Sent message cancellation arrangement

• US 5,481,597 A
• Filed: 09/21/1994
• Issued: 01/02/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Given, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Hofsass, Jeffery
• Assistant Examiner(s): WEAVER, SCOTT LOUIS
• Application Number:
  US08/310,558
• Time in Patent Office: 468 Days
• Field of Search: 379/67, 379/74, 379/77, 379/88, 379/89, 379/100
• US Class Current: 379/88.23
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/533 Voice mail systems

Abstract

A messaging arrangement (10) allows an originator of a message to cancel a sent message that has not been retrieved by the recipient, if permission for such cancellation has been given by the recipient. The message originator tags (258, 378) the message with a code (51 ) when he or she creates the message. Subsequently, the originator may access (301) the message recipient'"'"'s mailbox (23) and cancel (330) the message by giving the message'"'"'s tag code.

Claims

1. A method of operating a messaging arrangement, comprising the steps of:

storing a message from an originator of the message in a mailbox of a recipient of the message, the recipient being other than the message originator;

obtaining a message identifier from the message originator;

examining message identifiers of tagged messages in the mailbox of the recipient to determine whether the obtained message identifier is different from the message identifiers of the tagged messages;

in response to determining that the obtained message identifier is different, tagging the message from the message originator with the obtained message identifier;

in response to determining that the obtained message identifier is not different, obtaining another message identifier from the message originator and returning to the step of examining;

in response to a caller logging into the mailbox of the recipient by supplying login information different from any message identifier, providing the caller with access to any messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient; and

in response to the message originator supplying a message identifier with which a tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient is tagged without also supplying the login information, providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message in the mailbox of the recipient that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator without also providing the message originator with access to any other messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient that are not tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator.

2. A method of operating a messaging arrangement, comprising the steps of:

in response to a request from an originator of a message, the messaging arrangement automatically generating a message identifier;

tagging a message from the message originator with the generated message identifier;

disclosing the generated message identifier to the message originator;

storing the tagged message in a mailbox of a recipient of the tagged message, the recipient being other than the message originator;

in response to a caller logging into the mailbox of the recipient by supplying login information different from any message identifier, providing the caller with access to any messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient; and

in response to the message originator supplying a message identifier with which a tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient is tagged without also supplying the login information, providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message in the mailbox of the recipient that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator without also providing the message originator with access to any other messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient that are not taggged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of automatically generating a message identifier comprises the step of:

automatically generating the message identifier, the message identifier representing present date and time at which the message identifier is automatically generated.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of storing comprises the steps of:

sending the tagged message from a mailbox of the message originator to the mailbox of the recipient; and

in response to receipt of the sent tagged message, storing the sent tagged message in the mailbox of the recipient.

5. A method of operating a messaging arrangement, comprising the steps of:

tagging a message with a message identifier;

storing the tagged message in a mailbox of a recipient of the tagged message, the recipient being other than an originator of the tagged message;

in response to a caller logging into the mailbox of the recipient by supplying login information different from any message identifier, providing the caller with access to any messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient;

in response to the message originator reaching the mailbox of the recipient without supplying the login information, asking the message originator whether the message originator wishes to access a message stored in the mailbox of the recipient;

in response to the message originator responding that the message originator wishes to access a message stored in the mailbox of the recipient, asking the message originator for an identifier of the message that the message originator wishes to access;

in response to the message originator supplying the identifier of the message that the message originator wishes to access, searching the mailbox of the recipient for a message tagged with the supplied message identifier; and

in response to finding a message tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator which is stored in the mailbox of the recipient, providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message in the mailbox of the recipient that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator without also providing the message originator with access to any other messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient that are not tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein

the step of providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message comprises the step of:

cancelling the tagged message that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator from the mailbox of the recipient.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein

the step of providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message comprises the step of:

modifying the tagged message that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator in the mailbox of the recipient.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of tagging comprises the steps of:

obtaining the message identifier from the message originator; and

tagging a message from the message originator with the message identifier to form the tagged message.

9. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of tagging comprises the steps of:

obtaining a message from the message originator;

in response to a request from the message originator, obtaining the message identifier; and

tagging the message from the message originator with the obtained message identifier to form the tagged message.

10. A messaging apparatus comprising:

a mailbox for holding messages for a recipient of the messages;

means for storing a message received from a message originator in the mailbox of the recipient of the message;

means responsive to receiving a message identifier from the message originator, for examining message identifiers of tagged messages in the recipient'"'"'s mailbox to determine whether the received message identifier is different from the message identifiers of the tagged messages;

means responsive to a determination that the received message identifier is different, for tagging the message from the message originator with the received message identifier;

means responsive to a determination that the received message identifier is not different, for requesting another message identifier from the message originator for the examining means;

means responsive to a caller logging into the mailbox of the recipient, by supplying login information different from any message identifier, for providing the caller with access to any messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient; and

means responsive to the message originator supplying a message identifier of a tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient without also supplying the login information, for providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator without also providing the message originator with access to any other messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient that are not tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator.

11. A messaging apparatus comprising:

a mailbox for holding messages for a recipient of the messages;

means responsive to a request from a message originator, for automatically generating a message identifier and tagging a message from the message originator with the generated message identifier;

means for disclosing the generated message identifier to the message originator;

means for sending the tagged message to the mailbox of the recipient;

means for storing the tagged message in the mailbox of the recipient;

means responsive to a caller logging into the mailbox of the recipient, by supplying login information different from any message identifier, for providing the caller with access to any messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient; and

means responsive to the message originator supplying a message identifier of a tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient without also supplying the login information, for providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator without also providing the message originator with access to any other messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient that are not tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein

the generated message identifier represents present date and time at which the message identifier is automatically generated.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein

the tagging means tag the message from the message originator with the generated message identifier in the mailbox of the message originator;

and

the sending means send the tagged message from the mailbox of the message originator to the mailbox of the recipient.

14. A messaging apparatus comprising:

a mailbox for holding messages for a recipient of the messages;

means for storing a message received from a message originator and tagged with a message identifier, in the mailbox of the recipient of the message;

means responsive to a caller logging into the mailbox of the recipient, by supplying login information different from any message identifier, for providing the caller with access to any messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient;

means responsive to the message originator reaching the mailbox of the recipient without supplying the login information, for asking the message originator whether the message originator wishes to access a message stored in the mailbox of the recipient;

means responsive to the message originator responding that the message originator wishes to access a message stored in the mailbox of the recipient, for asking the message originator for an identifier of the message that the message originator wishes to access;

means responsive to the message originator supplying the identifier of the message that the message originator wishes to access, for searching the mailbox of the recipient for a message tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator; and

means responsive to finding a message tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator stored in the mailbox of the recipient, for providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator without also providing the message originator with access to any other messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient that are not tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 comprising:

means for obtaining the message for storing from the message originator;

means responsive to a request from the message originator, for obtaining the message identifier; and

means for tagging the message from the message originator with the obtained message identifier.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein

the means for providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message comprise:

means for cancelling the tagged message that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator, from the mailbox of the recipient.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein

the means for providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message comprise:

means for modifying the tagged message that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator, in the mailbox of the recipient.

18. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising:

means responsive to receiving the message identifier from the message originator, for tagging the message from the message originator with the received message identifier to form the tagged message.

19. A method of operating a messaging arrangement, comprising the steps of:

storing a message tagged with a message identifier in a mailbox of a recipient of the tagged message;

logging in to the mailbox of the recipient via login information different from the message identifier;

following the logging in, performing one of either activating or inactivating a message access functionality for the mailbox of the recipient;

providing a caller who has reached the mailbox of the recipient access to any messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient irrespective of whether the message access functionality is activated or inactivated for the mailbox of the recipient, in response to receipt from the caller of the login information different from the message identifier; and

in response to any caller who has reached the mailbox of the recipient supplying the message identifier of the message stored in the mailbox of the recipient and tagged with the message identifier without also supplying the login information, determining whether the message access functionality is activated or inactivated for the mailbox of the recipient; and

only in response to both (a) a determination that the message access functionality is activated for the mailbox of the recipient and (b) said any caller supplying the message identifier of the message stored in the mailbox of the recipient and tagged with the message identifier without also supplying the login information, providing said any caller with access to only the message stored in the mailbox of the recipient and tagged with the message identifier without also providing said any caller with access to any other messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient that are not tagged with the message identifier.

20. A method of operating messaging arrangement, comprising the steps of:

tagging a message with a message identifier;

storing the tagged message in a mailbox of a recipient, the recipient being other than an originator of the tagged message;

logging in to the mailbox of the recipient via login information different from the message identifier;

following the logging in, performing one of either activating or inactivating a message access functionality for the mailbox of the recipient;

providing a caller access to any messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient irrespective of whether the message access functionality is activated or inactivated for the mailbox of the recipient, in response to the caller logging into the mailbox of the recipient by supplying the login information different from the message identifier;

in response to the message originator reaching the mailbox of the recipient and supplying the message identifier of the tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient without also supplying the login information, determining whether the message access functionality is activated or inactivated for the mailbox of the recipient; and

only in response to both (a) a determination that the message access functionality is activated for the mailbox of the recipient and (b) the message originator supplying the message identifier of the tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient without also supplying the login information, providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message in the mailbox of the recipient that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator without also providing the message originator with access to any other messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient that are not tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator.

21. A messaging apparatus comprising:

means for storing a message tagged with a message identifier in a mailbox of a recipient of the tagged message;

means for enabling a user to log in to the mailbox of the recipient via login information different from the message identifier;

means for enabling the user to activate or inactivate a message access functionality for the mailbox of the recipient following the logging in;

means responsive to receipt from a caller of the login information different from the message identifier, for providing the caller access to any messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient irrespective of whether the message access functionality is activated or inactivated for the mailbox of the recipient;

means responsive to any caller who has reached the mailbox of the recipient supplying the message identifier of the tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient without also supplying the login information, for determining whether the message access functionality is activated or inactivated for the mailbox of the recipient; and

means only responsive to both (a) a determination that the message access functionality is activated for the mailbox of the recipient and (b) said any caller supplying the message identifier of the tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient without also supplying the login information, for providing said any caller with access to only the tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient that is tagged with the supplied message identifier without also providing said any caller with access to any other messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient that are not tagged with the supplied message identifier.

22. A messaging apparatus comprising:

a mailbox for holding messages for a recipient of the messages;

means for storing a message received from a message originator and tagged with a message identifier, in the mailbox of the recipient of the message;

means for enabling a user to log in to the mailbox of the recipient via login information different from the message identifier;

means for enabling the user to activate or inactivate a message access functionality for the mailbox of the recipient following the logging in;

means for providing a caller access to any messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient irrespective of whether the message access functionality is activated or inactivated for the mailbox of the recipient, responsive to the caller logging into the mailbox of the recipient by supplying the login information different from the message identifier;

means responsive to the message originator reaching the mailbox of the recipient and supplying the message identifier of the tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient without also supplying the login information, for determining whether the message access functionality is activated or inactivated for the mailbox of the recipient; and

means only responsive to both (a) a determination that the message access functionality is activated for the mailbox of the recipient and (b) the message originator supplying the message identifier of the tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient without also supplying the login information, for providing the message originator with access to only the tagged message stored in the mailbox of the recipient that is tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator without also providing the message originator with access to any other messages stored in the mailbox of the recipient that are not tagged with the message identifier supplied by the message originator.