Systems and methods for providing filtered message delivery

• US 7,499,529 B1
• Filed: 12/11/2001
• Issued: 03/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Laboratories Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Weintraub, Michael, Kvache, Alexander
• Primary Examiner(s): Elahee; Md S
• Application Number:
  US10/016,551
• Time in Patent Office: 2,639 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.14, 379/374.02, 379/88.12, 379/67.1, 379/93.15, 379/88.13, 379/209.01, 379/201.03, 379/88.22, 379/88.23, 709/206, 709/246, 709/232, 707/1, 342/357.17, 705/9, 455/552.1, 370/265, 726/4, 726/13
• US Class Current: 379/88.22
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/39 using speech synthesis speech synthesis per se G10L13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53383 Message registering commands or announcements; Greetings

Abstract

A system (140) that delivers messages receives a message intended for the receiving party. The system (140) determines whether the message should be delivered to the receiving party and converts the message to an audible message when the message should be delivered to the receiving party. The system (140) then initiates a telephony call to the receiving party and delivers the audible message to the receiving party during the telephony call.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

generating a user profile for a receiving party that includes user-defined criteria and delivery data specified by the receiving party;

determining that a message and one or more message attachments intended for the receiving party is stored in the receiving party'"'"'s mailbox, the stored message being in a source message format and the one or more message attachments being in a source attachment format;

identifying, based on the user-defined criteria first portions of the stored message to be analyzed and second portions of the stored message not to be analyzed;

requesting only the first portions of the stored message from the receiving party'"'"'s mailbox;

analyzing the requested portions of the message with respect to the user-defined criteria to determine whether the message should be delivered to the receiving party based on one or more of the user-defined criteria;

translating the message from the source message format to message text and the one or more message attachments from the source attachment format into attachment text;

converting the message text and the attachment text to an audible message when the analyzing determines that the message should be delivered to the receiving party;

initiating a telephony call to the receiving party at least one of a pre-determined date or time included in the delivery data; and

delivering the audible message to the receiving party during the telephony call.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein user profile data includes data identifying at least one of a message source, a message type, a message priority, or a message content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining whether the message should be delivered includes:

testing the message against the user profile, and

determining that the message should be delivered when the message passes the test.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining includes:

monitoring a message server for arrival of new messages intended for the receiving party.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the monitoring a message server includes:

periodically checking the message server for new messages.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the monitoring a message server includes:

receiving a notification from the message server whenever a new message arrives.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting the message text includes:

translating the message text into an audible message using a text-to-speech translator.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting the message text includes:

creating an envelope from at least one of a From, To, Subject, or Date header field corresponding to the message.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the converting the message text includes:

translating the message text and the envelope into an audible message.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the translating the one or more message attachments includes:

generating a description of the one or more message attachments when the one or more message attachments are not convertible from the source attachment format into the attachment text.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the converting the message text includes:

translating the message text and the generated description into an audible message.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating a telephony call includes:

determining whether the telephony call reaches the receiving party, and

retrying the telephony call a predetermined number of times if the telephony call fails to reach the receiving party.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating a telephony call includes:

determining whether the telephony call reaches the receiving party, and

initiating a second telephony call to an alternate telephone number if the telephony call fails to reach the receiving party.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the delivering the audible message includes:

authenticating the receiving party based on at least one of a user identifier, a personal identification number, or a password, and

transmitting the audible message to the receiving party after successful authentication of the receiving party.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the delivery data specifies a minimum number of messages that are to be delivered to the receiving party before the initiating of the telephony call is performed.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating a telephony call comprises:

detecting at least one failed attempt to establish the telephony call, and

performing, following the at least one failed attempt, a retry of initiating the telephony call up to a maximum number of retries specified by the delivery data.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating a telephony call comprises:

failing to establish the telephony call, and

retrying, after an interval lapses since the failing to establish the telephony call, to initiate the telephony call, wherein the interval is specified by the delivery data.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating a telephony call comprises:

calling a first telephone number specified in the delivery data,

failing to establish the telephony call to the first telephone number, and

calling a second number specified by the delivery data.

19. A system for presenting a message to a receiving party, comprising:

means for obtaining a stored user profile corresponding to the receiving party, the user profile comprising delivery data received from the receiving party that specifies at least one of a time or a date of message delivery;

means for obtaining the message and one or more message attachments intended for the receiving party, the message being obtained in a source message format and the one or more message attachments being obtained in a source attachment format;

means for requesting from the means for obtaining the message, based on information in the user profile, only some and not other portions of the message to be tested with respect to the user profile;

means for testing the requested portions of the message with respect to the user profile;

means for translating the message from the source message format to message text and the one or more message attachments from the source attachment format into attachment text;

means for converting the message text and the attachment text to an audible message when the message passes the test;

means for initiating a telephony call to the receiving party at the at least one of the time or the date specified by the delivery data; and

means for presenting the audible message to the receiving party during the telephony call.

20. A message delivery system, comprising:

a message receiver configured to;

determine that a message with one or more message attachments intended for a receiving party is stored in a server, the stored message being in a source message format and the one or more message attachments being in a source attachment format,

identify, based on user profile data that is maintained for the receiving party, portions of the message where at least some portions of the message are not identified,

generate a search query based on the identified portions of the message;

obtain the identified portions of the message from the server, based on the search query for analysis using the user profile data;

determine whether the message should be delivered to the receiving party based on the analysis of the identified portions,

convert the message from the source message format to a target format when the analysis determines that the message should be delivered to the receiving party, and

convert the one or more message attachments from the source attachment format into the target format; and

a call processor configured to;

convert the message from the target format to an audible format, initiate a telephony call to the receiving party at a time that is specified by the receiving party before the message with the one or more message attachments is obtained, and

deliver the message in the audible format to the receiving party during the telephony call.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the target format is a text format.

22. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

a service setup device configured to obtain the user profile data, where the user profile data identifies at least one criterion indicating a time at which messages should be delivered to the receiving party.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the user profile data includes data identifying at least one of a message source, a message type, a message priority, or a message content.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein when determining whether the message should be delivered, the message receiver is configured to:

test the message against the user profile data, and

determine that the message should be delivered when the message passes the test.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein when obtaining a message, the message receiver is configured to:

monitor a message server for arrival of new messages intended for the receiving party.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein when monitoring a message server, the message receiver is configured to:

periodically check the message server for new messages.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein when monitoring a message server, the message receiver is configured to:

receive a notification from the message server whenever a new message arrives.

28. The system of claim 20, wherein when converting the message, the message receiver is configured to:

create an envelope from at least one of a From, To, Subject, or Date header field corresponding to the message.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein when converting the message, the call processor is configured to:

translate the envelope into the audible format.

30. The system of claim 20, wherein when converting the message, the call processor is configured to:

translate the one or more message attachments from the target format into the audible format.

31. The system of claim 20, wherein when converting the one or more message attachments, the message receiver is configured to:

generate a description of the one or more message attachments when the one or more message attachments are not convertible into the target format.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein when converting the message, the call processor is configured to:

translate the generated description into the audible format.

33. The system of claim 20, wherein when initiating a telephony call, the call processor is configured to:

determine whether the telephony call fails, and

retry the telephony call a predetermined number of times if the telephony call fails.

34. The system of claim 20, wherein when initiating a telephony call, the call processor is configured to:

determine whether the telephony call reaches the receiving party, and

initiate a second telephony call to an alternate telephone number if the telephony call fails to reach the receiving party.

35. The system of claim 20, wherein when delivering the message, the call processor is configured to:

authenticate the receiving party based on at least one of a user identifier, a personal identification number, or a password, and

transmit the message in the audible format to the receiving party after successful authentication of the receiving party.

36. A computer-readable storage device that stores instructions executable by at least one computer to perform a method for presenting a message to a receiving party, comprising:

instructions for determining that the message intended for the receiving party is stored in a message server, the stored message including one or more message attachments;

instructions for requesting from the message server, based on information in a user profile associated with the receiving party, select portions that constitute less than an entirety of the stored message for analysis using the user profile information to determine whether the message is to be converted;

instructions for determining whether the one or more message attachments are convertible into a target format;

instructions for translating the one or more message attachments into the target format when the one or more message attachments are convertible into the target format;

instructions for generating a description of the one or more message attachments when the one or more message attachments are not convertible into the target format;

instructions for initiating a voice call to the receiving party at a predetermined date and time that is specified by the receiving party before the message is obtained; and

instructions for presenting the message with the one or more attachments or the generated description to the receiving party during the voice call.

37. The computer-readable medium of claim 36, wherein the instructions for requesting includes:

instructions for generating a search query based on a protocol used by the message server to obtain the select portions of the message.

38. The computer-readable medium of claim 36, further comprising:

instructions for interacting with the receiving party to generate the user profile that describes at least one criterion indicating when messages should be delivered to the receiving party.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 36, further comprising:

instructions for converting the message from a source format to an audible format.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions for converting the message includes:

instructions for translating the message from the source format to the target format, and

instructions for translating the message from the target format to the audible format.

41. A method for providing message delivery services, comprising:

prior to monitoring messages, interacting with a user to generate a user profile that identifies at least one message criterion that indicates a date or time when the messages should be delivered to the user;

monitoring a message server for arrival of new messages intended for the user;

processing the new messages, including;

identifying, based on the user profile, portions and not an entirety of each of the new messages for analysis using the user profile,

requesting only the identified portions from the message server,

determining whether the new messages should be delivered to the user based on the analysis of the requested portions using the user profile,

translating the new messages from a source format to a text format, and

converting the new messages from the text format to an audible format, as audible messages, when the analysis determines that the new messages should be delivered to the user; and

delivering the audible messages to the user based on the at least one message criterion, including;

initiating a telephony call to the user at the indicated date or time, and

presenting the audible messages to the user during the telephony call.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the interacting with a user includes:

receiving user identification and password data from the user, and

validating the user identification and password data with the message server.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the validating the user identification and password data includes:

attempting to logon to the message server using the user identification and password data, and

determining whether the logon is successful.

44. The method of claim 41, wherein the at least one message criterion includes at least one of a message source, a message type, a message priority, or a message content.

45. The method of claim 41, wherein the monitoring a message server includes:

periodically checking the message server for new messages.

46. The method of claim 41, wherein the monitoring a message server includes:

receiving a notification from the message server whenever a new message arrives.

47. An automated method for delivering a message having a number of portions to a receiving party, comprising:

determining that the message intended for the receiving party is stored in a server, the message including a message portion and one or more attachments in a source format;

identifying, based on information in a user profile associated with the receiving party, portions fewer than each of the number of the message for analysis using the user profile information to;

requesting only the identified portions of the message from the server and analyzing the requested portions to determine whether the message is to be converted;

determining whether the one or more attachments can be converted to a target format;

translating the one or more attachments into the target format when the one or more attachments can be converted to the target format;

generating a description of the one or more attachments when the one or more attachments cannot be converted to the target format;

converting the message portion to an audible message;

initiating a telephony call to a telephony device associated with the receiving party at a pre-determined date and time that is specified by the receiving party before the the message is stored in the server; and

delivering the audible message and the one or more attachments or the generated description to the receiving party during the telephony call.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the telephony device includes one of a wireline or wireless communication device.