Automatic synchronization of address directories for unified messaging
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A messaging system comprising:
- a post office including a first enterprise wide address directory, said first address directory being updatable and including a directory record for each addressable entity in said messaging system, each directory record of said first address directory including addressing and other information relating to the associated addressable entity, said post office also including a mailbox for each addressable entity in said messaging system in which messages relating to the associated addressable entity are stored;
a second enterprise wide address directory including a directory record for each addressable entity in said messaging system, each directory record of said second address directory including a subset of the addressing and other information relating to the associated addressable entity that is stored in the corresponding directory record of said first address directory;
a telephony messaging application handling incoming telephone calls and communicating with said post office, said telephony messaging application forwarding messages to said post office for storage in mailboxes associated with addressable entities in said messaging system and retrieving messages from mailboxes in response to input commands, said telephony messaging application accessing said second address directory for addressable entity address information to enable enterprise wide messaging to be performed via said telephony messaging application; and
a synchronization mechanism synchronizing the addressing and other information of each directory record in the second address directory with addressing and other information of the corresponding directory record in the first address directory, said synchronization mechanism being triggered in response to selected events and at programmable selected intervals.
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Abstract
A messaging system to store and retrieve messages for playback in response to user input commands includes a telephony messaging application responsive to incoming calls. A directory stores addressing information concerning addressable entities within the messaging system. The telephony messaging application accesses the directory in response to caller address queries. A post office stores user messages and includes addressing information concerning addressable entities within the messaging system. A synchronization mechanism synchronizes the addressing information in the directory with addressing information in the post office.
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Citations
47 Claims
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1. A messaging system comprising:
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a post office including a first enterprise wide address directory, said first address directory being updatable and including a directory record for each addressable entity in said messaging system, each directory record of said first address directory including addressing and other information relating to the associated addressable entity, said post office also including a mailbox for each addressable entity in said messaging system in which messages relating to the associated addressable entity are stored;
a second enterprise wide address directory including a directory record for each addressable entity in said messaging system, each directory record of said second address directory including a subset of the addressing and other information relating to the associated addressable entity that is stored in the corresponding directory record of said first address directory;
a telephony messaging application handling incoming telephone calls and communicating with said post office, said telephony messaging application forwarding messages to said post office for storage in mailboxes associated with addressable entities in said messaging system and retrieving messages from mailboxes in response to input commands, said telephony messaging application accessing said second address directory for addressable entity address information to enable enterprise wide messaging to be performed via said telephony messaging application; and
a synchronization mechanism synchronizing the addressing and other information of each directory record in the second address directory with addressing and other information of the corresponding directory record in the first address directory, said synchronization mechanism being triggered in response to selected events and at programmable selected intervals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. In a messaging system, a method for synchronizing addressing information stored in a directory of a telephony messaging application with updatable addressing information stored in a directory of a post office, said method comprising the steps of:
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at selected programmable intervals, determining if changes to the addressing information in said post office directory have been made and if so, updating corresponding addressing information in said telephony messaging application directory; and
in response to selected changes in addressing information in said post office directory, updating the corresponding addressing information in said telephony messaging application directory. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
firing a timer at said selected intervals; - and
updating the addressing information in said telephony messaging application directory in response to said timer if changes have been made to the corresponding addressing information in said post office directory.
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25. A method of claim 24 further comprising the steps of:
validating all of the addressing information in said telephony messaging application directory with corresponding addressing information in said post office directory at specified second intervals.
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26. A method of claim 25 further comprising the steps of:
synchronizing clocks in said telephony messaging application and said post office at regular intervals corresponding with said selected intervals.
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27. In a messaging system, a method for synchronizing addressing information stored in a directory of a telephony messaging application with updatable addressing information stored in a directory of a post office, said method comprising the steps of:
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at first selected programmable intervals, determining if changes to addressing information in the post office directory have been made and if so, updating the addressing information in the telephony messaging application directory, in response to selected changes in addressing information in the post office directory, updating the addressing information in the telephony messaging application directory; and
at selected second intervals validating all addressing information in the post office directory and telephony messaging directory thereby to maintain the integrity of the addressing information therein. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A messaging system comprising:
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a post office including a first enterprise wide address directory, said first address directory being updatable and including a directory record for each addressable entity in said messaging system, each directory record of said first address directory including addressing and other information relating to the associated addressable entity, said post office also including a mailbox for each addressable entity in said messaging system in which messages relating to the associated addressable entity are stored;
a second enterprise wide address directory including a directory record for each addressable entity in said messaging system, each directory record of said second address directory including a subset of the addressing and other information relating to the associated addressable entity that is stored in the corresponding directory record of said first address directory;
a telephony messaging application handling incoming telephone calls and communicating with said post office, said telephony messaging application forwarding messages to said post office for storage in mailboxes associated with addressable entities in said messaging system and retrieving messages from mailboxes in response to input commands, said telephony messaging application accessing said second address directory for addressable entity address information to enable enterprise wide messaging to be performed via said telephony messaging application;
a timer firing at first intervals; and
a synchronization mechanism synchronizing the addressing and other information of each directory record in the second address directory with addressing and other information of the corresponding directory record in the first address directory, said synchronization mechanism being triggered in response to selected events and in response to firing of said timer at said first intervals. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification