Method and system for voice messaging

• US 6,907,112 B1
• Filed: 11/22/1999
• Issued: 06/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ONMOBILE LIVE, INC. (Onmobile Global Limited)
• Original Assignee: NMS Communications Corporation (Live Microsystems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Guedalia, Jacob L., Guedalia, David, Guedalia, Josh
• Primary Examiner(s): WEAVER, SCOTT LOUIS
• Application Number:
  US09/444,545
• Time in Patent Office: 2,031 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.12, 379/88.13, 379/88.14, 379/88.16, 379/88.17, 379/88.18, 709/200, 709/206, 455/414.4
• US Class Current: 379/88.17
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2016 Call initiation by network rather than by subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4536 Voicemail combined with text-based messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/533 Voice mail systems

Abstract

This invention discloses a voice communication system including a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections, a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling e-mail communication between said nodes, a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of the computer network and being actuable by an input received from one of the multiplicity of telephones via the telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of the multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over the computer network.

A method of voice communication including a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes,

the computer network enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections; and

a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network and being actuated by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network,

wherein the system also provides Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network.

2. A communication system according to claim 1 and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user is communicating using a user'"'"'s telephone via said telephone network with a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

3. A communication system according to claim 1 and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user has communicated voice via said telephone network and said computer network using a users telephone and a users voice response computer.

4. A communication system according to claim 1, and wherein said voice response computers are operative to convert Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) to an Instant Messaging communication protocol.

5. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections; and

a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network and being actuated by an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving voice communicated via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network and providing a voice output to a telephone via said telephone network,

wherein the system also provides Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent from user-selected destinations via said computer network.

6. A communication system according to claim 5 and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent from user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user is communicating using a user'"'"'s telephone via said telephone network with a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

7. A communication system according to claim 5 and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent from user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user has communicated voice via said telephone network and said computer network using a user'"'"'s telephone and a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

8. A communication system according to claim 5 and wherein said voice response computers are capable of sensing the presence of a link to an audio file.

9. A communication system according to claim 8 and wherein said voice response computers are capable of accessing said audio file via said link for playing said audio file to a recipient.

10. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes,

the computer network enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections; and

a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network and being actuated by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network, each voice response computer also being actuated by an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving voice communicated via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network and providing a voice output to a telephone via said telephone network,

the system also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network.

11. A communication system according to claim 10 and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user is communicating using a user'"'"'s telephone via said telephone network with a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

12. A communication system according to claim 10 and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user has communicated voice via said telephone network and said computer network using a user'"'"'s telephone and a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

13. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections,

wherein said telephone network comprises a cellular telephone network;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections; and

a multiplicity of computers, each computer being connected to a node of said computer network and being actuated by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating messages received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a telephone compatible Internet communication language over said computer network, at least one of senders or recipients of said messages being user-selected destinations.

14. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections,

wherein said telephone network comprises a cellular telephone network;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections; and

a multiplicity of computers, each computer being connected to a node of said computer network and being actuated by an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving messages communicated via a telephone compatible Internet communication language over said computer network and providing a telephone compatible Internet communication language output to a telephone via said telephone network, at least one of senders or recipients of said messages being user-selected destinations.

15. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections,

wherein said telephone network comprises a cellular telephone network;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication; and

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections; and

a multiplicity of computers, each computer being connected to a node of said computer network and being actuated by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating messages received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a telephone compatible Internet communication language over said computer network, each computer also being actuated by an input received from one of said multiplicity of computers via said computer network for receiving messages communicated over said computer network and providing a telephone compatible Internet communication language output to a telephone via said telephone network, at least one of senders or recipients of said messages being user-selected destinations.

16. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes, the computer network enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication; and

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

at least one database connected to said computer network and storing e-mail communications between said nodes; and

at least one voice response computer connected at a node of said computer network, and said at least one voice response computer being capable of accessing said at least one database;

and wherein at least one proxy is interposed between said at least one voice response computer and said at least one database.

17. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes, the computer network enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections; and

a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network and being actuated by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

and wherein said voice response computers communicate with a database.

18. A communication system according to claim 17 and wherein said database is a Structured Query Language (SQL) database.

19. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes, the computer network enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections; and

a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network and being actuated by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

and wherein said multiplicity of voice response computers is actuated by the sender choosing an e-mail address of a recipient from a pre-defined directory.

20. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes, the computer network enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections; and

a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network and being actuated by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

and wherein said multiplicity of voice response computers are actuated by the sender entering an e-mail address of a recipient via Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) codes.

21. A communication system according to claim 20 and wherein said multiplicity of voice response computers are operative to store in a directory, e-mail addresses entered by a sender.

22. A communication system according to claim 21 and wherein said multiplicity of voice response computers is actuated by the sender entering an e-mail address of a recipient via speech recognition by one of said multiplicity of voice response computers.

23. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a recorder recording a sender'"'"'s voice;

a web server storing the sender'"'"'s voice, said web server storing the sender'"'"'s voice together with the meta-information associated therewith in a single storage unit; and

a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of the sender'"'"'s voice from said web server;

and wherein the recorder spools the senders voice to a local storage facility.

24. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a recorder recording a sender'"'"'s voice;

a web server storing the sender'"'"'s voice, said web server storing the sender'"'"'s voice together with the meta-information associated therewith in a single storage unit;

a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of the sender'"'"'s voice from said web server; and

a transmitter transmitting a sender'"'"'s voice;

and wherein said transmitter transmits said sender'"'"'s voice via Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) PUT to said web server.

25. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a recorder recording a sender'"'"'s voice;

a web server storing the sender'"'"'s voice, said web server storing the sender'"'"'s voice together with the meta-information associated therewith in a single storage unit;

a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of the sender'"'"'s voice from said web server; and

a transmitter transmitting a sender'"'"'s voice;

and wherein the transmitter spools the sender'"'"'s voice to a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server.

26. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a recorder recording a senders voice;

a web server storing the sender'"'"'s voice, said web server storing the senders voice together with the meta-information associated therewith in a single storage unit;

a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of the sender'"'"'s voice from said web server; and

a transmitter transmitting a sender'"'"'s voice;

and wherein the transmitter encodes a sender'"'"'s voice in a compressed format.

27. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a recorder recording a sender'"'"'s voice;

a web server storing the senders voice, said web server storing the senders voice together with the meta-information associated therewith in a single storage unit; and

a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of the sender'"'"'s voice from said web server;

and wherein said web server is operative to encode multiple senders'"'"' voices simultaneously.

28. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a recorder recording a sender'"'"'s voice;

a web server storing the senders voice, said web server storing the sender'"'"'s voice together with the meta-information associated therewith in a single storage unit; and

a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of the sender'"'"'s voice from said web server;

and wherein said web server includes functionality which associates user preferences with recorded user voice elements.

29. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a recorder recording a sender'"'"'s voice;

a web server storing the sender'"'"'s voice, said web server storing the sender'"'"'s voice together with the meta-information associated therewith in a single storage unit; and

a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of the sender'"'"'s voice from said web server;

and wherein said link connects to at least an advertising medium.

30. A communication system according to claim 29, and wherein said link also connects to an audio file.

31. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes, wherein the computer network enables e-mail communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections; and

at least one database connected to said computer network and storing e-mail communications between said nodes;

wherein each of said multiplicity of databases contains a plurality of mail tables, wherein each mail table has assigned thereto a limited number of users.

32. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes, wherein the computer network enables e-mail communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections; and

at least one database connected to said computer network and storing e-mail communications between said nodes;

and wherein at least one of said multiplicity of databases includes a list of destination addresses.

33. A communication system according to claim 32 and wherein said list comprises a multiplicity of lists of destination addresses.

34. A communication system according to claim 33 and wherein at least one of said multiplicity of databases includes a meta-list for indexing and multiplicity of lists.

35. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a text-to-speech converter converting an e-mail message from text to speech;

a receiver receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message;

an audio player reading the selected e-mail message;

an audio recorder recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing an audio file; and

a transmitter sending the audio file as an attachment to a reply e-mail.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the audio file is a Wave file.

37. The system of claim 36 wherein the audio file is a compressed Wave file.

38. The system of claim 35 and also including a downloader downloading an e-mail message from an e-mail server.

39. The system of claim 35 and also including a mail forwarder forwarding the selected e-mail message to a pager.

40. The system of claim 35 and also including a mail forwarder forwarding the selected e-mail message to a fax machine.

41. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a text-to-speech converter converting an e-mail message from text to speech;

a receiver receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message;

an audio player reading the selected e-mail message;

an audio recorder recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing and audio file;

a computer storing the audio file; and

a transmitter sending a reply e-mail containing a link to the audio file.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein the audio file is a RealAudio file.

43. The system of claim 41 and also including a downloader downloading and e-mail message from an e-mail server.

44. The system of claim 41 and also including a mail forwarder forwarding the selected e-mail message to a pager.

45. The system of claim 41 and also including a mail forwarder forwarding the selected e-mail message to a fax machine.

46. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

playing by a local computer an incoming audio file containing a voice message, the incoming audio file residing on a remote computer; and

saving the incoming audio file as a local audio file on the local computer after said playing steps.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein the incoming audio file is a streaming audio file.

48. The method of claim 47 wherein the streaming audio file if a RealAudio file.

49. The method of claim 46 wherein the local audio file is a Wave file.

50. The method of claim 46 wherein the local audio file is a compressed Wave file.

51. The method of claim 46 wherein the local audio file is a RealAudio file.

52. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

an audio player within a local computer playing an incoming audio file containing a voice message, the incoming audio file residing on a remote computer; and

a data processor saving the incoming audio file as a local audio file on the local computer, after said audio player plays the incoming audio file.

53. The system of claim 52 wherein the incoming audio file is a streaming audio file.

54. The system of claim 53 wherein the streaming audio file is a RealAudio file.

55. The system of claim 52 wherein the local audio file is a Wave file.

56. The system of claim 52 wherein the local audio file is a compressed Wave file.

57. The system of claim 52 wherein the local audio file is a RealAudio file.

58. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a text-to-speech converter converting an e-mail message from text to speech;

a receiver receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message;

a first audio player reading the selected e-mail message;

an audio recorder recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing an audio file;

a transmitter sending the audio file as an attachment to a reply e-mail; and

a second audio player playing the audio file.

59. The system of claim 58 wherein the audio file is a Wave file.

60. The system of claim 58 wherein the audio file is a compressed Wave file.

61. The system of claim 60 and also comprising a decompressor decompressing the audio file.

62. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a text-to-speech converter converting an e-mail message from text to speech;

a receiver receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message;

an audio recorder recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, producing an audio file;

a computer storing the audio file;

a transmitter sending a reply e-mail containing a link to the audio file;

a second audio player playing the audio file; and

a data processor saving the audio file.

63. The system of claim 62 wherein the audio file is a RealAudio file.

64. The system of 62 and wherein said data processor converts the audio file to a designated file format.

65. The system of claim 64 wherein the designated file format is a Wave format.

66. The system of claim 64 wherein the designated file format is a compressed Wave format.

67. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a text-to-speech converter converting an e-mail message from text to speech;

a receiver receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message;

an audio player reading the selected e-mail message;

an audio recorder recording a reply to the selected e-mail message and producing an audio file containing the recorded reply; and

a transmitter sending the audio file to a computer and sending a reply e-mail containing a link to the audio file.

68. The system of claim 67 wherein the audio file is a RealAudio file.

69. The system of claim 67 and also including a downloader downloading an e-mail message from an e-mail server.

70. The system of claim 67 and also including a mail forwarder forwarding the selected e-mail message to a pager.

71. The system of claim 67 and also including a mail forwarder forwarding the selected e-mail messages to a fax machine.

72. A communication system comprising:

a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes and enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

streaming audio link communication apparatus communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

a streaming audio player operative to play said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

a text-to-speech converter converting an e-mail message from text to speech;

a receiver receiving an input request for a selected e-mail message;

a first audio player reading the selected e-mail message;

an audio recorder recording a reply to the selected e-mail message, and producing an audio file containing the recorded reply;

a transmitter sending the audio file to a computer and sending a reply e-mail containing a link to the audio file;

a second audio player playing the audio file; and

a data processor saving the audio file.

73. The system of claim 72 wherein the audio file is a RealAudio file.

74. The system of claim 72 and wherein said data processor converts the audio file to a designated file format.

75. The system of claim 74 wherein the designated file format is a Wave format.

76. The system of claim 74 wherein the designated file format is a compressed Wave format.

77. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

and also comprising the step of providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network.

78. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

and also comprising the step of providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user is communicating using a user'"'"'s telephone via said telephone network with a users voice response computer.

79. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

and also comprising the step of providing Instant Message protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user has communicated voice via said telephone network and said computer network using a user'"'"'s telephone and a users voice response computer.

80. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

and wherein said voice response computers are operative to convert Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) to an Instant Messaging protocol communication protocol.

81. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

wherein said voice response computers communicate with a database;

and wherein said database is a Structured Query Language (SQL) database.

82. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

and comprising the step of actuating at least one of said voice response computers by choosing an e-mail address of a recipient from a pre-defined directory.

83. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

and comprising the step of actuating at least one of said voice response computers by the entering an e-mail address of a recipient via DTMF codes.

84. A method of voice communication according to claim 83 and comprising the step of operating at least one of said voice response computers to store in a directory, e-mail addresses entered by a sender.

85. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

and comprising the step of actuating at least one of said voice response computers by entering an e-mail address of a recipient via speech recognition by the at least one of said multiplicity of voice response computers.

86. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving voice communicated via e-mail over said computer network and providing a voice output to a telephone via said telephone network;

and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent from user-selected destinations via said computer network.

87. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving voice communicated via e-mail over said computer network and providing a voice output to a telephone via said telephone network;

and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent from user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user is communicating using a user'"'"'s telephone via said telephone network with a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

88. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving voice communicated via e-mail over said computer network and providing a voice output to a telephone via said telephone network;

and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent from user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user has communicated voice via said telephone network and said computer network using a user'"'"'s telephone and a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

89. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network;

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

making each voice response computer also actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving voice communicated via e-mail over said computer network; and

providing a voice output to a telephone via said telephone network;

and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network.

90. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network;

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

making each voice response computer also actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving voice communicated via e-mail over said computer network; and

providing a voice output to a telephone via said telephone network;

and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user is communicating using a user'"'"'s telephone via said telephone network with a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

91. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

providing a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network;

making each voice response computer actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via e-mail over said computer network;

making each voice response computer also actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving voice communicated via e-mail over said computer network; and

providing a voice output to a telephone via said telephone network;

and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user has communicated voice via said telephone network and said computer network using a user'"'"'s telephone and a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

92. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer to a node of said computer network; and

making actuable at least one of said voice response computers by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network;

and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network.

93. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer to a node of said computer network; and

making actuable at least one of said voice response computers by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network;

and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user is communicating using a user'"'"'s telephone via said telephone network with a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

94. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer to a node of said computer network; and

making actuable at least one of said voice response computers by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network;

and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user has communicated voice via said telephone network and said computer network using a user'"'"'s telephone and a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

95. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer to a node of said computer network; and

making actuable at least one of said voice response computers by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network;

and comprising the step of operating said voice response computers to convert Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) to an Instant Messaging protocol communication protocol.

96. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer to a node of said computer network; and

making actuable at least one of said voice response computers by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network;

and comprising the step of actuating multiplicity of voice response computers is by choosing an e-mail address of a recipient from a pre-defined directory.

97. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer to a node of said computer network; and

making actuable at least one of said voice response computers by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network;

and comprising the step of actuating said multiplicity of voice response computers by entering an e-mail address of a recipient via Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) codes.

98. A method of voice communication according to claim 97 and comprising the step of operating said multiplicity of voice response computers to store in a directory e-mail addresses entered by a sender.

99. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer to a node of said computer network; and

making actuable at least one of said voice response computers by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network;

and comprising the step of actuating said multiplicity of voice response computers by the entering an e-mail address of a recipient via speech recognition by one of said multiplicity of voice response computers.

100. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

connecting a multiplicity of voice response computers, each voice response computer being connected to a node of said computer network; and

actuating an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving voice communicated via a non-streaming internet protocol over said computer network and providing a voice output to a telephone via said telephone network,

the method also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent from user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user has communicated voice via said telephone network and said computer network using a user'"'"'s telephone and a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

101. A method of voice communication according to claim 100 and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent from user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user is communicating using a user'"'"'s telephone via said telephone network with a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

102. A method of voice communication according to claim 100 and comprising the step of using at least one of said voice response computers to sense the presence of a link to an audio file.

103. A method of voice communication according to claim 102 and comprising the step of being capable of accessing said audio file via said link for playing said audio file to a recipient.

104. A method of voice communication according to claim 102 and wherein said voice response computers are capable of sensing the presence of a link to an audio file in e-mail received thereat.

105. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections,

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting at least one voice response computer of a multiplicity of voice response computers to a node of said computer network; and

actuating a voice response computer by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a non streaming Internet protocol over said computer network, each voice response computer also being actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving voice communicated via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network and providing a voice output to a telephone via said telephone network;

and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network.

106. A method of voice communication according to claim 105 and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user has communicated voice via said telephone network and said computer network using a user'"'"'s telephone and a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

107. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting at least one voice response computer of a multiplicity of voice response computers to a node of said computer network; and

actuating a voice response computer by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating voice received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a non streaming Internet protocol over said computer network, each voice response computer also being actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving voice communicated via a non-streaming Internet protocol over said computer network and providing a voice output to a telephone via said telephone network;

and also providing Instant Messaging protocol functionality whereby communications are sent to user-selected destinations via said computer network indicating that a user is communicating using a user'"'"'s telephone via said telephone network with a user'"'"'s voice response computer.

108. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections, wherein said telephone network comprises a cellular telephone network;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

connecting at least one computer of multiplicity of computers, to a node of said computer network; and

actuating at least one of said computers by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating messages received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a telephone compatible Internet communication language over said computer network, at least one of senders or recipients of said messages being user-selected buddies.

109. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections, wherein said telephone network comprises a cellular telephone network;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

connecting at least one computer of multiplicity of computers, to a node of said computer network; and

actuating at least one of said computers by and input received from one of said multiplicity of voice response computers via said computer network for receiving messages communicated via a telephone compatible Internet communication language over said computer network and providing to telephone compatible Internet communication language output to a telephone via a said telephone network, at least one of senders or recipients of said messages being user-selected buddies.

110. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections, wherein said telephone network comprises a cellular network;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

connecting at least one computer of multiplicity of computers to a node of said computer network; and

actuating at least one of said computers by an input received from one of said multiplicity of telephones via said telephone network for communicating messages received via said one of said multiplicity of telephones via a telephone compatible Internet communication language over said computer network, each computer also being actuable by an input received from one of said multiplicity of computers via said computer network for receiving messages communicated over said computer network and providing a telephone compatible Internet communication language output to a telephone via said telephone network, at least one of senders or recipients of said messages being user-selected buddies.

111. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

providing a recorder recording a senders voice;

providing a web-server storing the senders voice; and

providing a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of sender'"'"'s voice from said web server;

and comprising the step of storing the senders voice together with the meta-information associated therewith in a single storage unit of said web server.

112. A method of voice communication according to claim 111 and comprising the step of spooling the sender'"'"'s voice to a local storage facility in said recorder.

113. A method of voice communication according to claim 111 and also comprising the step of transmitting a sender'"'"'s voice from a transmitter.

114. A method of voice communication according to claim 113 and comprising the step of transmitting said sender'"'"'s voice via Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) PUT to said web server of said transmitter.

115. A method of voice communication according to claim 113 and comprising the step of spooling the sender'"'"'s voice to a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server of said transmitter.

116. A method of voice communication according to claim 113 and comprising the step of encoding a sender'"'"'s voice in a compressed format in said transmitter.

117. A method of voice communication according to claim 113 and comprising the step of including a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server in said web server.

118. A method of voice communication according to claim 113 and comprising the step of including a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server enabled to handle PUT commands in said web server.

119. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

providing a recorder recording a senders voice;

providing a web-server storing the senders voice; and

providing a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of sender'"'"'s voice from said web server;

and comprising the step of operating said web server to encode multiple senders voices simultaneously.

120. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

providing a recorder recording a senders voice;

providing a web-server storing the senders voice; and

providing a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of sender'"'"'s voice from said web server;

and comprising the step of including a functionality which associates user preferences with recorded user voice elements in said web server.

121. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

providing a recorder recording a senders voice;

providing a web-server storing the senders voice; and

providing a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of sender'"'"'s voice from said web server;

and comprising the step of including the following functionality;

formatting the notification for a plurality of participants as a function of at least one parameter of each recipient.

122. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

providing a recorder recording a senders voice;

providing a web-server storing the senders voice; and

providing a notifier sending a notification to at least one recipient, said notification containing a link enabling retrieval of sender'"'"'s voice from said web server;

and comprising the step of connecting said link to at least an advertising medium.

123. A method of voice communication according to claim 122 and also comprising the step of connecting said link also connects to an audio file.

124. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting at least one database to said computer network; and

storing e-mail communications between said nodes;

connecting at least one voice response computer at a node of said computer network, said at least one voice response computer being capable of accessing said at least one database;

and comprising the step of interposing at least one proxy interposed between said at least one voice response computer and said at least one database.

125. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting at least one database to said computer network; and

storing e-mail communications between said nodes;

and wherein each of said multiplicity of databases contains a plurality of mail tables, wherein each mail table has assigned thereto a limited number of users.

126. A method of voice communication comprising the steps of:

providing a telephone network including a multiplicity of telephones interconnected by telephone network interconnections;

providing a computer network having a multiplicity of nodes;

enabling non-streaming Internet protocol communication between said nodes;

communicating to the telephone network a link to streaming audio via said non-streaming Internet protocol communication;

playing said streaming audio from said computer network over at least a portion of said telephone network interconnections;

enabling e-mail communication between said nodes;

connecting at least one database to said computer network; and

storing e-mail communications between said nodes;

and wherein at least one of said multiplicity of databases includes a list of destination addresses.

127. A method of voice communication according to claim 126 and wherein said list comprises a multiplicity of lists of destination addresses.

128. A method of voice communication according to claim 127 and wherein at least one of said multiplicity of databases includes a meta-list for indexing said multiplicity of lists.