System for integrated electronic communications

A method for communicating electronically comprising the steps of:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to messages in different communication media, said rules defined by, subscribers of an access service;
• composing and sending a plurality of messages in accordance with a first communication medium;
• applying at least one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, said rule applied upon the sending of at least one of said messages at said access service;
• applying at least one of said plurality of rules to convert at least one of said messages in accordance with a first communication medium to a message in accordance with a second communication medium, said rule applied upon receipt of said at least one of said messages at said access service;
• applying at least one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, said rule applied upon receipt of at least one of said messages at said access service;
• retrieving said converted message in accordance with said second communication medium;
• and
• at the option of the recipient of said converted message, responding immediately to said converted message by sending a reply message in accordance with a third communication medium.

A cross-media communication system comprising:

• an access service for providing information services to a plurality of subscribers
• a graphical user interface for use by said subscribers to access and interact with said access service and to define rules to apply to messages sent from and received by said subscribers;
• an electronic mail gateway for receiving from a telecommunications service voice mail and fax mail messages addressed to said subscribers of said access service said voice mail and fax mail messages received from said telecommunications service in accordance with said rules applied to said voice mail and tax messages upon receipt at said telecommunications service;
• means at said access service for automatically applying at least one of said rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, said means for applying adapted to apply said at least one of said rules upon the sending of at least one of said voice mail and fax mail messages;
• means at said access service for automatically applying at least one of said rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, said means for applying adapted to apply said at least one of said rules upon receipt of at least one of said voice mail and fax mail messages;
• an audio player for playing said voice mail messages, said audio player accessible from said graphical user interface;
• a fax viewer for viewing said fax messages, said fax viewer accessible from said graphical user interface;
• and
• a means for immediately responding to said voice mail messages and said fax messages, via voice mail, electronic mail, or fax.

An information access service for rendering voice mail messages accessible to a plurality of subscribers of said access service, said service comprising:

• an electronic mail gateway for receiving electronic mail messages from a telecommunications service, mail messages comprising audio files with voice mail messages originating from said telecommunications service and said electronic mail messages received from said telecommunications service in accordance with rules defined by a subscriber applied to said voice mail messages upon receipt at said telecommunications service;
• means at said access service for automatically applying at least one of said rules to send a notification message in accordance with;
• any communication medium, said means for applying adapted to apply said at least one of said rules upon the sending of at least one of said voice mail and fax mail messages;
• means at said access service for automatically applying at least one of said rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, said means for applying adapted to apply said at least one of said rules upon receipt of at least one of said voice mail and fax mail messages;
• and
• connection software for use by said subscribers to establish a connection to said information access service, to retrieve said electronic mail messages, to play said audio files, and to respond immediately to said electronic mail messages.

An information access service for rendering fax mail messages accessible to a plurality of subscribers of said service, said service comprising:

• an electronic mail gateway for receiving electronic mail messages from a telecommunications service, said electronic mail messages comprising files with fax mail messages originating from said telecommunications service and said electronic mall messages received from said telecommunications service in accordance with rules defined by a subscriber applied to said fax mail messages upon receipt at said telecommunications service;
• means at said access service for automatically applying at least one of said rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, said means for applying adapted to apply said at least one of said rules upon the sending of at least one of said electronic mail messages;
• means at said access service for automatically applying at least one of said rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, said means for applying adapted to apply said at least one of said rules upon receipt of at least one of said electronic mail messages;
• and
• connection software for use by said subscribers to establish a connection to said information access service, to retrieve said electronic mail messages, to view said fax mail message files, and to respond immediately to said fax mail messages via electronic mail or fax.

A method of providing integrated telecommunications services to a plurality of subscribers of an access service, comprising:

• providing a plurality of communications lines, the communications lines assigned to the plurality of subscribers;
• defining a plurality of rules to apply to fax messages, the rules defined by the access service subscribers;
• assigning mailboxes at the access service to the plurality of subscribers;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium the rule applied upon the sending of a fax message intended for an access service subscriber;
• receiving the fax message at the access service;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rule applied upon receipt of the fax message at the access service;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to convert the fax message to a data file the rule applied upon receipt of the fax message at the access service;
• storing the data file in the mailbox assigned to the access service subscriber for later retrieval by the subscriber;
• and
• providing the access service subscriber with the capability to respond immediately to the fax message upon such later retrieval.

A method of providing integrated telecommunications services to a plurality of subscribers of an access service, comprising:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to fax messages, the rules defined by the access service subscribers;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rule applied upon the sending of a fax message intended for an access service subscriber;
• receiving the fax message at the access service;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rule applied upon receipt of the fax message at the access service;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to convert the fax message to a data file, the rule applied upon receipt of the fax message at the access service;
• providing the capability for the access service subscriber to retrieve the data file by dialing in with a telephone;
• and
• providing the access service subscriber with the capability to respond immediately to the fax message upon such retrieval.

A method of providing integrated telecommunications services to a plurality of subscribers of an access service, comprising:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to fax messages, the rules defined by the access service subscribers;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rule applied upon the sending of a fax message intended for an access service subscriber;
• receiving the fax message at the access service;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rule applied upon receipt of the fax message at the access service;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to convert the fax message to a data file, the rule applied upon receipt of the fax message at the access service;
• sending the data file to the access service subscriber via email;
• and
• providing the access-service subscriber with the capability to respond immediately to the fax message upon receiving the data file.

A method of providing integrated telecommunications services to a plurality of subscribers of an access service, comprising:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to fax messages, the rules defined by the access service subscribers;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rule applied upon the sending of a fax message intended for an access service subscriber;
• receiving the fax message at the access service;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rule applied upon receipt of the fax message at the access service;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to convert the fax message to a data file, the rule applied upon receipt of the fax message at the access service;
• downloading the data file to the access service subscribers computer access message repository box for later retrieval by the access service subscriber in a subscriber-selected media;
• and
• providing the access service subscriber with the capability to respond immediately to the fax upon such later retrieval.

A method of providing integrated telecommunications services to a plurality of subscribers of an access service, comprising:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to fax messages, the rules defined by the access service subscribers;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rule applied upon the sending of a fax message intended for an access service subscriber;
• receiving the fax message at the access service;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rule applied upon receipt of the fax message at the access service;
• providing the access service subscriber with the capability to annotate the data file with an audio file;
• and
• providing the subscriber with the capability to respond immediately to the fax upon receiving the fax.

A method of providing integrated telecommunications services to a plurality of subscribers of an access service, each subscriber having a universal mailbox at the access service, comprising:

• providing the capability of defining a set of rules by an access service subscriber to handle received fax messages;
• applying the set of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rules applied upon the sending of a fax message intended for the access service subscriber;
• receiving the fax message at the access service;
• applying the set of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rules applied upon receipt of the fax message at the access service;
• applying the set of rules to the fax message the rules applied upon receipt of the fax message at the access service;
• and
• providing the access service subscriber with the capability to respond immediately to the fax message upon receiving the fax message.

A method of providing integrated data services to a plurality of subscribers of an access service, comprising:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to email, the rules defined by the access service subscribers;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rule applied upon the sending of an email message intended for an access service subscriber;
• receiving the email at the access service;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rule applied upon receipt of the email at the access service;
• applying a rule to convert the email to an audio file using text-to-speech conversion, the rule applied upon receipt of the email at the access service, and
• providing the access service subscriber with the capability to respond immediately to the email upon receiving the audio file.

A method of providing integrated telecommunications services to a plurality of subscribers of an access service, each subscriber having a universal mailbox at the access service, comprising:

• providing the capability of defining a set of rules by an access service subscriber to handle received voice messages;
• applying the set of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rules applied upon the sending of a voice message intended for the access service subscriber;
• receiving the voice message at the access service;
• applying the set of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rules applied upon receipt of the voice message at the access service;
• applying the set of rules to the voice message, the rules applied upon receipt of the voice message at the access service;
• and
• providing the access service subscriber with the capability to respond immediately to the voice message via email, fax, or pager number upon receiving the voice message.

A method of providing integrated telecommunications services to a plurality of subscribers of an access service, each subscriber having a universal mailbox at the access service, comprising:

• providing the capability of defining a set of rules by an access service subscriber to handle received voice mail messages;
• applying the set of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rules applied upon the sending of a voice mail message from a caller and intended for the access service subscriber;
• receiving the voice mail message at the access service;
• applying the set of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rules applied upon receipt of the voice mail message at the access service;
• applying the set of rules to convert the voice mail message into an audio file, the rules applied upon receipt of the voice mail message at the access service;
• downloading the audio file to the access service subscribers universal mailbox;
• and
• providing the access service'subscriber with the capability to respond immediately to the voice mail via email, fax, or pager number upon receiving the voice mail.

A method of providing integrated telecommunications services to a plurality of subscribers of an access service, each access service'subscriber having a universal mailbox at the access service, comprising:

• providing the capability of defining a set of rules by an access service subscriber to handle received voice mail messages;
• applying the set of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rules applied upon the sending of voice mail message from a caller and intended for the access service subscriber;
• receiving the voice mail message at the access service;
• applying the set of rules to send a notification message in accordance with any communication medium, the rules applied upon receipt of the voice mail message at the access service;
• applying the set of rules to convert the voice mail message into a text file using speech-to-text conversion, the rules applied upon receipt of the voice mail message at the access service;
• downloading the text file to the access service subscriber's universal mailbox at the access service;
• and
• providing the access service subscriber with the capability to respond immediately to the voice mail message via email, fax, pager number upon receiving the voice mail message.

A method providing notification of the receipt of a message for a plurality of subscribers of an access service, each subscriber having a mailbox at the access service, comprising:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to said message said rules defined by the access service subscriber;
• receiving an email intended for the access service subscriber;
• storing the email in the access service subscriber's mailbox at the access service;
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send an alert to the access service subscriber via pager, fax, or telephone to notify the access service subscriber that the email has been received;
• and
• providing the access service subscriber with the capability of responding immediately to the email via voice message, email, or fax message.

A method of providing notification of the receipt of a message for a plurality of subscribers of an access service, each subscriber having a mailbox at the access service, comprising:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to said message, said rules defined by the access service subscriber;
• receiving an email intended for the access service subscriber;
• storing the email in the access service subscriber's mailbox at the access service;
• and
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a trigger to an alerting mechanism via email, fax message or telephone so that the alerting mechanism can send an alert to the access service subscriber to notify the access service subscriber that the email has been received.

A method of providing notification of the receipt of a message for a plurality of subscribers of an access service, each subscriber having a mailbox at the access service, comprising:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to said message, said rule defined by the access service subscriber;
• receiving a fax message intended for the access service subscriber;
• storing the fax message in the access service subscriber's mailbox at the access service;
• and
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send an alert to the access service subscriber via voice message, email, or fax message to notify the access service subscriber that the fax message has been received.

A method of providing notification of the receipt of a message for a plurality of subscribers of an access service, each subscriber having a mailbox at the access service, comprising:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to said message, said rules defined by the access service subscriber;
• receiving a fax message intended for the access service subscriber;
• storing the fax message in the access service subscriber's mailbox at the access service;
• and
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send a trigger to an alerting mechanism via email, fax message, or telephone so that the alerting mechanism can send an alert to the access service subscriber to notify the access service subscriber that the fax message has been received.

A method of providing notification of the receipt of a message for a plurality of subscribers of an access service, each subscriber having a mailbox at the access service, comprising:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to said message, said rules defined by the access service subscriber;
• receiving a voice mail message intended for the access service subscriber;
• storing the voice mail message in the access service subscriber's mailbox at the access service;
• and
• applying one of said plurality of rules to send an alert to the access service subscriber via email, fax message, or telephone to notify the access service subscriber that the voice mail message has been received.

A method of providing notification of the receipt of a message for a plurality of subscribers of an access service each subscriber having a mail access service, comprising:

• defining a plurality of rules to apply to said message said rules defined by the access service subscriber;
• receiving a voice mail message intended for the access service subscriber;
• storing the voice mail message in the access service subscriber's mailbox at the access service;
• and
• applying one of said plurality of rules to'send a trigger to an alerting mechanism via email, fax message, or telephone so that the alerting mechanism can send an alert to the access service subscriber to notify the access service subscriber that the voice mail message has been received.