WO2003055196A1

WO2003055196A1 - Delivery of wireless messages to wireline interactive devices

Info

Publication number: WO2003055196A1
Application number: PCT/US2002/040585
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anita Hogans Simpson
Original assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation
Priority date: 2001-12-20
Filing date: 2002-12-18
Publication date: 2003-07-03
Also published as: AU2002364738A1

Abstract

A method and system are provided for delivering messages from a wireless paging device (65) directly to a wireline interactive device (95) serving as a forwarding extension of the recipient's wireless interactive paging device (65). A user of a wireless interactive device (65) selects a forwarding address for forwarding incoming messages and pages to a wireline interactive device (95) such as a wireline telephone with an interactive messaging display. After entering the forwarding electronic mail address, all incoming messages directed to the user's wireless paging device (65) are forwarded via a wireline extension service through a distributed computing network, such as the Internet (50), to an electronic mail server (85). At the electronic mail server (85), the incoming messages are formatted and routed through a conventional wireline telephone network to the user's wireline interactive device (95). The forwarded messages are displayed to the user just as they would have been on the user's wireless pager (65). Text messages forwarded to a conventional telephone not capable of receiving and displaying text messages may be forwarded to a text-to-speech (TTS) conversion device over the Internet (50) or over the public switched telephone network to a TTS conversion device located as a stand-alone unit, located at a network component, or located at a telephone (21).

Description

DELIVERY OF WIRELESS MESSAGES TO WIRELINE INTERACTIVE DEVICES

This application is being filed as a PCT International Patent application in the name of BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation, a U.S. national corporation, applicant for the designation of all countries except the US, and Anita Hogans Simpson, a U.S. national and resident, applicant for the designation of the US only, on 18 December 2002.

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a method and system for delivering wireless interactive messages to wireline interactive devices.

Background of the Invention

Interactive text pagers (I-pagers), personal digital assistants, and wireless telephones are used extensively to send and receive text and voice messages most often for immediate review and response by the recipient. In a typical setting, a user of a paging device types a brief free text message or records a brief voice message and transmits the message via a wireless telecommunications network to the recipient. The recipient receives the message on the display of her paging device and has the option of responding in near real time. However, if a user of a wireless paging device is out of the wireless service area, the user is unable to receive messages during the out of service period. Likewise, if the user's paging device is inoperable for any reason, such as a dead battery, the device will not receive messages during the inoperable period. Additionally, some parties do not have access to a wireless paging device for receiving text messages from a sender, or an intended recipient may be working at a home office or hotel and may simply have her paging device turned off.

Systems have been used for forwarding incoming messages to the recipient's electronic mail that can be subsequently received and viewed by the recipient on a computer, telephone display, or other electronic device capable of connecting to a stored messages medium to receive messages. However, such systems require the user to connect to an e-mail account or telephony-based messages account in order to receive and review messages. Accordingly, such systems lose the real time send and receive nature of paging devices because the recipient must take the time and remember to connect to her messages account to receive the messages.

It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made. Summary of the Invention

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other problems are solved by a method and system for delivering messages from a wireless paging device directly to a wireline interactive device serving as a forwarding extension of the recipient's wireless interactive paging device. A user of a wireless interactive device selects a forwarding address for forwarding incoming messages and pages to a wireline interactive device such as a wireline telephone with an interactive messaging display. After entering the forwarding electronic mail address, all incoming messages directed to the user's wireless paging device are forwarded via a wireline extension service through a distributed computing network, such as the Internet, to an electronic mail server hosted by a provider of the wireline extension service. At the electronic mail server, the incoming messages are translated to a format for display on the user's wireline interactive device. The properly formatted messages are routed through a conventional wireline telephone network to the user's wireline interactive device. The forwarded messages are displayed to the user just as they would have been on the user's wireless pager.

According to another aspect of the invention, if text messages are forwarded to a conventional telephone not capable of receiving and displaying text messages, the messages may be forwarded to a text-to-speech (TTS) conversion device over the Internet or over the public switched telephone network to a TTS conversion device located as a stand-alone unit, located at a network component, or located at a telephone. The speech-formatted messages may then be sent directly to the conventional telephone for presentation to and response by the user of the telephone. These and other features and advantages, which characterize the present invention, will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of a wireless and wireline telecommunications network that provides an exemplary operating environment for the present invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates call states showing logical call flow associated with the delivery of wireless messages from a wireless paging device to a wireline extension device in relation to the telecommunication network components illustrated with reference to Fig. 1. Detailed Description

The following description of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is made with reference to the above-described drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts or components throughout the several figures. The present invention is directed to a method and system for delivering messages from a wireless paging device directly to a wireline interactive device serving as a forwarding extension of the recipient's wireless interactive paging device. When a user of a wireless interactive device, such as an interactive text pager, personal digital assistant, or wireless telephone (hereafter "paging device") capable of sending and receiving text and/or voice messages knows that the paging device will be out of its service area or will be off or inoperable, the user selects a forwarding electronic mail address for forwarding incoming messages and pages to a wireline interactive device such as a wireline telephone with an interactive messaging display that is located near the user. According to a preferred embodiment, the wireline interactive device is a wireline telephone capable of receiving and displaying free text messages transmitted from a wireless interactive paging device. Alternatively, the wireline telephone may play voice messages or text-to-speech messages translated from text messages received from a wireless interactive paging device. For example, the wireline telephone may be located on the user's home office desk or in a hotel or other location where the user cannot receive messages via her wireless interactive paging device.

After entering the forwarding electronic mail address, all incoming messages directed to the user's wireless paging device are forwarded via a wireline extension service through a distributed computing network, such as the Internet, to an electronic mail server hosted by a provider of the wireline extension service. At the electronic mail server, the incoming messages are translated to a format for display on the user's wireline interactive device. The properly formatted message is then routed through a conventional wireline telephone network to the user's wireline interactive device. The forwarded messages are then displayed to the user just as they would have been on the user's wireless pager. Accordingly, the wireline interactive device (telephone) serves as a wireline extension to the user's wireless paging device. The user receives incoming messages in real time as she would receive those messages on her wireless pager, and the user is not required to connect to an electronic mail account or telephone message account to receive forwarded messages. Exemplary Operating Environment

It is advantageous to describe an exemplary operating environment in which the current invention may reside. Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of a telephone network 100 that provides an exemplary operating environment for the present invention. The public switched telephone network that evolved in the 1980s incorporated the advanced intelligent network (ATN). Some of the components of the advanced intelligent network are illustrated in Fig. 1. The advanced intelligent network (ATN) uses the signaling system 7 (SS7) network for signal or system control message transport. The components thereof are well-known to those skilled in the art. The operation of many of the components of the advanced intelligent network is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,719 to Weisser entitled "Mediation of Open Advanced Intelligent Network Interface by Shared Execution Environment" which is incorporated herein by reference. The SS7 communications protocol is provided in the document entitled "Bell Communications Research Specification of Signaling System 7," Document TR-NWT-000246, Issue 2 (June 1991), plus Revision 1 (December 1991), which is also incorporated herein by reference.

A plurality of central offices are provided in a typical public switched telephone network. As shown in Fig. 1, each central office may include an electronic switch known to those skilled in the art as a service switching point (SSP). These are indicated in Fig. 1 as SSP switch 19. The terms "SSP" and "switch" are used interchangeably hereinafter and are understood to refer to a telecommunications switch having ALN capability and which may be utilized for connecting voice channel circuits, including voice chamiel lines. As shown in Fig. 1, the central offices switch (SSP) 19 has a subscriber line 18 connected thereto. Each subscriber line 18 is connected to a terminating piece or pieces of customer premises equipment that are represented by the telephone 21. Multiple SSP switches 19 are connected by trunk circuits (not shown) that are the voice path trunks that interconnect the central offices over which calls are connected when completed.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the telephone 21 is a wireline interactive telephone capable of receiving and displaying free text messages from a wireless text paging device. Additionally, the wireline interactive telephone 21 is capable of forwarding responsive canned or typed messages to the sender of a wireless text message. That is, if a wireless text message such as "What time is our appointment?" is sent to the wireline interactive telephone 21, that free text message is displayed on the display 22 of the wireline interactive telephone 21. Alternatively, the wireline telephone 21 may be a conventional telephone not capable of displaying text messages, but capable of receiving and playing voices messages or text-to-speech (TTS) messages that are played to the recipient over the telephone 21.

According to a preferred embodiment, the wireline interactive telephone 21 is equipped for receiving and displaying text messages according to the analog display services interface (ADSI) protocol. For more information regarding the ADSI protocol, see BellCore Specification TR-NWT-001273, which is incorporated herein by reference. As is well known to those skilled in the art, the ADSI protocol allows the wireless interactive telephone's screen to show in words that might otherwise be formatted in audio format coming through the speaker of the telephone. That is, according to the ADSI protocol, an audio transmission directed to the wireline interactive telephone 21 may be translated to text that is displayed on the text display of the telephone 21.

According to the present invention, text messages forwarded to the wireline interactive telephone 21 by a user of a wireless interactive text pager are translated from the language and format of the wireless text paging device into a format according to the ADSI protocol for receipt and display on the text display of the telephone 21. A software application module for translating incoming messages from the format and language of the wireless paging device sending the message may be resident at the telephone 21 or at a separate location such as the electronic mail server 85, discussed below. It should be understood that other software applications or protocols for receiving audio and text messages and for displaying those messages on the telephone 21 may be used in accordance with the present invention. Each piece of terminating equipment in the PSTN is preferably assigned a directory number. The term "directory number" is used herein in a manner consistent with its generally understood meaning of a number that is dialed or input by an originating party at an originating station to reach a terminating station associated with the directory number. Much of the intelligence, and the basis for many of the enhanced features of the network, resides in local service control points (SCP) 42. As is known to those skilled in the art, service control points, such as SCP 42, are physically implemented by relatively powerful fault tolerant computers. Among the functions performed by the service control points is maintenance of network databases used in providing enhanced services.

The SCP 42 is also connected to a caller name (CNAM) database 48. The CNAM database comprises a plurality of directory numbers along with associated names for the directory numbers. The CNAM database may be used to provide a look-up database to provide caller identification (ID) service. The CNAM database may be comprised directory numbers from wireline customers as well as wireless customers of a wireless network.

The modern Advanced Intelligent Network also includes service nodes (SN) such as service node 55. Those skilled in the art are familiar with service nodes, which are physically implemented by the same types of computers that embody the SCP 42. In addition to the computing capability and data base maintenance features, service nodes 55 use ISDN lines and may include DTMF signal recognition devices, tone generation devices, text-to-speech (TTS) voice synthesis and conversion devices and other voice or data resources.

The Internet 50 is well known to those skilled in the art as essentially a packet-switched network based on the family of protocols called Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), a family of networking protocols providing communication across interconnected networks between computers with diverse hardware architectures and between various computer operating systems. Operation of the Internet 50 and the TCP/IP transmission protocols is well known to those skilled in the art. Electronic mail transmitted between servers such as the wireless server 95 and the electronic mail server 85, discussed below, is typically sent according to a TCP/IP Protocol known as simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP). Typically, electronic mail and electronic messages are sent via SMTP to a post office protocol (POP3) server from where the addressee of the message may retrieve the message. Operation of simple mail transfer protocol is well known to those skilled in the art. The Gateway 80 provides access to ATN components such as the SCP 42 from extra- ATN systems such as the Internet 50 and the electronic mail server 85. As is well known to those skilled in the art, a gateway may provide a number of functions including connectivity between incompatible communications networks.

The electronic mail server 85 is preferably a computer or network of computers running administrative software that controls access to network software or data storage. According to the present invention, the electronic mail server 85 is a computing system that responds to electronic mail received via the Internet 50 or via the gateway 80 from wireless and wireline components of the telecommunications network 100. The electronic mail server 85 provides services for allowing users to send, receive and process electronic mail messages. According to the present invention, interactive text messages transmitted from text pagers such as pagers 65, 68, described below, are forwarded to the electronic mail server 85 via the Internet 50. The electronic mail server 85 includes software applications 90 and 92 for translating forwarded text messages into languages and formats for use by wireline devices such as the wireline interactive telephone 21. According to an alternative embodiment, the software application 92 may be operated at a stand-alone server operated by the wireline extension service provider. In this case, forwarded messages would be forwarded to the stand-alone server instead of the electronic mail server 85.

Additionally, the electronic mail server 85 may be equipped with voice-over-Internet functionality for receiving voice messages from the wireless paging device 65 over the Internet for forwarding directly to the telephone 21. Alternatively, the electronic mail server 85 includes text-to-speech voice synthesis and conversion functionality for converting text messages to speech for delivery to the telephone 21 over the PSTN. This functionality is useful for sending voice messages to a conventional telephone not equipped to receive and handle text messages.

According to the preferred embodiment, the software application 92 is an application module for translating incoming text messages into ADSI format for display on the display 22 of the wireline telephone 21. Likewise, the software application 92 is operative to translate responsive messages sent from the wireline telephone 21 back to sender of the original text message at the wireless pager 65 or 68. That is, once the user of the wireline telephone 21 responds to an incoming text message, the response is forwarded through the electronic mail server and software application 92 where the response is translated into a language and format that may be sent to and received by the wireless paging device 65 or 68.

On the left-hand side of the Internet 50, components of a wireless telecommunications network, such as a cellular network, are illustrated. The wireless network components include mobile switching centers (MSC) 62, 63. The MSC 62, 63 are switches providing services and coordination between wireless users in wireless network and external wireline and wireless networks.^' The MSC 62 may be connected to signal transfer point (STP) 34 to provide information to the wireline network and receive information from the wireline network. The MSC 62, 63 communicate with wireless subscribers, such as wireless interactive pagers 65 and 68 via wireless antennas 70, 72. As should be understood by those skilled in the art, the wireless interactive devices 65, 68 may include any suitable wireless transceiver for sending and receiving wireless messages, such as wireless telephones, wireless personal digital assistants and the like. The wireless server 95 is a computer or collection of computers for handling a variety of call processing features provided for the wireless components of the telecommunication network 100. In accordance with the present invention, the wireless server 95 contains software functionality for receiving and implementing instructions for forwarding wireless text messages to a wireline extension device, such as the wireline interactive telephone 21. For example, if the user of the wireless pager 68 desires to forward all incoming messages to the wireline telephone 21, the user may submit forwarding instructions via the pager 65 to the wireless server 95 for forwarding all incoming messages to the wireline telephone 21 or user's wireline extension service provider. According to the preferred embodiment, the forwarding instructions include the electronic mail address of the user at the wireline extension service provider. All incoming messages are subsequently forwarded to the forwarding electronic mail address that causes those forwarded messages to forward to the electronic mail server 85 via the Internet 50 for translation by the software application 92 for receipt and display by the wireline telephone 21. If the user receives voice messages directed to her wireless pager, those messages may be forwarded directly to the wireline telephone 21 where the message may be played to the user or where the message may be displayed in text via the ADSI protocol described above. If text messages are forwarded to a conventional telephone not capable of receiving and displaying text messages, the wireless server 95 may forward those messages to a text-to-speech (TTS) conversion device over the Internet to the electronic mail server or over the PSTN to a TTS conversion device located as a stand-alone unit, located at a network component such as a service node 55, or located at a telephone 21.

Operation of an Exemplary Embodiment

Having described an exemplary operating environment of the present invention with reference to Figure 1, the following is a description of the logical call flow of a method and system of the present invention for delivering messages from a wireless paging device to a wireline device, such as the wireline telephone 21, so that the wireline device serves as a wireline extension of the wireless paging device. Figure 2 illustrates call states showing logical call flow associated with the delivery of wireless text messages from a wireless paging device to a wireline extension device in relation to the telecommunication network components illustrated with reference to Figure 1. At call state 1, a user of the wireless pager 65 decides to forward all incoming messages to his wireline interactive telephone 21.

For example, the user of the pager 65 may be entering an out of service area for the pager 65 such as an office building or home with low or absent signal strength, or the user may simply desire to turn the pager off, or the pager may be inoperable. As described above, the wireless pager may be a wireless telephone or personal digital assistant capable of sending and receiving wireless messages. Prior to forwarding all incoming messages, the user of the pager 65 subscribes to a service for allowing the user to forward incoming messages to a wireline extension of the user's pager 65 in the form of the user's wireline telephone 21. The provider of the wireline extension service may be an application service provider, Internet service provider, telecommunications service provider, or the like that provides the functionality and software capable of providing the service of the present invention.

At call state 1, the user of the pager 65 selects the set-up function of her wireless pager 65 and selects forwarding for all incoming messages to a prescribed electronic mail address of the wireline extension service provider. For example, the user may forward all incoming messages to "user@ADSI.serviceprovider.com." Likewise, the user may forward all incoming voice paging messages to the number associated with the wireline extension service provider for ultimate processing and forwarding to the wireline telephone 21. According to a preferred embodiment, the electronic mail address not only forwards the incoming messages to the wireline telephone 21, but forwards the incoming messages through the electronic mail server 85 and application 92 for translation to the proper format for the wireline telephone 21, for example, ADSI format.

Alternatively, forwarding incoming messages may be conditional based upon the wireless server's 95 success or failure in attempting to deliver a text message to the wireless pager (e.g., pager is not responding). If so, at call state 1, the user of the pager 65 selects the set-up function on her wireless pager 65 to "forward on no response" to a prescribed e-mail address or directory number.

At call state 2, the forwarding selection entered by the user at call state 1 is transmitted through the antenna 70 to the MSC 63 and then to the wireless server 95 for processing. At call state 3, the wireless server 95 receives the forwarding instructions from the user, and the wireless server 95 designates that all messages directed to the wireless pager 65 will be directed to the wireline extension service provider according to the electronic mail address or forwarding directory number of the wireline extension service provider.

At call state 4, a second wireless pager user, using the wireless pager 68 transmits a wireless text message, such as "What time is our appointment?" to the first user at the wireless pager 65. When the second user at the wireless pager 68 transmits the text message to the first user, the transmission is received at the antenna 72 and is forwarded to the MSC 62, as illustrated in Fig. 1. At the MSC 62, a look-up is performed on the addressee of the text message to determine whether any special services are required. The previous designation that all transmissions directed to this addressee are to be forwarded to the wireline telephone 21 causes the incoming text message to be forwarded to the wireless server 95 for processing.

At call state 5 the wireless text message from the second user is received at the wireless server 95. At the wireless server a look-up on the addressee of the incoming text message matches the incoming text message to the first user of the wireless pager 65 and a determination is made that this text message is to be forwarded to the prescribed electronic mail address of the wireline extension service provider, for example, "user@ADSI.serviceprovider.com." At call state 6, the wireless server 95 forwards the incoming text message to the electronic mail server 85 via the Internet 50 using a well-known Internet protocol such as SMTP.

At call state 7, the electronic mail server 85 receives the incoming text message transmission and the electronic mail server 85 determines from the addressee's electronic mail address that the transmission is to be forwarded to the software application 92 operated by the wireline extension service provider to whom the transmission is now addressed.

At call state 8, the software application 92 of the wireline extension service provider receives the incoming text message in the format and language of the wireless pager 68 from which it was sent. The software application of the wireline extension service provider determines the formatting and language necessary for transmitting the text message to the user's wireless interactive telephone 21. According to the present example, the wireless telephone 21 displays text messages according to the ADSI protocol, described above. Therefore, at call state 8, the wireless service provider through the software application 92 translates the incoming text message to the ADSI format for receipt and display by the wireless telephone 21.

At call state 9, the electronic mail server 85 sends the translated text message through the gateway 80 to the SCP 42. As should be understood by those skilled in the art, the gateway 80 provides an interface between message traffic from the electronic mail server 85 and potentially incompatible wireline telecommunications components, such as the SCP 42. At call state 10, the SCP 42 receives the incoming text message transmission and provides proper wireline communications call routing for the message through to the wireline telephone 21.

At call state 11, the incoming text message is received at the wireline telephone 21. According to a preferred embodiment, receipt of the text message at the telephone 21 causes the telephone 21 to announce the text message with a special ring or light. Alternatively, no announcement may be made and the text message may simply be displayed at the display 22 of the wireline telephone 21. Accordingly, the text message, for example "What time is our appointment?" is displayed on the display 22 of the wireline telephone 21 just as the message would have been displayed on the display of the user's pager 65 without the forwarding functionality of the present invention. The user of the wireline telephone 21 is not required to connect to an electronic mail account or telephony-based message account to receive the incoming messages. The user's wireline telephone 21 simply acts as a wireline extension of the user's pager 65.

Referring back to call state 10, according to an alternative embodiment, incoming text messages may be saved at the SCP 42 or at the wireline telephone 21 for recall by the user at a later time. According to the alternative embodiment, at call state 10b the user of the wireline telephone 21 calls a designated number for retrieving saved text messages. At call state 10c the service node 55 provides audio choices to the user of the wireline telephone 21, such as "Press 1 to receive saved messages." As should be understood by those skilled in the art, the telephone network may use a variety of methods for validating the user's access to the saved messages such as the telephone directory number of the wireline telephone 21, caller identification information as obtained from the CNAM database 48, a customer premises equipment (CPE) identification number, or a user-provided personal identification number (PIN). In response to a selection by the user via the service node 55, the stored messages are sent to and displayed to the user on the wireline telephone 21, as described above.

The user of the wireline telephone 21 may respond to the incoming messages. A set of messages may be saved at the wireless telephone 21 for use for responding to incoming messages. Alternatively, the user may type a responsive message using the touch keys on the wireless telephone 21. At call state 12, the user's response to the received message is forwarded back through the switch 19, SCP 42 and gateway 80 to the electronic mail server 85 based on the electronic mail address of the wireline extension service provider from which the incoming message was sent. At call state 13, the wireline extension service provider receives the responsive message, and the software application 92 translates the responsive message from the format and language utilized by the wireless telephone 21, such as ADSI format, so that the responsive message may be sent to the wireless pager 68 for display.

At call state 14, the electronic mail server forwards the translated message via the Internet 50 to the MSC 62 for transmission via the antenna 72 to the wireless pager 68. At call state 15, the responsive message is received by the user of the wireless pager 68. Accordingly, the user of the wireless pager 65 has received all incoming messages directed to her wireless pager 65 at her wireline telephone 21 as an extension of the wireless pager 65, and the user of the wireless pager 68 has enjoyed sending wireless messages and receiving responses thereto without interruption.

According to an alternative embodiment, the user of a wireless pager 65 may desire to have text messages sent to the pager forwarded directly to a conventional telephone 21 that is not capable of receiving and displaying text messages. If so, the user provides a forwarding directory number for the conventional telephone 21 to the wireless server 95 via her pager 65. According to this embodiment, when the user receives a text message that is to be forwarded, the wireless server forwards the text message to a TTS conversion device for conversion of the text message to speech format for presentation to the user at the conventional telephone 21 acting as an extension of the user's paging device 65.

According to one embodiment, the wireless server may send the text message over the Internet to TTS conversion functionality resident at the electronic mail server 85. After the text message is converted to speech at the electronic mail server, the speech message is delivered to the conventional telephone 21 via the PSTN components described above, such as the SCP 42 and the SSP 19. Alternatively, the wireless server 95 may send the text message to a TTS conversion device resident at a PSTN component, such as the SN 55 or at the telephone 21. In such a case the message may be sent directly to the TTS conversion device via the PSTN without going over the Internet. For example, a text message may be converted to speech and may be provided to the recipient as follows. "New text message from Jane Doe. [pause] Hi Tom, the meeting for today has been rescheduled for 2:00 p.m. The dial-in number is the same. Can you make it?" After the TTS announcement of the message, the options may then be provided such as "To reply to this message press 1, press 2 to send reply T got your message, I will contact you later', press 3 to send reply 'I got your message, please call me at [telephone number]', or press 4 to send reply T got your message, please check your voicemail for a response.'" According to this example, if the recipient presses 2 or 4, and the pre-defined text message is delivered back to the sender of the text message to the recipient. If the recipient presses 3, the recipient may be prompted for a call back number. Once a number is confirmed, the text message is delivered to the sender of the text message at the pager 68. As should be understood, if the second user transmits a voice message to the first user, the voice message may be forwarded directly to the wireline telephone 21, and the voice message may be played to the user at the telephone 21.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or variations may be made to the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein.

Claims

I CLAIM:

1. A method of delivering a wireless message directly to a wireline receiving device, comprising the steps of: selecting a forwarding address for wireless messages at a wireless transceiver; receiving a wireless message for delivery to the wireless transceiver; translating the wireless message to a format for receipt and display by the wireline receiving device; sending the translated message to the wireline receiving device; and displaying the message on the wireline receiving device.

2. The method of Claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: at the wireline receiving device, responding to the translated wireless message; translating a responsive message to a format for receipt and display by the wireless transceiver; and sending the translated responsive message to the wireless transceiver.

3. The method of Claim 2, wherein the step of responding to the wireless message includes selecting a stored responsive message.

4. The method of Claim 2, wherein the step of responding to the wireless message includes entering a responsive message at the wireline receiving device.

5. The method of Claim 1, wherein the step of selecting a forwarding address for wireless messages further includes selecting a forwarding address for forwarding wireless messages to the wireline receiving device.

6. The method of Claim 1, prior to the step of translating a wireless message, further comprising the steps of: at a wireless server, receiving the forwarding address for wireless messages; and designating that all wireless messages directed to the wireless transceiver be forwarded to the forwarding address.

7. The method of Claim 6, after the step of receiving a wireless message for delivery to the wireless transceiver, further comprising the step of: receiving the wireless message at the wireless server.

8. The method of Claim 7, prior to the step of translating the wireless message, further comprising the step of: forwarding the wireless message to an electronic mail server for translation for receipt by the wireline receiving device.

9. The method of Claim 8, wherein the step of forwarding the message to an electronic mail server, further comprises the step of: forwarding the wireless message via the Internet.

10. The method of Claim 8, wherein the step of sending the translated message to the wireline receiving device, further comprises the step of: sending the translated wireless message via a wireline telecommunications system.

11. The method of Claim 1, wherein the step of translating the wireless message includes translating the wireless message to an analog display services interface protocol format.

12. The method of Claim 1 , further comprising the step of: at the wireline receiving device, providing an announcement of the wireless message.

13. The method of Claim 1 , further comprising the step of: storing the translated wireless message for retrieval at the wireless receiving device.

14. The method of Claim 13, further comprising the step of: retrieving the stored translated wireless message for delivery to the wireless receiving device.

15. A method of delivering a wireless text message from a wireless paging device directly to a wireline receiving device, comprising the steps of: selecting a forwarding address for wireless text messages received at the wireless paging device; designating that all wireless messages directed to the wireless transceiver be forwarded to the forwarding address; receiving a wireless text message for delivery to the wireless paging device; forwarding the wireless message to an electronic mail server for translation for receipt by the wireline receiving device; translating the wireless text message to a format for receipt and display by the wireline receiving device; sending the translated wireless text message to the wireline receiving device; and displaying the message on the wireline receiving device.

16. The method of Claim 15, further comprising the steps of: at the wireline receiving device, responding to the translated wireless text message; translating a responsive message to a format for receipt and display by the wireless paging device; and sending the translated responsive message to the wireless paging device.

17. The method of Claim 15, wherein the step of sending the translated message to the wireline receiving device, further comprises the step of: sending the translated wireless text message via a wireline telecommunications system.

18. A system for delivering a wireless message directly to a wireline receiving device, comprising: a wireless server operative to receive a forwarding address for wireless messages received at a wireless paging device; to designate that all wireless messages directed to the wireless transceiver be forwarded to the forwarding address; to receive a wireless message for delivery to the wireless paging device; to cause a wireless telecommunications network to forward the wireless message to an electronic mail server; and the electronic mail server operative to translate the wireless message to a format for receipt and display by the wireline receiving device; to send the translated message to the wireline receiving device for display by the wireline receiving device.

19. The system of Claim 18, whereby: the wireless paging device is operative to receive the wireless message; the wireline receiving device is operative to receive and display the translated message, and to respond to the translated wireless message; and the electronic mail server being further operative to translate a responsive message to a format for receipt and display by the wireless paging device; and to send the translated responsive message to the wireless transceiver.

20. The system of Claim 18, wherein the wireless server is further operative to cause a wireless telecommunications network to forward the wireless message to an electronic mail server via the Internet.

21. The method of Claim 18, wherein the electronic mail server is further operative to send the translated message to the wireline receiving device via a wireline telecommunications system.

22. A method of delivering a wireless message directly to a conventional telephone, comprising the steps of: selecting a forwarding directory number for the wireless message at a wireless transceiver; receiving a wireless message for delivery to the wireless transceiver; translating the wireless message to a text-to-speech (TTS) message; calling the forwarding directory number; announcing pending delivery of the wireless message; and playing the TTS message over the conventional telephone.

23. The method of Claim 22, further comprising the steps of: at the conventional telephone, responding to the TTS message; translating a responsive message to a format for receipt and display by the wireless transceiver; and sending the translated responsive message to the wireless transceiver.

24. The method of Claim 23, wherein the step of responding to the wireless message includes announcing a set of pre-defined responsive messages along with correlating touchtone keys for selection from the set of pre-defined responsive messages; and

selecting one of the correlating touchtone keys to select from the set of predefined responsive messages.

25. The method of Claim 22, wherein the step of selecting a forwarding directory number for the wireless message further includes selecting a directory number for forwarding wireless messages to the conventional telephone.

26. The method of Claim 22, prior to the step of translating the wireless message to a text-to-speech (TTS) message, further comprising the steps of: at a wireless server, receiving the forwarding directory number for wireless messages; and designating that only messages that fail to be delivered to the wireless transceiver are to be forwarded to the forwarding directory number.

27. The method of Claim 26, after the step of receiving a wireless message for delivery to the wireless transceiver, further comprising the step of: receiving the wireless message at the wireless server.

28. The method of Claim 27, prior to the step of translating the wireless message, further comprising the step of: forwarding the wireless message to a voice component of an electronic mail server for translation for calling the forwarding directory number.

29. The method of Claim 28, wherein the step of forwarding the message to the voice component of the electronic mail server, further comprises the step of: calling the conventional telephone via the Public Switched Telephone Network.

30. The method of Claim 28, wherein the step of forwarding the message to the voice component of the electronic mail server, further comprises the step of: calling the conventional telephone via the Internet.

31. The method of Claim 22, further comprising the step of: making a pre-determined number of attempts to deliver the wireless message as a TTS message.

32. A method of delivering a wireless text message from a wireless paging device directly to a wireline receiving device, comprising the steps of: selecting a forwarding address for wireless text messages received at the wireless paging device; designating that wireless messages directed to the wireless transceiver be forwarded to the forwarding address; receiving a wireless text message for delivery to the wireless paging device; forwarding the wireless message to an electronic mail server for translation to a text-to-speech (TTS) message; announcing pending delivery of the wireless message; playing the TTS message over the wireline receiving device; and announcing reply text messages along with correlating touchtone key options.

33. The method of Claim 32, further comprising the steps of: at the wireline receiving device, selecting a reply text message for responding to the translated wireless text message; and sending the selected reply message to the wireless paging device.

34. A system for delivering a wireless message directly to a conventional telephone, comprising: a wireless server operative to receive a forwarding address for wireless messages received at a wireless paging device; to designate that wireless messages directed to the wireless transceiver be forwarded to the forwarding address; to receive a wireless message for delivery to the wireless paging device; to cause a wireless telecommunications network to forward the wireless message to a text-to-speech (TTS) conversion device; and the TTS conversion device operative to translate the wireless message to a TTS message for receipt by the conventional telephone; to send the translated message to the conventional telephone for presentation by the conventional telephone.

35. The system of Claim 34, whereby: the TTS conversion device is further operative to cause at the conventional telephone an announcement of pending delivery of the wireless message; to cause at the conventional telephone a playing of the TTS message over the conventional telephone; and to cause at the conventional telephone an announcement of reply text messages along with correlating touchtone key options.

36. < The system of Claim 35 , whereby: the conventional telephone is operative to receive a selection of a reply text message for responding to the translated wireless text message; and to sending the selected reply message to the wireless paging device.

37. The system of Claim 36, the wireless server is further operative to cause a wireless telecommunications network to forward the wireless message to the TTS conversion device via an electronic mail server over the Internet; and to receive via the wireless telecommunications network the reply message to the wireless paging device via an electronic mail server over the Internet.

38. The system of Claim 36, wherein the wireless server is further operative to cause a wireless telecoimnunications network to forward the wireless message to the TTS conversion device via an electronic mail server over a public switched telephone network; and to receive via the wireless telecommunications network the reply message to the wireless paging device via an electronic mail server over the public switched telephone network.