Automated voicemail preservation and deletion

• US 8,731,527 B1
• Filed: 09/22/2010
• Issued: 05/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Naik, Rashmi, Ahmed, Shahid, Venugopal, Arulvadivel
• Primary Examiner(s): ISLAM, MOHAMMAD K
• Application Number:
  US12/888,031
• Time in Patent Office: 1,336 Days
• Field of Search: 370/394, 340/7.2, 455/466, 709/224, 705/26.81
• US Class Current: 455/412.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72433 for voice messaging, e.g. dictaphones for answering incoming calls H04M1/64
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53333 Message receiving aspects

Abstract

Computer storage media may have stored thereon a voicemail application. The voicemail application may be configured to determine whether messages in a voicemail box meet a preservation criterion. If the messages do meet the preservation criterion, the voicemail application may be configured to cause a replica of at least one of the messages to be made and stored outside of the voicemail box. After a message is replicated successfully, it may be deleted from the voice mail box.

Claims

1. Non-transitory, tangible, computer storage medium of a mobile communication device having stored thereon a voicemail application for the mobile communication device, which voicemail application is configured to cause a processor in the mobile communication device to:

analyze voicemail messages in a voicemail box of a voicemail server to determine whether the voicemail messages in the voicemail box cause the voicemail box to meet a mailbox preservation criterion;

mark for deletion at least one of the voicemail messages in the voicemail box upon determining that the voicemail box meets the mailbox preservation criterion;

analyze the voicemail messages in the voicemail box, to determine whether the one or more voicemail messages in the voicemail box meet a message preservation criterion indicating a need to preserve the one or more voicemail messages;

mark for deletion, each one of the voicemail messages in the voicemail box determined to meet the message preservation criterion;

cause a replica of each of the marked voicemail messages to be made; and

cause each replicated message to be stored outside of the voicemail server.

2. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the voicemail box is configured not to accept new messages when the voicemail box reaches a threshold number of messages.

3. The computer storage medium of claim 2 wherein the mailbox preservation criterion is based on the number of messages contained within the voicemail box.

4. The computer storage medium of claim 3 wherein the voicemail application is configured to cause each replicated message to be deleted from the voicemail box after the message is stored.

6. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the voicemail application is configured to automatically make the determination about the mailbox preservation criterion and the message preservation criterion and to automatically cause the replication and storage of any marked message each time the voicemail box receives a new message.

7. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the voicemail application is configured to automatically make the determination about the mailbox preservation criterion and the message preservation criterion and to automatically cause the replication and storage of any marked message on the periodic basis.

8. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the voicemail application is configured to automatically make the determination about the mailbox preservation criterion and the message preservation criterion and to automatically cause the replication and storage of any marked message each time the voicemail application is run by a user.

9. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the voicemail application is configured to cause the replication and storage by causing a replica of the message to be delivered to a user of the voicemail box as an attachment to an email.

10. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the voicemail application is configured to cause the replication and storage by causing a replica of the message to be delivered to and stored within an email message archive system.

11. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the voicemail box is configured to delete messages which reach a threshold age.

12. The computer storage medium of claim 11 wherein the message preservation criterion is based on whether one of the messages is near the threshold age.

13. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the message preservation criterion is based on a privacy attribute of the messages.

14. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the message preservation criterion is based on an urgency attribute of the messages.

15. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the message preservation criterion is based on the length of the messages.

16. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the voicemail application includes a user interface through which a user sets a logical combination of message preservation criteria relating to the messages.

17. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the voicemail application is configured to allow a user to set an action, which the voicemail application takes if the mailbox or message preservation criterion is met, through a user interface.

18. The computer storage medium of claim 1 wherein the replicated voicemail message is stored in an external storage of the mobile communication device.

19. The computer storage medium of claim 16 wherein the logical combination of message preservation criteria are selected, through the user interface, from a group consisting of:

an age of the message, a type of the message, and a length of the message.

20. The computer storage medium of claim 16 wherein the user interface is configured to receive an action to be taken to preserve marked messages, the action being selected from a group consisting of:

archiving, emailing if archiving fails, emailing, archiving if emailing fails and emailing and archiving.

5. Non-transitory, tangible, computer storage medium of a computer server having stored thereon a voicemail application which application is configured to cause a processor in the server to:

analyze voicemail messages in each voicemail box of a plurality of voicemail boxes of the server to determine whether the voicemail messages cause each of the plurality of voicemail boxes meet a mailbox preservation criterion;

mark for deletion at least one of the of voicemail messages at least one of the voicemail boxes upon determining that the at least one of the voicemail boxes meets the mailbox preservation criterion;

analyze the voicemail messages in one of the voicemail boxes, to determine whether one of the voicemail messages in the one voicemail box meets a message preservation criterion indicating a need to preserve the one or more voicemail messages;

mark for deletion, the one voicemail message in the one voicemail box if the one voicemail message is determined to meet the message preservation criterion;

cause a replica of each of the marked voicemail messages to be made; and

cause each replicated message to be stored outside of the server.