GB2347307A

GB2347307A - Dial by name feature for messaging system

Info

Publication number: GB2347307A
Application number: GB9919246A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sergio Ciccolella
Original assignee: Mitel Networks Inc
Current assignee: Mitel Networks Inc
Priority date: 1999-02-26
Filing date: 1999-08-13
Publication date: 2000-08-30
Anticipated expiration: 2019-08-13
Also published as: GB2347307B; CA2299161A1; GB9919246D0

Abstract

A messaging system to store and retrieve messages for playback in response to input user includes among other things a messaging application and a directory. The messaging application is responsive to incoming calls to receive and retrieve messages for callers. The directory stores records for addressable entities include not only individuals but also collectives of the messaging system. Each of the records includes a dial by name field. The messaging application includes a dial by name feature that is invoked in response to user input. The dial by name feature searches the records in response to user input to allow a caller to address messages to a selected addressable entity within the messaging system.

Description

DIAL BY NAME FEATURE FOR MESSAGING SYSTEM Cross-Reference to Related Applications This application is related to: (i) U. S. Patent Application No.

(Att. Dkt. No. MITEP001), filed on same day herewith, entitled"TEXT-TO SPEECH CONVERTER" ; (ii) U. S. Patent Application No. (Att. Dkt. No.

MITEP002), filed on same day herewith, entitled"AUTOMATIC USER PREFERENCE SELECTION FOR MESSAGE PLAYBACK BASED ON CALLER LINE IDENTIFICATION DATA" ; and (iii) U. S. Patent Application No.

(Att. Dkt. No. MITEP003), filed on same day herewith, entitled "AUTOMATIC SYNCHRONIZATION OF ADDRESS DIRECTORIES FOR UNIFIED MESSAGING" ; all of which are all incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

Field Of The Invention The present invention relates generally to messaging systems and, in particular, to a messaging system incorporating a novel dial by name feature.

Background Of The Invention Voice messaging systems are common in today's business community.

Most business organizations or enterprises make use of a private branch exchange (PBX) to direct a caller's telephone call to the appropriate extension of the called party. If the called party is unable to answer the telephone call, the telephone call is forwarded to a voice messaging system, which allows the caller to leave a voice message in the mailbox assigned to the called party. Messages left for called parties within the business organization can be retrieved from memory by calling the voice messaging system using a telephone and entering appropriate commands via a touchtone keypad. Retrieved messages can be played, forwarded or deleted. An example of a voice messaging system of this nature is the Series 6 sold by Mitel Corporation of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

In addition to voice messages, communications within business organizations are also stored in facsimile and text formats. In the past, separate messaging systems have been used to handle these different types of communications.

Unfortunately, prior art messaging systems designed to handle one type of communication have not provided any means to interact with messaging systems handling other types of communications. This has required users to access each messaging system individually to retrieve messages and has required business organizations to maintain and manage multiple messaging systems separately. As a result, it has been necessary to establish separate accounts, address lists and message mailboxes in each messaging system for the various users in the business organizations.

More recently, attempts have been made to interconnect different messaging systems to provide access to different types of messages from a single point. For example, U. S. Patent No. 5,349,636 to Irribarren discloses a system and method for voice mail systems and interactive voice response (IVR) systems. The Irribarren system includes a voice message system and a text message system integrated via a network, which coordinates the functions of each individual message system. A user may access messages stored in the voice message system and in the text message system via a single telephone call. Although this system allows access to different types of messages, the voice message and text message systems require separate management.

The current trend is to integrate these various messaging systems to allow users to access all types of communications once a connection is made to the messaging system. To that end, unified messaging systems have been developed to provide users access to virtually all of their communications. Messaging systems of this nature store all messages for entities within the enterprise at a common location.

The entities may be individuals, groups, departments, or any appropriate logical organizations. Users accessing the messaging system via a telephone, desktop computer or other communication device, have access to all of their messages regardless of message type and regardless of the type of communication device used to access the messaging system. Appropriate message translators such as text-tospeech (TTS) converters, speech-to-text (SST) converters, etc. are included to enable users to retrieve messages stored in formats not supported by the communication devices used to access the messaging system.

Messaging applications of most messaging systems that handle telephone calls include a dial by name feature that is accessed by entering appropriate commands via a touch-tone keypad. This allows a caller to search an enterprise's directory by spelling the called party's name via the digits on the touch-tone keypad.

Unfortunately, these dial by name features only allow individuals within the enterprises to be searched. If a caller wishes to reach a specific group, department or logical organization within an enterprise, the caller must remember the extension number assigned to that group or department to leave a message for that specific group or department. Often, the group or department extension number is forgotten which causes a user to be frustrated because the desired call to a group or department cannot be placed.

Thus, there is a need for a messaging system that provides improved dial by name features.

Summary Of The Invention The present invention pertains to a dial by name feature of a messaging system that stores and retrieves massages for user playback in response to input user commands. The dial by name feature allows both individual and collectives to be searched during a dial by name look-up process.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a messaging system to store and retrieve messages for playback in response to input user commands. The messaging system includes: a memory to store user messages; a directory including records for addressable entities, said addressable entities including individuals and collectives within said messaging system, each of said records for said addressable entries including a dial by name field; and a messaging application responsive to incoming calls to receive and retrieve messages for callers, said messaging application including a dial by name feature invoked in response to user input, said dial by name feature searching said records in response to user input to allow a caller to address messages to a selected addressable entity from said addressable entries.

In still yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided in a messaging system of the type including a dial by name feature for address messaging, a method for addressing messages to addressable entities within said messaging system comprising: providing a directory including records for addressable entities, said addressable entities including individuals and collectives within said messaging system, each of said records including a dial by name field; prompting a caller to spell the name of the addressable entity to whom a message is to be directed by entering digits via a touch-tone keypad ; comparing the entered digits with digits stored in the dial by name fields in said records; announcing the name or names assigned to records having digits in the dial by name fields thereof corresponding to the entered digits; and prompting the caller to leave a message in a mailbox assigned to the appropriate addressable entity.

In still yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided in a computer readable medium including computer program code for addressing messages using a dial by name operation of a messaging system. The computer readable medium includes: computer program code for providing access to a directory including records for addressable entities, said addressable entities including at least collectives within said messaging system, and each of said records including a dial by name field; computer program code for prompting a caller to spell the name of a particular addressable entity to whom a message is to be directed by entering digits via a touch-tone keypad; and computer program code for locating the particular addressable entity by comparison of the entered digits with digits stored in the dial by name fields in said records.

The present invention provides advantages in that since groups, departments and logical organizations within the enterprise are assigned directory cache records including dial by name fields, a caller is able to search the enterprise's directory for individuals as well as groups, departments and/or logical organizations.

Callers are therefore not required to remember specific extension numbers assigned to groups and/or departments.

Brief Description Of The Drawings An embodiment of the present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic overview of a unified messaging system in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic representation of directory cache records stored in a directory cache forming part of the unified messaging system of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a flowchart diagram illustrating a dial by name feature incorporated in the messaging system of Figure 1.

Detailed Description Of The Invention Turning now to Figure 1, a messaging system is shown and is generally indicated by reference numeral 100. Messaging system 100 includes a post office 102 communicating with a telephony messaging server 104. The post office 102 runs on one or more servers behaving logically as a single entity and is connected to the telephony server 104 via a local area network 106. Post office 102 communicates with clients 108, only one of which is shown for illustrative purposes, via a local area network, modem or other communication channel 110. Post office 102 and telephony messaging server 104 also communicate with external messaging systems via wide area networks 111 and 112 respectively.

The post office 102 provides message storage and delivery facilities for users of the messaging system 100 and includes mailboxes in which messages for the users are stored. The post office 102 handles and stores user messages regardless of format. Thus, the post office 102 stores voice messages received from the telephony messaging server 104 as well as text messages, facsimile messages, graphics messages, etc. received from client 108 and/or wide area network 111. The post office 102 also maintains a directory database of user information including addresses, locations and addressing related information as well as user preference records as will be described. The directory database information is accessible, retrievable and updatable using database type queries. In the preferred embodiment, post office 102 runs commercially available post office software such as Microsoft Exchange @ sold by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond Washington.

In one embodiment, telephony messaging server 104 is a model TS800 telephony server provided by Mitel Corporation of Ottawa, Ontario or similar PCbased model. The telephony messaging server 104 executes a voice messaging application to handle incoming telephone calls which cannot be completed. As is well known to those of skill in the art, the voice messaging application includes a speech file administrator which retrieves prerecorded voice message prompts from a database to direct a caller to leave a message for a particular called party. Messages recorded by the voice messaging application are conveyed to the post office 102 for storage in the appropriate mailboxes. The voice messaging application also handles incoming user calls to allow users to retrieve messages stored in their mailboxes.

Telephony users may access the voice messaging application using a typical telephone or telephony device 114 providing telephone functions that is either directly connected to telephony messaging server 104 or connected to the telephony messaging server 104 through a private branch exchange (PBX) and a publicly switched telephone network PSTN (not shown). During access, users enter touchtone commands and passwords to retrieve messages from their mailboxes in the post office 102. The voice messaging application calls the speech file administrator which provides the appropriate voice message prompts to navigate users through the voice messaging application. During message playback, if a message stored in a user's mailbox is in a format not supported by the telephone or telephony device 114 used to access the messaging system 100, the voice messaging application calls an appropriate message translator to convert the message into a form which can be played back to the user.

The telephony messaging server 104 communicates with a directory cache 118 that is updated by the post office 102. The directory cache 118 stores a subset of the information stored by the post office 102. Specifically, the directory cache stores addressing information for users and groups associated with the messaging system 100. The telephony messaging server 104 accesses the directory cache 118 in response to user and caller queries made via a telephone device 114 to reduce directory search times and provide a fast addressing service as will be described.

Client 108 in this embodiment, is associated with or in the form of a computing device such as a personal computer 120. Through personal computer 120, a user can access voice messages, facsimile messages, electronic mail messages, etc. stored in their post office mailbox. The user can also use personal computer 120 to perform messaging functions such as create, attach, read, modify, reply, forward, store and delete messages of various types. In one embodiment, the personal computer 120 runs Microsoft Outlook client messaging software sold by Microsoft Corporation.

The client messaging software provides a graphical user interface (GUI) to display the user's messages held in their post office mailbox and to allow the user to invoke messaging functions. Since the mailboxes store messages in different formats, it is preferred that the personal computer 120 includes appropriate hardware and software to allow all message types to be retrieved. In cases where the personal computer 120 does not include the hardware and/or software necessary to support certain message types, appropriate message translators can be called to convert the messages into a form compatible with the personal computer 120.

A user wishing to deliver a message to or retrieve a message from another user through a connection to the telephony messaging server 104 via a telephone device 114 has different needs and requirements than a user who obtains access to post office 102 through personal computing device 120. Speed of access and message addressing are especially important when using a telephone device since telephony devices are typically auditory in nature with no visual feedback.

Furthermore, tasks invoked via a telephone device 114 are serialized so that activities cannot be performed while waiting. Therefore, to provide for the unique needs of a user accessing the messaging system 100 via a connection to the telephony messaging server 104 through a telephone device 114, the directory cache 118 is utilized.

The telephony messaging server 104 maintains the directory cache 118 for enterprise wide addressing and optionally for extemal addressing. The directory cache 118 provides a fast addressing look-up service and allows the telephony messaging server 104 to perfonn messaging to any recipient in the enterprise without a degradation of response time. Optionally, the telephony messaging server 104 can be configured to query remote post offices to obtain addressing information for remote users and entities outside the enterprise. In one embodiment, the directory cache 118 is implemented as a database within telephony messaging server 104 and, in a preferred embodiment, is a commercially available SQL database providing remote query and update functions.

Within the database implementing the directory cache 118 database is a directory cache record for each addressable user, group, department or logical organization within the enterprise. Turning now to Figure 2, a plurality of directory cache records 202 to 208 are shown for illustrative purposes. It should be appreciated that many more directory cache records than those illustrated are included in the directory cache 118. As can be seen, each directory cache record includes a name field 210, a dial by name field 212, a mailbox field 214, and an extension field 216.

The fields described above are not meant to be exhaustive and other fields can be included in the directory cache records if desired. The dial by name field 212 holds digits corresponding to the spelling of the name in the name field 210 using a touchtone keypad, regardless of whether the name is an individual, group, department or organization. In this particular example, directory cache records 206 and 208 are assigned to individuals within the enterprise, while directory cache records 202 and 204 are assigned to departments within the enterprise. The telephony messaging server 104 uses the information in the directory cache records to facilitate addressing of messages to be sent to other users, groups, departments or logical organizations within the enterprise. The digits in the dial by name fields 212 allow a user to direct messages by dialing the recipient's name as will be described.

Table 1 below shows further detail concerning representative information stored in each directory cache record and the rationale for storing the information.

Table 1

CACHE DATA RATIONALE Post Office User ID Give the Post Office a unique addressing identifier.

Display Name Convenient search criteria but may not be unique.

Dial By Name Digits Search by entering digits corresponding to the concatenation of Last Name and First Name and converted to their numeric match on the telephone keypad.

Mailbox Number Numeric identification of subscriber. Not required to be identical to the telephone extension.

Telephone Extension Number Outside identification of number dialed to reach the subscriber.

Fax Direct Inward Dial Number Direct number dialed to deposit faxes in the Unified Messaging Mailbox.

User Spoken Name Provides confirmation of recipient when subscriber creates a message for delivery.

User Spoken Greeting Provides confirmation to outside caller depositing a voice message from a telephone.

Directory cache 118 and post office 102 store corresponding addressing and related information. Therefore, in order to maintain addressing integrity, it is necessary to ensure the directory cache 118 and post office 102 are synchronized. To achieve this, both the telephony messaging server 104 and post office 102 include synchronization components in the form of software processes to maintain their respective address directories. During synchronization, the telephony messaging server 104 connects to the post office 102 and makes queries to automatically obtain and update the addressing information in the directory cache 118.

In one embodiment, telephony messaging server 104 uses the industry standard messaging application programming interface (MAPI) to create time polling queries and uses distributed programming techniques to create queries and receive event notifications. Further details of the synchronization between the directory cache 118 and the post office 102 are described in co-pending U. S. Patent Application No.

(Att. Dkt. No. MITEP003), filed on same day herewith, entitled "AUTOMATIC SYNCHRONIZATION OF ADDRESS DIRECTORIES FOR UNIFIED MESSAGING", the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Figure 3 is a flowchart diagram of dial by name processing according to one embodiment of the present invention. When a call is answered by the voice messaging application of the telephony messaging server 104, the voice messaging application calls a speech file administrator. The speech file administrator in turn retrieves appropriate voice message prompts and plays the prompts to the caller asking the caller to enter the extension of the called party or enter a predetermined key to access the directory cache 118 (block 630).

If the caller elects to access the directory cache 118, the voice messaging application calls the speech file administrator to prompt the caller to enter digits which spell the name of the individual, group, department or logical organization (i. e., recipient) within the enterprise to whom the caller wishes to contact. As each digit is entered, the voice messaging application determines if the entered digit or digits identifies a unique recipient (block 632). If the entered digit or digits correspond with the digits in the dial by name field 212 of only one directory cache record, the voice messaging application calls the speech file administrator to annonce the name assigned to that directory cache record (block 634). The voice messaging application thereafter prompts the caller to leave a message in the mailbox assigned to the dialed individual, group, department or logical organization. If the message is left in a mailbox assigned to a group, department or logical organization within the enterprise, the message is delivered to the mailboxes of the individuals specified in the group, department or logical organization.

If, on the other hand, the entered digit or digits correspond with the digits in the dial by name field of more than one directory cache record, the number of directory cache records is determined (block 636). If the number is above a predetermined threshold, the voice messaging application prompts the caller to enter more digits (block 638). Once the number of directory cache records falls below the threshold value as additional digits are entered, the voice messaging application calls the speech file administrator to announce the names assigned to those directory cache records and to prompt the caller to select one of the names by entering an associated digit (block 640). Once the associated digit has been entered, the voice messaging application prompts the caller to leave a message in the mailbox assigned to selected individual, group, department or logical organization. If the message is left in a mailbox assigned to a group, department or logical organization within the enterprise, the message is delivered to the mailboxes of the individuals specified in the group, department or logical organization.

As will be appreciated, since groups, departments and logical organizations within the enterprise are assigned directory cache records including dial by name fields, a caller is able to search the enterprise's directory for individuals as well as groups, departments and/or logical organizations. In contrast to prior art dial by name features, the caller is not required to remember specific extension numbers assigned to groups and/or departments. Since all addressable entities within the organization include a directory cache record within the directory cache 118, the entire enterprise is searchable using the dial by name feature. This of course facilitates message addressing in the messaging system 100 when a connection is made to the messaging system via a telephone device 114.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described, those skilled in the art will appreciate that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

I Claim : 1. In a messaging system of the type to store and retrieve massages for user playback in response to input user commands including a dial by name feature for message addressing, the improvement comprising a directory including records for addressable entities, said addressable entities including individuals and collectives of said messaging system, each of said records for said addressable entries including a dial by name field to allow said record to be searched via said dial by name feature.
2. A messaging system of claim 1 wherein said collectives include at least one of groups, departments and logical organizations within an enterprise.
3. A messaging system of claim 2 wherein each of said records for said addressable entries further includes a name field and an extension field.
4. A messaging system to store and retrieve messages for playback in response to input user commands comprising: a memory to store user messages; a directory including records for addressable entities, said addressable entities including individuals and collectives within said messaging system, each of said records for said addressable entries including a dial by name field; and a messaging application responsive to incoming calls to receive and retrieve messages for callers, said messaging application including a dial by name feature invoked in response to user input, said dial by name feature searching said records in response to user input to allow a caller to address messages to a selected addressable entity from said addressable entries.
5. A messaging system as defined in claim 4 wherein said collectives include at least one of groups, departments and logical organizations within an enterprise.
6. A messaging system as defined in claim 5 wherein each of said records for said addressable entries further includes a name field and an extension field.
7. A messaging system as defined in claim 5 wherein said dial by name feature of said messaging application prompts a caller to enter the name of an addressable entity to whom a call is to be directed by spelling the name of the entity via digits on a touch-tone keypad, and as each digit is received, said dial by name feature compares the entered digit together with any previously entered digits against digits in the dial by name fields of said records, thereby searching said records to locate the addressable entity.
8. A messaging system as defined in claim 5 wherein said dial by name feature announces the name of the addressable entity when the entered digits or digits correspond with digits in the dial by name field of only one record in said directory.
9. A messaging system as defined in claim 8 wherein, when the entered digits or digits initially entered do not correspond with digits in the dial by name field of only one record in said directory, said dial by name feature prompts said caller to enter digits until the entered digits correspond with digits in the dial by name fields of a number of records in said directory below a threshold value, said dial by name feature announcing the names assigned to the records in said directory below said threshold value and prompting said caller to select one of said names.
10. A messaging system as defined in claim 5 wherein said messaging application forwards messages addressed to said collectives via mailboxes in said memory assigned to the individuals specified in said collectives.
11. A messaging system as defined in claim 4 wherein said messaging system further comprises a post office to store messages and addressing information concerning said addressable entities, and wherein said directory is a cache directory as compared to said addressing information stored in said post office.
12. A messaging system as defined in claim 12 wherein said post office stores the addressing information in records of a first database, and the size of said records of said cache directory are substantially smaller than the size of said records of said first database.
13. In a messaging system of the type including a dial by name feature for address messaging, a method for addressing messages to addressable entities within said messaging system comprising: providing a directory including records for addressable entities, said addressable entities including individuals and collectives within said messaging system, each of said records including a dial by name field; prompting a caller to spell the name of the addressable entity to whom a message is to be directed by entering digits via a touch-tone keypad ; comparing the entered digits with digits stored in the dial by name fields in said records ; announcing the name or names assigned to records having digits in the dial by name fields thereof corresponding to the entered digits; and prompting the caller to leave a message in a mailbox assigned to the appropriate addressable entity.
14. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of forwarding messages left by callers directed to said collectives via the individuals specified within said collective.
15. A computer readable medium including computer program code for addressing messages using a dial by name operation of a messaging system, said computer readable medium comprising: computer program code for providing access to a directory including records for addressable entities, said addressable entities including at least collectives within said messaging system, and each of said records including a dial by name field; computer program code for prompting a caller to spell the name of a particular addressable entity to whom a message is to be directed by entering digits via a touch-tone keypad; and computer program code for locating the particular addressable entity by comparison of the entered digits with digits stored in the dial by name fields in said records.
16. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 15 wherein said collectives include at least one of groups, departments and logical organizations within an enterprise.
17. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 16 wherein said computer readable medium further comprises: computer program code for prompting the caller to leave a message in a mailbox assigned to the particular addressable entity that has been located.
18. A computer readable medium as defined in claim 17 wherein-said computer readable medium further comprises: computer program code for announcing the name or names assigned to the particular addressable entity after being located by said computer program code for locating the particular addressable entity.