Saving and forwarding customized messages
First Claim
1. A method of presenting a customized message to a calling party and for allowing the calling party to save or forward the customized message, comprising:
- saving a customized message from a called party for presentation to the calling party;
associating the customized message with an identifier other than a telephone directory number of the calling party;
receiving a call from the calling party directed to the called party;
determining whether the call from the calling party is associated with the customized message;
if the call from the calling party is associated with the customized message, playing the customized message from the called party to the calling party;
after playing the customized message to the calling party, receiving an indication from the calling party to save the customized message from the called party to a location designated by the calling party for later retrieval by the calling party, wherein the designated location includes one of a voicemail box and an email address;
if the designated location is a voicemail box, saving the customized message to the voicemail box designated by the calling party for later retrieval by the calling party; and
if the designated location is an email address, mailing electronically the customized message to the email address designated by the calling party.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and computer-readable media provide presenting a customized message to an incoming calling party and for allowing the calling party to save or forward the customized message. A called party desiring to leave a customized message for certain incoming calling parties submits a customized message to an intelligent network component of her telecommunications service provider along with identifiers for specified incoming callers who are to receive the customized message upon calling the called party. After the customized message is prepared, incoming callers who have been associated with the customized message are presented with the customized message before being connected to the called party. After an incoming caller receives the customized message, the calling party may store or send the customized message for later retrieval. If the incoming call is not from a telephone directory number associated with the customized message, the incoming call is processed according to normal call processing methods.
103 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of presenting a customized message to a calling party and for allowing the calling party to save or forward the customized message, comprising:
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saving a customized message from a called party for presentation to the calling party; associating the customized message with an identifier other than a telephone directory number of the calling party; receiving a call from the calling party directed to the called party; determining whether the call from the calling party is associated with the customized message; if the call from the calling party is associated with the customized message, playing the customized message from the called party to the calling party; after playing the customized message to the calling party, receiving an indication from the calling party to save the customized message from the called party to a location designated by the calling party for later retrieval by the calling party, wherein the designated location includes one of a voicemail box and an email address; if the designated location is a voicemail box, saving the customized message to the voicemail box designated by the calling party for later retrieval by the calling party; and if the designated location is an email address, mailing electronically the customized message to the email address designated by the calling party. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of presenting a customized message to a calling party and for allowing the calling party to electronically send the customized message, comprising:
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saving a customized message from a called party for presentation to the calling party; associating the customized message with an identifier other than a telephone directory number of the calling party; receiving a call from the calling party directed to the called party; determining whether the call from the calling party is associated with the customized message using the identifier of the calling party; if the call from the calling party is associated with the customized message, playing the customized message to the calling party; after playing the customized message to the calling party, receiving an indication from the calling party to electronically send the customized message to a location designated by the calling party; and sending a text version and a digital voice file version of the customized message to the location designated by the calling party in an electronic mail message. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the instructions including:
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saving a customized message from a called party; associating the customized message with an identifier other than a telephone directory number of a calling party; receiving a call from the calling party directed to the called party; determining whether the call from the calling party is associated with the customized message; if the call from the calling party is associated with the customized message; presenting the customized message to the calling party; receiving an indication from the calling party to store the customized message at a location designated by the calling party, wherein the designated location includes one of a voicemail box and an email address; if the designated location is a voicemail box, storing the customized message to the voicemail box designated by the calling party if the designated location is an email address, mailing electronically the customized message to the email address designated by the calling party. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification