Integration of voice mail, email, fax and personal calendar systems to automatically update messages

• US 6,580,787 B1
• Filed: 02/15/2000
• Issued: 06/17/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nokia of America Corporation (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Sands, Phillip M., Brockman, Richard J., Akhteruzzaman, Akhtar, Sand, Paul R., Sparber, Richard G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoosain, Allan
• Application Number:
  US09/504,401
• Time in Patent Office: 1,218 Days
• Field of Search: 379/67.1, 379/83, 379/88.04, 379/88.08, 379/88.13, 379/88.14, 379/88.17, 379/88.18, 379/88.22, 379/88.25, 379/900, 379/902, 379/905, 379/908, 379/88.19, 379/88.21
• US Class Current: 379/88.22
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/663 Preventing unauthorised calls to a telephone set
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2072 Schedules, e.g. personal calendars
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/487 Arrangements for providing information services, e.g. recorded voice services or time announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/533 Voice mail systems

Abstract

Voice mail, email, fax and personal calendar systems are integrated allowing for the automatic updating of voice mail and email responses to received telephone calls and emails indicating that the receiver of the telephone call/email is out of the office, temporarily unavailable, etc. For received telephone calls, a determination is made as to whether the call was received during or outside of normal working hours, and if the person receiving the call is still engaged beyond a previous entered time period for providing an appropriate message to the caller. The determination is also made as to whether the received call is an “inside” or “outside” call, e.g., originating within or outside of the office or organization being called, and a predetermined response is provided depending upon where the call originated. In response to an incoming fax, the number of the fax transmitter is stored and used to provide a return fax response with a predetermined message from the calendar server of the person receiving the call. Provision is made for updating the user status at any time and, thus, automatically changing the outgoing voice mail, email or fax message.

Claims

1. For use in a communications network wherein calls are transmitted from a first party to a second parts within an organization, and wherein a status message is provided from said second party to said first party when said second party is unavailable to receive an incoming call, a system for automatically updating the status message of the second party, said system comprising:

input means for entering status information of the second party for use when the second party is unavailable to receive an incoming call;

personal calendar means coupled to said input means for storing the status information of the second party for a selected period, wherein said personal calendar means includes a memory for storing status information of plural parties for use when one of the plural parties receives an incoming call and wherein said personal calendar means includes a calendar server and said telephone network includes a voice mail server;

communications means coupled to said personal calendar means for providing the first party with a message of the status of the second party when the second party is not available to receive an incoming call;

scanning means for periodically accessing said personal calendar means and providing an updated message to the first party via said communications means of the status of the second party when the second party is not available to receive an incoming call; and

wherein said memory stores first and second status information for one or more of said plural parties and the first party is defined as inside or outside of the organization, and wherein said first status information is provided if the first party is inside said organization and said second status information is provided if the first party is outside said organization.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said communications network is a telephone network and said message is a voice mail message.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the communications network comprises a global information network and said message is an email message.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein-said communications network is a telephone network and said message is a fax message.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein said communications network includes a fax server with caller identification means for identifying the caller and storing the caller'"'"'s directory number for transmitting said fax message to the first party.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said input means includes a personal computer.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said input means further includes a hand held communications device coupled to said personal computer.

8. The system of claim 1 further comprising an Internet Protocol network connecting said input means to said personal calendar means.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein said first class includes a first party who is known by said second party and said second class includes a first party who is not known by said second party.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein said first class includes a first party who works with said second party and said second class includes a first party who does not work with said second party.