Messaging system and method
First Claim
1. A method to be used with a voice messaging system including a processor, a visual display and a plurality of electronic voice mail boxes, one box for each of a plurality of system users, the system enabling at least one user to provide questions in the boxes of each of at least a subset of system users, a user providing a question being an initiator, the system allowing each subset user to listen and respond to the questions using a telephone, the system receiving the questions and subsequently receiving responses, the method for generating a format for viewing a user subset and received responses on the visual display, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) receiving at least one question from the initiator for delivery to the subset of system users;
(b) arranging a display format including response elements for displaying the subset and responses to the at least one question on the visual display, the format dependent on the subset and received questions; and
(c) mapping responses to specific questions from specific users to corresponding response elements for display.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus used with an automatic voice messaging system to allow at least one user to formulate a plurality of questions to be posed to system users requiring specific response types, as questions are posed, a response table for subsequently received responses automatically generated. When responses are received and the question initiator accesses the system, the responses are automatically displayed on a screen in the response table for easy viewing. The response table can also be manually manipulated to add additional information or modify presentation.
117 Citations
61 Claims
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1. A method to be used with a voice messaging system including a processor, a visual display and a plurality of electronic voice mail boxes, one box for each of a plurality of system users, the system enabling at least one user to provide questions in the boxes of each of at least a subset of system users, a user providing a question being an initiator, the system allowing each subset user to listen and respond to the questions using a telephone, the system receiving the questions and subsequently receiving responses, the method for generating a format for viewing a user subset and received responses on the visual display, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving at least one question from the initiator for delivery to the subset of system users; (b) arranging a display format including response elements for displaying the subset and responses to the at least one question on the visual display, the format dependent on the subset and received questions; and (c) mapping responses to specific questions from specific users to corresponding response elements for display. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method to be used with an automatic voice messaging system which includes a memory, a processor, a visual display and a plurality of voice mail boxes, one box for each of a plurality of system users, the system enabling at least one user to provide a plurality of questions in the boxes of each of at least a designated system user subset, the system allowing each subset user to listen to and respond to the questions using a telephone, the system receiving and formatting the response data from each user into a user message packet, the method for visually presenting responses in a table format via the visual display, the table format stored in the memory and including columns and rows, each column including a plurality of column elements, each row including one column element from each column, each of at least a subset of columns being question columns, a separate question column corresponding to each of the questions and including a response element corresponding to a separate subset user, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving the packets; separating each packet into responses, a separate response corresponding to each of the questions; identifying the table format; mapping each response to a response element corresponding to a subset user and a corresponding question column; and displaying the responses on the display in the table format. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. An apparatus to be used with a voice messaging system including a processor, a visual display and a plurality of electronic voice mail boxes, one box for each of a plurality of system users, the system enabling at least one user to provide questions in the boxes of each of at least a subset of system users, a user providing a question being an initiator, the system allowing each subset user to listen and respond to the questions using a telephone, the system receiving the questions and subsequently receiving responses, the apparatus for generating a format for viewing the user subset and received responses on the visual display, the apparatus comprising:
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(a) means for receiving at least one question from the initiator for delivery to the subset of system users; (b) means for arranging a display format including response elements for displaying the subset and responses to at least one question, the format dependent on the subset and received questions; and (c) means for mapping responses to specific questions from specific users to corresponding response elements for display. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. An apparatus to be used with an automatic voice messaging system which includes a memory, a data lead, a processor, a visual display and a plurality of electronic voice mail boxes, one box for each of a plurality of system users, the system enabling at least one user to provide a plurality of questions in the boxes of each of at least a system user subset, the system allowing each subset user to listen to and respond to the questions using a telephone, the system receiving and formatting the response data from each user into a user message packet, the apparatus for visually presenting the responses in a table format via the visual display, the table format stored in the memory and including columns and rows, each column including a plurality of column elements, each row including one column element from each column, each of at least a subset of columns being question columns, a separate question column corresponding to each of the questions and including a response element corresponding to a separate subset user, the apparatus comprising:
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means for receiving the packets; means for separating each packet into responses, a separate response corresponding to each of the questions; means for identifying the table format; means for mapping each response to a response element corresponding to a subset user and a corresponding question column; and means for displaying the responses on the display in the table format. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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Specification