WO2010012988A1

WO2010012988A1 - Messaging system

Info

Publication number: WO2010012988A1
Application number: PCT/GB2009/001844
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lynette Swift
Original assignee: Swift Connect Limited
Priority date: 2008-07-28
Filing date: 2009-07-24
Publication date: 2010-02-04
Also published as: GB2462256B; GB2462256A; EP2319216A1; GB0813776D0

Abstract

The system is arranged to be used by a group of people, and comprises a message input communication module arranged to receive a message from a member of the group; a plurality of message output communication modules, each message output communication module arranged to send the message to other members of the group via one of a plurality of delivery routes; a members' database arranged to hold details of each member of the group, the database having a data structure arranged to hold preferences of each member relating to their preferred delivery route; and a router arranged to direct a message to each member through one of the plurality of message output communication modules based on the member's preferences stored in the members' database. The delivery routes are selected from at least two of: audio message, e-mail, text message, video message.

Description

Messaging System

The present invention relates to messaging systems, and in particular to unified messaging systems.

Over the last few years, there has been a move towards unifying various different types of communication whereby a user is able to communicate with another person through his computer by any one of a number of different means, including making voice calls, video calls, sending emails, instant messaging, and the like. In combination with the availability of presence information, communication by these means is made much easier. However, there are a number of problems which are not addressed by such systems. All of these problems apply, in particular, to groups of people who communicate together. The group of people could be a team of people working within a business, a family group, an interest group, such as the members of a tennis club, or a group of people with a common interest, such as parents of children within a school.

A first problem which exists for such a group of is that, in conventional systems, when a message is sent to a group, perhaps in the form of an email or a telephone voice message, if that person has changed their email address or telephone number, they will not get the message. For example, it may be necessary to notify all members of a tennis club that all use of the tennis courts is suspended until next Thursday morning because of flooding. Known systems would allow such a message to be sent using electronic means, for example by sending an email or by sending an automated voice message to each member. However, if a member has changed his or her email address or telephone number, or where the telephone call is to a mobile telephone and the telephone is switched off, that member will not get the message.

A second problem for a group is that different members of the group are more easily contactable using one communication route, whereas other people are more easily contactable using another. For example, where you have a team of people working within a business, different people are likely to have different roles. Some of the members of the team are likely to travel extensively, and be primarily contactable through their mobile telephone or cellphone either by voice message or text message, whereas other members of the team might be deskbound, for whom messages are more conveniently received by email or video call. If the leader of the team wishes to send a message to the whole team, for example to congratulate them on meeting their sales targets, he or she will have to send that same message in several different ways for it to reach all of the team members. The team leader will have to send the message by text message to some members of the team, by email to others, and so on. This is highly inefficient, and impractical, and forms a barrier to effective communication. Additionally, the team leader can only send messages using delivery methods supported by his communication device. A mobile phone might support voice calls and SMS messages, but not emails or video messages. A computer might support email and video messages but not voice messages or SMS.

A third problem experienced by a group of people is that it is often difficult to set up conference telephone calls for that group. While most business will have telephone systems which permit the setting up of conference calls, these are expensive and not generally available to very small businesses or to individuals. An alternative is to arrange hosted dial-in telephone conferences, but these take time to set up, and it is necessary to pre-arrange a dial-in conference which can be inconvenient. Such a system does not permit setting up an immediate conference call.

Fourthly, a group of people might need to share documents within that group, or view the availability of others within the group, and the facilities are not easily available for achieving this in conventional systems.

There are a number of prior art systems that are currently known about, but none of them are arranged to facilitate the interaction of groups of people so as to overcome the problems set out above. Microsoft have been developing the Office Communications Server, and IBM have been developing Lotus Sametime, both of which aim to unify communication. Neither of them, however, solve the problems set out above, and both tend to be applicable to business users rather than for more general use. Both require a considerable investment in a company's communications infrastructure, particularly by the purchase of additional servers and telecommunications links, and require ongoing investment to maintain them. Many of the groups referred to above are not in a position to invest large sums of money in an IT infrastructure, and require a low cost and simple service. Other products are offered by Avaya, Nortel, Webex, CallXpress and Spin Vox. The present invention seeks to overcome some or all of the problems identified above.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a group messaging system arranged to be used by a group of people comprises: a message input communication module arranged to receive a message from a member of the group; a plurality of message output communication modules, each message output communication module arranged to send the message to other members of the group via one of a plurality of delivery routes; a members' database arranged to hold details of each member of the group, the members' database having a data structure arranged to hold preferences of each member relating to their preferred delivery route; and a router arranged to direct a message to each member through one of the plurality of message output communication modules based on the member's preferences stored in the members' database, wherein the delivery routes are selected from at least two of: audio message, email, text message, video message, instant message; and a conferencing module which is arranged such that, when a member sends a command to establish a conference call, the conference module establishes a conference call to all members, or to a predefined subset of the members.

By sending messages in this way, it is possible to ensure that the message is received by each group member in the most convenient way for them. For example, if a group member is one who travels a lot, he might not want to receive messages by email because he is unable to pick up the message for a long period of time, but he might prefer to receive messages by text message or by voice message to his mobile telephone instead, and this system allows that to be achieved. Alternatively, an elderly member of a group might prefer to receive messages via more traditional routes, such as by an audio landline telephone voice message, rather than by text message. Some members of a group might not have access to an email system, or may not possess a mobile telephone, and so messages can be received by them through means which they do possess.

Additionally, the type of message received by the group members is not limited to types of message that the sender of the message can send from his device. By channelling the messages through the messaging system, not only can messages be delivered in formats not supported by the sender's communication device, but the various messages can normally be sent in parallel with each other, making the sending of a message to multiple group members much quicker than sending them serially from the sender's communication device.

Preferably, the data structure of the members' database is arranged to hold second preferences of each member. It is further advantageous where the system further comprises a delivery report module arranged to identify any message which is not received by the member. Preferably, at least some of the message output communication modules can include the delivery report module. The delivery report module, when located within a message output communication module which sends e- mails, is a delivery status notification module and identifies whether a message has been received or delivered. Clearly, this will work in different ways, depending on the type of message. If the message is an email, it can be sent with a request for an automatic confirmation of receipt which is monitored by the delivery report module. Failed emails also tend to result in the return of a delivery failure message which can also be monitored for. If the message is a speech message, delivery can be considered to have failed if the telephone call is not answered. If the message is sent by the system as a text message which is not picked up by a person's phone after a certain time has elapsed, a failure message is returned to the system. While the preferred embodiment refers to the delivery failure report coming from the delivery report module or modules, the failure report might be initiated from a remote position within the message system, for example a remote domain.

Once it is known that a message has not been received, it is possible to resend the message by the second preferred delivery route based on the member's second preference stored in the members' database. These advantageous features are particularly convenient where it is necessary for a member of the group to send a message which is urgent or important and needs to be read by as large a number of the group members as is possible. For example, using the scenario of the first problem set out above, these features allow the members of a tennis club to be informed that use of the tennis courts is suspended until next Thursday morning because of flooding in a more effective way. If the first message to a particular member fails for some reason, the message can be sent to that member via the second preferred route. While it might be common for the first message to fail, for example because of a changed email address or telephone number, sending the message by a second route in those circumstances will be effective in picking up most of the messages which have not been delivered via the first delivery route. Thus, it will be appreciated that the performance of the system is very much improved, and there is a much greater likelihood that all members who had booked tennis courts until Thursday morning will not turn up to play only to be turned away.

It is further advantageous that the data structure of the members' database is arranged to hold third preferences of each member. If the message fails to be delivered via any route, it is preferred that the sender of the message is informed.

Another advantageous feature is where the members' database includes a default preference or preferences which are manually amendable to reflect the actual preference or preferences of members. This aids quick set up of the system before the actual preferences are collected. It is particularly advantageous for the messaging system to include a members interface through which the members can change or set their preference or preferences themselves. The preferred implementation of this is the use of a web based member interface accessible using a web browser. This gives the system some major advantages, and in particular the ability of each member of the team to set their own preferences so that they always get messages in the most appropriate format, and when they make any changes for example to their email address or telephone number, the member can update their personal details themselves.

The members interface may additionally include a storage area for storing any one or more of the following: documents, web links, messages and other group data. Thus, the members interface can act as a resource for that group.

The user interface might also include a calendar by which availability of the other members can be viewed, which is helpful when trying to arrange meetings, conference calls and the like. In the preferred embodiment, the plurality of message output communication modules include a voice module arranged to send audio voice messages to members. The preferred embodiment is also arranged so that the plurality of message output communication modules includes an e-mail module arranged to send e-mail messages to members. The preferred embodiment also includes a text message module as one of the plurality output communication modules. Another advantageous form of message output communication modules is a video call module. All of these modules are able to send messages to the members, and include facilities to either monitor the receipt of such a message, or to handle return messages indicating non-receipt of the message so as to identify messages which have not been delivered. The message output communication modules typically include an output port arranged to send a delivery report to the router. Additionally, some of each of the plurality of message output communication modules is able to receive incoming messages from a group member so as to also operate as the message input communication module.

The conference call might be a telephone call, a video call, or a call over a VOIP network, or a combination of the foregoing. It is preferred that the conferencing module may be arranged to establish a call to each member based on the members' preferences stored in the members' database. It is particularly convenient if a conference call can be initiated by a single member so that the system immediately and simultaneously calls all of the other group members to bring them into the conference call. This might best be described as instant conferencing. By working this way, the group does not have to invest in an expensive telephone system, nor does it have to rely on making a prearranged dial-in conference call where it takes time to set up a call, and the call must be booked in advance. Additionally, with dial-in conference calls, it is common that not everyone dials in and the remainder of the group is left waiting for the remaining personal people to call in. This system gets around that by calling out to the group members and connecting them virtually simultaneously. In effect, this system hosts the conference call on demand.

The conferencing facility would normally be initiated by a member of the group who dials a preset number on his telephone and without having to make any prior booking. However, it could be initiated from the member interface instead, in which case it will also call the person initiated the conference call. Again, no prior booking would be required. Another advantage is that the person initiating the call only requires a single line to make the call because the communication system has access to multiple lines. Thus, the caller doesn't have to pay for multiple lines which would only be used occasionally. The multiple lines of the communication system are, effectively, shared and can benefit from bulk discounts and lower charges.

According to a second aspect of the present invention a user interface for a messaging system according to the first aspect of the invention includes a member display panel arranged to display details of a member including the members preferences relating to their preferred delivery route; a preference setting tool arranged for setting or changing a members' preferences; and a conferencing tool which is arranged such that, when a member commands the tool to establish a conference call, the conferencing tool establishes a conference call to all members, or to a predefined sub-set of the members The inclusion of such a display panel is effective in making as easy as possible for each member to set up their preferences correctly. It is preferred that the display panel and preference setting tool are connected to the members' database which is arranged to hold details of each member of the group, the members' database having a database structure arranged to hold preferences of each member relating to their preferred delivery route. In this way, the user is able to directly update the members' database.

The data structure of the members' database may be arranged to hold second preferences of each member and even third or fourth preferences. These can be selected using the preference setting tool.

The members interface may be arranged to include a storage area for storing any one of the following: documents, web links, messages and other group data. Additionally, a calendar can be included.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a conferencing system comprises: an input for receiving directions to initiate a conference call, and a plurality of outputs by which participants to a conference call are called out to. The system preferably includes at least one of the following:

1. A database arranged to hold details of each member of a plurality of groups; 2. The members' database has a structure arranged to hold preferences of each member relating to their preferred contact route in the event of a conference call;

3. A route arranged to direct a call from the conferencing system via one of a plurality of message routes based on the members' preferences stored in the members' database;

4. The outgoing call may be a telephone call or a video call or a call over a VoIP network, or a combination of the foregoing;

5. A user interface by which members can insert or update their preferences relating to preferred delivery route;

6. The input is a web based input for receiving conference call requests;

7. A user application for running on a user's mobile telephone, landline telephone, computer or other apparatus by which calls can be initiated;

8. The application allows conference call participants to be selected from an address book;

9. The user application includes a group configuration by which groups or contacts can be defined, and calls can be made to a group;

10. The user application includes a conference definition including a title to the conference;

11. The user application includes a definition section in which the start time for the conference can be set;

12. The user application includes a conference definition section which permits the setting of a reminder before the conference commences; 13. The user application includes a conference definition section by which limits can be put on the conference call, such as by total cost of the conference call, or duration of the call.

14. A recording facility by which conference calls can be recorded;

15. A transcription facility which transcribes the speech of the conference into text.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, and with reference to the drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic drawing showing the structure of one embodiment of the present invention in block form;

Figure 2 is a flow diagram showing the process which takes place when a member sends a message;

Figure 3 is a flow diagram showing the steps which are taken when a group member receives a voice message;

Figure 4 is a view showing a user interface by which the preferences of a member for receiving messages is shown; Figure 5 is a flow diagram showing the steps which required to set up a conference call using the system according to the present invention;

Figure 6 is a schematic drawing showing a second embodiment in which conference calls are initiated by a group member via a conference system;

Figure 7 shows screen shots of an address book of a telephone handset of a third embodiment;

Figure 8 shows a screen shot of a conference menu on the telephone handset;

Figure 9 shows screen shots of a groups tab of an address book of the telephone handset; and

Figure 10 shows screen shots of a conference call tab of an address book of the telephone handset.

Figure 1 shows a messaging system 1 according to the present invention. In general terms, the messaging system 1 includes a router 2, a member's database 3 connected to the router 2, a web server 4 connected both to the router 2 and to the members' database 3, a plurality of communication modules 5, 6 and 7, and a conference module 8. The communication modules in this embodiment include a voice module 5, an SMS module 6 and an e-mail module 7. Further communication modules, such as a video call module or an instant messaging module, could also be included. This system requires at least two modules to permit messages to be sent in at least two ways.

The router 2 and the members' database 3 form the hub of this system in that messages can be received from the communication modules 5, 6, 7 and sent out to a group of people by the router 2 via the most appropriate of the communication modules.

The members' database 3 is arranged so as to include the details of the members of a group. This group might be the members of a tennis club, a family group, a committee, a team of workers or the like. If one of the members of the group is to send a message, he or she can send it through the messaging system 1 , and will leave a voice message via the voice module 5, send an SMS message (text message) via the SMS module 6, or send an e-mail via the e-mail module 7. The message is then passed by the communication module to the router 2, and the router 2 then sends the message out via one or more of the voice module 5, SMS module 6 and e-mail module 7 to the other members of the group based on the favoured communication method indicated in the members' database 3 against each of the members to which the message is sent.

The members' database 3 can be arranged in the form of any suitable database. It would be expected that the members' database 3 holds the details of the members of many different groups. Thus the messaging system 1 can administer messaging for multiple groups of members. It will be appreciated that this would be a very efficient way of carrying out the invention, although it is possible for the members' database 3 to include the details of a single group rather than multiple groups. Additionally, a member could belong to more than one group.

The router 2 is connected to the members' database 3 so as to be able to direct messages to the members of a group via the most appropriate means, that indicated by each of the members of the group to be their preferred way of being contacted. To aid understanding of the system in Figure 1 , all data or communications which are received by the router 2 from the communication modules 5, 6, 7 are shown with unbroken lines, whereas those messages and data sent from the router 2 to the communication modules 5, 6, 7 are shown with dotted lines. Data sent between components other than the router 2 are also shown in unbroken lines.

The router 2 includes a number of ports which are arranged for receiving or sending data. It includes a voice receive port 9 and a voice delivery report port 10 for receiving data from the voice module 5. The router 2 also includes an e-mail receive port 11 and an e-mail delivery report port 12 for receiving data from the e-mail module 7. The router also includes an SMS mobile originated (MO) port 13 and an SMS delivery report port 14. The router 2 includes a data output port 15 for directing data to the voice module 5, the SMS module 6, and the e-mail module 7. It also includes a web receive port 16 for receiving data from the web server 4.

Each of the communication modules 5, 6, 7 includes external communication links illustrated generally with a jagged edge to the module in Figure 1. Thus, messages can be received and sent via the external communication link 17, 25, 33 of each of the communication modules 5, 6 and 7.

The voice module 5 includes a voice communication link 17, an interactive voice response module 18, a database 19, a receive port 20, an output port 21 and a queue module 22 which handles the sending of voice messages from the voice module 5. The interactive voice module 18 handles incoming telephone calls from a member via the voice communication link 17. For example, the interactive voice module 18 might ask the user to utter the name of the group, his name and the message. The interactive voice response module 18 may include its own message queuing system whereby it is able to handle multiple incoming calls to the voice module 5 at the same time. The interactive voice response module's queuing system regularly checks a message table in the voice module 5 for new messages to be sent. If any are present, the interactive voice response module 18 dials the number of the recipient to send the message.

The receive port 20 is arranged to receive data from the output port 15 of the router 2. The output port 21 of the voice module 5 is arranged to send data to the voice receive port 9 and the voice delivery report port 10 of the router 2. The SMS module 6 includes an SMS communication link 25 denoted by the jagged edge of the box. The SMS communication link 25 will normally be connected to one or more SMS gateways. The SMS module also includes a database 26, a mobile terminated service (MT) 27 and an output port 28. The output port 28 sends data to the MO port 13 and the delivery report port 14 of the router 2. The mobile terminated service 27 receives data from the output port 15 of the router 2 for onward transmission to members via the SMS communication links 25. A message queuing system 29 is used for permitting the handling of a number of outgoing SMS messages at any one time, and for checking receipt of the messages back from the mobile handsets. It also handles receipt of incoming text messages.

The e-mail module 7 includes an e-mail communication link 33, incoming and outgoing servers 34 and 35 for handling incoming and outgoing e-mails via the module 7, an e- mail format converter 36 which in this case is a C# pipe and a delivery status notification module 37. This monitors the receipt of e-mails and watches for details of e-mails which fail to be delivered. The e-mail module 7 further includes an output port 38 for directing data to the e-mail receive port 11 and the e-mail delivery report port 12 of the router 2, and a receive web service port 39 which receives e-mail messages from the output port 15 of the router 2. The e-mail module 7 also includes a database 40.

Other types of communication modules are possible. For example, this system could also include a communication module for handling video calls and one for instant messages (e.g. via MSN, AIM or GTALK), but for simplicity, such a module is not shown. Its operation would be similar to the other communication modules shown in Figure 1.

The web server 4 includes a database 45, an output port 46 and a conference initiator 47. The web server 4 is connected to the members' database 3, and the output port 46 is connected both to the web receive port 16 of the router 2 and to the conference module 8. The conference initiator 47 is connected to the conference module 8 to receive data from it. The web server 4 effectively forms an interface between a member or a user and the messaging system 1. For example, a member can update his or her details and preferences on the members' database 3. Messages can also be sent and received via the web interface. The conference module 8 includes a communication link 50 by which the module can connect, for example, to a telephone system or to the Internet for conference calls, either by telephone or by video call. It also includes an interactive voice response module 51 which handles calls to and from the conference module 8, a database 52, a start conference port 53, an output port 54 and a queue module 55. The start conference port 43 is connected to the output 46 of the web server 4 to receive directions to initiate a conference call. Output port 54 directs data to the conference initiator 47 of the web server 4. When a conference is started by phone, the conference initiator is needed to gather a group's member numbers, and it then initiates a conference the usual way. The queue module 55 assists the interactive voice response module 51 in handling multiple calls. The conference module further includes a conference members check module 56 which is used by the interactive voice response module 51 to initiate conferences and is required between the interactive voice response module 51 and the members' database 3. Therefore, the conference members check module 56 is, effectively positioned between the interactive voice response module 51 and the start conference port 53, but at the same time is connected to the members' database 3 to ensure that only the right members join the conference call.

The conference module 8 is more secure than with dial-in systems. With dial-in systems, each participant must be supplied with a PIN or access number to prevent uninvited callers from joining a conference. This is not necessary here because the conference module calls out to the participants.

The operation of the messaging system 1 will now be described. Before a message is sent, the members' database 3 needs to be set up to contain one or more groups of people. As mentioned above, examples of the types of groups which can be set up include a family group, members of a tennis club, members of a committee, parents of children in a school, a team of people working in an organisation, and the like. Each of the individuals will be set up within the database so as to have communications preferences, for example, one person might prefer to receive messages as an SMS text message to their mobile phone, while another might prefer to receive messages by e- mail. Other members of a group might prefer to receive an audio voice message either to their home or office telephone, or to their mobile telephone or cell phone. These preferences are set within the members' database, and administration of these preferences and details will be explained later. For ease of setting up, a group might initially be set up so as to have default preferences which can be subsequently customised.

Let us take the example of a team of workers including a salesman. The salesman might spend most of his time travelling, and will prefer to communicate with his team using his mobile phone. He may want to announce to his team, that he has secured a new order for goods. He can either send the message using his mobile phone by SMS text message or by a voice message, or if enabled, by e-mail. In this case, he chooses to leave a voice message. It is useful here also to refer to Figure 2 which is a flow diagram showing the salesman sending his message. The salesman calls a predetermined telephone number and the interactive voice response module 18 of the voice module 5 handles the call firstly by prompting 70 the user for his telephone number (if the caller identification is withheld) and his personal identification. If the details uttered by the salesman are incorrect then he is prompted for those details again. Once they have been correctly entered, the interactive response module 18 prompts 71 the user to utter the name of the group. The system may operate to send messages to multiple groups with different sets of members, so it is necessary for the group to be identified. The salesman utters the name of the group, and once it has been recognised, the interactive response module 18 prompts 72 the salesman to utter his or her message to the group. Once he has uttered the message, he will either wait on the line or hang up. If he waits on the line the interactive voice response module 18 carries out a recognition on the uttered message to convert it into text. The text is then played back 73 to the salesman as a synthesised voice message to confirm its accuracy. The salesman is then given the opportunity to give the message again or to accept the message instead 74. Once accepted, or if the salesman hangs up, the interactive voice module 18 hangs up, and the messaging system 1 will send 75 the message to the other members of the group.

It will be appreciated that the group member can leave text messages or emails instead of a voice message, and the handling of these is simpler in that conversion of the message into other formats is more straightforward, and there is likely to be no need to log in in the way that is required with a voice message. The caller will need to identify himself, most likely through the email address or telephone number of the sender of the email or text message, and may need to indicate the appropriate group, perhaps in the header of an email, or the first word of the text message. Since emails and text messages push messages through the system, and do not employ the negotiation required from a voice message, for a user, an email or text message may be more straightforward.

Where the group member sends the message by SMS, they will do so to a defined number. It might be necessary for the sender of the message to commence the message with the name of the group that he wishes to receive his message. Alternatively, the group might be identifiable simply by virtue of the identity of the sender within the SMS message if that sender is a member of just one group. The SMS message is received by the SMS module 6 via the SMS communication links 25. The database 26 within the SMS module 6 might be used to identify the person sending the message from the ID number in the SMS message. The message is then sent by the output port 28 to the SMS MO 13 of the router 2. The router 2 then handles the sending of the message out to the other members of the group.

If the group member sending the message sends it by e-mail, it will be sent to a specific e-mail address which will direct it to the e-mail module 7 via the e-mail communication links 33 and the incoming e-mail server 34. It might be necessary for the sender to identify the group that he is sending the message to, for example by including the name of the group in the heading or at the beginning of the e-mail message. Alternatively, the e-mail address that the group member sends the e-mail to might be specific to the group.

The e-mail is passed through the e-mail format converter 36, in this case a C# pipe 36 where superfluous information is stripped out to simply leave the text of the message without any headers, footers, attachments or graphics being included. The stripped message is then sent via the output port 38 to the e-mail receive port 11 of the router 2. Before being sent to the router 2, the identity of the sender and his group may be identified from the contents of the database 40.

It will be appreciated that the communication modules 5, 6 and 7 initially handle the message and pass it to the router 2. The router 2 then controls the sending of the message to the group members. The router 2 identifies all of the members of the group to which the message is to be sent to be from the contents of the members' database 3 and identifies the preferences set against each of the members for delivery of the messages. Thus, the message can be sent to some of the members of the group by audio voice message, to others by SMS, and to others by e-mail. If the message is to be sent to any group members by a voice message, the message together with the identification of the voice recipients is sent from the output port of the router 2 to the receive port 20 of the voice module which then sends the message. This process is shown in more detail with reference to Figure 3.

In Figure 3, the router 2 has already identified that a particular receiving member is to receive a message by voice. This means that, when that member picks up the telephone they will listen to a synthesised voice version of the message. The voice module 5 calls 78 the recipient's voice number, either a telephone number or a mobile telephone or cell phone number. This attempt to send the message might fail 79 for example because the recipient is on the telephone, the telephone number is no longer available, or because there is a communication problem. If the telephone of the recipient is picked up, the voice module 5 prompts 40 the user to either listen to the message or to hang up with the synthesised words "you have received a new message from [name of group] - press 1 to listen or 2 to hang up". If the number 2 is pressed the route fails 81. If, on the other hand, 1 is pressed, the voice module 5 plays the voice message to the recipient, and in this case the first one hundred words of the message are played. Any limit to the number of words in the message can be set in the preferences in the system. Once the message has been played, the routing of the message is considered to be a success 83.

If, in response to the prompting step 40, no response is made, the voice module 5 would attempt to leave the message as a voice mail message 44. If this is successful, the routing of the message is considered to be a success 43. If it is unsuccessful then it is a failure 45. The handling of the call to the recipient is carried out by the interactive voice response module 18. The telephone number for the recipient is received by the voice module 5 from the router 2 which obtains it from the members' database 3. The voice module 5 is able to inform the router 2 whether or not the sending of the message is successful by sending the result via the output port 21 of the voice module 5 to the voice delivery report port 10 of the router 2. Thus, the router monitors the sending of voice messages to ensure that they are successfully sent. If the message is not successfully sent, then the router 2 will look to see what the second preference for receiving messages of the recipient is held in the members' database, and send the message by alternative means according to the second preference. The message is then routed to the appropriate communication module.

The description above covers the sending of a voice message to a group member, and it will be appreciated that sending a message by email or text message is more straightforward because there is less opportunity for that message to be returned undelivered. Emails and text messages tend to be pushed messages which are not often returned as undeliverable. If, however, a message is returned indicating that the message is not deliverable, the message will be resent to the next most preferred route.

If a message is to be sent to a recipient via SMS, the router 2 directs that message via its output port 15 to the mobile terminated service 27 of the SMS module 6. The SMS module then uses the telephone number of the recipient sent to it by the router 2 taken from the members' database 3. The message is sent via the SMS communication link 25 and an external SMS gateway to the recipient. The SMS module 6 monitors the receipt of the SMS message, and details of the delivery or non-delivery of the SMS message are returned from the output port 28 to the SMS module 6 to the SMS delivery report port 14 of the router 2 so that, if it is not successfully delivered, it can be sent by alternative means as explained above. The SMS module can be configured to process non-delivery and confirmed delivery messages and to take appropriate action, the taking of such action may be bounded in time by a configurable timer.

If a message is to be sent by e-mail to a recipient, the message is sent from the output port 15 of the router 2 to the receive web service port 39 of the e-mail module 7. The e- mail address to which the message will be sent is communicated to the e-mail module 7 via the router 2 based on the address held within the members' database 3, The message is then sent to the recipient via the outgoing e-mail server 35 and the e-mail communication links 33.

Delivery or non-delivery of the e-mail is monitored by the delivery status notification module 37, being a common format for failed e-mails. The delivery status notification is then returned to the router via the output port 38 of the e-mail module 7 and the e- mail delivery report port 12 as discussed above.

In this embodiment, the communication modules communicate both with the sender of the message and the recipient, using the same communication links. Of course, it is possible to split each of the communication modules into receiving and sending modules, but for convenience here, they are described together since they are using common communication links.

Reference is made in the description to messages being transmitted by telephone or the like. It should be appreciated that, while telephone networks are currently the norm for voice calls, the telephone or voice message might be transmitted by alternative means, for example over the Internet or other distributed network in data packets rather than using a conventional telephone system. This invention is not limited only to the use of conventional telephone networks.

It will be appreciated that the members' database 3 includes the delivery preferences for each member of a group. With this in mind, the members' database 3 includes the delivery preferences for each member of a group. With this in mind, the members' database 3 has a data structure which is arranged to hold details of each member of the group including the preferences of each member relating to their preferred message delivery route. In this embodiment, it is not just one preference that is recorded, but the available delivery routes are prioritised in order so that, if the most preferred delivery route is not available or is not appropriate, the system is able to send the message to the member via the second or subsequent preference delivery routes. Thus the data structure of the database is such that the delivery routes are ranked in order of preference for each member.

If the preference of a first member is to receive messages by e-mail, the router 2 sends any message to that member to the e-mail module 7 and directs it to send the message to that member of the group. The e-mail module 7 directs the message in e-mail form as described above to the recipient. A second member might prefer to receive messages in the form of an SMS text message, in which case the message is passed by the router 2 to the SMS module 6 for sending to the second member. A third member might prefer to receive voice messages, in which case the router 2 sends the message to the voice module 5 for sending to the third member. The router determines which module to send the message to based on the preference of the individual members on the members' database 3.

To facilitate the correct set up of preference against any member, the web server 4 is arranged to form an interface with the members to allow them to set and update their preferences within the members' database 3. Not only can members change their preferences relating to the delivery route, but they can update telephone numbers, mobile telephone numbers and e-mail addresses as required. Various different ways of presenting the priorities are possible, including a drag and drop system for dragging icons indicating messaging preferences into preference slots within an e-mail page, as is shown in Figure 4. This preference selection tool is visible within a web browser interface that a user can connect to the web server 4. The member can log into the system and access the data which is held on the members' database for them.

The web server 4 also includes a calendar by which the availability, activity and the like of the other members of the group can be displayed. The calendar can also include details of events which are taking place so that they are visible to the members via the web server 4. Such events might include group telephone calls, web chats, meetings, or the like. The web server can also provide a storage area in which members can deposit database such as documents, photographs, web links and the like. It can also permit the operation of a chat room, a discussion facility or the like.

The web server 4 can also be used for members to send messages to other members of the group. To do this, a sending member must log into the web server, normally using a web browser and can then send a message from within the web browser which is sent via the output port 46 of the web server 4 to the web receive port 16 of the router 2. The message is then sent to the other members of the group in the same way as described above. A log of all of the messages sent either via the web server or via any of the communication modules can be made to be visible to any member who is logged into the web server via a browser. Historic messages can then viewed. A conference module 8 is included in the embodiment shown in Figure 1 to allow group conference calls to be made. In this embodiment, a conference call can be initiated by a member logged on to the web server 4, in which case the member can initiate a conference call by selecting that function on the web browser connected to the web server 4, in which case the request is passed from the output port 46 of the web server 4 to the start conference port 53 of the conference module 8. Alternatively, it may be initiated by the member making direct contact with the conference module 8, either by telephone, video conference or some other communication means via the communication link 50.

Let us start by assuming that the conference call is initiated from the web server 4. The identification of the member will take place within the web server 4 so that the user and the group are identified. If the member belongs to more than one group, it will be necessary to identify which group that member wishes to use, normally by asking him. When a conference call is requested, the conference module check module 56 communicates with the members' database 3 to identify all of the members of the group who can be contacted for a conference call, and the identity of those members is then passed to the interactive voice response module 51 which simultaneously calls up all of the members of the group, including the person initiating the call, via the communication link. In this example, they are called up by telephone call, although the call may be handled by a video conferencing system, and may be web enabled. The interactive voice response module brings the available members of the group into the conference call as shown in Figure 5.

Alternatively, the conference call can be initiated by a group member calling the conference module 8 after which it is necessary for them to authenticate themselves by identifying who they are and the name of the group. Some further logging may also be required. The other members of the group must then be identified, and the conference module 8 proceeds as is described in the paragraph above.

It will be appreciated that the conferencing facility provided by this invention is likely to be of great value since the conferencing which takes place is on the spot, and it is not necessary to pre-book the conference call. Additionally, since the conference module is a hosted service, it is not necessary for the group to possess its own expensive telecommunication system to allow the conference to be set up. Another advantage is that the person initiating the call only requires a single line to make the call because the communication system has access to multiple lines. Thus, the caller doesn't have to pay for multiple lines which would only be used occasionally. The multiple lines of the communication system are, effectively, shared by all members held in the members' database and can benefit from bulk discounts and lower charges.

The conference module 8 is also more secure than with dial-in systems. With dial-in systems, each participant must be supplied with a PIN or access number to prevent uninvited callers from joining a conference. This is not necessary here because the conference module calls out to the participants.

Figure 6 shows another embodiment 100 including a conference system 101 which corresponds to the messaging system 1 in Figure 1. The conference system 101 has a number of members registered with it, the members being registered to one or more individual groups. Five of the members registered with the conference system 101 are Tom, Steve, Jim, Gerry and Shannon. These members are also members of a group registered on the conference system, although there may also be other members of the group besides those five people, hi Figure 6, the telephones of four of the five members of that group are shown, with Tom's mobile phone handset 102, a mobile handset of Steve 103, a mobile handset of Jim 104 and a landline telephone of Gerry. The members' database of the conference system 101 has the telephone numbers of each of the handsets of the members registered with it so that it is able to place telephone calls with each of those members, as required, and as described in relation to the earlier embodiment.

In addition, Tom has an additional software application on his handset 102 by which conference calls can be initiated in an improved way. If Tom wishes to place a conference call with Steve, Jim and Gerry, he uses his phone handset 102 to open the address book application and selects those members of the group, Steve, Jim and Gerry, who he wishes to place a conference call with. He does this in this case by ticking or checking boxes against the individuals he wishes to place the call with. From his screen in Figure 6, it will be seen that he does not want to include Shannon in the conference call, and so he does not tick or check the box against Shannon's name. It will be appreciated that, whilst it is preferable to be able to make the tick box selections from within the address book, it might be appropriate, in some instances, to have a separate view or separate application from which the people being called on the conference call can be selected. Additionally, while the use of tick or check boxes is convenient, other selection methods may equally well be used.

Once Tom is ready to place the conference call, he selects the call button. Since Tom's handset 102 is web enabled, a conference call request is sent via the web connection to the conference system 101. The conference call request will identify the person making the call, Tom, as well as the other people in the group to whom the call is to be made, Steve, Jim and Gerry. It might also specify the group within which the individuals are located. The telephone numbers of the participants to the call could be sent too, but it is preferred to use the telephone number which is already stored in the conference system 101. Data concerning the identification of the people to be connected to may be returned via the web connection 106. The conference system 101 then places four calls to Steve, Jim, Gerry and Tom such that, as each of them pick up the call, they are placed into a conference call. Tom will be called because he initiated the call, but the system could be configured such that Tom must also select himself to be party to the conference call.

As mentioned above, the conference system will hold the telephone numbers of each of the members. Where more than one telephone number is stored, it may be necessary to store a preference for identifying which number to use in the event of a conference call being initiated.

If Tom's handset is not Internet-enabled, it will dial the conference system 101 using the telephone system instead to initiate the conference call. The system will then dial out to the parties selected to participate in the conference call.

Referring now to Figures 7 to 10, a more detailed and sophisticated embodiment is described which is a development of the embodiment described in Figure 6. This embodiment describes the operation of the software application on a handset 102. Figure 7 shows, on the left hand side, the address book of Tom's handset 102. It is arranged with three tabs at the top for contacts 110, groups 111 and conferences 112. In this view, the contacts tab 110 is selected, which causes all of his contacts to be listed underneath. In this case, the name of each of the contacts 113 within his address book are shown together with the primary telephone number, which may be a landline number or a mobile (cell) phone number. Against each contact is a box 114 which can be ticked in order to select that contact 113. In this case, three contacts are selected, which correspond to the three contacts who are to be included in a conference call. If Jim Huang's details are opened by clicking on his name, the screen will display the contact details for Jim, and a sample screen shot is shown to the right hand side of Figure 7, including landline telephone numbers, mobile phone number, VOIP details and a picture of Jim. Other details could also be included here, such as e-mail address, office address, residential address and the like.

Returning to the main contacts view on the left hand side of Figure 7, there are three selection buttons at the bottom which allow contact to be made to the people in the address book who have been selected. The first button is the "send message" button 115 which allows a message to be sent to each of the selected contacts via the system shown in Figure 1. The second button "add to group" 116 allows Tom to add selected people to groups within the system shown in Figure 1. The third button, "call" 117 allows a conference call to be made to the people selected in the address book. At the top of the screen is a telephone icon 118 which allows Tom to select one of the contacts and to initiate a one to one telephone call by touching the telephone icon button 118.

In this case, Tom has selected three people from the contacts list in his address book, Jim Huang, Steve Evans and Gerry Jones. He then initiates a conference call by pressing the conference call button 117.

Once the call button 117 has been pressed, a new menu appears as is shown in Figure 8. If Tom wishes to start the conference call straight away, he simply presses the start conference button 121 and a call is immediately placed to Steve, Jim, Gerry and Tom as described in relation to Figure 6. However, Tom may wish to include an indication of what the call is about so that Steve, Jim and Gerry can choose whether to participate or not. He can, therefore, put a subject into the box "what's it all about" 122. Additionally, Tom can select when the conference call is to start so that it can be scheduled. If, for example, he wishes to schedule a conference call to start at noon today, he can insert that time into the time box 123. If he schedules a future conference call, reminder messages can be sent to Steve, Jim and Gerry to let them know that the call will be initiated at 12 o'clock. Tom simply needs to select the "send reminder?" tick box 124 in order to activate reminders. He can also specify how far in advance reminders are to be sent out through a selection window 125.

It will be appreciated that there are costs involved in establishing a conference call, and so Tom might wish to limit the length of the conference call, or the costs which he will incur by initiating it. In the "limits" section, Tom can either specify a limit to the duration of the conference call or can indicate a limit to the cost using boxes 126 and

127. Once all of the details have been set up, Tom has the option of pressing the "Start" button 128 to set up the conference call. More options might also be available, depending on the application.

Referring now to Figure 9, the left hand part of the figure shows the address book with the "Groups" tab 111 selected. Within the address book, Tom has three groups set up, the first being a Family group 131 containing people within the address book who are in his family, a Work group 132 of people from his workplace, and a third group 133 of contacts he knows from his tennis club. On the right hand side of Figure 9 is a screen shot of the work group 132 which appears when "Work" is selected, showing all of the individuals Tom knows from work. Individuals can be selected from the work list for the sending of messages and setting up of conference calls. New members can be added to this list, and members deleted as appropriate.

Returning to the main groups listed in the address book on the left hand side of Figure 9, there are shortcut icons 134 and 135 against each group which can be selected as a shortcut to initiate conference calls or to send group messages. Selection of the conference call button 135 for a whole group will initiate a conference telephone call to the whole of the group.

In Figure 10, the view on the left hand side shows the address book with the conference tab 112 selected. This allows details of all current future and past conference calls to be viewed. In this case, the "current" conference call button 141 has been selected in order to reveal a conference call which has been made which lasted thirty minutes and twenty seconds. If the details of the conference are required, it can be selected, and a new view appears in the screen as shown on the right hand side of Figure 10 which gives details of the name of the group, the duration of the call, the cost of the call, and other information. There are expandable views of participants 142, notes concerning the conference 143, details of the recording of the conference 144 and a transcript 145. The conference system 101 can be arranged to record the conference call so that the participants can listen back to it at a later time to remind themselves of what was discussed. This can be accessed from the conference system, either directly by a web connection, or alternatively by selecting the recording button 144 on the handset and selecting the call to be played back from the conference system. The conference system 101 must include data storage to store the recording of the call as well as some form of access control.

It might also be useful for the participants of the call to have a transcript of what was said during the call. The conference system 101 can be arranged to carry out a recognition on the speech that takes place during the conference and to transcribe it into text. Again, this can be accessed in a number of different ways, either by pressing the transcript button 145 on the handset, or via the internet, or via some other route.

Claims

1. A group messaging system arranged to be used by a group of people, comprising: a message input communication module arranged to receive a message from a member of the group; a plurality of message output communication modules, each message output communication module arranged to send the message to other members of the group via one of a plurality of delivery routes; a members' database arranged to hold details of each member of the group, the members' database having a data structure arranged to hold preferences of each member relating to their preferred delivery route; a router arranged to direct a message to each member through one of the plurality of message output communication modules based on the member's preferences stored in the members' database, wherein the delivery routes are selected from at least two of: audio message, email, text message, video message; and a conferencing module which is arranged such that, when a member sends a command to establish a conference call, the conference module establishes a conference call to all members, or to a predefined sub-set of the members.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the data structure of the members' database is arranged to hold second preferences of each user.

3. A system according to claim 2, further comprising a delivery report module arranged to identify any message which is not received by the member.

4. A system according to claim 3, wherein at least some of the message output communication modules include a delivery report module.

5. A system according to claim 4, wherein the delivery report module in a message output communication module which sends e-mails is a delivery status notification module.

6. A system according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the router is arranged to re-send the message by the second preferred delivery route based on the member's second preference stored in the member database.

7. A system according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the data structure of the members' database is arranged to hold third preferences of each member.

8. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the members' database includes a default preference or preferences which are manually amendable to reflect the actual preference or preferences of the members.

9. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, further including a members interface through which the members can change or set their preference or preferences.

10. A system according to claim 9, wherein the members interface is a web server.

11. A system according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the members interface includes a storage area for storing any one or more of the following: documents, web links, messages and other group data.

12. A system according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the user interface includes a calendar.

13. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of message output communication modules includes a voice module arranged to send audio voice messages to members.

14. A system according to claim 13, wherein the voice module includes an interactive voice response module arranged to handle a call to members of the group, and to identify whether a message has been successfully delivered to the member.

15. A system according to claim 14, wherein the voice module includes an output port arranged to send a delivery report to the router.

16. A system according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the voice module also forms a message input communication module to receive a message from a member of the group.

17. A system according to claim 16, further comprising an interactive voice response module arranged to handle calls from group members.

18. A system according to claim 16 or 17, further comprising a message converter arranged to convert system messages into a text-based format.

19. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of message output communication modules includes an e-mail module arranged to send e-mail messages to members.

20. A system according to claim 19, wherein the e-mail module includes an outgoing e-mail server.

21. A system according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the e-mail module includes a delivery status notification module arranged to identify messages which have not been successfully delivered.

22. A system according to claim 21, wherein the e-mail module includes an output port arranged to send a delivery report to the router.

23. A system according to any one of claims 19 to 22, wherein the e-mail module also forms a message input communication module to receive a message from a member.

24. A system according to claim 23, wherein the e-mail module further comprises an incoming e-mail server.

25. A system according to claim 23 or 24, further comprising an e-mail format converter.

26. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of message output communication modules include a text message module arranged to send text messages to members.

27. A system according to claim 26, wherein the text message module includes a message queuing system for handling the sending of text messages and arranged to identify messages which have not been successfully delivered.

28. A system according to claim 26 or claim 27, wherein the text message module includes an output port arranged to send a delivery report to the router.

29. A system according to any one of claims 26 to 28, wherein the text message module also forms a message input communication module to receive a message from a member.

30. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of message output communication modules includes a video call module arranged to send video messages to members.

31. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the conference call is a telephone call or a video call, or a call over a VoIP network, or a combination of the foregoing.

32. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the conferencing module is arranged to establish a call to each member based on the members preferences stored in the members' database.

33. A user interface for a messaging system according to any one of claims 1 to 32, the interface including a member display panel arranged to display details of a member including the member's preferences relating to their preferred delivery route; a preference setting tool arranged for setting or changing a member's preferences; and a conferencing tool which is arranged such that, when a member commands the tool to establish a conference call, the conferencing tool establishes a conference call to all members, or to a predefined sub-set of the members.

34. A user interface according to claim 33, wherein the member display panel and the preference setting tool are connected to a members' database which is arranged to hold details of each member of the group, the members' database having a data structure arranged to hold preferences of each member relating to their preferred delivery route.

35. A user interface according to claim 33 or 34, wherein the data structure of the members' database is arranged to hold second preferences of each member.

36. A user interface according to claim 35, wherein the data structure of the members' database is arranged to hold third preferences of each member.

37. A user interface according to any one of claims 33 to 36, wherein the members interface includes a storage area for storing any one of the following: documents, web links, messages and other group data.

38. A user interface according to any one of claims 33 to 37, further including a calendar.

39. A user interface according to any one of claims 33 to 38,, wherein the conference call is a telephone call or a video call, or a call over a VoIP network, or a combination of the foregoing.

40. A user interface according to any one of claims 33 to 39, wherein the conferencing tool is arranged to establish a call to each member based on the members preferences stored in the members' database.