Method and apparatus for interactive voicemail

A method for enabling telemarketers to deliver interactive voice messages using a voice messaging system comprising the steps of:

• receiving an inbound call from a telemarketer's application server;
• recording an interactive voice message from the application server directed to at least one recipient targeted by the telemarketer;
• receiving a voice message retrieval request from a recipient targeted by the telemarketer;
• playing the interactive voice message for the recipient;
• and
• initiating an interactive session with the recipient to elicit responses from the recipient regarding the interactive voice message,
• wherein a voicemail platform creates a connection to the application server and a media stream and command stream are set up between the voicemail server and the application server.

A method for enabling telemarketers to deliver interactive voice messages using a voice messaging system, comprising the steps of:

• receiving an inbound call from a telemarketer's application server;
• recording an interactive voice message from the application server directed to at least one recipient targeted by the telemarketer;
• placing an outbound call to the at least one recipient targeted by the telemarketer;
• playing the interactive voice message for the recipient;
• and
• initiating an interactive session with the recipient to elicit responses from the recipient regarding the interactive voice message.

A method for enabling telemarketers to deliver interactive voice messages using a voice messaging system, comprising the steps of:

• receiving an inbound call from a telemarketer's application server;
• recording an interactive voice message from the application server directed to at least one recipient targeted by the telemarketer;
• placing an outbound call to the at least one recipient targeted by the telemarketer;
• playing the interactive voice message for the recipient;
• and
• initiating an interactive session with the recipient to elicit responses from the recipient regarding the interactive voice message,
• wherein a voicemail platform creates a connection to the application server and a media stream and command stream are set up between the voicemail server and the application server.

A voice messaging system for enabling telemarketers to deliver interactive voice messages, the voice messaging system comprising a voice messaging processor and memory containing machine readable instructions which, when executed by the processor, enable the voice messaging system to:

• receive an inbound call from a telemarketer's application server;
• record an interactive voice message from the application server directed to at least one recipient targeted by the telemarketer;
• receive a voice message retrieval request from a recipient targeted by the telemarketer;
• play the interactive voice message for the recipient;
• and
• initiate an interactive session with the recipient to elicit responses from the recipient regarding the interactive voice message.