Method and apparatus for enabling a calling party to leave a voice message for a called party in response to a command provided by the calling party

An apparatus for allowing a calling party to leave a message for a called party, said apparatus comprising:

• an interface for communicating over a communications network;
• and
• a processing unit coupled to said interface and operative for:
• receiving a command provided by the calling party and indicative of a desire of the calling party to leave a message for the called party;
• obtaining message destination information associated with the called party;
• receiving a voice message provided by the calling party;
• generating an electronic message representative of the voice message;
• and
• causing transmission of the electronic message based on the message destination information.

Computer-readable media storing a program element for execution by a computer system to allow a calling party to leave a message for a called party, said program element comprising:

• first program code for causing the computer system to receive a command provided by the calling party and indicative of a desire of the calling party to leave a message for the called party;
• second program code for causing the computer system to obtain message destination information associated with the called party;
• third program code for causing the computer system to receive a voice message provided by the calling party;
• fourth program code for causing the computer system to generate an electronic message representative of the voice message;
• and
• fifth program code for causing the computer system to cause transmission of the electronic message based on the message destination information.