Intelligent-networked system with service for notifying and hearing selected E-mails via a public switched telephone network
First Claim
1. A method of providing an electronic mail notification and delivery service for a subscriber, the method comprising the steps of:
- storing in a network database the subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail handling instructions, wherein the handling instructions are customizable by the subscriber and comprise at least one of the subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail address, the subscriber'"'"'s designated telephone for receiving electronic mail, the subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail truncation instructions, a list of the subscriber'"'"'s e-mail addresses for messages from those senders that the subscriber would like to receive, a plurality of keywords in a sender'"'"'s electronic mail address that will activate the service, a plurality of keywords in a received electronic mail message'"'"'s subject or body that will activate the service, and a priority level that will activate the service;
receiving an electronic mail message from a sender via a network element, the message specifying the subscriber as an intended recipient of the electronic mail message;
comparing information in the electronic mail message to the handling instructions stored in the network database for the subscriber;
converting textual content in the electronic mail message to an audio message;
truncating the audio message according to the truncation instructions, wherein the truncation instructions comprise which messages are to be truncated and the truncation length; and
transmitting the audio message to the designated telephone.
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An intelligent-networked telecommunication system for audio playing of Electronic Mail (“E-Mail”) messages uses the Service Control Point (SCP) of the Intelligent Network (IN) to route e-mail messages directed to subscribing customers to the customer'"'"'s telephone number when the e-mail header matches the limitations stored in the subscribing customer'"'"'s profile. The text of the e-mail message is converted to an audio message which can either be heard by the customer when a call is answered, or stored on an answering machine or in a voice mailbox. The present-inventive Notifying and Hearing Selective E-Mails (NHSE) system and method also includes features such as the subscribing customer being able to specify that audio e-mail messages will be truncated to a specified length, sending a special Caller ID message identifying the e-mail sender and subject of the message when the customer also has Caller ID service, and preceding the transmission of the audio e-mail message with a distinctive ringing pattern, to allow a subscribing customer the option of going “off-hook” to listen to the message, or allow the call to go directly to voice mail or an answering machine.
30 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of providing an electronic mail notification and delivery service for a subscriber, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing in a network database the subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail handling instructions, wherein the handling instructions are customizable by the subscriber and comprise at least one of the subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail address, the subscriber'"'"'s designated telephone for receiving electronic mail, the subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail truncation instructions, a list of the subscriber'"'"'s e-mail addresses for messages from those senders that the subscriber would like to receive, a plurality of keywords in a sender'"'"'s electronic mail address that will activate the service, a plurality of keywords in a received electronic mail message'"'"'s subject or body that will activate the service, and a priority level that will activate the service;
receiving an electronic mail message from a sender via a network element, the message specifying the subscriber as an intended recipient of the electronic mail message;
comparing information in the electronic mail message to the handling instructions stored in the network database for the subscriber;
converting textual content in the electronic mail message to an audio message;
truncating the audio message according to the truncation instructions, wherein the truncation instructions comprise which messages are to be truncated and the truncation length; and
transmitting the audio message to the designated telephone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for providing to a subscriber an audio message converted from an electronic mail message, the system comprising:
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a service control point in an Intelligent Network having call handling control logic and a database for storing call handling information and electronic mail handling instructions, the service control point being adapted to compare header information in an electronic mail message received by the service control point to electronic mail handling instructions stored in the database and to route the electronic mail message to a telephone number specified by the intended subscriber when the handling instructions so indicate, wherein the electronic mail handling instructions are customizable by the subscriber and comprise at least one of the subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail address, the subscriber'"'"'s designated telephone for receiving electronic mail, the subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail truncation instructions, a list of the subscriber'"'"'s e-mail addresses for messages from those senders that the subscriber would like to receive, a plurality of keywords in a sender'"'"'s electronic mail address that will activate the service, a plurality of keywords in a received electronic mail message'"'"'s subject or body that will activate the service, and a priority level that will activate the service; and
a text-to-audio converter adapted to convert text in an electronic mail message to an audio message. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A system for providing an electronic mail message delivery service for a subscriber, the method comprising the steps of:
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means for storing the subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail handling instructions, wherein the handling instructions are customizable by the subscriber and comprise at least one of the subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail address, the subscriber'"'"'s designated telephone for receiving electronic mail, the subscriber'"'"'s electronic mail truncation instructions, a list of the subscriber'"'"'s e-mail addresses for messages from those senders that the subscriber would like to receive, a plurality of keywords in a sender'"'"'s electronic mail address that will activate the service, a plurality of keywords in a received electronic mail message'"'"'s subject or body that will activate the service, and a priority level that will activate the service;
means for receiving an electronic mail message from a sender via a network element, the message specifying the subscriber as an intended recipient of the electronic mail message;
means for comparing information in the electronic mail message to the handling instructions stored in the network database for the subscriber;
means for converting textual content in the electronic mail message to an audio message;
means for truncating the audio message according to the truncation instructions, wherein the truncation instructions comprise which messages are to be truncated and the truncation length; and
means for transmitting the audio message to the designated telephone. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification