EP0817443A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Multimedia messaging using the internet
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1997-06-25
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2017-06-25
Abstract
Abstract A communications system uses a World Wide Web (Web) server to provide multimedia messaging functions over the Internet. Multimedia workstations are interconnected via the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Parties are provided with multimedia mailboxes on message servers that are connected to the PSTN and the Internet. In order to identify the message server on which a called party's mailbox is located, the Web server provides the multimedia number of the called party's message server when a call is made. In addition, the Web server provides the multimedia number of the called party. When a multimedia call is unanswered, the system uses the multimedia number of the message server and the called party multimedia number provided by the Web server to record and store a message for the called party in the called party's mailbox.
Inventors
- 👤 Ashok K. Kuthyar
- 👤 Robert Edward Markowtiz
- 👤 Steven Howard Nurenberg
- 👤 Joseph Thomas O'neil
- 👤 Carlos Alberto Perea
- 👤 Kenneth H. Rosen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 20:13
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L65/00; H04L65/1066; H04L65/1069; H04L65/1096; H04L65/1101; H04L65/1108; H04L9/00; H04L9/40; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/50; H04M3/53; H04M3/5307; H04L12/00; H04L12/02; H04L12/16; H04L12/18; H04L12/1813; H04L12/1818; H04L51/00; H04L51/07; H04L51/10; H04L51/42; H04M7/00; H04M7/12
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
195 words
A method for providing multimedia messaging in a
communications system in which a calling party at one multimedia workstation
places multimedia calls to a called party at another multimedia workstation over a
transport network, the communications system having a data network server
connected to the calling party workstation and the called party workstation
through a data network and a plurality of message servers connected to the
transport network each containing multimedia mailboxes, the called party having
a mailbox on one of the message servers, the method comprising the steps of: providing message server identifying information with the data
network server that identifies which of the message servers contains the mailbox
of the called party; establishing a multimedia connection between the calling party
workstation and the message server identified by the message server identifying
information when a call placed by the calling party to the called party is
unanswered by the called party; providing called party identifying information from the data
network server to the message server identified by the message server identifying
information; and recording a message in the mailbox of the called party over the
established multimedia connection using the called party identifying information.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method defined in claim 1 wherein: the data network server is a Web server; and the data network is the Internet.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method defined in claim 1 wherein the step of providing message
server identifying information comprises the step of providing the
multimedia number for the message server that contains the mailbox of
the called party.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method defined in claim 1 wherein the step of establishing the
multimedia connection comprises the step of establishing a multimedia
connection between the calling party and the message server identified
by the message server identifying information with a multimedia
bridge system using the multimedia number of the calling party
workstation and the multimedia number of the message server.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method defined in claim 1 wherein the step of providing the
called party identifying information comprises the step of supplying the
multimedia number of the called party workstation to the message server
identified by the message server identifying information.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method defined in claim 1 further comprising the step of
providing the multimedia numbers of: (1) the calling party workstation, (2) the
called party workstation, and (3) the message server containing the mailbox of the
called party with the data network server when placing a call from the calling
party workstation to the called party workstation.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method defined in claim 1 further comprising the step of
providing mailbox options in the form of Web pages from the data server for
displaying at the calling party workstation.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method defined in claim 1 further comprising the step of
providing summary message information for viewing with said called party
workstation.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
79 words
The method defined in claim 1 further comprising the steps of: providing a list of parties with the data network server that is
displayed on the calling party workstation and from which a recipient to receive a
message is selected; establishing a multimedia connection between the calling party
workstation and the message server containing the mailbox of the selected
recipient; and recording a multimedia message for the recipient in the mailbox of
the recipient using the established multimedia connection.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
81 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: using the data network server to provide a list of the messages that
are stored in the mailbox of the called party and from which a message to view on
the called party workstation is selected; and establishing a multimedia connection between the called party
workstation and the message server containing the mailbox in which the listed
messages are stored for playing back the selected message on the called party
workstation.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
206 words
A communications system for providing multimedia messaging in
which a calling party at one multimedia workstation places multimedia calls to a
called party at another multimedia workstation over a transport network, the
multimedia workstations being connected to a data network, the system
comprising: a plurality of message servers connected to the transport network
and to the data network, the message servers containing a plurality of mailboxes
and the called party having a mailbox on one of the message servers; and a data network server connected to the multimedia workstations
through the data network, the data network server supplying called party
identifying information and message server identifying information that identifies
which of the message servers contains the mailbox for the called party, wherein
when a call placed by the calling party to the called party is unanswered by the
called party: a multimedia connection is established between the calling party
workstation and the message server identified by the message server identifying
information; the called party identifying information from the data network
server is provided to the message server identified by the message server
identifying information; and a message is recorded in the mailbox of the called party over the
established multimedia connection using the called party information.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system defined in claim 11 wherein: the data network server is a Web server; and the data network is the Internet.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
28 words
The system defined in claim 11 wherein the message server
identifying information is the multimedia number for the message server that
contains the mailbox of the called party.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
49 words
The system defined in claim 11 further comprising a multimedia
bridge system for establishing the multimedia connection between the calling
party and the message server identified by the message server identifying
information using the multimedia number of the calling party workstation and the
multimedia number of the message server.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
21 words
The system defined in claim 11 wherein the called party
identifying information is the multimedia number of the called party workstation.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
52 words
The system defined in claim 11 wherein, when placing a call from
the calling party workstation to the called party workstation, the data network
server provides the multimedia numbers of: (1) the calling party workstation, (2)
the called party workstation, and (3) the message server containing the mailbox of
the called party.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
25 words
The system defined in claim 11 wherein the data network server
supplies mailbox options to the calling party workstation in the form of Web
pages.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system defined in claim 11 wherein the data network server
supplies summary message information for viewing with the called party
workstation.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
68 words
The system defined in claim 11 wherein: the data network server provides a list of parties for displaying on
the calling party workstation from which a recipient to receive a message is
selected; a multimedia connection is established between the calling party
workstation and the message server containing the mailbox of the recipient; and a multimedia message is left for the recipient in the mailbox of the
recipient.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
77 words
The system defined in claim 19 wherein: the data network server provides a list of messages stored in the
mailbox of the called party that are displayed on the called party workstation and
from which a message to view is selected; and a multimedia connection is established between the called party
workstation and the message server containing the mailbox in which the listed
messages are stored for playing back the selected message on the called party
workstation.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
144 words
A method for using a communications system to send multimedia
messages from a sending party multimedia workstation to a recipient over a
transport network, the communications system having a data network server
connected to the sending party workstation through a data network and a plurality
of message servers connected to the transport network each containing multimedia
mailboxes, the recipient having a mailbox on one of the message servers, the
method comprising the steps of: providing a list of parties with the data network server that is
displayed on the sending party multimedia workstation and from which the
recipient to receive the message is selected; establishing a multimedia connection between the sending party
multimedia workstation and the message server containing the mailbox of the
selected recipient; and recording a multimedia message for the recipient in the mailbox of
the recipient using the established multimedia connection.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
151 words
A communications system for sending multimedia messages from
a sending multimedia party workstation to a recipient over a transport network,
the sending party multimedia workstation being connected to a data network, the
system comprising: a data network server connected to the sending party multimedia
workstation through the data network for providing a list of parties to display on
the sending party multimedia workstation and from which a recipient to receive a
message is selected; and a plurality of message servers connected to the transport network
and to the data network, the message servers containing a plurality of mailboxes
and the selected recipient having a mailbox on one of the message servers,
wherein: a multimedia connection is established between the sending party
workstation and the message server containing the mailbox of the recipient; and a multimedia message is left for the recipient in the mailbox of the
recipient using the established connection.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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