Method and apparatus for enabling a calling party to leave a voice message for a called party in response to a command provided by the calling party

• US 9,042,526 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2007
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BCE Incorporated
• Original Assignee: BCE Incorporated
• Inventors: Rose, Matthew, Nguyen, Luan Cao Tuong, Arsenault, Jonathan Allan, Archer, Nathan Gerald, Lessard, Yannick, Fortin, Pierre
• Primary Examiner(s): Elahee, MD S
• Application Number:
  US12/743,980
• Publication Number:
  US 20100246783A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,707 Days
• Field of Search: 379/67.1, 379/88.12, 379/88.18, 379/88.13, 379/72, 379/76, 379 8801- 8804, 455/413, 705/14.54
• US Class Current: 379/88.22
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4536 Voicemail combined with text-based messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/533 Voice mail systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/537 Arrangements for indicating the presence of a recorded message , whereby the presence information might include a preview or summary of the message

Abstract

A method for allowing a calling party to leave a message for a called party. The method comprises: receiving a command provided by the calling party and indicative of a desire of the calling party to leave a message for the called party; obtaining message destination information associated with the called party; receiving a voice message provided by the calling party; generating an electronic message representative of the voice message; and causing transmission of the electronic message based on the message destination information. An apparatus for implementing the method is also provided.

Claims

1. A method for allowing a calling party to leave a message for a called party, said method comprising:

determining that the calling party is attempting to establish a telephone call with the called party;

following said determining but prior to the telephone call with the called party having been established, receiving a command provided by the calling party and indicative of a desire of the calling party to leave a message for the called party;

obtaining message destination information associated with the called party;

receiving a voice message provided by the calling party;

generating an electronic message representative of the voice message; and

causing transmission of the electronic message based on the message destination information.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the command is a signal produced by a communication device used by the calling party in response to the calling party pressing on at least one button of the communication device.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the command is a voice command spoken by the calling party.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said obtaining comprises consulting a database containing a plurality of entries to obtain the message destination information, each entry being associated with a potential called party and including message destination information associated with the potential called party.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said obtaining comprises consulting a record associated with the calling party to obtain the message destination information.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the record includes an address book associated with the calling party.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said obtaining comprises:

sending a message inviting the calling party to supply the message destination information; and

receiving the message destination information supplied by the calling party.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said obtaining comprises performing a search on at least one site of a public data network to obtain the message destination information.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the at least one site of the public data network includes a search engine site or a social networking site.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said generating comprises:

generating an audio file representative of the voice message; and

including the audio file in the electronic message.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said generating comprises:

applying a speech-to-text function on the voice message to generate text representative of the voice message; and

including the text in the electronic message.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said generating comprises:

generating an audio file representative of the voice message; and

including in the electronic message a link to access the audio file.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said generating comprises:

applying a speech-to-text function on the voice message to generate text representative of the voice message; and

including in the electronic message a link to access the text.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the message destination information includes an email address associated with the called party and the electronic message is an email message.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the message destination information includes an instant messaging identifier associated with the called party and the electronic message is an instant messaging message.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the message destination information includes an identifier of a wireless communication device associated with the called party and the electronic message is a text message or a multimedia message.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the calling party uses a communication device to attempt to establish the telephone call with the called party, said receiving the command occurring at any instant after the calling party provides via the communication device information for attempting to establish the telephone call with the called party.

18. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said receiving the command occurs before a communication path is established to allow voice communication between the calling party and the called party.

19. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said receiving the command occurs while a communication path is established to allow voice communication between the calling party and the called party.

20. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said receiving the command occurs while a communication path is established to allow communication between the calling party and a voicemail system associated with a voicemail service subscribed to by the called party.

21. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said receiving the command occurs while the telephone call attempted to be established between the calling party and the called party faces a busy signal.

22. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising determining whether the calling party subscribes to a messaging service, wherein said obtaining, said generating and said causing transmission of the electronic message are performed if the calling party subscribes to the messaging service.

23. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the calling party uses a communication device to attempt to establish the telephone call with the called party, wherein said determining comprises:

receiving information provided by the calling party via the communication device to establish the telephone call with the called party; and

attempting to establish the telephone call between the calling party and the called party based on the information provided by the calling party via the communication device.

24. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the telephone call is one of a voice call, a video call and a multimedia call.

25. An apparatus for allowing a calling party to leave a message for a called party, said apparatus comprising:

an interface for communicating over a communications network; and

a processing unit coupled to said interface and operative for;

determining that the calling party is attempting to establish a telephone call with the called party;

following said determining but prior to the telephone call with the called party having been established, receiving a command provided by the calling party and indicative of a desire of the calling party to leave a message for the called party;

obtaining message destination information associated with the called party;

receiving a voice message provided by the calling party;

generating an electronic message representative of the voice message; and

causing transmission of the electronic message based on the message destination information.

26. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the command is a signal produced in response to the calling party pressing on at least one button of a communication device used by the calling party to attempt to establish the telephone call with the called party.

27. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the command is a voice command spoken by the calling party.

28. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said obtaining comprises consulting a database containing a plurality of entries to obtain the message destination information, each entry being associated with a potential called party and including message destination information associated with the potential called party.

29. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said obtaining comprises consulting a record associated with the calling party to obtain the message destination information.

30. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the record includes an address book associated with the calling party.

31. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said obtaining comprises:

sending a message inviting the calling party to supply the message destination information; and

receiving the message destination information supplied by the calling party.

32. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said obtaining comprises performing a search on at least one site of a public data network to obtain the message destination information.

33. The apparatus as claimed in claim 32, wherein the at least one site of the public data network includes a search engine site or a social networking site.

34. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said generating comprises:

generating an audio file representative of the voice message; and

including the audio file in the electronic message.

35. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said generating comprises:

applying a speech-to-text function on the voice message to generate text representative of the voice message; and

including the text in the electronic message.

36. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said generating comprises:

generating an audio file representative of the voice message; and

including in the electronic message a link to access the audio file.

37. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said generating comprises:

applying a speech-to-text function on the voice message to generate text representative of the voice message; and

including in the electronic message a link to access the text.

38. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the message destination information includes an email address associated with the called party and the electronic message is an email message.

39. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the message destination information includes an instant messaging identifier associated with the called party and the electronic message is an instant messaging message.

40. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the message destination information includes an identifier of a wireless communication device associated with the called party and the electronic message is a text message or a multimedia message.

41. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the calling party uses a communication device to attempt to establish the telephone call with the called party, said receiving the command occurring at any instant after the calling party provides via the communication device information for attempting to establish the telephone call with the called party.

42. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said receiving the command occurs before a communication path is established to allow voice communication between the calling party and the called party.

43. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said receiving the command occurs while a communication path is established to allow voice communication between the calling party and the called party.

44. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said receiving the command occurs while a communication path is established to allow communication between the calling party and a voicemail system associated with a voicemail service subscribed to by the called party.

45. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said receiving the command occurs while the telephone call attempted to be established between the calling party and the called party faces a busy signal.

46. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein said processing unit is operative for:

determining whether the calling party subscribes to a messaging service; and

performing said obtaining, said generating and said causing transmission of the electronic message if the calling party subscribes to the messaging service.

47. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the calling party uses a communication device to attempt to establish the telephone call with the called party, wherein prior to receiving the command said processing unit being operative for:

receiving information provided by the calling party via the communication device to establish the telephone call with the called party; and

attempting to establish the telephone call between the calling party and the called party based on the information provided by the calling party via the communication device.

48. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25, wherein the telephone call is one of a voice call, a video call and a multimedia call.

49. Non-transitory computer-readable media storing a program element for execution by a computer system to allow a calling party to leave a message for a called party, said program element comprising:

first program code for causing the computer system to determine that the calling party is attempting to establish a telephone call with the called party;

second program code for causing the computer system to receive, upon having determined that the calling party is attempting to establish the telephone call with the called party but prior to the telephone call with the called party having been established, a command provided by the calling party and indicative of a desire of the calling party to leave a message for the called party;

third program code for causing the computer system to obtain message destination information associated with the called party;

fourth program code for causing the computer system to receive a voice message provided by the calling party;

fifth program code for causing the computer system to generate an electronic message representative of the voice message; and

sixth program code for causing the computer system to cause transmission of the electronic message based on the message destination information.