Automated telephone voice service system

An automated telephone voice service system comprising:

• a store having defined therein a plurality of individually addressable message baskets which each have an inbasket portion and an outbasket portion, the store being coupled to store and retrieve representations of voice messages at each of the plurality of individually addressable message baskets therein;
• and
• a control system providing a selective coupling between the store and each of a predetermined plurality of telephone lines of a telephone network, the control system being responsive to different data signals received over a particular one of the telephone lines to associate the particular telephone line with a particular message basket, to store in the particular message basket a representation of a voice message received over the particular telephone line, and to forward a representation of a voice message stored in the particular message basket to at least one other of the individually addressable message baskets, the control system storing in the inbasket portion of the particular message basket representations of voice messages directed to the particular message basket, storing in the outbasket portion of the particular message basket a representation of a voice message that is to be forwarded, and storing in the inbasket of each message basket to which a representation of a voice message is to be forwarded a vector pointer identifying the particular message outbasket and the voice message representation which is to be forwarded thereto.

An automated telephone voice service system comprising:

• a store having defined therein a plurality of individually addressable message baskets, the store being coupled to store and retrieve representations of voice messages at each of the plurality of individually addressable message baskets therein, the store further storing a representation of a voice prompting message explaining which combinations of data signals actuate particular services provided by the service system;
• and
• a control system providing a selective coupling between the store and each of a predetermined plurality of telephone lines of a telephone network, the control system being responsive to different data signals received over a particular one of the telephone lines to associate the particular telephone line with a particular message basket, to store in the particular message basket a representation of a voice message received over the particular telephone line, and to forward a representation of a voice message stored in the particular message basket to at least one other of the individually addressable message baskets, the control system responding to activation of a particular telephone line by retrieving the voice prompting message representation from the store and communicating the voice prompting message over the particular telephone line, the control system operating in an absence of data signals received over the particular line to select as the particular message basket a message basket having a predetermined association with the line, to retrieve from the store and communicate over the line a voice prompting message indicating that a voice message may be received and stored and to store in the particular message basket a representation of any voice message subsequently received over the particular line.

An automated telephone voice service system comprising:

• a store having defined therein a plurality of individually addressable message baskets, the store being coupled to store and retrieve representations of voice messages at each of the plurality of individually addressable message baskets therein;
• a control system providing a selective coupling between the store and each of a predetermined plurality of telephone lines of a telephone network, the control system being responsive to different data signals received over a particular one of the telephone lines to associate the particular telephone line with a particular message basket, to store in the particular message basket a representation of a voice message received over the particular telephone line, and to forward a voice message representation stored in the particular message basket to at least one other of the individually addressable message baskets;
• an operator console for providing communication with a human operator and generating operator initiated data signals which are coupled to the control system;
• and
• wherein the control system responds to data signals received over the particular telephone line indicating that a telephone calling the particular telephone line is a dial type of telephone by coupling the particular telephone line to the operator console and responding to data signals generated by the operator console as if the console generated data signals had been received over the particular telephone line.

An automated telephone voice service system comprising:

• a store having defined therein a plurality of individually addressable message baskets, the store being coupled to store and retrieve representations of voice messages at each of the plurality of individually addressable message baskets therein;
• a control system providing a selective coupling between the store and each of a predetermined plurality of telephone lines of a telephone network, with the telephone lines including at least on direct incall line, the control system being responsive to different data signals received over a particular one of the telephone lines to associate the particular telephone line with a particular message basket, to store in the particular message basket a representation of a voice message received over the particular telephone line, and to forward a voice message representation stored in the particular message basket to at least one other of the individually addressable message baskets;
• and
• the control system including means for detecting when the particular telephone line is a direct incall line and responding to such detection by association the particular telephone line with a predetermined particular message basket and precluding association of the particular telephone line with any other message basket, the control system being operable to enable only the message basket activity of recording a voice message received over the particular telephone line when the particular telephone line is a direct incall line.

An automated telephone voice service system comprising:

• a store having defined therein a plurality of individually addressable message baskets, the store being coupled to store and retrieve representations of voice messages at each of the plurality of individually addressable message baskets therein;
• and
• a control system providing a selective coupling between the store and each of a predetermined plurality of telephone lines of a telephone network, with the telephone lines including a direct incall line, the control system being responsive to different data signals received over a particular one of the telephone lines to associate the particular telephone line with a particular message basket, to store in the particular message basket a representation of a voice message received over the particular telephone line, and to forward a voice message representation stored in the particular message basket to at least one other of the individually addressable message baskets, and
• the control system including means for detecting when the particular telephone line is a direct recall line and responding to such detection by associating the particular telephone line with a predetermined particular message basket and precluding association of the particular telephone line with any other message basket, the control system being operable to enable an activity affecting the particular message basket only upon receipt over the particular telephone line of a predetermined personal identification code associated with the particular message basket when the particular telephone line is a direct recall line.

An automated telephone voice service system comprising:

• a store having defined therein a plurality of individually addressable message baskets, the store being coupled to store and retrieve representations of voice messages at each of the plurality of individually addressable message baskets therein;
• a control system providing a selective coupling between the store and each of a predetermined plurality of telephone lines of a telephone network, the control system being responsive to different data signals received over a particular one of the telephone lines to associate the particular telephone line with a particular message basket, to store in the particular message basket a representation of a voice message received over the particular telephone line, and to forward a voice message representation stored in the particular message basket to at least one other of the individual addressable message baskets;
• an operator console coupled for communication with the control system;
• and
• wherein the control system stores in the store each data signal received over the particular telephone line to provide a stored data signal audit trail and responds to data signals defining an OPERATOR ASSISTANCE command by providing to the particular telephone line a voice connection to the operator console and retrieving from the store and communicating to the console for display thereby the stored data signal audit trail.

An automated telephone voice service system comprising:

• a store coupled to store and retrieve representations of voice messages at each of a plurality of individually addressable message baskets therein;
• and
• a control system providing a selective coupling between the store and each of a given plurality of telephone lines of a telephone network, with a particular message basket being coupled to a particular telephone line in response to a set of message basket control signals received over the particular telephone line for storing in the particular message basket representations of a voice message received over the particular telephone line, responsive to a second set of message basket control signals for retrieving from the particular message basket and communicating over the particular telephone line a voice message whose representation has been previously stored in the particular message basket, responsive to a third set of message basket control signals which include an address of a forwarding message basket for forwarding a representation of a voice message that has been previously stored in the particular message basket to a forwarding message basket, and responsive to a fourth set of message basket control signals for forwarding a voice message whose representation has been previously stored in the particular message basket to a telephone line selected by the fourth set of message basket control signals.

The method of providing a telephone voice service system response to an incoming telephone call from a caller on a telephone line comprising the steps of:

• communicating over the telephone line a prerecorded voice message prompting the caller to enter alternatively a message basket code or a personal identification code;
• determining the type of code entered by the caller;
• if a message basket code is entered, prompting the caller to communicate a voice message whose representation is forwarded to a message basket identified by the code and storing in a message basket portion of a store indicated by the message basket code a representation of any voice message communicated by the caller;
• if a personal identification code is entered, enabling account ownership functions for an account associated with the personal identification code including retrieval of messages from a message basket associated with the account and forwarding of message representations from the associated message basket to another message basket identified by signals communicated over the telephone line in accordance with a predetermined code.

In a voice message service system having means for storing a plurality of telephone voice messages and making such messages available to a plurality of calling parties on a real time basis, the combination comprising:

• means providing a plurality of telephone lines for carrying voice data and command data;
• means for processing data including means for storing digital representations of a plurality of voice messages with each message being addressably retrievable in response to an account identifier code corresponding thereto, including means responsive to a first command indicated by said command data for selectively retrieving a voice message identified by the command data and communicating the retrieved voice message over a telephone line from which the command data is received, including means responsive to a second command indicated by said command data for selectively retrieving a voice message identified by the command data and communicating the retrieved message over a telephone line indicated by the command data, which telephone line is not the telephone line from which the command data is received, including means for providing routine prestored prompting messages to a calling party, means for storing numeric data and command sequences in response to calls received over the telephone lines, means for recognizing invalid and inappropriate command sequences, means for initiating an operator assisted mode on the occurrence of an invalid or inappropriate command sequence, and means for generating data describing the status of messages pertaining to a given telephone number;
• and
• at least one operator station responsive to the message status data from the data processing means and the initiation of the operator assisted mode for providing informed intervention in response to an occurrence of an invalid or inappropriate command sequence.

A system for storing and forwarding telephone calls comprising:

• first interconnect means for subscribers, the first interconnect means being accessible in response to a number in a first group of numbers, each of which identifies a subscriber;
• second interconnect means for non-subscribers, the second interconnect means being accessible in response to a number in a second group of numbers, each of which identifies a subscriber;
• a central station including inbasket means for storing representations of voice messages intended for subscribers and outbasket means for storing representations of subscriber originated voice messages intended for conversion and transmission from the outbasket means to a telephone;
• and means at the central station responsive to the first and second interconnect means and coupled to control the inbasket means and outbasket means to permit subscribers to access the inbasket means and control the outbasket means through the first interconnect means while permitting non-subscribers access only to the inbasket means through the second interconnect means for the purpose of recording a voice message for later retrieval by a particular subscriber identified by a number in the second group which is used to access the second interconnect means.

A telephone subscriber service system comprising:

• a telephone line concentrator connected at a central office of a telephone network to a line of each service system subscriber and operable upon the occurrence of a predetermined condition on a subscriber line to connect the subscriber line to a trunk line;
• at least one trunk line connected between the concentrator and a trunk interface circuit;
• a trunk interface circuit connected between the at least one trunk line and a computer and communications system, the trunk interface circuit being operable to couple to the computer and communications system digital data representative of analog signals appearing on the trunk line and to couple to the trunk line analog signals representative of digital data received from the computer and communications system;
• a line interface circuit coupled between a telephone company telephone line and the computer and communications system, the line interface circuit being operable to couple to the computer and communications system digital data representative of analog signals appearing on the telephone line and to couple to the telephone line analog signals representative of digital data received from the computer and communications system;
• the computer and communications system coupled for bidirectional communication with the trunk interface circuit and line interface circuit, the computer and communications system having established therein means for storing providing an inbasket and an outbasket associated with and controlled by each service system subscriber, with each inbasket providing storage for representations of messages received from a calling party for the associated subscriber and each outbasket proving storage for representations of messages received from the associated subscriber for delivery to another party.

A telephone subscriber service system comprising:

• an interface circuit coupled to provide bidirectional communication between a telephone network including tone signal producing keyboard telephones and a digital data processing system, with information being communicated between the interface circuit and the data processing system in digital form and between the interface circuit and the telephone network in a form compatible with the operation of the telephone network;
• the digital data processing system coupled to the interface circuit and including:
• means for providing communication of voice messages with telephone system users,
• means for storing voice messages in digital form for each different subscriber to the subscriber service system, and
• means for controlling coupled to control the communication of voice messages between the storing means and a telephone network user, the controlling means including means for detecting the occurrence of tone signals indicative of the actuation of corresponding keyboard keys and means responsive to detection of a tone signal corresponding to actuation of a predetermined keyboard key for enabling the controlling means to control the operation of the subscriber service system in response to the detection of at least one additional tone signal corresponding to actuation of a keyboard key, means for limiting all functions by a non-account caller to the storage of a voice message and editing of a voice message being stored during the course of a single call, and means responsive to receipt of a data code over a telephone line of the telephone network identifying a caller as an account owner for enabling access by the caller to and execution of account ownership functions including (1) retrieval of account messages, (2) digital recording of account messages for delivery to one or more other accounts and (3) automatic storage and delivery of a voice reply to a caller originating a message in response to an ATTENTION, TALK command sequence during operation in a message retrieval mode in which a message from another account is retrieved.

An automated telephone voice service system comprising:

• a store coupled to store and retrieve representations of voice messages at each of a plurality of individually addressable voice message baskets therein, the message baskets being arranged in at least first and second groups with each message basket address having first and second fields, the message baskets of the first group having a first group first field address and mutually exclusive second field addresses, and the message baskets of the second group having a second group first field address and mutually exclusive second field addresses;
• and
• a control system providing a selective coupling between the store and each of a plurality of telephone lines which provide a signal at the beginning of each incoming call which identifies a telephone number of a telephone from which the call is being placed, the control system being operative to associate a first group of telephone numbers with the first group of message baskets and upon receiving a second field message basket address from a telephone having a first group telephone number to couple the call to the addressed message basket within the first group of message baskets and upon receiving a second field message basket address from a telephone having a second group telephone number to couple the call to the addressed message basket within the second group of message baskets, the control system being further operative to store and retrieve voice messages communicated between a coupled message basket and a calling telephone.

The method of telephone voice message communication comprising the steps of:

• answering a telephone line;
• receiving over the answered telephone line an identification code which identifies the caller as a subscriber having a subscriber message basket for storing data which includes representations of voice messages, the message basket having an inbasket portion and an outbasket portion;
• receiving over the answered telephone line a first signal indicating at least one command including a talk command;
• receiving over the answered telephone line and storing in the outbasket portion of the subscriber message basket in response to the talk command a representation of a voice message generated by the caller;
• receiving over the answered telephone line a second signal including information identifying at least one designated recipient of the voice message;
• and
• for each designated recipient:
• calling the designated recipient by dialing a designated recipient telephone line corresponding to the designated recipient,
• when the designated recipient telephone line is answered, communicating over the designated recipient telephone line a voice message delivery greeting including an explanation that a recorded voice message is being delivered,
• retrieving from the outbasket portion of the subscriber message basket and communicating over the recipient telephone line the voice message, and
• terminating the call to the designated recipient.

The method of providing a telephone voice service comprising the steps of:

• answering incoming calls and accepting and responding to caller originated commands for voice message operation including commands to record or retrieve voice messages or in the absence of receiving a caller originated command within a predetermined time period,
• generating a voice message salutation which invites the caller to leave a voice message following a tone signal;
• pausing after generating the saluation;
• generating a tone after pausing;
• and
• recording a representation of any voice message communicated after the tone is generated.

The method of providing a telephone voice messaging service through a telephone voice service system comprising the steps of:

• providing for each client a message basket for storing client related information including representations of voice messages that may be edited by the client while being stored in a client message basket, each message basket having an inbasket portion and an outbasket portion;
• receiving and recording in a sending client outbasket portion of the client message basket, a single copy of a representation of a voice message;
• receiving and storing an indication of a plurality of destinations to which the voice message is to be delivered;
• delivering the voice message to each indicated destination by retrieving the single copy of the representation of the voice message from the outbasket portion of the client message basket for each delivery and communicating the voice message to one of the plurality of indicated destinations.

The method of providing a telephone voice messaging service through a telephone voice service system comprising the steps of:

• providing for each client a message basket for storing client related messages, each message basket including an addressable outbasket;
• receiving and recording in a sending client outbasket a single copy of a representation of a voice message;
• receiving and storing an indication of a plurality of destinations to which the voice message is to be delivered;
• delivering the voice message to each indicated destination by retrieving the single copy of the representation of the voice message from the outbasket of the client message basket for each delivery and communicating the voice message to one of the plurality of indicated destinations;
• and
• temporarily spacing the delivery of the voice message to each different recipient person by a predetermined time interval to avoid congestion of the telephone voice service system.