WO2001072018A2

WO2001072018A2 - Messaging applications for portable communication devices

Info

Publication number: WO2001072018A2
Application number: PCT/US2001/040369
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rami B. Safadi; Tonytip Ketudat; Gaugarin Oliver
Original assignee: Ultiverse Technologies, Inc.
Priority date: 2000-03-22
Filing date: 2001-03-22
Publication date: 2001-09-27
Also published as: AU2001259791A1; WO2001072018A3

Abstract

A method and system for processing electronic messages passed between communication devices. The invention permits efficient retrieval of messages and replying to messages using a variety of communication devices over communication networks. The messages and the replies may take on numerous formats in a flexible fashion and includes added SMS messaging functionality for automatic message retrieval directly from a server using user and message identification information.

Description

MESSAGING APPLICATIONS FOR PORTABLE COMMUNICATION

DEVICES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the fields of messaging and electronic communication. More specifically, the invention is directed to systems and methods for processing electronic messages and annotating electronic record entries using a variety of communication devices and protocols.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Messaging applications pervade the communications industry and are appearing in growing numbers, paralleling the developments in communications systems and software. Some messaging applications are close to real-time, and deliver electronic messages in various forms to a recipient very soon after being sent, and could be considered as "pushed" onto the recipient. Other messaging applications are more passive, providing a message which upon delivery to a server or other device, resides in a storage queue pending retrieval or "pulling" by the recipient. Messages may be sent directly from one user to another, or routed via servers or message centers. Some common forms of electronic messaging include electronic mail (email) sent over intranets and the Internet, audible messages sent to voice mailboxes over telephone connections, pager messages, and short message service (SMS) messages. Recently, two-way paging, including using pagers having character input capabilities, has come into use. Short message service (SMS) delivery typically provides a recipient on his portable communication device with a short text message of under 160 ASCII characters. SMS messages can be sent between two cellular phones or between a computer and a cellular phone. A SMS message may contain the pertinent message information or may merely alert a user to the presence of some other type of message in his inbox. SMS messages are sent by specialized message centers over separate channels than those that carry voice communication, and use message servers to deliver the messages to users rather than being sent directly from one user device to another. In addition to the exchange of messages and information between two users, personal information such as appointments, calendar entries, and task lists can be presented as messages to be delivered or accessed remotely.

Present messaging systems suffer from numerous limitations, and typically limit a remote user to only a subset of the functionality available from a computer or other full-featured device. Some limitations include the inability of personal communication devices to access all types of communications or messages. For example, a wireless personal digital assistant (PDA) typically is a text-only αevice which cannot play voice mail or fax or multimedia messages to a user. If the PDA has a wireless telephone module, the voice and data functions of the apparatus remain quite separate. Similarly, wireless telephones have limitations of the types of message information that can be played and displayed by them. Web-enabled telephone devices and even personal digital assistants provide a very poor interface for inputting text. For this reason it is often impractical to use these devices to send or reply to email messages. Furthermore. performing such functions while operating a vehicle is impossible or dangerous.

Additionally, current messaging apparatus lack the ability to forward message content seamlessly from one device to another. Current systems also lack the ability to handle multiple message formats, partly because of the limitations of the communication devices describes above. So it is difficult or impossible to respond to a message having a first format with a reply of a second format.

Present systems also require a user to go through a cumbersome sequence of steps to access messages from their message servers. This is especially true for messages to be retrieved by a user upon receiving an SMS notification of the arrival of such messages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides functionality for messaging and communication applications not previously available, and overcomes at least the disadvantages and limitations described above. Some aspects of the invention will be described below, using illustrative embodiments to aid in the description where helpful. However, the invention should be construed in light of the claims appended hereto and the exemplary embodiments given herein are not intended to be comprehensive or exhaustive. One embodiment is directed to a method for responding, at least by voice, to a received message which is received on a communication device by way of a message server, the method comprising: sending a signal from the communication device to the message server, the signal including a request to respond to the received message; establishing a communication link between the communication device and a telephony server; and sending communication information from the communication device to the telephony server, the communication information including at least voice information coupled to a response message.

Another illustrative embodiment is directed to a telephony server, the telephony server adapted for coupling to a communication network and constructed to: receive a request to open a communication link between the telephony server and a telephony communication device; receive at least a voice annotation communication message from the telephony communication device; and responsive to receiving the annotation, to couple the annotation to a response message for transmission over the communication network.

Yet another embodiment is directed to a computer-readable storage medium, on which are stored instructions which, when executed on a communication device coupled to the readable storage medium effect: a signal to be sent from the communication device to a message server, the signal indicating a request to respond, by at least voice, to a received message received at the communication device; establishment of a communication link between the communication device and a telephony server; and transmission of an annotation message from the communication device to the telephony server, the annotation message corresponding to the received message, and comprising at least voice information. One exemplary embodiment provides a method for reviewing, on a voice-capable communication device, a voice message corresponding to a voice annotation coupled to a received electronic mail message, comprising: receiving the electronic mail message on an electronic-mail-capable communication device by way of a message server; returning a signal through the message server to a telephony server; and on a voice-capable communication device, reviewing the voice message through a communication link established with the telephony server on which the voice message is stored. Another embodiment is directed to a method for making an annotation, containing at least a voice annotation, to a selected entry in a multi-entry electronic record, comprising: from a communication device, fetching the selected entry from storage by way of a record server coupled to the communication device: establishing a communication link between the communication device and a telephony server; and sending a voice annotation to the telephony server, the voice annotation coded for coupling to a message which is to be returned to the record server and coupled to the selected entry.

Yet another embodiment of the invention is directed to a system for processing entries in a multi-entry electronic record, comprising: a record server coupled to a communication network, the record server adapted for retrieving a selected entry from the multi-entry record; a communication device coupled to the communication network, adapted for providing an annotation message; and a telephony server coupled to the communication network, the telephony server adapted for receiving the annotation message from the communication device and adapted for coupling the annotation message to an electronic message to be sent to the record server.

In yet another embodiment, a method is provided for accessing an annotation coupled to a received message, comprising: on a communication device, receiving a notification message from a notification server, the notification message containing received message identification information; establishing a communication link between the communication device and a message server, the message server containing at least a copy of the annotation thereon; providing to the message server the received message identification information as well as user identification information; and retrieving from the message server information containing the annotation. According to one embodiment, a method is provided for adding a message sender's information to a contacts list, comprising: receiving a message containing a first identification information on a communication device, the first identification information not being a name of the message sender; actuating an input actuator on the communication device to select the message; actuating an input actuator on the communication device to initiate a search for a second identification information corresponding to the message sender; receiving the second identification information: and storing the first and the second identification information in a memory location corresponding to the message sender.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Some of the figures show schematic diagrams of some preferred embodiments of the invention. In some of the figures, schematic diagrams are shown containing some elements of a communication system and network with communication devices coupled thereto for exchanging messages.

IN THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a system according to the invention, showing a user B receiving an email message from an email server and replying using voice after being called by a telephony server.

Figure 2 shows user B receiving an email message from an email server and establishing a connection to a telephony server to provide a voice reply to user A's message. A confirmation copy is also sent to the email server.

Figure 3 shows user B receiving a message via a server and replying by voice over the same communication channel as the message came across.

Figure 4 shows user A sending user B a message containing a voice annotation. User B employs one device to retrieve a message from an email server, and another device to retrieve the voice annotation from a telephony server.

Figure 5 shows user B employing one device to view an incoming message, and another communication device used to send a voice reply via a telephony server.

Figure 6 shows a user retrieving an entry from a multi-entry record server, then returning, via a telephony server, a voice annotation to be placed back onto the record by the record server.

Figure 7 shows user B receiving a SMS notification message from a SMS server, and retrieving a corresponding large message from a message server.

Figure 8 shows user B receiving a SMS notification message from a SMS server, then after retrieving a corresponding large message from a message server, replying through the message server with voice. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention facilitates communication between multiple communication system users and between users and electronic records associated with the users. In many instances, it is useful to apply the invention to the field of messaging. wherein a user receives or retrieves an electronic message sent to him over a communication network. The user may use a portable communications device (PCD) for accessing messages in any of a number of message formats, including messages stored on remote servers. Several embodiments are discussed for illustrative purposes only, by which some of the aspects of the invention are practiced The examples presented are not comprehensive, and the invention is not so limited, but rather, it should be understood that any equivalents or modifications to the disclosed embodiments that become apparent to those skilled in the art shall fall within the scope of the invention as well.

Terms and Definitions

As used herein, "user" is a person or entity who uses an aspect or process associated with the invention. For example, an individual or institutional entity using a communication service or network or device is a user. Additionally, machinery coupled to a communication system or network, such as routers, servers, personal computers, personal communication devices, fax and telephony machines may also be considered users in the context of the invention. Yet another example of a user could be a software agent or module adapted for processing or interacting with some aspect of the invention.

As used herein, "message" is a communication of a discrete (though not fixed) amount of information and can take numerous forms, some now in use and some to be developed in the future for the same or similar purposes, and can contain real-time content, batch-processed, or stored content. No limitations are implied herein as to the size, efficiency, bandwidth requirements, or format of the information content. Electronic message examples include individually or in combination or equivalence: electronic mail (email), voice mail, facsimile (fax) messages, electronic news and bulletin postings, small message service (SMS) message formats and their equivalents, packet communications, audio and video conferencing content to name a few. In addition, various types of electronic records, some having multiple entries or fields can be passed, stored, edited, appended, and processed as message content according to the present invention. Examples of such record-like messages include calendar entries, notes, contacts and phonebook entries, tasks, meeting requests, journal entries, and other database entries which can be embedded into other messages for passing over a channel. Messages can be carried along any suitable communication network and/or stored on any suitable medium if such storage is called for.

A "network" or "communication network" as used herein is intended broadly, and may include individually or interconnected or in combination: ground-based telephone networks, fiber optic communication and data networks, wireless communication networks such as cellular telephone networks, paging networks, satellite, RF, television, and other communication channels suitable for carrying messages or data, etc. Additionally, a network is not limited herein to local area, wide area, or open architectures. The Internet and corporate intranets are specifically used herein as exemplary modes for carrying electronic communication messages and content, but any equivalent or similar structure, whether using telephone lines, Ethernet. TI, T3, optical or wireless or other known or to-be-developed architectures could be used as well. Ancillary or auxiliary devices and networks may be coupled to a communication network in some instances, and may in certain cases, be considered part of the communication network. Communication system components coupled to a communication network may interact in a collaborative fashion. For example, routers could be used to route messages and files and other electronic content from one part of tLe network to another. In some aspects, this may provide advantages such as reducing telecommunication costs. If a user travels to a geographic location other than his home location, his messages may be sent over a communication network to a communication device or server geographically located near the user. In this way. it may be less expensive to deliver wireless communication information to and from the traveling user. This flexibility should be understood to apply to many embodiments of the invention, including those presented in this application, even if not explicitly stated in conjunction with each description of the embodiments.

The present application also makes reference to "communication devices" and their personal or portable variants (PCDs). It is meant by these and similar terms to include all devices adapted for performing the functions of communication and messaging as called for by the use at hand. The communication devices and PCDs are not limited to, but include, computers, personal computing devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), fax machines, pagers, telephones, and cellular telephones, both digital and analog, using any service or format such as WAP, VoIP, HTML, GSM, CDMA, TDMA, or PCS.

Several communication formats are currently in use by various communication devices or PCDs. For example, the Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) specification. WAP allows wireless handheld PCDs to access information such as over the Internet, reading email, browse special Web sites written using the WAP markup language

(WML), and perform other communication tasks. PCDs running numerous operating systems support the WAP. Examples are the PalmOS , Windows CE, JavaOS, as well as embedded Linux systems and others. One popular feature of WAP devices is their ability to run "microbrowsers" that resemble the more full-featured World Wide Web browsers. WAP-enabled wireless phones and PDAs are currently popular in many countries. There are other specifications, currently popular in Japan, Europe, and the Middle East that use the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) on cellular phones having Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology. In the United States, cellular phone systems using the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, pioneered by Qualcomm, Inc. remain in wide use.

Many devices incorporate features found in more than one type of device such as those listed above. However, all communication devices are adapted for coupling to a communication network or to some other communication device or component at least some of the time, and they also all have at least some functionality associated with transmission, reception, display, storage, or processing of information. Today we are witnessing more convergence of electronic devices and communication appliances, including the integration of telephony and computing. The present description is meant to include all such apparatus, whether now in use or to be developed in the future.

Reference is made herein to "servers". Servers are generally computers having hardware and software adapted to perform various functions such as messaging, telephony, database operations, and communication functions in general. While various specialized types of servers exist, it should be understood that the functionality of servers can encompass a broad set of features. Some servers are referred to herein as message servers. Message servers perform the tasks of routing, storing, processing, and passing electronic messages from one entity to another over a communication network. Another form of server referred to herein is a telephony server. A telephony server is equipped with telephony hardware, and possibly digital signal processing hardware, which may include voice recognition, hardware and software, for purposes of interacting with other telephony components, such as cellular telephones and other communication devices. Other types of servers are referred to herein as may become helpful in describing their function. It is intended that the adjective describing a server not be taken as a strict limitation, as many embodiments could be fulfilled using variants on the named server or other types of servers equipped to perform auxiliary functions. For example, in several embodiment provided herein, the message server may be synonymous with an email server. Additionally, message servers and telephony servers are sometimes shown and discussed herein as independent entities, but in a given application they may be combined into the same device, or be collocated on one server.

Consider next a few applications illustrating by example some of the possible embodiments of the invention, expanding on the examples and presenting explanation where useful.

Replying to a Message Using a PCD

Some aspects of the present invention allow for sending a message, such as a voice message, in reply to a message received on a user^'s PCD. In one embodiment, a user having a wireless PCD establishes a connection to a messaging server, such as an email server; then, upon viewing a received message, sends a voice reply through a telephony server (TS) to the original sender of the received message.

Figure 1 shows a user A, 400, who sends a message 1000, containing information "x" addressed to another user B. The message 1000 is carried via a link or channel over a network, such as the Internet 100, to a message server, such as an email server 200. The message 1000 (called the "received message") may then be stored, for example in user B's email inbox or some other electronic record archive. User B may optionally be notified of the arrival of the received message 1000 on his PCD 500. or he may initiate a sequence for message retrieval from the email server 200, such as by logging into the email server 200.

User B sends to the email server 200 a signal 1010, carrying information "y" containing at least a request by user B to view his pending messages. The email server 200 responds, optionally after a secure log-in sequence, by sending the received message 1000 to user B's PCD 500. The PCD 500 is adapted for viewing the message information "x," such as by reading the text within an email message on a screen equipped for alphanumeric display.

Next, user B sends a signal 1020, carrying information "v" containing at least a request by B to respond to the received email message 1000 using voice. A voice reply or annotation 1040 may be delivered instead of an email reply or as an annotation to augment an email reply, for example.

The email server 200 then utilizes a communication network, which may be the Internet 100 or another network, to relay user B^"s request 1020 to send a voice annotation to a telephony server 300. The request 1020 may be forwarded in its original form or may be reformatted, depending on the specific system used. Once the request 1020 reaches the telephony server 300 and is processed, the telephony server 300 establishes a communication link to the PCD 500 by sending a connection request 1030, containing information "z" which identifies, for example, the source and purpose of the communication. For example the telephony server 300 can dial a wireless phone PCD 500 using a telephone number obtained from a customer look-up table on the telephony server 300, or using a telephone number sent in the information "v" in the signal 1020. This may alternatively be done by parsing the information "v" at the telephony server, and extracting the necessary telephone number therefrom. When the communication link is established between user B and the telephony server 300, user B sends a voice message (called the "reply message"), containing information "w", to the telephony server 300. The voice message may then be sent directly to its designated destination or may be repackaged or reformatted by the telephony server 300 to comply with any required formats for delivery and processing. The telephony server 300 may convert the voice message 1040 from an analog to a digital format, or the telephony server 300 may employ any data compression or encryption techniques, or both, before sending out the voice message 1040. Several embodiments are provided for the sake of illustration, describing how the voice reply 1040 is sent to user A. Note that while like numeric reference numerals generally refer to similar elements, the alphabetical letter numerals (denoting information for example) do not necessarily indicate identical information content throughout the present application. Also note that reference to a numeric reference numeral (e.g. 1000) can generically include temporally separate versions of similar elements (e.g., 1000a, 1000b, 1000c, ...).

In one embodiment, the voice reply message 1040 may be repackaged as an attachment to a message to be sent from the telephony server 300 to user A, whose identity and/or address were provided to the telephony server 300 in the information "v" in the signal 1020. For example, the telephony server 300 may send the reply 1050 to user A in the same format (e.g., email) that user A used to send the original message 1000. In one example, the telephony server 300 sends an email to user A having information identifying user "B" as the sender and containing an audio file (e.g.. in .wav format) containing the reply message 1040. The telephony server 300 may optionally deliver a copy of the message sent to user A back to the email server 200. or just a notification of the sending of the reply message 1050 to user A. This confirmation may be stored in user B's email inbox for verification purposes.

In another embodiment, the telephony server 300 sends the reply message 1040, either in raw form or processed as described above, back to user B's email server 200. which then sends the reply message in an email 1050 to user A.

In yet another embodiment, either the telephony server 300 or the email server 200 makes a connection with a voice-capable communication device associated with user A, such as user A's telephone, to deliver the reply message 1040. That is. if user A identified his telephone number in the original received message 1000. or if user A is known to user B, or can otherwise be looked up in a local or remote directory or contacts list, a telephony apparatus such as the telephony server 300 can play the voice message 1040 for user A over the phone.

Figure 2 shows another way of implementing the invention whereby user B uses his PCD 500 to initiate a communication connection with the telephony server 300 upon receiving the received message 1000. In this example., the PCD sends a signal 1100 containing information "q" to the telephony server 300 to establish the connection. User B then follows with the desired voice message 1040. Typically, this requires first disconnecting the PCD from the email server 200 before establishing the connection with the telephony server 300.

The telephony server 300 then attaches the reply message 1040 in a reply email 1050 as described in the previous examples. The telephony server 300 may optionally send a signal 1110 containing information "r" to the email server 200 to confirm the receipt and/or delivery of the messages 1040 and 1050. A copy of the message 1050 is also sent to the email server 200 for archiving.

It should be understood that any electronic message may be used in any of the examples given in this application for the reply 1040, and not merely voice replies. For example, the reply message 1040 may include an image or a video segment or a combination of formats. The invention is generally not limited to the embodiments and configurations given in the description above and corresponding figures, and any equivalent configuration or sequence could be used in the alternative for achieving substantially similar ends.

A user may reply to a message according to the present invention, and its embodiments where applicable, by using a single communication channel capable of carrying multiple forms of communication. For example, a voice-over-IP (VoIP) connection can be used where both data and voice are carried over an Internet connection. Also, a GPRS (general packet radio service) connection can be used. GPRS allows for many packets of information to be carried in small bursts, and can run at speeds up to 150 kbps.

Figure 3 shows an example of a sequence for receiving a received email message 1000 as described earlier, going over the Internet 100 to a server 1200. The server in this example can be of any kind adapted for processing communications with user B's PCD 500 and user A's message 1000. For example this server 1200 (as well as the servers described in other embodiments in this invention) can combine the functions of an email server 200 and a telephony server 300.

The user B sends a communication 1210 containing information "u" to the server 1200 indicating a request to download his messages (or some subset of them) 1000. Upon viewing the contents "x" of the received message 1000, user B actuates an input actuator on his PCD 500 to reply. The input actuator may be any one of numerous types implemented in hardware or software or a combination of both. For example, the user B may actuate a hard button on the body of his PCD 500. or he may press a "soft button" appearing on a display of his PCD 500. or may use a voice-activated command, etc.

The reply message 1040, containing for example a voice reply "w^"' information, is sent over an Internet Protocol (IP) connection using the server 1200. The message 1040 is formatted or attached to an email reply 1050 which is then sent by the server 1200 over the Internet 100 back to the original sender, user A.

In some aspects, this embodiment provides an advantage of not needing to establish a second communication with a telephony server 300. which can in some cases require the user B to disconnect his PCD connection from the email server 200, as in the previous examples.

Using Two Devices

In some situations, such as when receiving an email message having a voice or video attachment, it becomes difficult or impossible to review all of the contents of the message on one device. More specifically, if a user is using a PDA to read his email messages and one of the messages contains a voice attachment or a music file or other multimedia file, the user will not be able to review this content if his PDA lacks audio or video capability. In this situation, it may be useful to be able to route the audio or video content of the message to another communication device or networked multimedia player capable of playing the multimedia content.

Figure 4 shows an arrangement whereby a user A 400 sends an email message 1300 to user B. the message 1300 containing a voice annotation or attachment "w" therein. The message 1300 is passed over the Internet 100 to user B's email server 200. Using a first PCD 510, user B sends to the email server 200 a signal 1310, containing a request to review his pending messages. The email server may send a full version of the received message 1300 to user B on his first PCD 510, or alternatively, as shown in Fig. 4. the email server may provide a version 1320 of the received message 1300 minus the full media (voice) attachment "w" to conserve bandwidth, but including an annotation indicating that such an attachment was sent with the message 1300. The annotation may indicate the size and type of attachment. Upon request, sent via information in signal 1330, the email server 200 then delivers a copy of the received message 1300. complete with the attachment "w" to a telephony server 300. The copy message 1340 also con-ains information, such as a telephone number, identifying to the telephony server 300 how to contact user B at a second PCD 520. belonging to user B. that can review the attached content "w." The telephony server 300 establishes the indicated connection to the second PCD 520 and delivers the content 1350 having information "w" therein. For example, the second PCD may be a telephone to which is delivered an audible voice message "w" from user A. Naturally, the above example could be modified and extended to include other types of media embedded in electronic messages. For example, the content "w" may be a video segment or MP3 music segment. These would be delivered by an appropriate server over a communication channel to a player such as a television or a stereo music system to be reviewed by the user B.

Alternatively, user B can in some embodiments opt to have an identified voice message converted to some other format for review by any of his PCDs as appropriate. For example, a voice message "w" could be interpreted by a suitable voice-to-text program and resent to user B on his first PCD 510 in the form of an email message. Or the receiving user could have the text further delivered to a fax machine or other means of reading its content, such as by converting the message to a Web-readable message that could be accessed with a browser.

Furthermore, user B may then decide to reply to the message or its embedded content by any of the ways given in the present description, such as by replying by voice or by using the first PCD 510 to send a text email reply. For example, as shown in Figure 5, a user B may retrieve an email message 1000 from an email server 200 in one of the ways described previously. The user B may then request in a signal 1020 containing information "v" to reply to the received message 1000 using a different communication apparatus, such as a land line telephone 800 available to the user B.

The user B's request for voice reply 1020 is forwarded by his email server 200 to a telephony server 300. The telephony server 300 then establishes communication with the telephone 800 by placing a call 1030 to the telephone 800. User B may then speak his voice reply into the telephone 800. which will be sent in an electronic message 1050 over a network 100 to its destination. The invention is not limited to the sequence presented above, but may employ any equivalent devices, message formats and steps to accomplish this process or a variation on it. For example, the reply message 1050 may be routed over the network 100 to user B's email server 200 for delivery to user A 400. A copy of the message may be sent to the email server 200. or a mere signal containing verification information may be sent to the email server 200. Likewise, various techniques for compressing, attaching and encrypting the reply message or its contents may be implemented at any of the devices used in the system that handle the message.

Annotating Entries in Electronic Records

Similar systems to those described in the preceding embodiments can be used to retrieve stored electronic record entries rather than mail messages, present them to a user, then convey edits and annotations through a server, to be stored on a storage device. In Fig. 6 a diagram is provided, showing a system for retrieving and editing an electronic record entry. The system includes an electronic record, possibly stored in a record database 600, and containing a plurality of data entries El, E2, E3, ... 4. The record database 600 may be contained within the record server, on another server, or remotely accessible over a network.

The user sends a request 1510 from his PCD 500 to a record server 1500, which may be the same as or a variant of an email or a message server. The record server then retrieves the desired entry 1520. containing record entry data E, from the record database 600. The entry 1520 is sent by the record server 1500 to the PCD 500 for review.

Now the user chooses to add an annotation, for example a voice note, to the entry 1520. This is accomplished by sending a signal 1530 containing information "y" including at least identifying information to identify the record entry to be annotated. "y" may also include information providing a telephony server 300 with a telephone number or other user identifying information so that the telephony server 300 can contact the user at his PCD 500. The signal 1530 is forwarded by the user's record server 1500 or email server over the Internet 100 or another suitable communication channel to the telephony server 300.

The telephony server 300 sends the PCD 500 a signal 1540 identifying itself to the user and opening the communication channel between the telephony server 300 and the PCD 500. This step could be done alternatively by having the user call the telephony server 300 from his PCD 500 instead of being called by the telephony server 300 as described in other embodiments earlier.

The user may then provide an annotation, such as a voice annotation 1550, for inclusion into the relevant record entry. The telephony server 300 facilitates this by appropriately packaging the annotation 1550 into a message 1560 that is then sent back to the record server 1500 over the Internet 100.

The record server 1500 parses the message 1560 to extract the annotation 1550.

The annotation 1550 or information corresponding to, "W(E)", possibly reformatted to suit the format of record entry "E", is appended to or included in or attached to the electronic record entry 1520, creating a modified record entry 1570. which contains the annotation information "W(E)". The annotated record entry 1570 may then be placed on the record database 600 as a new entry or as a replacement for record entry 1520 to which it corresponds. The above embodiment can be applied to creation of new record entries as well as annotating existing entries. Examples of electronic multi-entry records to which this applies include: email inboxes, voice mailboxes, calendar records, meeting requests, task lists, notes, to-do lists, contact lists, etc.

Building a Contacts List Record

In another embodiment of the invention, the above method for annotating and adding entries in a multi-entry record can be extended to streamlining the process of building an electronic contacts or phonebook list. A contacts list or phonebook is a record containing information fields such as names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, Internet addresses, etc., and is kept at least in memory on a local or remote device such as a mail server.

In this embodiment, a user may selectively add information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. to an electronic phonebook by selecting an icon or performing some act on his PCD responsive to receiving a message from a contact. For example, the user who receives a message from a new contact on his PCD 500 may use an input actuator on the PCD 500 to send the message or information harvested from the message to his record server 1500. The information may further be modified or reformatted by the server 1500 to allow for storage on a record database 600 if necessary.

In some embodiments, the process may be described as a "reverse directory lookup." In this situation, the name of a contact may not be known, but a first piece of identifying information is known. For example, the email address or telephone number or fax number of the contact may be known, from which the other pieces of identifying information such as the contact's name may be found. ^τn some aspects, the known identifying information is used for searching a local database on the communication device or a database on a networked server or even for searching over an open network such as the Internet.

Some aspects of this invention may provide advantages for handling personal records remotely over wireless PCDs for example. A traveling businessperson can obtain up-to-date information from his or her office including appointments and calendar information, then without having to locate a device that can type replies, and without having to enter alphanumeric characters on his or her PCD, the user may reply by voice or may make annotated notes by voice, to be coupled to the record entries for later reference or for forwarding to colleagues.

Messaging and SMS Features As described briefly in the Background section of this application, the short message service (SMS) features appearing on many newer wireless telephones allow users to exchange text messages containing up to about 160 ASCII characters. The SMS messages are routed through a SMS service center, which for the purposes of this application can be considered a message server with SMS functionality. The present invention provides for retrieval of a "large message," based on a notification of the arrival of the large message, sent to a recipient via an SMS short message. That is, a recipient, who receives a large message that is either too large to fit in an SMS message, or a message not intended to be an SMS message, or a message containing content in a format not compatible with SMS messaging (e.g., voice, fax, multimedia, graphics, etc.) can have his SMS provider send him a notification SMS message. The notification message may contain the header content or subject line or some portion of the large message. The notification SMS message may also contain sender identification information and other information identifying the large message waiting retrieval.

Note that the term "large message^" is used broadly to distinguish from the term "short message" in SMS applications, and is not limiting of the large message in any way. The large message may be of any size or format, and may even be smaller in size than the short notification SMS message itself.

In some aspects, the inclusion of such identifying information may simplify the process of obtaining a large message associated with a SMS notification message. For example, by including user-identifying information such as caller ID in the communication between a user and a message server housing the large message, a user may need to only enter his password or may even just use the caller ID information for logging into or accessing his mailbox. The connection between the user on his PCD and the message server may be established responsive to the user actuating an input actuator on his PCD causing the server to call the PCD to deliver the large message, or may be accomplished by the user dialing into the message server from his PCD. This can be done in a semi-automated way by selection of an icon or an input actuator on the PCD, for example, by selecting a highlighted message header or button.

Some aspects of the invention utilize the features of the dial number identification service (DNIS). It is common for institutional communications customers to have a switchboard or private branch exchange (PBX) to handle incoming calls. Depending on the requirements, the PBX can handle the distribution of calls over a limited number of actual phone lines to a plurality of internal users exceeding the number of actual phone lines. For example, a corporation employing 100 persons, each with his own assigned extension number and unique telephone number, may only have 24 physical phone lines coming into the corporate office. Indeed, the corporation may employ one T-l line, providing all 24 phone channels to its PBX. The PBX determines which user extension to ring/connect in response to an incoming call by "reading" the unique direct inward dial (DID. sometimes known in Europe as DDI) number contained in the incoming call. Since the corporation has 100 employees, each has his own DID number that outsiders may dial; this number is sufficient for the PBX to identify the desired extension to ring and connect. In one embodiment, shown in Fig. 7, upon connecting to a message server 165, a user may access a large message 1600, or its content "w" 1640, corresponding to a received SMS notification message 1620 in a direct fashion, without having to navigate through any "phone trees" or menu options on the message server 165 to access the large message 1600. This is accomplished by embedding a number (i.e., code) within the SMS notification message 1620 that identifies a unique large message 1600 with the corresponding SMS notification message 1620. This number (code) can be a DID number. By embedding a DID number within the SMS notification message 1620, and then having the user B establish a connection to the message server 165 at the DID phone number provided, the message server 165 can connect user B directly to the large message 1600 because the message server 165 has information regarding user B's identity (from his caller ID —and optionally from a password to log in), and also has information regarding which of a possible plurality of pending large messages the user wishes to review (from the assigned DID number the user used to call into the message server). In some embodiments, this streamlined process avoids requiring the user to scroll through a possible plurality of pending large messages in the conventional sense to get to the unique large message he seeks. The recipient (user B) may respond and reply to either the SMS message 1620 or to the large message 1600 as described in earlier embodiments of this description and variations thereon. In the example of Fig. 7. user A 400 sends a large message containing a voice message content "W" to user B through the Internet 100. The large message 1600 is routed to user B's email or message server 165 in the usual way. The message server 165 sends a signal 1610 containing information "y" about the existence of the received large message 1600, the PCD 500 phone number of user B, and other identifying information that is associated with the large message 1600. This identifying information can be a DID number that will correspond to the specific large message 1600. The message server 165 stores these pieces of information in a database 167. which could be on the message server 165.

Upon receiving the signal 1610, user B's SMS service server 160 sends to user B an SMS message 1620. The SMS message 1620 contains within it information that identifies the large received message 1600 in some way. This can be done for example by embedding a DID number, provided to the SMS server 160 in the information "y" by the message server 165. The user may initiate a call to the DID number embedded in the SMS notification message 1620 by actuating an input actuator such as a button or a highlighted entry or a soft button.

The message server 165 will identify user B by his caller ID or by a login process, and may optionally require a password. Once logged in, user B can be given the large message 1600 automatically, since it is identified by the DID number user B dialed the message server^'s PBX using. In this way, the process of accessing a particular large message 1600 or its content 1640 is streamlined, and user B does not need to further search his inbox for that particular message 1600. The process could be essentially a single-click or unified action taken by user B in response to the incoming SMS notification message 1620.

In general, a mobile user gets an SMS notification on his/her mobile wireless device, or PCD, notifying the user that he received some kind of large message (this can be an email, voicemail, meeting request, invitation to join a conference call, etc.). The body of the SMS notification message that appears on the user's wireless device may optionally include information about the large message the user had received. The SMS message will contain an assigned phone number (DID) to be embedded in the SMS message. The user may select (e.g., by clicking on) this number in order to retrieve the message, or may choose to disregard the notification. Selecting this number will cause the wireless device to dial the number.

Dialing the DID number connects the PCD with a telephony server or messaging server handling the large messages. The messaging server will capture the caller ID of the user's wireless device as well as the DID number that the wireless device had dialed. By capturing these two numbers, the messaging server can uniquely identify both the user and the large message that the user is attempting to retrieve. The messaging server may optionally prompt the user for a password. The user may then be presented with a voice menu, e.g.: listen to message, reply to message with voice, reply to message with text, fax message to a fax number, make a phone call to the sender of the message, etc. The way in which the system chooses the DID phone number to be embedded in the SMS notification enables the matching of large messages to calls to the message server from the user^'s PCD. The message server has a list of phone numbers (DIDs) assigned to it that when dialed by anybodv will ring at the message server's PBX as described above. The message server assigns one of these numbers (DIDs) after being prompted for it by the SMS server, which can be the same as the message server. The SMS server, as part of its prompt, will pass to the message server the user's phone number, or user ID (optionally, because the system can determine the user ID from the user's phone number), and a message ID corresponding to the large message for which the SMS notification is sent.

The message server then stores the DNIS information (DID) along with the user ID, phone number, and large message ID in a database for future reference. When the user's wireless device dials the message server responsive to the SMS notification, the message server uses the phone number (e.g., via caller ID) and the DNIS information (the DID number) to look up the user ID and large message ID in the database in order for the message server to (optionally) prompt the user for a password and present the message menu.

In another embodiment, rather than embed DNIS (DID) numbers into the SMS notification message, the SMS customer can identify the large message to the message server using a spoken or otherwise inputted annotation that is interpreted by the message server to identify the relevant large message. For example, upon connecting to the message server, a user who has a plurality of pending large messages in his message inbox, may directly access a given large message (e.g.. the fifth one) by speaking a word (e.g., "FIVE") at a prompt from the message server. Alternatively, the user may press the numeric keypad button on his wireless phone PCD corresponding to the large message number, and by this be taken to access or otherwise process this number.

One additional feature of so identifying large messages by message-identifying information embedded into a SMS notification message is to permit selective or automatic processing of the associated SMS message once the corresponding large message has been reviewed or accessed. For example, depending of the service and user preferences, a user's message server may inform his SMS server that a certain large message has been heard (or deleted) on the message server. The large message's identifying information (e.g., corresponding DID number) may then be relayed to the user's PCD and the corresponding SMS message deleted from his PCD automatically. Conventionally, users must manually clean out their SMS messages from their phones because there is no connection between the large messages and the SMS messages to which they correspond.

Figure 8 shows a similar system to that given in Fig. 7. Here user B responds to either the SMS message 1620 or to the large message 1600 using voice in a way similar to that given in previous examples: the user B sends a signal 1630 containing information "z" to his message server 165. The information signifies B's wish to respond by voice. The message server 165. adapted for processing telephony functions, takes user B's voice response 1650 containing voice annotation "R" and passes this message back to the original sender user A 400. In one aspect of the invention, a confirmation and/or other information can optionally be sent to user B's PCD 500 by a server such as the SMS server 160. This information 1670 may contain information "s" to perform the added function of automatically deleting the SMS message 1620 from user B's PCD 500. In this way user B's PCD 500 can be maintained, clearing out old SMS notifications related to large messages that have already been accessed or deleted from the message server 165.

Figures 9A, 9B show in more detail an exchange of SMS notification and DID numbers between the SMS server 160 and the PCD 500. Several notifications may be sent to the PCD 500 denoting several distinct received large messages. By providing a distinct DID number in each notification, the user of the PCD 500 can obtain each distinct corresponding large message from the message server 165 directly or individually. The data "z" (1630) and "h^" (1700) contain at least the necessary identification information, and can be sent as two separate data or as a unified identifying datum.

It should be appreciated that while having discussed several embodiments of the invention in detail, various modifications and improvements will readily become apparent to those skilled in the art. Such modifications and extensions are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only, and is not intended to be limiting.

What we claim is:

Claims

1. A method for responding, at least by voice, to a received message which is received on a communication device by way of a message server, the method comprising:

(A) sending a signal from the communication device to the message server, the signal including a request to respond to the received message:

(B) establishing a communication link between the communication device and a telephony server; and (C) sending communication information from the communication device to the telephony server, the communication information including at least voice information coupled to a response message.

2. The method of claim 1. wherein sending a signal includes a user initiating the sending by actuating an input actuator on the communication device.

3. The method of claim 2. wherein the input actuator is selected from the group consisting of: a soft button, a hard button, a voice-activated actuator, and an icon.

4. The method of claim 1. further comprising disconnecting a communication link between the communication device and the message server.

5. The method of claim 1. wherein (B) comprises making a telephone call from the communication device to the telephony server.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein (B) comprises making a telephone call from the telephony server to the communication device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received message is an electronic mail message.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the response message is an electronic mail message.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication information is coupled to the response message as an attachment.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication information is coupled to the response message by embedding the communication information within the response message.

11. The method of claim 1. wherein the communication device is selected from the group consisting of: a telephone, a wireless telephone, a facsimile device, a device adapted for using the wireless access protocol (WAP), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, and a portable computing device.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing the response message to be sent from the message server to a network address.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing a confirmation message to be sent from a server to the communication device to confirm delivery of the response message.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein sending communication information further comprises converting the communication information from a first format to a second format and transmitting the information in the second format.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first format is a voice information format, and the second format is a text format.

16. The method of claim 14. further comprising sending a copy of the communication information in the second format to the communication device for review.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising editing the communication information in the second format.

18. The method of claim 1. wherein the message server and the telephony server are collocated on one server performing both messaging and telephony functions.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication device communicates using a format selected from the group consisting of: GSM. TDMA, CDMA, wireless access protocol (WAP). iMode, and HTML formats.

20. A telephony server, the telephony server adapted for coupling to a communication network and constructed to: receive a request to open a communication link between the telephony server and a telephony communication device; receive at least a voice annotation communication message from the telephony communication device; and responsive to receiving the annotation, to couple the annotation to a response message for transmission over the communication network.

21. The server of claim 20, further comprising a messaging server coupled to the communication network and adapted for taking a message containing the voice annotation from the telephony server and passing it on to an address on the communication network.

22. The server of claim 20, wherein the request is from a wireless communication device.

23. The server of claim 20, wherein the request is from a message server.

24. The server of claim 20. wherein the telephony server is adapted for communication with devices using a format selected from the group consisting of: GSM, TDMA, CDMA, wireless access protocol (WAP), iMode, and HTML formats.

25. The server of claim 20, wherein the telephony communication device is selected from the group consisting of: a telephone, a wireless telephone, a facsimile device, a device adapted for using the wireless access protocol (WAP), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, and a portable computing device.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, on which are stored instructions which, when executed on a communication device coupled to the readable storage medium effect: a signal to be sent from the communication device to a message server, the signal indicating a request to respond, by at least voice, to a received message received at the communication device; establishment of a communication link between the communication device and a telephony server; and transmission of an annotation message from the communication device to the telephony server, the annotation message corresponding to the received message, and comprising at least voice information.

27. The readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the communication device is selected from the group consisting of: a telephone, a wireless telephone, a facsimile device, a device adapted for using the wireless access protocol (WAP), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, and a portable computing device.

28. The readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the communication link uses a format selected from the group consisting of: GSM. TDMA. CDMA, wireless access protocol (WAP), iMode, and HTML formats.

29. A method for reviewing, on a voice-capable communication device, a voice message corresponding to a voice annotation coupled to a received electronic mail message, comprising:

(A) receiving the electronic mail message on an electronic-mail-capable communication device by way of a message server;

(B) returning a signal through the message server to a telephony server; and (B) on a voice-capable communication device, reviewing the voice message through a communication link established with the telephony server on which the voice message is stored.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising prior to (A), converting a received text message to the voice message.

31. The method of claim 29, further comprising prior to (B), disconnecting the electronic-mail-capable communication device from the message server.

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising prior to (B), connecting the voice- capable communication device to the telephony server.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the voice annotation is coupled to the received electronic mail message as an attachment.

34. The method of claim 29, wherein the voice annotation is coupled to the received electronic mail message by embedding the voice annotation in the received electronic mail message.

35. The method of claim 29, wherein the voice annotation is a file using the WAV format.

36. The method of claim 29, wherein the communication link uses a format selected from the group consisting of: GSM, TDMA, CDMA, wireless access protocol (WAP), iMode, and HTML formats.

37. The method of claim 29, wherein the electronic-mail-capable communication device and the voice-capable device are collocated on one device providing at least electronic mail and λ'oice functions.

38. The method of claim 29, wherein the message server and the telephony server are collocated on one server providing at least messaging and telephony functions.

39. The method of claim 29, wherein the electronic-mail-capable communication device and the voice-capable communication device are collocated on one communication device providing at least electronic mail and telephony functions.

40. The method of claim 29, wherein the electronic-mail-capable communication device is selected from a group consisting of: a telephone, a wireless telephone, a facsimile device, a device adapted for using the wireless access protocol (WAP), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, and a portable computing device.

41. The method of claim 29, wherein the voice-capable communication device is selected from a group consisting of: a telephone, a wireless telephone, a facsimile device. a device adapted for using the wireless access protocol (WAP), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, and a portable computing device.

42. A method for making an annotation, containing at least a voice annotation, to a selected entry in a multi-entry electronic record, comprising: (A) from a communication device, fetching the selected entry from storage by way of a record server coupled to the communication device;

(B) establishing a communication link between the communication device and a telephony server; and

(C) sending a voice annotation to the telephony server, the voice annotation coded tor coupling to a message which is to be returned to the record server and coupled to the selected entry.

43. The method of claim 42, further comprising (D) converting the annotation from one format to another.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the conversion converts voice information to text information using a speech-to-text application.

45. The method of claim 43, further comprising sending a copy of a product of the conversion to the communication device for review.

46. The method of claim 45, further comprising editing the copy of the product of the conversion.

47. The method of claim 42, wherein the electronic record contains selected from a group consisting of: contacts, appointments, calendar, notes, to-do list, tasks list, a folder, a meeting request, a database entry, and a phonebook.

48. The method of claim 42, further comprising returning a confirmation message to a communication device for review.

49. The method of claim 42, wherein the communication device is selected from a group consisting of: a telephone, a wireless telephone, a facsimile device, a device adapted for using the wireless access protocol (WAP), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, and a portable computing device.

50. A system for processing entries in a multi-entry electronic record, comprising: a record server coupled to a communication network, the record server adapted for retrieving a selected entry from the multi-entry record; a communication device coupled to the communication network, adapted for providing an annotation message; and a telephony server coupled to the communication network, the telephony server adapted for receiving the annotation message from the communication device and adapted for coupling the annotation message to an electronic message to be sent to the record server.

51. The system of claim 50, wherein the communication device communicates over the communication network using a format selected from the group consisting of: GSM, TDMA. CDMA, wireless access protocol (WAP), iMode, and HTML formats.

52. The system of claim 50, wherein the record server and the telephony server are collocated on one server providing both record keeping and telephony functions.

53. The system of claim 50, wherein the communication device is selected from a group consisting of: a telephone, a wireless telephone, a facsimile device, a device adapted for using the wireless access protocol (WAP), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, and a portable computing device.

54. The system of claim 50. further comprising a database in which the electronic record is stored.

55. A method for accessing an annotation coupled to a received message, comprising:

(A) on a communication device, receiving a notification message from a notification server, the notification message containing received message identification information;

(B) establishing a communication link between the communication device and a message server, the message server containing at least a copy of the annotation thereon;

(C) providing to the message server the received message identification information as well as user identification information; and

(D) retrieving from the message server information containing the annotation.

56. The method of claim 55, further comprising prior to (C), converting the annotation from one format to another.

57. The method of claim 56. wherein the conversion converts voice information to text information using a speech-to-text application.

58. The method of claim 55. wherein the communication device is selected from a group consisting of: a telephone, a wireless telephone, a facsimile device, a device adapted for using the wireless access protocol (WAP), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, and a portable computing device.

59. The method of claim 55. wherein the received message identification information is assigned by the message server, and is provided to the notification server.

60. The method of claim 55. wherein the received message identification information includes at least a number corresponding to a telephone number.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the number corresponding to a telephone number is determined by the message server using a dial number identification service (DNIS) extension.

62. The method of claim 55. wherein the received message identification information includes at least a direct inward dial (DID) number.

63. The method of claim 55. wherein the received message identification information is entered by a user from a numeric keypad on the communication device.

64. The method of claim 55, wherein the received message identification information is obtained by the message server from audible information spoken into the communication device.

65. The method of claim 55. wherein the received message identification information includes at least a number corresponding to the received message.

66. The method of claim 55, wherein the received message identification information is obtained by the message server from audible information spoken into the communication device.

67. The method of claim 55, wherein the user identification information corresponds to a communication device telephone number.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein the communication device telephone number is captured using a caller ID service.

69. The method of claim 55, wherein the user identification information is assigned by the message server, and is provided to the notification server.

70. The method of claim 55, wherein the user identification information and the received message identification information are combined into one identification information unit that identifies both the user and the message.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein the one identification information unit is a combination of a caller ID number and a direct inward dial number.

72. The method of claim 55, further comprising using a telephony server to handle communication exchanges between the communication device and the messaging server.

73. The method of claim 55, wherein the message server and the notification server are collocated on one server providing both messaging and notification functions.

74. The method of claim 55, wherein the notification server is a small message service (SMS) server.

75. The method of claim 55. further comprising sending from the messaging server to the notification server an indication that a particular received message was accessed by the communication device.

76. A method for adding a message sender's information to a contacts list, comprising: receiving a message containing a first identification information on a communication device, the first identification information not being a name of the message sender; actuating an input actuator on the communication device to select the message; actuating an input actuator on the communication device to initiate a search for a second identification information corresponding to the message sender; receiving the second identification information; and storing the first and the second identification information in a memory location corresponding to the message sender.

77. The method of claim 76, wherein the first identification information is obtained by parsing the message.

78. The method of claim 76, wherein the second identification information is obtained by a search on a local database using the first identification information.

79. The method of claim 76, wherein the second identification information is obtained by a search on a database kept at a networked server using the first identification information.

80. The method of claim 76, wherein the second identification information is obtained by a search on a remote database using the first identification information.

81. The method of claim 80, wherein the remote database is coupled to the Internet.