WO2000065816A1 - Systeme de messagerie multimedia avec distribution de messages de maniere preferee du destinataire - Google Patents

Systeme de messagerie multimedia avec distribution de messages de maniere preferee du destinataire Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2000065816A1
WO2000065816A1 PCT/US2000/010568 US0010568W WO0065816A1 WO 2000065816 A1 WO2000065816 A1 WO 2000065816A1 US 0010568 W US0010568 W US 0010568W WO 0065816 A1 WO0065816 A1 WO 0065816A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
message
business
parties
recipient
database
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2000/010568
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Thomas Schellenberg
Original Assignee
Relay Systems, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Relay Systems, Inc. filed Critical Relay Systems, Inc.
Priority to AU44729/00A priority Critical patent/AU4472900A/en
Publication of WO2000065816A1 publication Critical patent/WO2000065816A1/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q10/00—Administration; Management
    • G06Q10/10—Office automation; Time management
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L51/00—User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
    • H04L51/21—Monitoring or handling of messages
    • H04L51/23—Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/2866—Architectures; Arrangements
    • H04L67/30—Profiles
    • H04L67/306—User profiles
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
    • H04M3/42229—Personal communication services, i.e. services related to one subscriber independent of his terminal and/or location
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
    • H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
    • H04M3/50—Centralised arrangements for answering calls; Centralised arrangements for recording messages for absent or busy subscribers ; Centralised arrangements for recording messages
    • H04M3/53—Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages, i.e. mailbox systems
    • H04M3/5307—Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages, i.e. mailbox systems for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
    • H04N1/00281—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal
    • H04N1/00302—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal with a telephonic apparatus, e.g. telephone answering machine or videotex terminal
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
    • H04N1/00281—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal
    • H04N1/00307—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal with a mobile telephone apparatus
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
    • H04N1/00281—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal
    • H04N1/0031—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal with a selective call apparatus, e.g. a paging device
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00—Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00127—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
    • H04N1/00281—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal
    • H04N1/00312—Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a telecommunication apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, a selective call terminal with a digital transmission apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, SMS or ISDN device
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/01—Protocols
    • H04L67/02—Protocols based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Definitions

  • This invention relates to the field of telecommunications.
  • the invention relates to methods and apparati for providing telecommunication services to businesses without the need for the businesses to purchase dedicated
  • PBX private branch exchange
  • CENTREX allows a business to use
  • PBX PBX
  • CENTREX systems have limits. For example, most CENTREX systems are limited to a single geographical location where a telephone company's central office is located. Accordingly, a business located both in New York and San Francisco might not be able to use a CENTREX system to meet its needs. Furthermore, both PBX and CENTREX systems, lack workflow automation improvements that would allow businesses to integrated their workflow with the telephone system. Accordingly, what is needed is a method and apparatus for providing remotely hosted telecommunication services but does not require businesses to purchase dedicated equipment and that supports the workflow processes of the business regardless of geographic location.
  • One example business to consider is the movie and television production business. Looking further at the movie production aspects, most individual movies are produced by separate legal entities that are created solely for the purpose of producing that movie. Thus, each business will have a very short lifetime. Further, the shooting of the movie may occur across a widely dispersed geographical area including foreign countries. And as such traditional PBX and CENTREX offerings would not be capable of supporting the business. Further such a business may have needs to distribute information to its employees and other parties participating in the business goal of the entity that are not easily supported by a traditional PBX. For example, movie productions typically need to distribute information to a specified group rapidly. However, such distribution is not easily accomplished under traditional systems. For example not every person working on a movie, e.g.
  • An apparatus for providing telecommunications services to a business is described.
  • the business does not need to purchase dedicated telecommunications equipment such as PBXs, or dedicated service such as CENTREX from a local telephone company. Instead, the business can contract with a provider of telecommunication services to serve as a distribution mechanism for information to the business' employees.
  • the apparatus can include a database that includes contact information for people participating in multiple businesses.
  • the database may contain information about employees working on movie production X and movie production Y. This allows the employees to maintain their contact information in a single location as they switch between different jobs.
  • the database may contain information for a large number of people who work in a given industry, e.g. the movie industry.
  • their contact information can be stored together with information about their preferred methods of contact Businesses in turn can identify their employees in the database and further describe their position within the business, e.g. their role, the group they belong to, their department, etc.
  • Some embodiments of the invention support permission for people to directly modify their own database entry so that it can be maintained in the updated fashion.
  • An administrative interface can be provided by the apparatus over the World Wide Web. This interface can allow the business to identify a subset of the people in the database as belonging to the business. T-he- nteFfaee-Gan-also wishes ⁇ --the-business-to den1ify " th£rparticUlar ⁇ ole orpositton-that-a pe ⁇ sonJias with ⁇ Ttfre business.
  • the administrative interface may also support the creation of distribution lists based on logical groups of people as necessary to meet the businesses objectives .k/F ⁇ f-example,- distribution lists coul bexreated orra- department by department basis, seniority within the firm the business basis, e.g. everyone who is a vice president and higher, or simply by collecting a group of particular people associated with the business into a group.
  • the apparatus includes message input means for receiving and storing messages from participants in parties working in the business.
  • Embodiments of the invention may provide a direct inward dial (DUD) line to the telephone number for participants in the business to contact the apparatus.
  • DID direct inward dial
  • a participant calls the DID number, they can be prompted for a password or other identifying information. They can then provide their voice, facsimile or page message and designate recipients either on a distribution list basis or on a per person basis.
  • Other message input means can be supported, including electronic mail, a web message input interface, etc.
  • Message transmission means are provided for identifying the recipients of a message and transmitting the message to recipients on the distribution list. As necessary translation between formats can be provided.
  • the director can call the direct DID number for the apparatus and indicate that she wishes to send the message to all department heads and provide a facsimile message.
  • the apparatus then identifies the preferred method of contact for each of the recipients on the distribution list.
  • 5 of the 15 department heads prefer to receive their messages by facsimile first. Accordingly, the facsimile can be transmitted using the message transmission means to those 5 people.
  • Six of the remaining department heads prefer to receive electronic mail messages.
  • the facsimile can be translated into a suitable format for transmission by electronic mail, e.g. TLFF or PDF, and transmitted by the message transmission means.
  • Still other of the remaining department heads may prefer to view the message on a web page.
  • Those individuals could receive a numeric page, a telephone call, a voicemail message on their personal voicemail system, and/or some other contact to alert them that they have a message waiting on a web page.
  • Still other translations may be possible, such as text recognition of the facsimile together with text to speech conversion for direct playback of the content of the facsimile over a telephone interface to those parties on the distribution list who prefer that method of contact.
  • embodiments of the invention may afford speech to text conversion, e.g. to allow voice mail messages to be translated to electronic mail and other textual formats.
  • Such delivery failure notifications can help the sender of a message understand who did not receive their message and the sender can then take appropriate action.
  • the delivery failure notification indicates that the art department head did not receive the facsimile.
  • the director could then request that the apparatus resend the fax, could contact the art group director herself, and/or request that the system resend the message through other contact methods.
  • Some embodiments of the invention support hierarchical message delivery.
  • hierarchical message delivery a message that cannot be sent through a recipients first preferred contact means can be sent through their next preferred contact means and so on until the message is successfully delivered.
  • all messages sent to an individual may be accessible via a World Wide Web interface. This can allow participants in the business to review their messages and delete them or save them for later use independently of how the message is handled on their receiving equipment. For example, if a user receives a message on their home answering machine, and deletes it, the message would be gone from the home answering machine. However, the message may still be accessible to the user via the web interface.
  • embodiments of the invention can support other business processes through the same basic system.
  • some embodiments of the invention support payroll services for the business.
  • employees of the business can input their payroll information via one or more of the input mechanisms supported.
  • touch tone, speech recognition, and web entry of time information may be supported.
  • the system can then provide that information to existing payroll systems, or third party payroll systems.
  • embodiments of the invention may be used to support debit cards or other cash management techniques for employees.
  • some embodiments of the invention allow debit cards to be issued to employees of a business with a suitable manager within the business controlling the amount of money distributed to a particular employee's debit card.
  • the operator of the apparatus can select pricing schemes for the use of the service and can directly contract with long distance companies to provide significantly lower long distance rates than any one of the businesses using the system might otherwise be able to obtain. If appropriate, the operator of the system can charge a surcharge to collect additional revenue based on the spread between the actual price paid for long distance and the price charged to the business. Similarly value based service fees can be charged for the other services, e.g. payroll, debit card provision, etc.
  • Fig. 1 illustrates a system for distribution of messages according to one embodiment of the invention.
  • Fig. 2 illustrates the relationship between people and their data in the system.
  • Fig. 3 illustrates a conceptual view of the logical components of the server 106.
  • Fig. 4 illustrates a process flow for the input and distribution of messages according to some embodiments of the invention.
  • Fig 1 illustrates a system for distribution of messages according to one embodiment of the invention This could be used to distribute a message to multiple people operating for a business
  • Fig 1 includes input 100, person 102A, input device 104, server 106, transmitter 108A-C, and people 102B-E
  • the input 100 is an input that the person 102A wishes to transmit to the people 102B-E
  • the person 102A can provide the input 100 to the input device 104 which is coupled in communication with the server 106
  • the server 106 uses the transmitters 108A-C to transmit the input 100 to the people 102B-E
  • the server 106 is provided by a third party This third party can provide telecommunications services to a business such as a movie production, a television production, an event related business, and/or any other type of business that wishes to purchase communication services such as those provided by the server 106
  • the server 106 is designed to support multiple businesses simultaneously Each business can be geographically distributed In this example, the situation where the person 102A has a message they would like to distribute to the people 102B-E will be considered The message is represented by the input 100
  • the person 102A can provide the input 100 to the input device of her choice (e g the input device 104)
  • the input device 104 is a telephone
  • the input device 104 may include a facsimile machine, a computer with email capability, a computer with web access, a cellular telephone, a pager with messaging support, and/or some other type of input device
  • the input 100 corresponds to the persons message and should be in a suitable format for the input device 104 In this
  • the person 102A Upon dialing the DID number, the person 102A is in communication with the server 106 via her input device 104 The server 106 may prompt the person 102 A to identify herself Typically the person 102A will provide a touch tone or voice password to the server 106 Upon recognition of the password, the server 106 will allow the person 102 A to provide her input to the server 106 for distribution and allow the person to designate the appropriate recipients This process is described in further detail below
  • the server 106 determines the preferred method of contact for each of the recipients and transmits the message appropriately In this example three different transmission means, shown by transmitters 108A-C are used to transmit the message to the people 102B-E
  • the transmitter 108 A may be a phone transmission means
  • the transmitter 108B may be a facsimile transmission means
  • the transmitter 108C may be an electronic mail transmission means
  • the server 106 may be capable of providing the person 102A with feedback about delivery failures. This allows the person 102A to review who has not have received her message and take appropriate steps.
  • Fig. 2 illustrates the relationship between people and their data in the system. This can be used to allow for a disjoint representation of people apart from particular business entities and allows a single master database to be maintained that has information about people. That information can then be related to particular entities. This approach is highly effective at allowing data to be reused across multiple entities. This approach may be particularly effective in industry segments where a common group of individuals tends to go from one business to another.
  • a person e.g. the person 102F
  • the profile 200 includes contact information 202, a position 204, preferences 206, and permissions 208.
  • An entity 210 can be comprised of multiple subunits, in this example the entity 210 has departments 212, units 214, and jobs 216.
  • the contact information 202 forms the heart of the profile 200 for an individual such as the person 102F.
  • the contact information 202 includes one or more ways that the person 102F can be contacted. This may include work telephone numbers, home telephone numbers, facsimile numbers, pager numbers, cell phone numbers, electronic mail addresses, and/or any other type of contact information for the person. Additionally, address information such as the address for the person 102F can be stored in the contact information 202.
  • the contact information 202 is related to the preferences 206 in that the person 102F can rank her preferred methods of contact in the preferences 206 For example, the person 102F could specify that she prefers to review all messages on the web site, but receive a pager notification of new messages
  • Some embodiments of the invention permit a person (e g the person 102F) to designate a hierarchy of preferred contact methods
  • the person 102F could rank different contact methods in order of her preferences to control how the system delivers messages to her This can be used by the system to try each method in order until a message is successfully delivered
  • a person may designate different rankings based on the sender, the entity the sender belongs to, the message's priority and/or other user selected criterion
  • the position 204 can include information about the person 102F's previous jobs and current jobs For example, the position 204 may indicate that the person 102F has performed costume design on previous movie productions Similarly the position 204 may include information about which unions the person 102F belongs to and/or which other voluntary associations the person 102F may belong to, etc
  • the permissions 208 describe the person 102F's ability to use various administrative aspects of the system
  • the permissions 208 may be set on a per entity basis as appropriate
  • the person 102F may be a department head in one entity, but only an employee at another entity In that case, the permissions 208 can reflect different administrative access rights within the system for the same person at each entity
  • Each entity can have multiple logical subunits to which an individual person can belong Thus, for a particular entity a person may belong to the entity, a department, a unit and a job
  • This hierarchical grouping helps with the creation of automatic distributions
  • the distribution 220 can comprise a particular logical group within the entity
  • the art department Alternatively distributions (e g the distribution 220) can be comprised of any group of people, including people not directly employed by the entity This may be useful when outside vendors need to be contacted with information about the entity
  • the master database and the entity's version of that database may include information about non-employees such as vendors, contract workers, contractors and/or any other people that the entity may have a need to contact.
  • those people can be given permission to modify their own contact information.
  • suitably permissioned people within the entity may adjust the contact information for those other people.
  • Fig. 3 illustrates a conceptual view of the logical components of the server 106. This could be used to provide the server 106 in the communication system described. The following lists the elements of Fig. 3 and describes their interconnections.
  • Fig. 3 includes the server 106.
  • the server 106 includes three logical components: a web front end 300, a data architecture 310, and communication systems 320.
  • the web front end 300 includes view access 302 and administration access 304.
  • the data architecture 310 includes a master database 312 and one or more entity databases 314A-B, the messages 316 and converters 318.
  • the communication systems 320 is coupled to one or more communications networks, e.g.
  • voicemail network 338 pagers 332, the public switch telephone network (PSTN) 330, a cellular network 334, and electronic mail 336.
  • PSTN public switch telephone network
  • cellular network 334 a cellular network 334
  • electronic mail 336 electronic mail 336.
  • the connections shown are illustrative only, other communications networks can be attached, e.g. wireless networks, personal digital assistant (PDA) networks, computer networks, and/or other types of communications networks.
  • PDA personal digital assistant
  • the server 106 itself can be implemented using a combination of various hardware such as server computers, telephony cards, telephony switches, network cards and/or other telecommunications equipment.
  • the server computers may include standard UNIXTM computers, Windows NTTM computers, and/or other types of computers. Additionally the components of the server 106 can be geographically distributed and connected via one or more networks. These configurations may be useful when local points of presence are desired. For example, the primary computers for the server 106 might be located in California; however, additional computers and communications equipment could be located in foreign countries, e.g. the United Kingdom.
  • the web front end 300 provides two primary interfaces for users having standard web browser software.
  • the view interface 302 allows for people to access the server 106 and retrieve messages from the messages 316 that are appropriate for their permissions. For example, a person could review all previous messages she/he received that are still on the server 106.
  • the view interface 302 may allow a person to update their contact information and contact preferences. This may be helpful, if a person acquires a new telephone number, a new pager, and/or changes her/his preferences as to how they like to receive messages.
  • the view interface 302 may also allow for other features as more fully described below.
  • the administration interface 304 allows suitably permissioned people within the entity to create/edit/delete distributions, assign people within the entity to different groups, e.g. departments, units, jobs, etc. Additionally, other administration features can be provided, such as managing the amount of storage space used for the messages 316, reviewing bills, monitoring usage of the system, and/or other administrative functions relating to the system.
  • the data architecture 310 provides for a master database 312.
  • the master database 312 includes information about people from multiple entities. This allows for the reuse of information as individuals move from one entity to another entity. Subcomponents of the master database 312 can be provided for each entity shown as the entity databases 314A-B. Each entity database includes information relevant to that particular entity, e.g. specific permissions for people in a given entity, customized information about a particular entity, and/or other information relevant to the entity.
  • a message repository is provided with the messages 316. This can store messages from multiple entities. Users can access their messages through the web front end 300 and the view interface 302. Also, when appropriate, the messages 316 may be accessed through suitable interfaces provided by the communication systems 320, e.g. telephone review of messages within the messages 316 like a voicemail system.
  • the communication systems 320 provides the interface between the server 106 and other communications networks.
  • the communication systems 320 may include telephone line cards for connecting to a public switch telephone network (e.g. the PSTN 330) and enable the server 106 to dial a telephone number and play back an audio message.
  • the converters 318 provide for conversion between different message formats. This is appropriate when a message is in a first format, but the recipient needs to receive the message in a second format, e.g. text-to-speech, audio-to- text, etc.
  • the communication systems 320 provides transmission means for contacting voicemail systems 338, pagers 332, standard telephones 330, cellular telephones 334, and electronic mail addresses 336. Additionally messages can simply be kept on the server 106 with suitable notification sent through one of the transmission means.
  • Embodiments of the invention may include converters for the following:
  • embodiments of the invention can transform messages between the different communication input formats and output formats easily Additionally the communication systems 320 provides support for input into the server 106 The input support can reuse some of the same physical equipment used for transmission purposes by the communication systems 320 The input support allows for reception by the server 106 of messages in various formats, e g facsimiles, audio messages, electronic mail messages, numeric page messages, etc
  • Fig 4 illustrates a process flow for the input and distribution of messages according to some embodiments of the invention This could be used by the server 106 to receive and distributed messages received from people working within an entity
  • a message is stored
  • the message can be received from an input 400, shown here as a telephone, and stored in the messages 316
  • the message could be in any one of a number of formats supported by the server 106
  • Some embodiments of the invention support the following formats audio messages, facsimile messages, numeric page messages, electronic mail messages, and attached files Attached files could be attached to an electronic mail message, and/or submitted via the user interface 302 on the World Wide Web
  • the converters 318 can handle the conversion of the received message into an appropriate format suitable for storage in the messages 316
  • Some embodiments of the invention include converters for analog audio signals received over a telephone interface into stored digital formats for storage in the messages 316
  • the recipients of a message can be identified When appropriate, the order of steps 404 and 402 can be reversed based on the preferences of a specific entity, a specific user, and/or the particular input means For example, some embodiments of the invention allow recipients to be specified prior to receipt of the message
  • the identification of recipients uses the entity database (e
  • the specific people and/or distributions to receive a message can be identified using touch tone commands, spoken words, and/or other suitable mechanisms relative to the input means (e g the input 400)
  • the distribution list might be specified through the use of a "To" line in a specified location on the cover sheet of the facsimile
  • a person prior to the transmission of the facsimile itself, a person can provide touch tone and/or spoken commands to identify the recipients
  • the recipients can be identified either on the to line, or in the body of the message
  • the recipients could be selected using an HTML form, or other suitable input approaches
  • a distribution list for the particular message is built
  • the distribution list that is built consists of the particular people to receive a given message This should not be confused with the process of generating a distribution, for example, the distribution comprising members of the Art Department versus the distribution list for a particular message, e g the Art Department distribution Rather, this is the process of accessing the entity database and the master database to collect the contact information for the specific recipients This process can take into account contact preferences and rankings provided by the individuals
  • the message can be distributed to the recipients This may involve retrieving the message from the messages 316 and transmitting it to the output 420 This process may involve further conversion using the converters 318
  • results from the distribution can be logged and stored in the entity database (e g the entity DB 314 A) For example, this may include the time at which the message was delivered to each recipient, the success or failure of the delivery, and/or other suitable information
  • the results may include the users reply if it is available or a link to such a reply when it becomes available
  • some messages may request that a recipient indicate their acceptance of a meeting time, vote on a decision, or provide commentary back to the sender These comments can be added to the view of message failure and success as links of the web, and/or through suitable mechanisms when the message log is reviewed through other mediums
  • reports can be generated for storage in the entity database and the master database
  • the reports generated may include billing reports, system performance reports, and/or other entity or system provider defined reports
  • the distribution process can be divided in a number of ways Some embodiments of the invention, divide the process along distribution mechanisms, e g all facsimiles are sent to a facsimile transmission means within the communication systems 320 (after suitable conversion if needed), etc Then in parallel, those transmission means can in turn broadcast the message to the appropriate recipients Whether the broadcast occurs in parallel, series, or a combination may be determined by the resources available to the specific transmission means For example, if there is only capacity for distribution of fifty facsimiles concurrently, additional recipients may be queued
  • the communication systems 320 may handle queueing and scheduling of availability of the various transmission means across different entities sharing the server 106
  • Embodiments of the invention may allow entities to pay for different classes of service, e g guaranteed number of transmission resources, guaranteed delivery times, etc
  • embodiments of the invention may limit the amount of resources each business can use For example, round robin scheduling could be used to control access to the transmission resources with each business entity entitled to a certain quantum (e g unit) of transmission resources at a given time This could be used to ensure that one entity's use of the server 106 for distribution does not overwhelm the ability of other entities to use the server 106.
  • the exact amount of transmission resources selected for the server 106 can be easily adjusted. For example, additional telephony line cards could be added to the communication systems 320 to increase the resources available for facsimiles, telephone calls, etc.
  • the operator of the server 106 can therefore scale the system as additional businesses sign up to use the server 106. Since the cost of the components is shared across all of the entities using the server 106, the overall cost of the server 106 can remain small.
  • One use of embodiments of the invention is in the movie industry — or more generally event driven businesses. Movie production companies, and other event driven businesses, are characterized by having extremely short lifetimes, e.g. a few months, maybe a year, etc. Further, because of the master database-entity database data model used by embodiments of the invention, the server 106 becomes increasingly valuable as additional similar businesses sign up for the service. Thus, as the number of movie productions using embodiments of the invention increases, the value of the server increases. This is because the actors, directors, producers, performers, stage hands, costume designers, etc., who work on one movie tend to work on other movies or events.
  • time information can be received from employees of the entity through one or more interfaces, e.g. web, telephone, electronic mail, attached file/file transfer, etc.
  • the server 106 can convert the message (using the converters 318) into a suitable format for a payroll system — including one operated by a third party
  • suitable supervising employees can approve the submitted time information, e g over the web, on the phone, in an electronic mail message, etc , before its submission for processing
  • the operator of the server 106 directly provides the payroll services, possibly through a private agreement with one or more payroll companies This allows the businesses using the server 106 to focus on their business and again to derive the lower cost for processing from sharing payroll resources across multiple businesses
  • each paycheck is costing roughly twenty to fifty dollars to process
  • embodiments of the invention can reduce this to approximately five dollars
  • one or more fees may be assessed to the businesses using this capability of embodiments of the invention
  • Embodiments of the invention can be coupled to support one or more debit card — or other payment — systems
  • the operator of the server 106 can partner with a debit card company, e g Mastercard, Visa, etc This will allow the operator of the server 106 to provide debit card services to the businesses using the system
  • Embodiments of the invention will allow appropriate supervisory people at businesses to control the amount of money on the debit cards for individuals, review debit card purchases, etc This can provide significant cost savings for many small businesses that use embodiments of the invention That is because many of these businesses may not want to have the accounting procedures to handle employee reimbursement, etc Thus, these features of embodiments of the invention allow businesses to use widely accepted forms of payment, e g debit cards, with oversight, but without the high costs normally associated with handling reimbursements, invoices, etc Operators of embodiments of the invention can charge fees for these services, e.g. per card, per month, percentage of loaded values, flat fees, and/or other fee structures.
  • embodiments of the invention may allow for automated review and payment of invoices for businesses using embodiments of the invention.
  • a (possibly separate) direct inward dial (DID) number, electronic mail address, etc. could be provided for a business to receive invoices. These invoices could be presented to suitable people within the business for acceptance and payment.
  • DID direct inward dial
  • connections to automated invoice, bill payment, and/or other bill presentment and payment systems may be provided by embodiments of the invention to businesses.
  • the server 106 can serve to provide scalable telecommunications services to multiple business clients. Further, the server 106 supports a broadcast model for distribution of messages to people within, or related to, the business that provides for review of delivery status. Further, the broadcast model used abstracts the message input format and distribution format to allow for rapid distribution.
  • server 106 can be hardware based, software based, or a combination of the two.
  • server 106 is comprised of one or more computer programs that are included in one or more computer usable media such as CD-ROMs, floppy disks, or other media. In some embodiments, web interfaces, databases, and converters are included in one or more computer usable media.
  • the electromagnetic waveform comprises information such as web interfaces, databases, and converters.
  • the electromagnetic waveform may include the programs accessed over a network.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Human Resources & Organizations (AREA)
  • Strategic Management (AREA)
  • Entrepreneurship & Innovation (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Data Mining & Analysis (AREA)
  • Economics (AREA)
  • Marketing (AREA)
  • Operations Research (AREA)
  • Quality & Reliability (AREA)
  • Tourism & Hospitality (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Telephonic Communication Services (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un appareil servant à pourvoir des services de télécommunications à une entreprise. Cette dernière n'a pas besoin d'acheter un équipement de télécommunications spécialisé tel que PBXs, ou un service spécialisé tel que CENTREX d'une compagnie téléphonique locale. Au lieu de cela, l'entreprise peut passer un contrat avec un fournisseur de services de télécommunications pour servir de mécanisme de distribution d'informations aux employés de l'entreprise. L'appareil peut comprendre une base de données qui contient des informations de références destinées aux personnes investies dans plusieurs entreprises. L'appareil peut fournir une interface administrative par l'intermédiaire du réseau des réseaux. Cette interface peut permettre à l'entreprise d'identifier un sous-groupe d'individus dans la base de données considérés comme appartenant à l'entreprise. Elle peut également permettre à l'entreprise d'identifier le rôle et la position spécifiques qu'un individu occupe au sein de l'entreprise. L'interface administrative peut, en outre, prendre en charge la création de listes de distribution à partir de groupes logiques d'individus, comme cela est requis pour atteindre les objectifs commerciaux. Ladite invention concerne aussi des dispositifs de transmission de messages servant à identifier les destinataires d'un message et à transmettre le message aux destinataires de la liste de distribution, ainsi que la traduction obligée entre les formats.
PCT/US2000/010568 1999-04-23 2000-04-18 Systeme de messagerie multimedia avec distribution de messages de maniere preferee du destinataire WO2000065816A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU44729/00A AU4472900A (en) 1999-04-23 2000-04-18 Multimedia messaging system with distribution of messages in recipient's preferred manner

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US13074899P 1999-04-23 1999-04-23
US60/130,748 1999-04-23
US54719700A 2000-04-12 2000-04-12
US09/547,197 2000-04-12

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2000065816A1 true WO2000065816A1 (fr) 2000-11-02

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2000/010568 WO2000065816A1 (fr) 1999-04-23 2000-04-18 Systeme de messagerie multimedia avec distribution de messages de maniere preferee du destinataire

Country Status (3)

Country Link
AU (1) AU4472900A (fr)
TW (1) TW472476B (fr)
WO (1) WO2000065816A1 (fr)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
NL1015597C2 (nl) * 2000-07-03 2002-01-04 Koninkl Kpn Nv Berichtensysteem.
WO2002103991A2 (fr) * 2001-06-15 2002-12-27 Hummingbird Ltd. Systeme et procede permettant de fournir un carnet d'adresses
EP1954000A2 (fr) 2001-06-06 2008-08-06 Nokia Corporation Envoi d'un message à des destinataires multiples
WO2009086542A1 (fr) * 2007-12-28 2009-07-09 Telenav, Inc. Système de navigation à système de partage de position mobile et son procédé de fonctionnement

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WO1997033421A1 (fr) * 1996-03-06 1997-09-12 Bell Communications Research, Inc. Interconnexion de reseaux de communications personnelles

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WO1997033421A1 (fr) * 1996-03-06 1997-09-12 Bell Communications Research, Inc. Interconnexion de reseaux de communications personnelles

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Title
"METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING INFORMATION TO AND FOR TRAVELING USERS", IBM TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE BULLETIN,US,IBM CORP. NEW YORK, vol. 37, no. 2A, 1 February 1994 (1994-02-01), pages 109 - 112, XP000432580, ISSN: 0018-8689 *
"UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS CONSORTIUM", XP002144650, Retrieved from the Internet <URL:http://www.unified-msg.com/definitions.htm> [retrieved on 20000808] *

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
NL1015597C2 (nl) * 2000-07-03 2002-01-04 Koninkl Kpn Nv Berichtensysteem.
WO2002003670A1 (fr) * 2000-07-03 2002-01-10 Koninklijke Kpn N.V. Systeme de messagerie
US7155209B2 (en) 2000-07-03 2006-12-26 Koninklijke Kpn. N.V. Messaging system
EP1954000A2 (fr) 2001-06-06 2008-08-06 Nokia Corporation Envoi d'un message à des destinataires multiples
EP1954000A3 (fr) * 2001-06-06 2008-09-03 Nokia Corporation Envoi d'un message à des destinataires multiples
US7680887B2 (en) 2001-06-06 2010-03-16 Nokia Corporation Method and device for messaging
WO2002103991A2 (fr) * 2001-06-15 2002-12-27 Hummingbird Ltd. Systeme et procede permettant de fournir un carnet d'adresses
WO2002103991A3 (fr) * 2001-06-15 2003-07-10 Hummingbird Ltd Systeme et procede permettant de fournir un carnet d'adresses
WO2009086542A1 (fr) * 2007-12-28 2009-07-09 Telenav, Inc. Système de navigation à système de partage de position mobile et son procédé de fonctionnement
US8160606B2 (en) 2007-12-28 2012-04-17 Telenav, Inc. Mobile location sharing system

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
TW472476B (en) 2002-01-11
AU4472900A (en) 2000-11-10

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