Method and system for delivering a voice message via an alias e-mail address
First Claim
1. A method of delivering a message to a called party in response to a call from a calling party comprising the steps of:
- receiving in a voice-mail system the call from the calling party for the called party when the called party is unavailable,determining if the called party is a subscriber to an alias telephone number e-mail system;
knowing the called party'"'"'s telephone number;
if the called party is determined to be a subscriber to an alias telephone number e-mail system, formulating the message in response to the call in a file which can be transmitted on a computer network;
transmitting on the computer network an e-mail message including the file to an alias telephone number e-mail address associated with the called party, the alias telephone number e-mail address comprising the called party'"'"'s telephone number at a domain name;
determining the called party'"'"'s actual e-mail address; and
forwarding the e-mail message to the called party'"'"'s actual e-mail address.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A subscriber to alias telephone number e-mail system can retrieve both their voice-mail messages and e-mail messages by accessing only their e-mail system. Specifically, when a calling party calls the subscriber of an alias e-mail system who is unavailable to take the call, and leaves a voice-mail message on a network-based voice-mail system, the voice-mail system stores the message. The network-based voice-mail system then determines, through a network-based database retrieval, whether the called party is a subscriber to an alias telephone number e-mail system. In such a system, e-mail messages are addressed with a name portion including a subscriber'"'"'s telephone number. A translation server then translates the alias telephone number e-mail address to the subscriber'"'"'s actual e-mail address and forwards the message to the subscriber. If the called party is determined to be a subscriber to such a system, the voice-mail system converts the stored voice-mail message into a text or a .WAV file and includes the converted message in an e-mail message addressed to the called party/subscriber'"'"'s alias telephone number e-mail address for transmission over the Internet. The translation server then converts the alias telephone number e-mail address to the subscriber'"'"'s actual e-mail address and forwards the e-mail message to the called party/subscriber'"'"'s e-mail repository server at that actual address for later retrieval by the called party.
284 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of delivering a message to a called party in response to a call from a calling party comprising the steps of:
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receiving in a voice-mail system the call from the calling party for the called party when the called party is unavailable, determining if the called party is a subscriber to an alias telephone number e-mail system; knowing the called party'"'"'s telephone number; if the called party is determined to be a subscriber to an alias telephone number e-mail system, formulating the message in response to the call in a file which can be transmitted on a computer network; transmitting on the computer network an e-mail message including the file to an alias telephone number e-mail address associated with the called party, the alias telephone number e-mail address comprising the called party'"'"'s telephone number at a domain name; determining the called party'"'"'s actual e-mail address; and forwarding the e-mail message to the called party'"'"'s actual e-mail address. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of delivering a voice message to a called party in response to a call from a calling party comprising the steps of:
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receiving the voice message from the calling party for the called party when the called party is unavailable, determining if the called party is a subscriber to an alias telephone number e-mail system; knowing the called party'"'"'s telephone number; if the called party is determined to be a subscriber to an alias telephone number e-mail system, converting the voice message into a form which can be transmitted on a computer network; transmitting on the computer network to an alias telephone number e-mail address associated with the called party an e-mail message including the converted voice message, the alias telephone number e-mail address comprising the called part'"'"'s telephone number at a domain name; determining the called party'"'"'s actual e-mail address; and forwarding the e-mail message to the called party'"'"'s actual e-mail address. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
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10. A network-based system for delivering a message to a called party in reponse to a call from a calling party comprising:
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a network-based voice-mail system which receives the call from the calling party for the called party when the subscriber is unavailable; means for determining whether the called party is a subscriber to an alias telephone number e-mail system; means for formulating the message in response to the call in a file which can be transmitted on a computer network if the called party is determined to be a subscriber to an alias telephone number e-mail system; means for transmitting on the computer network to the called party'"'"'s alias telephone number e-mail address an e-mail message including the file, the called party'"'"'s alias telephone number e-mail address comprising the called party'"'"'s telephone number at a domain name; a database for storing the called party telephone number and its corresponding, actual e-mail address; means for translating the alias telephone number e-mail address of the call party comprising the called party'"'"'s telephone number to the called party'"'"'s actual e-mail address; and means for forwarding the e-mail message to the called party'"'"'s actual e-mail address. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A network-based system for delivering a voice message to a called party in reponse to a call from a calling party comprising:
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a network-based voice-mail system which receives the call from the calling party for the called party when the called party is unavailable; means for determining whether the called party is a subscriber to an alias telephone number e-mail system; means for converting the voice message for the called party into a form which can be transmitted on a computer network if the called party is determined to be a subscriber to an alias telephone number e-mail system; means for transmitting on the computer network to the called party'"'"'s alias telephone number e-mail address an e-mail message including the converted message for the caled party the called party'"'"'s alias telephone number e-mail address comprising the called party'"'"'s telephone number at a domain name; a database for storing the called party'"'"'s telephone number and its corresponding, actual e-mail address; means for translating the alias telephone number e-mail address of the called party to the called party'"'"'s actual e-mail address; and means for forwarding the e-mail message to the called party'"'"'s actual e-mail address. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of delivering a text message corresponding to a voice message to a called party when the called party is not available comprising the steps of
receiving a voice message in a voice-mail system for the called party when the called party is not available, converting the voice message to a text message and delivering the text message to the called party at the called party'"'"'s e-mail address characterized by the steps of storing at a database the called party'"'"'s telephone number and its associated actual e-mail address; -
transmitting the text message to an alias e-mail address comprising at least in part the called party'"'"'s telephone number at a domain name; and converting the alias e-mail address to the associated actual e-mail address for delivery of the converted text message.
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20. A network-based system for delivering a text message corresponding to a voice message to a called party when the called party is not available comprising
voice-mail apparatus for receiving a voice message in a voice-mail system when the called party is not available, a voice to text converter for converting the voice message to a text message and a transmitter for transmitting the text message to the called party at the called party'"'"'s actual e-mail address characterized by a database for storing a called party telephone number associated with an actual e-mail address and and a translation server coupled to said database and responsive to receipt of an alias e-mail address comprising at least in part the called party'"'"'s telephone number at a domain name from an e-mail server, said translation server for translating said alias e-mail address to its corresponding actual e-mail address for delivery of said converted message to said actual e-mail address.
Specification