US 6,240,391 B1 · Method and apparatus for assembling and presenting structured voicemail messages

Abstract

The method for assembling and presenting a structured electronic message begins when the sender creates a voicemail message that includes a plurality of messaging elements that include embedded instructions that define a structure of the message. Other messaging elements may include textual fragments, audio fragments that refer to audio data files that are associated with the message, and/or references to textual fragments and/or audio fragments that are stored at specified locations. The instructions may define a hierarchical menu structure which, when the message is presented to the recipient by a messaging system, offers the recipient different navigational choices from which the recipient may select and thus effect the information content of what is presented. The structured message is sent by the sender to the recipient at an address on a messaging system that stores the message and is capable of interpreting and assembling the messaging elements in accordance with the embedded instruction and playing-out the message to the recipient when the recipient accesses the system and retrieves the message from storage. The structured message may also include links to a specific destination, to which the messaging system establishes a connection if the link is selected by the recipient during play-out of the message. Further, the messaging system can gather information from the recipient during play-out and forward that information to a specified destination, which may respond with another structured message. In the described embodiment, a phone markup language is used to define the structure and the inherent embedded instructions associated with the structure of the message.

Claims50

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

receiving an electronic message addressed to a recipient, the message comprising a plurality of messaging elements, at least some of the messaging elements being content-related that are each associated with a portion of the content of the message, and at least one of the messaging elements comprising instructions that define a structure of the message from which at least some of the content-related messaging elements can be sequentially combined for presentation to the recipient as a unified message;
storing the received message in a mailbox associated with the recipient;
in response to a request for the message from the recipient,
retrieving the stored message,
interpreting the instructions that define the structure of the message, and
assembling and combining at least some of the content-related messaging elements in accordance with the instructions, and
sequentially presenting the assembled and combined content-related messaging elements to the recipient as a unified message.

4 more elements

A method comprising:

accessing a messaging system at which is stored an electronic message addressed to a recipient, the message comprising a plurality of messaging elements, at least some of the messaging elements being content-related that are each associated with of the content of the message, and at least one of the messaging elements comprising instructions that define a structure of the message that indicates how at least some of the content-related messaging elements are to be sequentially combined for presentation as a unified message, the messaging system, upon being accessed, retrieving the stored message from storage, interpreting the instructions, and assembling and combining at least some of the content-related messaging elements in accordance with the instructions, and sequentially outputting the assembled and combined content-related messaging elements as a unified message;
and
receiving a presentation of the assembled message from the messaging system.

A method comprising:

accessing a messaging system at which is stored an electronic message addressed to a recipient, the message comprising a plurality of message fragments, each associated with at least a portion of the content of the message, and a plurality of instructions embedded within the message that together define a structure of the message, said instructions including information indicating how the at least some of the message fragments are to be sequentially combined for presentation as a unified message to a recipient, the messaging system, upon being accessed, retrieving the stored message from storage, interpreting the instructions, and assembling and combining at least some of the content-related message fragments in accordance with the instructions, and sequentially outputting the assembled and combined message fragments as a unified message;
and
receiving a presentation of the assembled message from the messaging system.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and apparatus for assembling and presenting structured voicemail messages

Life of this patent

Method and apparatus for assembling and presenting structured voicemail messages

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims50