems. A voice message for a subscriber to said one or more voice mail systems is received at said voice processing system, which prompts a determination as to the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox. The voice message is the transmitted to the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox. In the preferred embodiment, the communications link forms part of the Internet, and received messages are processed independently by two separate voice processing systems to provide redundancy.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A voice processing system for connection to a public telephone network and having a digital communications link to two or more voice mail systems, each supporting a plurality of subscriber voice mailboxes, and wherein no subscriber mailboxes are stored on said voice processing system, said system including:
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means for receiving over the public telephone network a voice message for a subscriber to one of said two or more voice mail systems, said voice message being from a caller who is not necessarily a subscriber to any of said two or more voice mail systems; means for determining the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox by accessing a directory listing substantially all the subscribers who have a voice mailbox on said two or more voice mail systems; means for temporarily storing the received voice message; and means, responsive to said determination, for transmitting in digital format the stored voice message to the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of providing a voice mail service using a voice processing system connected to a public telephone network and having a digital communications link to two or more voice mail systems, each supporting a plurality of subscriber voice mailboxes, and wherein no subscriber mailboxes are stored on said voice processing system, said method including the steps of:
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receiving a voice message over the public telephone network for a subscriber to one of said two or more voice mail systems at said voice processing system, said voice message being from a caller who is not necessarily a subscriber to any of said two or more voice mail systems; determining the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox by accessing a directory listing substantially all the subscribers who have a voice mailbox on said two or more voice mail systems; temporarily storing the received voice message on said voice processing system; and transmitting in digital format the stored voice message to the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A method of providing a voice mail service using at least two voice processing systems, each voice processing system comprising a voice mail system including subscriber mailboxes and having a communications link to one or more voice mail systems, said method including the steps of:
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receiving a voice message for a subscriber to said one or more voice mail systems at any one of said voice processing systems, wherein calls for a particular subscriber having a mailbox on one of said at least two voice processing systems are preferentially received by the voice processing system on which the mailbox is located; determining the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox; and transmitting the voice message to the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox.
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36. A system for providing voice mail service comprising at least two voice processing systems, each connected to a public telephone network and having associated therewith a database containing a directory of subscribers to said voice mail service, and at least two voice mail systems for storing voice mailboxes for subscribers to said voice mail service, said at least two voice processing systems and said at least two voice mail systems being connected together by a disital communications link, wherein no subscriber mailboxes are stored on said voice processing systems, said system including:
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means for routing an incoming call for a subscriber received over the public telephone network to a selected one of said voice processing systems, said call being from a caller who is not necessarily a subscriber to any of said two or more voice mail systems, means at said selected voice processing system for receiving a voice message for a subscriber to said voice mail service; means at said selected voice processing system for using said associated directory to determine the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox; means, responsive to said determination, for transmitting the voice message in digital format over said communications link to the voice mail system on which said subscriber has a voice mailbox. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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Specification