Delivery of voice data from multimedia messaging service messages
First Claim
1. In a communication system, a method of initiating delivery of an instant voice message to a recipient device, comprising:
- receiving a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message for a recipient from a sender device at a message server without the sender device placing a call to the recipient, the sender device associated with a messaging service that includes the message server and an interactive voice response (IVR) system, the MMS message designating a recipient, wherein the sender device is associated with the message server and the recipient device is not associated with the message server;
determining the content of the MMS message;
if the MMS message includes audio content, storing the audio content in an interactive voice response (IVR) system;
initiating transmission of a Short Message Service (SMS) notification to the recipient device, the SMS notification including information permitting the recipient device to access the IVR system; and
transmitting the stored audio content from the IVR system to the recipient device.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Delivering the content of an audio-only Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message to a recipient without requiring the recipient device to be MMS-enabled. A sender creates an MMS message, and sends it to the device of the intended recipient. If the recipient device is not MMS-enabled and the MMS message contains only audio content, the message is conveyed to a message server, where the audio content is transcoded and stored in an IVR system or other location accessible to the recipient. If the intended recipient device supports the SMS protocol, an SMS notification alerting the recipient to the arrival of a new message is transmitted. If the recipient device is neither MMS- nor SMS-enabled, the recipient can be alerted of the receipt of an MMS message by voicemail, email, instant message, page, or another medium able to effect delivery. The notification includes instructions for accessing the message from the IVR system.
90 Citations
29 Claims
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1. In a communication system, a method of initiating delivery of an instant voice message to a recipient device, comprising:
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receiving a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message for a recipient from a sender device at a message server without the sender device placing a call to the recipient, the sender device associated with a messaging service that includes the message server and an interactive voice response (IVR) system, the MMS message designating a recipient, wherein the sender device is associated with the message server and the recipient device is not associated with the message server; determining the content of the MMS message; if the MMS message includes audio content, storing the audio content in an interactive voice response (IVR) system; initiating transmission of a Short Message Service (SMS) notification to the recipient device, the SMS notification including information permitting the recipient device to access the IVR system; and transmitting the stored audio content from the IVR system to the recipient device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. In a communication system, a method of enabling a recipient having a recipient device that is not Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)-enabled to receive audio content from an MMS message and to respond thereto, comprising:
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sending audio content of an MMS message to a recipient, including; receiving the MMS message from a sender device without the sender device placing a call to the recipient, the message including only audio content, wherein the sender device is associated with a message server that forwards the MMS message and the recipient device is not associated with the message server; storing the audio content in a first interactive voice response (IVR) system from which the recipient accesses the audio content; and initiating transmission of a Short Message Service (SMS) notification to the recipient device, the SMS notification including information permitting the recipient device to access the voice content from the first IVR system; and sending a reply from the recipient to the sender of the MMS message, including; in the first IVR system, recording a reply message that is created by the recipient and is to be delivered to the sender; transcoding the audio content of the reply message to an MMS format to create an MMS reply message; and initiating transmission of the MMS reply message to the sender device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. In a communication system, a method of initiating delivery of a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message to a recipient, the method comprising:
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receiving an MMS message designating a recipient device of a recipient at a message server from a sender device without the sender device placing a call to the recipient, wherein the sender device is associated with the message server and the recipient device is not associated with the message server, wherein the recipient device does not have the capability of directly processing the MMS message, the MMS message including only audio content; storing the audio content of the MMS message; determining an alternate mechanism for apprising the recipient about the audio content of the MMS message; and transmitting the stored audio content of the MMS message to the recipient. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification