WO1999007133A1 - Time-matched voice messaging system - Google Patents
Time-matched voice messaging system Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO1999007133A1 WO1999007133A1 PCT/US1998/018618 US9818618W WO9907133A1 WO 1999007133 A1 WO1999007133 A1 WO 1999007133A1 US 9818618 W US9818618 W US 9818618W WO 9907133 A1 WO9907133 A1 WO 9907133A1
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- information
- time
- location
- call
- message
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
- H04M3/53—Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages, i.e. mailbox systems
- H04M3/533—Voice mail systems
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
- H04M1/57—Arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called subscriber's set
- H04M1/575—Means for retrieving and displaying personal data about calling party
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M1/00—Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
- H04M1/64—Automatic arrangements for answering calls; Automatic arrangements for recording messages for absent subscribers; Arrangements for recording conversations
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04Q—SELECTING
- H04Q3/00—Selecting arrangements
- H04Q3/72—Finding out and indicating number of calling subscriber
Definitions
- the user terminal may tag, or otherwise identify, the stored message information to indicate which callers actually left a voice message. This information is used in the subsequent retrieval of messages to indicate to the user which of the callers actually left messages. This is achieved using the confirmation information which is transmitted from the central storage unit to the user terminal to confirm the storage of each voice message. In this way, the user terminal simply tags the most recently received message information once the confirmation information is received. Since message information is maintained at the user terminal for each received call, not just those calls for which messages are stored, there exists the possible situation where two or more calls are received but a message is left only for the first of the calls. Ih this case, the user terminal might possibly erroneously assign the voice message stored tag to the wrong message information. In order to avoid this problem, the tagging is performed only if the confirmation is received within a certain prescribed time limit of the message information, assuring that the tag is properly related to the message information for that call, not a different call.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a voice messaging system according to the present invention.
- Figure 2 is a flowchart for message storage
- Figure 3 is a flowchart for message retrieval
- Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a display included in a called terminal of the invention.
- a calling terminal 12 will call a called terminal 14, and if the call is not answered or picked up at the called terminal 14, the call is transferred to a voice message system 10 where a voice message may be left by the calling terminal 12.
- caller ID information including the time of call, is extracted and stored at the called terminal
- the call is transferred to the voice message system, it is also time stamped in accordance with a clock which is preferably synchronized to the caller ID information stored at the called terminal 14.
- the called terminal 14 preferably includes a display 16 (FIG. 4) that displays the caller identification information, time-of-call information, and message information, as described in greater detail below.
- the called terminal preferably also includes plural selection buttons 18 to allow a user to select a corresponding call for message playback. Alternatively, one or more of the standard keypad buttons on the called terminal could serve as selection buttons when the called terminal is in a message retrieval mode, as described in greater detail below.
- the called terminal also includes circuitry, preferably in the form of a processor or controller, the function of which is set forth in detail below in connection with Figures 2 and 3.
- step 20 operation begins when an incoming call from a calling terminal 12 is detected.
- the incoming call signal includes caller identification information and time-of-call information, such information typically being transmitted between the first and second rings as is well known in the art.
- the called terminal 14 may include an internal clock which supplies the time-of-call information.
- step 22 the caller identification information and time-of-call information are stored and preferably displayed by the called terminal 14 on the display 16.
- step 24 the called terminal 14 determines whether the call is answered, by detecting whether the called terminal is off-hook. If so, operation flows to step 26, and the called terminal waits for an on-hook condition indicating the end of the call.
- step 28 operation proceeds to step 28, and the called terminal 14 determines whether a preselected ring limit has been exceeded.
- the called terminal may be programmed to ring four times (or some other number of times) before the call is routed to the voice message system 10. If the ring limit is exceeded, operation flows to step 30, and the called terminal 14 transfers the call to the voice message system 10, where the caller is prompted to leave a message for the called party. If the caller leaves a voice message, that message is stored in the memory of the voice message system along with a time stamp generated by the voice message system. Alternatively, the called terminal may transmit the time-of-call information to the voice message system.
- the voice message system then transmits a confirmation signal back to the called terminal 14 indicating that the caller left a message.
- the called terminal stores that information and associates it with the caller identification information and time-of-call information for that call. Such information is preferably displayed on the display 16 of the called terminal 14 (FIG. 4) . Operation then proceeds back to step 20 to detect the next incoming call and repeat the process.
- the called terminal 14 determines whether the user has directed the called terminal to retrieve a message. This can be done by depressing a particular button 19 on the called terminal corresponding to a message retrieval mode, such that the terminal enters a message retrieval mode. If the user has selected the call retrieval mode, operation proceeds to step 52, and the called terminal displays the call information on the display 16, which preferably includes the caller identification information, time-of-call information, and message confirmation information. Alternatively, the called terminal can be programmed such that the display 16 continuously displays the call information, such that the user can direct the called terminal to retrieve a message by simply pressing one of the selection buttons 18, without the called terminal having to first enter a message retrieval mode.
- step 54 operation then flows to step 54, and the called terminal determines whether one of the messages has been selected for play back. This is preferably done by monitoring whether one of the selection buttons 18 has been depressed. If no button is depressed, operation proceeds to step 56, and the called terminal determines whether a preset time limit for making the selection has expired. If so, operation proceeds back to step 50. If not, operation proceeds back to step 54.
- the called terminal 14 retrieves the time-of-call information for the selected call, and at step 60 the called terminal transmits a request signal to the voice message system 10, the signal including the retrieved time-of-call information.
- the voice message system 10 receives the signal from the called terminal and uses the time-of-call information to find and retrieve the corresponding message from its data store. It will be apparent that the voice message system 10 may use the time-of-call information to retrieve the message with the closest time stamp, and that the time stamp and time- of-call information do not need to be identical.
- the voice message system 10 transmits the retrieved voice message to the called terminal, which then plays the selected voice message to the user, at step 64.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
EP98948109A EP1040642A4 (en) | 1997-08-01 | 1998-07-31 | Time-matched voice messaging system |
AU94747/98A AU9474798A (en) | 1997-08-01 | 1998-07-31 | Time-matched voice messaging system |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US5448297P | 1997-08-01 | 1997-08-01 | |
US60/054,482 | 1997-08-01 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO1999007133A1 true WO1999007133A1 (en) | 1999-02-11 |
Family
ID=21991393
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US1998/018618 WO1999007133A1 (en) | 1997-08-01 | 1998-07-31 | Time-matched voice messaging system |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1040642A4 (en) |
AU (1) | AU9474798A (en) |
TW (1) | TW401674B (en) |
WO (1) | WO1999007133A1 (en) |
Citations (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4853952A (en) * | 1987-12-03 | 1989-08-01 | Dictaphone Corporation | Method and apparatus for visual indication of stored voice signals |
US5390236A (en) * | 1992-03-31 | 1995-02-14 | Klausner Patent Technologies | Telephone answering device linking displayed data with recorded audio message |
US5446785A (en) * | 1992-05-27 | 1995-08-29 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Telephone terminal equipment in which telephone numbers of callers are displayed |
US5463676A (en) * | 1990-09-04 | 1995-10-31 | Nitsuko Corporation | Key telephone system with a voice storage equipment |
US5568540A (en) * | 1993-09-13 | 1996-10-22 | Active Voice Corporation | Method and apparatus for selecting and playing a voice mail message |
US5751793A (en) * | 1995-03-14 | 1998-05-12 | U S West Technologies, Inc. | Method and instructions for visual voice messaging user interface |
Family Cites Families (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CA1279134C (en) * | 1986-08-08 | 1991-01-15 | David B. Chamberlin | Communications network and method with visible and voice message transmission capabilities |
JPS6473852A (en) * | 1987-09-14 | 1989-03-20 | Nec Corp | Automatic voice mail switching system |
-
1998
- 1998-07-31 EP EP98948109A patent/EP1040642A4/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1998-07-31 WO PCT/US1998/018618 patent/WO1999007133A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1998-07-31 AU AU94747/98A patent/AU9474798A/en not_active Abandoned
- 1998-09-30 TW TW87116205A patent/TW401674B/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Patent Citations (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4853952A (en) * | 1987-12-03 | 1989-08-01 | Dictaphone Corporation | Method and apparatus for visual indication of stored voice signals |
US5463676A (en) * | 1990-09-04 | 1995-10-31 | Nitsuko Corporation | Key telephone system with a voice storage equipment |
US5390236A (en) * | 1992-03-31 | 1995-02-14 | Klausner Patent Technologies | Telephone answering device linking displayed data with recorded audio message |
US5446785A (en) * | 1992-05-27 | 1995-08-29 | Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. | Telephone terminal equipment in which telephone numbers of callers are displayed |
US5568540A (en) * | 1993-09-13 | 1996-10-22 | Active Voice Corporation | Method and apparatus for selecting and playing a voice mail message |
US5751793A (en) * | 1995-03-14 | 1998-05-12 | U S West Technologies, Inc. | Method and instructions for visual voice messaging user interface |
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
See also references of EP1040642A4 * |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
EP1040642A1 (en) | 2000-10-04 |
AU9474798A (en) | 1999-02-22 |
EP1040642A4 (en) | 2005-11-09 |
TW401674B (en) | 2000-08-11 |
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