System and method of rapid voice mail access in a radio telecommunications network

Claim 1

A system for providing rapid access to voice mail messages to a subscriber in a radio telecommunications network, said subscriber having a mobile telephone with a display, and said system comprising: a mobile switching center (MSC), said MSC comprising: a group switch for routing calls; and hardware connected to the group switch that enables said MSC to establish a three-party call; an announcement machine connected to said MSC; a voice mail machine connected to said MSC; means for causing the display of the subscriber's mobile telephone to display the telephone number of said mobile telephone as a calling line identification (CLI) number when a call is made from said announcement machine to said mobile telephone announcing that the subscriber has a message in the voice mail machine; means for sending said telephone number of the mobile telephone to said MSC while in conversation mode; and means within said MSC, and operative with said hardware connected to the group switch, for establishing said three-party call between said announcement machine, said subscriber, and said voice mail machine.

Claim 2

A system for providing rapid access to voice mail messages to a subscriber in a radio telecommunications network, said subscriber having a mobile telephone with a display, and said system comprising: a mobile switching center (MSC), said MSC comprising: a group switch for routing calls; and hardware connected to the group switch that enables said MSC to establish a three-party call; an announcement machine connected to said MSC; a voice mail machine connected to said MSC; means for causing the display of the subscriber's mobile telephone to display the telephone number of said mobile telephone as a calling line identification (CLI) number when a call is made from said announcement machine to said mobile telephone announcing that the subscriber has a message in the voice mail machine; means for sending said telephone number of the mobile telephone to said MSC while in conversation mode; and means within said MSC, and operative with said hardware connected to the group switch, for establishing said three-party call between said announcement machine, said subscriber, and said voice mail machine.

Claim 5

A system for providing rapid access to voice mail messages to a subscriber in a radio telecommunications network, said system comprising: a programmable mobile telephone; a mobile switching center (MSC) for providing radio telecommunications to said programmable mobile telephone; an announcement machine connected to said MSC; a voice mail machine connected to said MSC; means within said MSC for establishing a call from said announcement machine to said programmable mobile telephone announcing that the subscriber has a message in the voice mail machine; means within said programmable mobile telephone for determining whether said subscriber has entered an activation code; and means within said programmable mobile telephone for clearing said call from said announcement machine and originating a second call to the voice mail machine upon determining that said subscriber has entered said activation code.

Claim 6

A system for providing rapid access to voice mail messages to a subscriber in a radio telecommunications network, said system comprising: a programmable mobile telephone; a mobile switching center (MSC) for providing radio telecommunications to said programmable mobile telephone; an announcement machine connected to said MSC; a voice mail machine connected to said MSC; means within said MSC for establishing a call from said announcement machine to said programmable mobile telephone announcing that the subscriber has a message in the voice mail machine; means within said programmable mobile telephone for determining whether said subscriber has entered an activation code; and means within said programmable mobile telephone for clearing said call from said announcement machine and originating a second call to the voice mail machine upon determining that said subscriber has entered said activation code.

Claim 7

A method of providing rapid access to voice mail messages to a subscriber in a radio telecommunications network having a mobile switching center (MSC) connected to an announcement machine and a voice mail machine, and said subscriber having a mobile telephone with a telephone number and a SEND key, said method comprising the steps of: determining whether said subscriber subscribes to an enhanced message waiting indicator (MWI) feature; placing a call from said announcement machine to said mobile telephone upon determining that said subscriber subscribes to said enhanced MWI feature; sending the telephone number of said mobile telephone from said MSC to the mobile telephone as a calling line identification (CLI) number, determining whether the subscriber has pressed the SEND key on said mobile telephone while in conversation mode; sending said CLI number and a SEND signal to said MSC upon determining that said subscriber has pressed the SEND key while in conversation mode; placing the call from said announcement machine to said mobile telephone on hold while establishing a third-part call to said voice mail machine; and connecting a call between the mobile telephone and the voice mail machine, thereby enabling the subscriber to retrieve said voice mail messages.

Claim 8

A method of providing rapid access to voice mail messages to a subscriber in a radio telecommunications network having a mobile switching center (MSC) connected to an announcement machine and a voice mail machine, and said subscriber having a mobile telephone with a telephone number and a SEND key, said method comprising the steps of: determining whether said subscriber subscribes to an enhanced message waiting indicator (MWI) feature; placing a call from said announcement machine to said mobile telephone upon determining that said subscriber subscribes to said enhanced MWI feature; sending the telephone number of said mobile telephone from said MSC to the mobile telephone as a calling line identification (CLI) number, determining whether the subscriber has pressed the SEND key on said mobile telephone while in conversation mode; sending said CLI number and a SEND signal to said MSC upon determining that said subscriber has pressed the SEND key while in conversation mode; placing the call from said announcement machine to said mobile telephone on hold while establishing a third-part call to said voice mail machine; and connecting a call between the mobile telephone and the voice mail machine, thereby enabling the subscriber to retrieve said voice mail messages.

Claim 9

A method of providing rapid access to voice mail messages to a subscriber in a radio telecommunications network, said method comprising the steps of: providing radio telecommunications to a programmable mobile telephone from a mobile switching center (MSC); connecting an announcement machine to said MSC; connecting a voice mail machine to said MSC; establishing a call from said announcement machine to said programmable mobile telephone announcing that the subscriber has a message in the voice mail machine; determining, within said programmable mobile telephone, whether said subscriber has entered an activation code; clearing, within said programmable mobile telephone, said call from said announcement machine; and originating, from said programmable mobile telephone, a second call to the voice mail machine upon determining that said subscriber has entered said activation code.

Claim 10

A method of providing rapid access to voice mail messages to a subscriber in a radio telecommunications network, said method comprising the steps of: providing radio telecommunications to a programmable mobile telephone from a mobile switching center (MSC); connecting an announcement machine to said MSC; connecting a voice mail machine to said MSC; establishing a call from said announcement machine to said programmable mobile telephone announcing that the subscriber has a message in the voice mail machine; determining, within said programmable mobile telephone, whether said subscriber has entered an activation code; clearing, within said programmable mobile telephone, said call from said announcement machine; and originating, from said programmable mobile telephone, a second call to the voice mail machine upon determining that said subscriber has entered said activation code.