Media-enhanced greetings and/or responses in communication systems

A method of enhancing a communication exchange by rendering a selected media file during a temporary suspension of the exchange, further comprising steps of:

• beginning the exchange;
• temporarily suspending the exchange;
• programmatically selecting the media file, responsive to the temporary suspension, based on contextual information pertaining to an exchange participant who initiates the temporary suspension;
• and
• rendering the programmatically selected media file during the temporary suspension.

A method of merchandising pre-recorded media files, further comprising steps of:

• receiving requests for selected ones of the pre-recorded media files for incorporating with greetings to be rendered for message initiators to convey contextual information pertaining to an intended recipient of the message;
• providing the selected ones, in response to the step of receiving requests;
• and
• charging a fee for the provided media files.

An apparatus for enhancing a video phone call by playing a selected video file during a temporary suspension of the video phone call, wherein the selected video file conveys contextual information pertaining to an intended recipient of the video phone call, further comprising steps of:

• answering the incoming video phone call;
• temporarily suspending the answered video phone call;
• programmatically selecting the video file, responsive to the temporary suspension, based on the contextual information pertaining to the intended recipient;
• and
• playing the programmatically selected video file during the temporary suspension.

A computer program product for enhancing message exchanges by incorporating a selected media file with a greeting for rendering to a message initiator, wherein the selected media file conveys contextual information pertaining to an intended recipient of the message, the computer program product embodied on one or more computer-readable media and comprising:

• computer-readable program code means for receiving, from the message initiator, an incoming message for the intended message recipient, where the intended message recipient does not answer the incoming message;
• computer-readable program code means for programmatically determining the selected media file to be incorporated with the greeting;
• and
• computer-readable program code means for rendering the selected media file and greeting to the message initiator.

A computer program product for enhancing an instant messaging exchange by rendering a selected media file to a first participant during a suspension of the instant messaging exchange, wherein the selected media file conveys contextual information pertaining to a second participant of the instant messaging exchange, the computer program product embodied on one or more computer-readable media and comprising:

• computer-readable program code means for beginning the instant messaging exchange;
• computer-readable program code means for temporarily suspending the instant messaging exchange;
• computer-readable program code means for programmatically selecting the media file, responsive to the temporary suspension, based on the contextual information pertaining to the second participant;
• and
• computer-readable program code means for rendering the programmatically selected media file to the first participant during the temporary suspension, thereby conveying the contextual information pertaining to the second participant.

A method of enhancing message exchanges by incorporating a selected media file with a message initiator's message for rendering to a message recipient, wherein the selected media file conveys contextual information pertaining to the message initiator, the method comprising steps of:

• initiating, by the message initiator, an inbound message for the message recipient, where the message recipient does not answer the inbound message;
• programmatically selecting the media file to be incorporated with the message initiator's message, based on the contextual information pertaining to the message initiator;
• and
• rendering the selected media file along with, or as, the message initiator's message for the message recipient.