JP2005519505A - Mobile electronic message system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and system for sending a voice message to an electronic address, generally establishing a data connection between a first server (15) and a wireless device (50) of a voice message system so that a user can send an email Including providing access to the account. The first server (15) obtains the identifier of the wireless device and accesses the association of the wireless device identifier with the telephone number of the wireless device (50). Next, a call is made from the wireless device (50) to the second server (25) of the voice message system, and the voice message is recorded. Use the obtained phone number to retrieve the pre-stored recipient's electronic address and create an email containing a link to the voice message. The created electronic mail is transmitted to the recipient's electronic address.

Description

  The present invention relates to wireless voice messaging systems and methods, and more particularly to systems and methods that allow a mobile phone user to receive, compose, or reply to an email message with embedded voice messages.

  Over the past few years, wireless technology has spread rapidly, and with the convergence of peripheral technologies such as handheld computing, wireless communication devices have become very powerful. Wireless devices include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld computers, laptop computers, and the like.

  Currently, users of wireless devices can access their web-based email accounts via their wireless devices. For example, a mobile phone user who owns a web-based Yahoo mail account can access his Yahoo mail account and receive the email text within it. In these current systems, users of wireless devices can also reply to such emails. However, this typically requires users to use the old triple-tapping method or other inefficient and time-consuming methods such as using pre-prepared messages or T9 technology. I must. In some cases, the user may be able to connect a keyboard to the wireless device, as in the case of some PDAs that have wireless access to the Internet, such as WAP-enabled PDAs. However, many users choose or need to access their email account while traveling or going to and from work. Therefore, problem solving by using the keyboard is not practical.

  Thus, due to the inefficiency of current methods of creating email messages on wireless devices, these message systems have not become widespread among users, and mobile phones and other wireless devices are primarily Used to search for email messages.

  In general, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a mobile phone user can reply to an email or create and send an email containing a voice message. By eliminating the need for keyed replies to emails, users of wireless devices can access POP, IMAP, or other types of email accounts when away from home or work computers. More efficient access and use.

  According to one embodiment, a method for sending a voice message to an electronic address generally establishes a data connection between a first server system of a voice message system and a wireless device so that a user can access an email account. Includes making. The user is presented with the option to reply to an existing email or forward an existing email or create a new voice message with a voice message. Once the user selects a particular option, the server system attempts to obtain the wireless device identifier from the user's wireless device. If the wireless device identifier is not available, the user is prompted to enter and transmit the user's wireless telephone number. If the wireless device identifier is obtained, the server system accesses the association of the wireless device identifier to the user's wireless phone number and searches for the wireless phone number. The first mapping of the user's wireless telephone number to the recipient's electronic address is then stored in a database system that communicates with the first server system. The recipient's email address is associated with a message retrieved by the user from the user's email account or a message entered by the user from the wireless device.

  When the user completes the addressing of the message, a call is initiated from the wireless device to the second server system of the voice message system. The second server system obtains the wireless telephone number of the user of the wireless device, preferably using the caller ID. If a digital communication connection exists, the second server may instead retrieve the wireless device identifier. The second server system can then use the obtained telephone number to retrieve the stored recipient email address. The user is then prompted to record a voice message, create an electronic message that includes a link to the voice message, and send the electronic message to the recipient's electronic address stored in the first database system.

  In this way, a wireless device capable of supporting voice and data, such as a WAP-enabled device or a J2ME-enabled device, allows a user to record a voice message as a reply to an email instead of a conventional type of reply.

  Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the accompanying schematic diagram and flowchart, and the following detailed description. However, the drawings drawn different from the scale are for illustration purposes only and do not define the scope of the present invention, which should be defined by the appended claims. Please understand that.

  Throughout the drawings, which are drawn to scale and for illustration purposes only, like reference numerals indicate like components.

  Throughout the drawings, a voice message system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention and a method for sending a voice message to an email account are shown. Unlike known systems that simply attach a sound file to an e-mail, the voice message system 10 embeds a link to a streaming or non-streaming audio file in the e-mail so that the recipient can directly convert the audio message into a voice message. Accessible. For example, a recipient of a voice message receives an email containing a link to the voice message from a user of the wireless device. In another embodiment, the voice message is forwarded directly to the recipient's voice mail account associated with the recipient's email account. In this way, there is no step requiring the recipient to retrieve the voice message from the recipient's email account. Further, the voice message system 10 has an advantage that the user can reply with a voice message, so that there is no need to type a reply. The streaming audio file may be a Windows® (.asf) or Real Networks (.ram) media format, or any other audio format known or to be developed so far. . Non-streaming audio files are. It may be wav (WAVE file format), PCT, mu-law, or the like.

  The embodiments described herein operate normally in a wireless network, such as a WAP enabled network, for example, and allow wireless communication. As used below, the term “WAP enabled” generally refers to networks and devices that can transmit and receive data wirelessly using wireless application protocols. As is known in the art, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is a reliable specification that allows users to access information instantly via wireless devices such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios, transmitters, etc. It is. WAP supports most wireless networks, including CDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, ReFLEX, iDEN, TETRA, DECT, DataTAC, and Mobitex, and PalmOS, EPOC, Windows CE , FLEXOS, OS / 9, and Java (registered trademark) OS, etc. Typically, a WAP-enabled device is a so-called web browser that uses an LED or color image display and has a small file size that can accommodate the limitations of small mobile device memory and low wireless network bandwidth. The Internet (or other communication network) can be accessed on a mini-browser or micro-browser.

  It will be appreciated that a WAP enabled device is only one example of a type of wireless communication device that can be used in connection with the present invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that any other known or later developed wireless data communication technology can be used in connection with the embodiments of the invention described herein.

  In FIG. 1, the voice messaging system 10 preferably includes one or more server / database systems that can communicate with each other and wirelessly communicate with a plurality of users' wireless devices. In one embodiment, the voice messaging system 10 generally includes a mobile server system 15 and a voice server system 25 that are communicatively connected to respective database systems 20 and 30. It should be noted that although the embodiments described herein use separate servers and databases to implement the various functions of the voice messaging system 10, as long as the functionality described herein can be achieved, the design As a matter of choice, other embodiments can be implemented by storing software or programming that performs the functions described above on one server or on a combination of multiple servers. Although not shown in the figure, the server systems 15 and 25 include a processor, a RAM, a ROM, a clock, a hardware driver, an associated storage device, and the like as normally provided in the server system. Non-limiting components known in the art are provided. However, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, since many users may access such a server system at any time, they may be separated or coordinated to support system traffic and processing. It is preferable to use a large number of servers and databases that can be used, and as a non-limiting example, a round robin configuration utilizing a large number of server systems.

  Further, as will become apparent from the following description and related drawings, a user can communicate with the voice server system 15 and the message server system 25 via a global communication network 150 such as a mobile phone, satellite, or other wireless communication network. connect. Further, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the network 150 may include non-wireless elements such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN) or a wired or fiber optic network, for example. Thus, although the wireless device 50 itself wirelessly communicates with a portion of the network 150, it will be appreciated that the network 150 may include any number of different types of communication devices that allow transmission of voice and data. I will. It will also be apparent that various system elements of the voice messaging system 10 are communicatively connected to each other via a communication network 40 such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN).

  Generally speaking, the mobile server system 15 communicates with the user's wireless device 50 through a data communication connection and allows the transmission of data, while the voice server system 25 is more traditional digital or analog wireless voice connection. To communicate with the user's wireless device 50. The application of a server system as described herein for wireless communication with one or more wireless devices is known to those skilled in the art.

  In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2-5, the wireless device 50 establishes a data connection with the mobile server system 15 of the voice messaging system 10 so that the two devices can communicate. Through this data connection, the wireless device 50 can retrieve and / or view email received with the user's email account. If the user chooses to reply to the e-mail with a voice message, the mobile server system 15 attempts to obtain the identifier of the wireless device, which includes a device identification number (MIN :) defined later. Mobile Identity Number), or other stored identifier that uniquely identifies the user's wireless device 50 may be included. If the wireless device identifier is not available, the user is prompted to enter and transmit the user's wireless telephone number. Depending on whether the wireless device 50 is capable of digital calls or limited to analog calls, the wireless device identifier (digital) or wireless telephone number (analog) is used, as described in detail below. The e-mail address of the recipient of the voice message is associated with the specific voice message.

  When a user accesses his email account, it preferably has at least three possible choices. These options are (1) reply to an existing email, (2) transfer of an existing email to a new address, and (3) creation of a new email. In either case, the wireless device 50 transmits one or more recipient electronic addresses to the mobile server system 15. Depending on whether the wireless device is capable of digital or analog communication, the recipient's electronic address is mapped to a wireless device identifier or a wireless telephone number and stored in the database system 20.

  Once this process is complete, the mobile server system 15 can prompt the user to continue browsing the email or initiate a voice message recording session. If the user chooses to start a voice message recording session, the data connection is terminated and the user is prompted to make a call to the voice server system 25 of the voice message system 10. This call may be analog or digital (eg, Voice over IP (VOIP)). In response to various instructions, the user records a voice message, and the recorded voice message is stored in the second database system 30.

  During the recording process, in the case of a digital connection, the voice server system 25 tries to obtain the identifier of the wireless device. In this scenario, once the voice server system 25 obtains the identifier of the wireless device, it can access the mapping of the wireless device identifier to any stored recipient email address, and then the user can It can be determined whether or not there is a pending transmission message. If the message is pending, the voice server system 25 retrieves the recipient's electronic address and prompts the user to select which voice message is associated with which address. The voice message recording process will be described in more detail below.

  In the case of an analog connection, the voice server system 25 tries to obtain the telephone number of the wireless device by accessing the caller ID. If the caller ID is blocked, the system prompts the user to enter a phone number. Again, the voice server system 25 can use the telephone number to associate the wireless device with the address of the recipient of the message being sent. When the recording process ends, a voice message is sent to the selected recipient's electronic address.

  FIG. 2 illustrates an example method 200 of interaction between the voice messaging system 10 and a user, in which the user uses the wireless device 50 to receive, compose, or forward a message at step 202. Or reply to an existing message. For illustrative purposes only, a user may access and retrieve email from various email accounts using the wireless application protocol (WAP) function or other wireless device 50 data communication protocol. Can do. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is just one way to allow wireless devices to access data over the network, using any such data transmission technology. Can also access electronic data and send and receive electronic data. When accessing a mail account and reviewing an email, the user may wish to reply to the message, forward the message, or create a completely new message. If the user selects one of reply, forward, and create a new message and chooses to include a voice message component, the user communicates with the mobile server 15. When the connection is established, in step 204, the mobile server 15 first tries to detect whether or not this time is the first use of the voice message system 10 by the user. If this is the first time that the user has used the voice message system 10, in step 206, the mobile server 15 starts a user sign-up routine. The user sign-up routine can be operated by any of the servers shown in FIG. 1 or by another server in communication with the communication network 40, and the user's information can be stored in any associated database. You will understand that it is good. As shown in step 206 (more specifically in FIG. 3), this routine will include displaying various messages and notifications regarding the use of the voice message system 10 to the user. For example, notifications such as service conditions or privacy statements regarding the use of the voice message system 10 can be displayed to the user. If the user approves or agrees to all displayed messages and notifications, the user's mobile server 15 continues the sign-up process, which is described in connection with FIG. It will be described later.

  Once sign-up is complete or the user has already signed up (see step 208), in step 210, the mobile server 15 attempts to obtain the radio telephone number or radio device identifier of the user's radio device 50. To do. In some cases, a wireless telephone number can be obtained. However, since many wireless communication providers encrypt numbers to protect customer privacy, in some cases, the mobile server system 15 may not be able to obtain wireless telephone numbers. In steps 212 and 214, if the wireless telephone number is not available, the mobile server 15 obtains the mobile identification number of the device or the identifier of another wireless device.

  Because of various privacy laws, rules, and regulations, many, if not all, wireless communication providers use MIN to prevent third parties from accessing a user's actual phone number. As one skilled in the art will recognize, the term MIN refers to an encrypted form of a user's wireless telephone number, and the use of the term MIN allows a wireless communication provider to communicate to a third party, regardless of name or form. It should be understood that it includes an encrypted form of the user's phone number that is made accessible. In another embodiment, the wireless identifier is stored in the wireless device 50 in the form of a cookie, for example, so that the wireless identifier can be retrieved even if the wireless communication provider does not use MIN.

  As described above, the voice message system 10 uses a wireless telephone number to ensure that the user's voice message is sent to the correct recipient. Thus, if a wireless telephone number is not available through a wireless data connection to the mobile server 15, the wireless identifier is used to retrieve the wireless telephone number-to-wireless identifier mapping already stored for the wireless device 50. If no mapping is stored in the database system 20, in step 216, the mobile server prompts the user for transmission to the mobile server 15 using the keypad (or other input device) to the wireless device. Enter the device number. When the mobile server 15 receives the device number at step 218, at step 220, the mapping of the obtained MIN (or other radio identifier) to the radio telephone number entered by the user is stored in the database 20 for future use. .

  Once the mobile server system has identified the wireless device 50, depending on the type of action initiated by the user, at least two possible paths, i.e., voice reply or voice transfer or voice, as shown in FIG. Create a new message with the user. The latter two options involve substantially the same operation and will be described together in conjunction with FIG. 2-2. If the user replies to the electronic message with a voice message, the mapping of the original sender's electronic address (at this time the recipient of the reply message) to the device number is stored in the database 20 in step 222a. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, storing the mapping of the device phone number to the recipient's email address is only one example, and storing such information may include interconnecting to the voice messaging system 10. Any of these databases may be used. On the other hand, if the user creates a new message or forwards the message to another recipient, in step 222b, the mobile server 15 prompts the user to retrieve, select or enter the recipient's electronic address.

  By way of non-limiting example, many wireless devices such as PDAs and cell phones often have features that allow users to store contact information including email addresses. Such a device also allows the user to search for pre-stored addresses or create a quick list to facilitate positioning of frequently used addresses. Of course, the user can manually enter the address to the extent that the device does not allow such storage or retrieval. Once the user selects or enters the recipient's email address, the mapping of the recipient's address to the device number is stored in the database 20 at step 222c as described above.

  In any case, when the mobile server 15 obtains the address of the recipient, in step 224, the mobile server 15 prompts the user to place a call and connects to the voice server system 25 to record the voice message. For example, the mobile server 15 can transmit a telephone number for the voice server system 25 to the user's wireless device. When a call is made, a digital or analog connection is established between the wireless device 50 and the voice server system 25 at step 226. As a result, the next processing varies depending on whether the connection is digital or analog, and will be described separately below.

  If the connection is digital, the voice server system 25 will attempt to obtain an identifier for the wireless device, which may be a stored data file such as cookie or MIN. Once the identifier is obtained, the voice server system 25 can retrieve the device number from the mapping stored in the database 20 and then retrieve the pre-stored recipient's electronic address. As will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 4, the voice server 25 then prompts the user to start recording a voice message. Preferably, a voice instruction system is used to interact with the user. Once the voice message is recorded, in step 228, the voice server 25 sends the voice message to the identified recipient's electronic address.

  Alternatively, when the connection is analog, data cannot be transmitted between the wireless device 50 and the voice server system 25. To overcome this problem, the voice server system 25 attempts to obtain a device number using known caller ID technology. However, if the caller ID is blocked or unavailable, the user is prompted to manually enter the device number using known tone detection techniques. Once the device number is obtained, the voice server system 25 uses the phone number to retrieve a pre-stored recipient address.

  Next, in FIG. 4, an embodiment relating to the interaction between the user and the voice server system 25 is shown in detail. When a telephone is connected in step 402, voice server 25 determines in step 404 whether the caller's device number can be detected. If not, step 406 prompts the user to enter the device number or, as described above, detects the MIN and retrieves the device number from the MIN / device number mapping previously stored in the database 20 try to. At 406a and 406b, the caller can choose to end the call at any time. When the number is entered, in step 408, the voice server 25 determines whether a sufficient number of digits has been entered. If the required number of digits has not been entered, the voice server 25 causes the user to re-enter the number in step 408a. If this information is received or the device number is available, in step 410, the voice server 25 attempts to match the telephone number entered or obtained with any message awaiting transmission in the user's account. The message that was created or returned (and the recipient's email address) is already mapped to a device number, so any message mapped to a specific device number should be matched Can do. Once verified, in steps 414-416, the voice server 25 prompts the user to record a message with a tone sound, in a non-limiting example. However, if there is no message waiting to be transmitted, the voice server 25 ends the call in step 412. When the user finishes recording the message, in step 418, the voice server 25 allows the user to listen to the message, thereby either deleting or re-recording the message or canceling the message completely. It may be determined. If the user has not selected to cancel or re-record the message, in step 420, the voice server 25 sends a voice message to the recipient's electronic address and in step 422 the call is terminated. The embodiment described here used the wireless device number as a common mapping correlation, but what to create, forward, or associate the voice message embedded in the reply with the recipient's address? It should be understood that codes, IDs, and passwords may be used.

  In FIG. 3, an embodiment of a method 300 for a new user to sign up for a service that pays a fee each time a user uses the voice messaging system 10 is shown. When the user accesses the mobile server 15, the sign-up process begins at step 302, and at step 304, the mobile server 15 is already registered with the electronic wallet service authorized to be used with the voice messaging system 10. Detect whether or not. If the user has not yet registered for such a service, at step 306 the user is queried for information authorizing the user to register for such a service. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the process of registering with an electronic service is not critical to the present invention and may be implemented in any manner depending on design choices. For example, the user is directed to a web site that provides such services or is given the opportunity to sign up using a wireless device. If the user has already registered for the electronic wallet service, or if the registration is complete, in step 308, the mobile server 15 has sufficient funds for the electronic wallet account to use the voice message service. It is determined whether or not. If the account does not have sufficient funds, at step 310, the mobile server 15 prompts the user to enter or select an amount to add to the account. Once this selection or entry has been made, in step 312, the user is prompted to enter a security ID and / or password. Once the security ID and / or password is identified, the business process is complete and, at step 314, funds are added to the electronic wallet in a manner known in the industry. New users or users who do not have sufficient funds are transitioned to the process of creating and sending a voice message as described above at step 316.

  Referring now to FIG. 5, one method for allowing a user to reply to a retrieved email, forward an email to a new recipient, or create a completely new voice message to an email recipient. A schematic diagram is shown. In the first step 5a, the user retrieves one email from the user's email and chooses to reply to this message with voice message 2 using his wireless device, and in the next step 5b, The primary server obtains from the wireless device a wireless identifier, which can be a name or a pre-stored cookie. As described above, and as specifically shown in table 510, a mapping of wireless IDs to telephone numbers of wireless devices is stored. Upon obtaining a wireless identifier for the wireless device, the mobile server accesses this mapping to determine whether a telephone number for the particular identifier obtained exists. If the telephone number does not exist, the user is prompted to manually enter their wireless device number. At this time, the mapping is saved so that the user does not need to input the telephone number again. In the next step 5c, the active message to be created, forwarded or returned is associated with the telephone number of the wireless device in use and placed in the queue shown in table 520 by the mail server. At this time, the wireless data connection is terminated and a call is made from the wireless device to the voice server. Next, in step 5e, the voice server tries to detect the telephone number of the wireless device using the caller ID. If the caller ID is not available, the user is asked to manually enter the phone number, as detailed above. In the next step 5f, the phone number is used to find the correct message for the particular phone number and the recipient's email address from table 520. If the correct recipient address and message are found, the user is prompted to record a voice reply, and in step 5g, the voice server forwards the reply to the recipient identified in the active message. The message may be in the form of a link to a stream audio file embedded in an email that is forwarded to the recipient, or may be sent in the form of a native audio file. The recipient or recipient can receive the message on any device that can receive such email.

  According to a further aspect of the invention, a user of a wireless device can receive an electronically transmitted voice message via his wireless device. Thus, if a particular user receives a voice message in his / her email account, the user can search for this message and listen to the message using his / her wireless device 50. In a first embodiment, a user wirelessly accesses an email account that includes one or more emails that include a voice message. When selecting an email containing a voice message, preferably in a non-limiting example, a voice message stored in a highly compressed form, such as a Microsoft GSM audio file, plays the voice message. Together with the media player, it is sent to the user's wireless device to reproduce the voice message. In this embodiment, the media player is preferably auto-playing and starts automatically and starts playing voice messages as soon as the download is complete.

  In another embodiment, the media player is transmitted, loaded, and saved to the wireless device 50 for future voice message playback upon sign-up to minimize the need to download media player files. . In either case, the user can reply to the voice message or any other email with a voice message, as described herein.

  In yet another embodiment, a user creates an email account with the voice messaging system 10 and retrieves email from that account using the user's wireless device 50 as described herein. Can do. The email server 45 is preferably communicatively coupled to the voice server system 25. When an email is received with a user account on the email server 45, the programming of the email server 45 determines whether the email contains a voice message. Next, the e-mail server 45 extracts a voice message from the e-mail and uploads the voice message file to the voice server system 25. The voice server system 25 retrieves the user's wireless telephone number from the database system 30 and makes a call to the user's wireless device 50. In either case, the user answers the phone or the user's voice mail picks up the call, the voice server system 25 plays the voice message so that it can be received by the user's wireless device 50. In this way, voice messages that are initially sent via email can be sent directly to the user or recipient without the user or recipient needing access to their email account. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the voice messaging system further comprises an email server 45, which preferably receives and stores emails containing voice messages locally, in order to send voice messages to the user. It is within the scope of the present invention that an external email account can be used in a similar manner.

  Furthermore, it is also within the scope of the present invention to operate a wireless network that can simultaneously transmit and receive voice and data. In such a system, the step of disconnecting the data connection and establishing another voice connection can be completely eliminated.

  Thus, while the basic and novel features of the present invention have been illustrated and described as applied to an embodiment, various omissions have been made in the form and details of the invention without departing from the spirit of the invention. , Substitutions, and alterations may be made by those skilled in the art.

1 is a schematic diagram of a system structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of interaction with a user of the system of FIG. FIG. 2 is a continuation diagram of the flowchart of FIG. 2-1. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for signing up a new user in the system of FIG. 1. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for obtaining a voice message according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for allowing a user to reply, forward, and create an e-mail message containing a voice component according to the present invention.

Claims (22)

A method for sending a voice message to an electronic address using a wireless device, comprising:
Generate a correspondence between the identifier of the wireless device and the electronic address,
Storing the mapping in a database system;
Record the voice message,
Associating the voice message with the identifier;
Using the stored correspondence, retrieve the electronic address from the database,
Compose an electronic message containing the recorded voice message,
Sending the electronic message to the searched electronic address;
A method involving that. The step of generating an association between an identifier of a wireless device and an electronic address includes
Establishing a data connection with the wireless device;
Receiving the identifier from the wireless device;
Receiving an electronic address that is the destination of the voice message transmitted from the wireless device;
The method of claim 1, comprising mapping an identifier of the wireless device to the electronic address.   The method of claim 2, wherein the identifier of the wireless device is an alphanumeric code.   The method of claim 2, wherein the identifier of the wireless device is a mobile identification number.   The number of claim 2, wherein the identifier of the wireless device is a wireless telephone number. The step of recording the voice message comprises:
Establish a voice call session with the wireless device;
After instructing the user to talk to the wireless device,
The method of claim 1, comprising obtaining the voice message during a conversation.   The method of claim 6, wherein the indication is a tone.   The method of claim 6, wherein the indication is a beep. The step of associating the voice message with the identifier comprises:
Obtaining the identifier during the voice call session;
2. The method of claim 1, comprising mapping the recorded voice message to the obtained identifier.   The method of claim 9, wherein the voice call session is digital and the step of obtaining an identifier during the voice call session includes receiving a data transmission of the identifier.   The method of claim 9, wherein the voice call session is analog and the step of obtaining an identifier during the voice call session includes receiving the identifier via a call ID. The voice call session is analog and the step of obtaining the identifier during the voice call session comprises:
Prompts the user to enter the identifier by keystroke;
The method of claim 9, comprising receiving the keystroke.   The method of claim 1, wherein the step of creating an electronic message that includes the recorded voice message comprises embedding a link to the voice message within the electronic message.   The method of claim 1, further comprising converting the voice message to a streaming media format following the step of recording the voice message.   The method of claim 1, further comprising converting the voice message to an audio data file following the step of recording the voice message. Establishing a data connection with the wireless device;
The method of claim 1, further comprising accessing data stored in a memory of the wireless device and retrieving the identifier. Allowing the user to retrieve electronic messages from an email account using the wireless device;
Providing the user with one or more options to create or reply to the retrieved electronic message;
The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an electronic address as a result of a user selecting an option.   The method of claim 17, wherein one of the options is to send a reply to the existing electronic message to the sender of the existing electronic message.   The method of claim 17, wherein one of the options is to transfer an existing electronic message to a new recipient.   The method of claim 17, wherein one of the options is to create a new electronic message. To generate an email containing a voice message and send the email to an email address using a wireless device capable of wireless communication and including programming for receiving, creating and replying to an electronic message A system,
A server system adapted for wireless communication with one or more wireless devices;
The server system can be programmed
Receives an indication that the user wants to create an electronic message containing a voice message,
Receives the electronic address to which the electronic message is sent,
Recording the voice message transmitted by the wireless device to the server system;
Link the voice message to the appropriate electronic address,
A system that operates to create an electronic message that includes the voice message addressed to the appropriate electronic address. The server system is further programmed.
While receiving the electronic address from the wireless device,
Detect the identifier of the wireless device,
Mapping the identifier of the wireless device to the electronic address;
Save the mapping,
23. The system of claim 21 operative to retrieve the electronic address mapped to the identifier of a wireless device while recording a voice message.

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