System and method for voice-mail and e-mail synchronization

• US 7,599,476 B2
• Filed: 10/01/2007
• Issued: 10/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Advanced Logic Industries, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Advanced Logic Industries, Inc.
• Inventors: Connelly, Kevin, Pantana, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Gauthier; Gerald
• Application Number:
  US11/865,472
• Publication Number:
  US 20080025479A1
• Time in Patent Office: 736 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.13, 379/220.01, 379/88.17, 709/206, 709/238, 370/466
• US Class Current: 379/88.13
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/234 for tracking messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/22 Synchronisation circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/253 where a visual mode is used instead of a voice mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4509 Unified messaging with single point of access to voicemail and other mail or messaging systems unified messaging in packet switching networks H04L51/56
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4536 Voicemail combined with text-based messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53 Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages , i.e. mailbox systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0051 where the data service is a multimedia messaging service

Abstract

Disclosed is a unified messaging system and method for combining a voice-mail system with an e-mail system. The present invention is a hybrid event driven system that polls a universal e-mail box for receipts, with the voice-mail system being fully event driven. The present invention maintains two persistent log-ins to the universal e-mail box, one to deliver messages and one to read message receipts. Thus, the system and method does not need to log-in and -out or read the entire list of messages. The present invention uses a file system instead of a state database. The system and method acts in real time such that messages in the unified messaging systems are synchronized within a pre-determined real-time. The system and method uses a “fail-safing” technique in which, after copies of messages are made and stored by each messaging component, allows one system to work if another is down.

Claims

1. A unified messaging system, comprising:

identifier means for identifying a corresponding e-mail box of an e-mail system for a voice mail-box of a voice-mail system;

a connector component configured as an event handler that for at least one message event for the voice-mail box, uses the identifier means to identify the corresponding e-mail box and causes at least one message transaction for the corresponding e-mail box;

receiver means for receiving at least one transaction receipt for message transactions from the e-mail box that corresponds to the voice-mail box; and

a poller component configured to poll for the at least one transaction receipt from the e-mail box, to use the means to identify the corresponding voice-mail box, and to cause at least one action in the voice-mail box.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the identifier means is selected from the group consisting of a cross-reference table and a hash table.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the receiver means is a universal e-mail box; and

the connector is persistently logged into the universal e-mail box.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one transaction receipt is selected from the group consisting of a read receipt and a delete receipt.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one transaction receipt is selected from the group consisting of a read receipt and a delete receipt; and

the at least one action is respectively selected from the group consisting of;

i. the status of the counterpart voice-mail message is set to read in the corresponding voice-mail box; and

ii. the counterpart voice-mail is deleted from the corresponding voice-mail box.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one message event is a type selected from the group consisting of new voice-mail message, read voice-mail message, and delete voice-mail message; and

the at least one message transaction is respectively selected from the group consisting of;

i. a new e-mail message is created from a new voice-mail message and sent to the corresponding e-mail box, the new e-mail message having a status and at least one designated type of transaction receipt such that the new e-mail message and the new voice-mail message are a counterpart e-mail message to a counterpart voice-mail message and vice versa,

ii. the counterpart e-mail message is located and the status is set to read in the corresponding e-mail box, and

iii. the counterpart e-mail message is located and deleted from the corresponding e-mail box.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein:

each new voice-mail message is assigned a unique identifier;

the unique identifier is included in the counterpart new e-mail message;

the unique identifier of a read voice-mail message is used to locate the counterpart e-mail message in the corresponding e-mail box; and

the unique identifier of a delete voice-mail message is used to locate the counterpart e-mail message in the corresponding e-mail box.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the unique identifier is included in the subject of the counterpart new e-mail message.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the at least one transaction receipt is selected from the group consisting of read receipt and delete receipt; and

the at least one action is respectively selected from the group consisting of;

i. the counterpart voice-mail message is located and the status is set to read in the corresponding voice-mail box; and

ii. the counterpart voice-mail message is located and deleted from the corresponding voice-mail box.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the unique identifier is obtained from a subject line of the email that corresponds to the transaction receipt.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the unique identifier is date-time stamped concatenated with voice-mail box name.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the unique identifier of the counterpart voice-mail message included in a subject of a read e-mail receipt is used by the poller component to log onto the voice-mail system and to locate the counterpart voice-mail message in the corresponding voice-mail box; and

the unique identifier of the counterpart voice-mail message included in a subject of a delete e-mail receipt is used by the poller component to log onto the voice-mail system and to locate the counterpart voice-mail message in the corresponding voice-mail box.

13. The system of claim 6, wherein the connector component is further configured to:

create a file in the voice-mail system for the at least one message event, having a file name including a create date-time stamp of the occurrence of the message event and the type of message event; and

when the at least one message transaction is effected in the e-mail system, deleting the file in the voice-mail system.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the connector component is further configured to determine if the date-time stamp of the file in the voice-mail system is older than a predetermined value, the connector component is further configured to cause at least one message transaction respectively selected, according to whether the type of message event is new voice-mail message, read voice-mail message and delete voice-mail message, from the group consisting of:

i. a new e-mail message is created from a new voice-mail message and sent to the corresponding e-mail box, the new e-mail message having a status and at least one designated type of transaction receipt such that the new e-mail message and the new voice-mail message are a counterpart e-mail message to a counterpart voice-mail message and vice versa;

ii. the counterpart e-mail message is located and the status is set to read in the corresponding e-mail box; and

iii. the counterpart e-mail message is located and deleted from the corresponding e-mail box.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising a system management component including:

a monitor component that periodically starts the connector and poller components if they are not already running; and

a startup/shutdown component that periodically determines;

i. when a current system time is before a shutdown and after a restart and starts the connector and poller components if they are not already running, and

ii. when a current system time is before shutdown and before a restart and shuts down the connector and poller components if they are running.

16. A method for synchronizing contents of an e-mail box of an e-mail system with contents of a voice-mail box of a voice-mail system, comprising the steps of:

providing a universal e-mail box in the e-mail system;

maintaining by an event handler, a persistent log-on to the universal e-mail box for the purpose of delivering e-mail counterparts to voice-mail messages;

when a message event occurs to an existing voice-mail message in the voice-mail system, the event handler logging in to the corresponding e-mail box to effect a corresponding message transaction in the e-mail system;

periodically polling the universal e-mail box for transaction receipts; and

when a transaction receipt is found in the universal e-mail box, causing a corresponding action for the voice-mail box in the voice-mail system.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein:

the polling step is performed by a poller component of the e-mail system; and

the event handler is a connector component of the voice-mail system.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

when a message event occurs in the voice-mail system, the event handler creating a file in the voice-mail system for the message event, the created file having a file name that includes a create date-time stamp of the occurrence of the message event and the type of the message event;

when the corresponding message transaction is effected in the e-mail system, deleting the file in the voice-mail system; and

when the date-time stamp of the created file is older than a predetermined value, the event handler logging in to the corresponding e-mail box to again effect a corresponding message transaction in the e-mail system.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

periodically for a first pre-determined periodicity starting the connector and poller components, if they are not already running; and

periodically for a second pre-determined periodicity performing the steps of;

when a current system time is before a shutdown and after a restart, starting the connector and poller components if they are not already running, and

i. when a current system time is before a shutdown and before a restart, shutting down the connector and poller components if they are running.