| Message routing with telecommunication number addressing and key management -> Monitor Keywords |
|
|
 
Message routing with telecommunication number addressing and key managementRelated Patent Categories: Electrical Computers And Digital Processing Systems: Multicomputer Data Transferring, Computer Conferencing, Demand Based MessagingMessage routing with telecommunication number addressing and key management description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060195540, Message routing with telecommunication number addressing and key management. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application claims priority to, and incorporates by reference, U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/123,661 filed Mar. 9, 1999. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to the capabilities of systems and methods which route messages in the form of email, live voice connections, voice recordings, video, and faxes, and the invention relates more particularly to the use of existing telephone or fax numbers as email addresses and to attendant uses of voicemail, faxes, video, and/or synthesized or live speech to deliver messages which originate as email text, voice input, video input, or otherwise, using cell phones, wireless devices, computers and/or other devices for "any-to-any" communications. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Various approaches have been taken to messaging. Voice, video, and fax communications through telecommunications systems are well-known, as are email communications through computer networks. Many attempts have been made to integrate traditional telecommunications with computer networks. [0004] For instance, fax software allows computer users to easily convert digital files into fax format and send faxes directly from a computer. Computer telephony software allows computer users to maintain a database of telephone numbers and to have their computer dial a selected number for subsequent voice communications. Internet telephony software allows computer users to transmit voice communications over the Internet as digital packets (similar to the transmission of email messages in digital packets). Computerized advertising systems exist which automatically dial a sequence of telephone numbers and attempt to deliver a recorded message to each recipient. [0005] Telecommunications systems themselves also rely heavily on computers to manage circuits, voicemail boxes, accounting, billing, and other functions. Likewise, computer networks often use the telecommunications infrastructure to carry digital packets, over Internet dial-up connections, direct modem-to-modem connections, and other telecommunications connections. [0006] A messaging service which is advertised and described at http://www.jfax.com apparently operates as follows. The service provider provides each subscriber with a special-purpose "private" telephone/fax number in a city specified by the subscriber. The "private" number is apparently not a number published to assist voice communications, that is, it is not typically listed in white pages or other telephone directories or available through directory service. This private number can be used to provide subscribers with access by phone to their email messages. When the subscriber calls in, the subscriber's email messages are read to the subscriber over the phone using synthesized speech after the system connects to the subscriber's Internet service provider. Voicemail can also be accessed using the same private phone number. By dialing a toll-free access number and entering an access code, subscribers can apparently send email to any fax machine, reply to email with a voice message, and manage their messages. The provider links the unique private phone number to email in order to route the subscriber's voicemail and faxes to email. If the subscriber has access to a computer, then the subscriber can play voicemail on the computer's speakers and display faxes on the computer's screen. Subscribers must apparently download special-purpose software to their computers in order to access (as email message attachments) faxes or voicemail sent to their private phone number. In short, a private telephone number can be used to access email messages which were apparently addressed using conventional email addresses, and voice or fax messages can be converted to email attachments. [0007] A voicemail messaging service is also discussed in "Address Resolution for Voicemail Systems: X.500 Methodology", which was obtained from the Electronic Messaging Association web site at http://www.ema.com/vpimdir/directory/method.txt. The Address Resolution document and other documents in http://www.ema.org/vpimdir refer to and/or describe a Voice Profile for Internet Mail (VPIM) specification. These documents, including Internet Engineering Task Force drafts on topics such as VPIM Addressing and Goals for VPIM, and papers on Voice Messaging Directories, Multi-Media Shared Directories, and other topics, are collectively referred to herein as the "VPIM Documents" and are incorporated by this reference. The voicemail messaging systems described in the VPIM Documents would apparently operate in ways which are consistent with the details described below. [0008] In some cases, voicemail messages would be encoded by VPIM systems as *.wav files or otherwise encoded as digital files, and would be sent as attachments to an email message. Fax messages would likewise be transmitted as email attachments. [0009] Various VPIM email addressing schemes are described, but they appear to be of two types. The first addressing scheme includes addresses of the form LHS@Domain, where LHS is a telecommunications number and Domain is an Internet domain name. Examples given in the VPIM Addressing document include: [0010] 1) mailbox number--for use as a private numbering plan (any number of digits). e.g. 5552722@lucent.com; [0011] 2) mailbox number+extension--for use as a private numbering plan with extensions any number of digits, use of "+" as separator. e.g. 5552722+111@lucent.com; [0012] 3) +international number--for international telephone numbers conforming to E.164 maximum of 15 digits. e.g. +16137637582@nortelnetworks.com; [0013] 4) +international number+extension--for international telephone numbers conforming to E.164[0] maximum of 15 digits, with an extension (e.g. behind a PBX) that has a maximum of 15 digits. e.g. +17035245550+230@ema.org; [0014] The second addressing scheme includes attribute-value pairs with special attributes such as a VPIM attribute and/or a voice outdialing service selector attribute. Example pairs given in the VPIM Addressing document include VPIM=6137637582 and VOICE=+3940226338. [0015] An email to pager gateway described at http://www.inconnect.com/pager.html takes an email message and sends it to an alphanumeric pager. Messages must be sent to a specially formatted address: [0016] abc1234567@pager.inconnect.com where abc is the page provider code (e.g. "att" for AT&T Wireless or "sky" for SkyTel) and 1234567 is the pager's PIN number. [0017] A wide range of message routing features and capabilities have thus been explored before now, at least to some extent. However, known approaches have not combined features and capabilities into an architecture which properly leverages the existing widespread use of telephone and fax numbers with the capabilities of email and databases. [0018] In particular, the jfax approach uses new, private telephone numbers to allow access to email, rather than allowing the use of existing telephone numbers as email addresses. The VPIM approach does use existing phone and fax numbers in email addresses, but it imposes an awkward addressing syntax on message originators. VPIM is also apparently directed toward the use of email systems to carry voicemail recordings, as opposed to using phone and fax numbers to identify email destinations. Accordingly, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an improved architecture for routing messages using the enormous existing body of telecommunications numbers and features, including pay-per-use features and options. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0019] To illustrate the manner in which the advantages and features of the invention are obtained, a more particular description of the invention will be given with reference to the attached drawings. These drawings only illustrate selected aspects of the invention and thus do not limit the invention's scope. In the drawings: [0020] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a network of computers and other devices which are individually and collectively among the many systems suitable for use with the present invention. [0021] FIG. 2 is a first portion of a flowchart illustrating methods of the present invention, with data structure annotations. [0022] FIG. 2A is a continuation of the flowchart begun in FIG. 2, illustrating methods of the invention. [0023] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating systems of the present invention. Continue reading about Message routing with telecommunication number addressing and key management... Full patent description for Message routing with telecommunication number addressing and key management Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Message routing with telecommunication number addressing and key management patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Message routing with telecommunication number addressing and key management or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Managing working set in an extensible message transfer system Next Patent Application: Notification breakthrough status and profile Industry Class: Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomputer data transferring or plural processor synchronization ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Message routing with telecommunication number addressing and key management patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.75857 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Tyco , Unilever , Warner-lambert , 3m 174 |
 * Protect your Inventions * US Patent Office filing 
PATENT INFO |
|
