HK1092302B - A system and method for storing and accessing multimedia messages - Google Patents

Description

System and method for storing and accessing multimedia messages

Cross Reference to Related Applications

This application is related to and claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application No.60/455813 entitled "system and method for storing and accessing multimedia messages" filed 3/19/2003.

Field of the invention

The present invention relates generally to data and telephony communications, and more particularly to a multimedia messaging system, terminal, network node apparatus and method in a communications environment such as the internet, an intranet, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), a public land mobile network (PLM) or any other communications network (hereinafter all types of networks are referred to as networks) that allows messages to be transmitted between a sender and at least one intended recipient of the message.

Description of the background Art

Voicemail is one of the most widely used telecommunication services. In a typical communications network, such as the PSTN, switching functions are performed in the exchange to provide connectivity between a particular subscriber and other parts of the communications network. One of the functions typically provided to such a subscriber is personalized voicemail. Thus, a subscriber to the telecommunications network does not rely on a home answering machine, but can subscribe to a voicemail service provided on a public exchange of the telecommunications network.

Generally, a call to a telephone of an intended recipient having a voice mail service function will ring multiple times. If no one answers within the specified number of rings, the public switch forwards or forwards the call to a voice mailbox in a voice mail system associated with the intended recipient's telephone. The calling party hears the greeting and is prompted to leave a message. If a message is received, the intended recipient's telephone or voice mailbox is updated to provide an indication that a voicemail message has been left.

When a message is to be retrieved, the intended recipient is connected to the voicemail system via a telephone call over a conventional telephone line and plays the message by: touch buttons of the telephone terminal are used to generate signal tones, such as dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) tones, to control the playing of voicemail messages and other functions. In these systems, the addressed subscriber is typically only accessed through a telephone line connection (including fixed or mobile telephone connections).

An alternative system is described in us patent 6233318 in which access to the message is provided by other means, such as the internet using a browser.

The systems described above are all built based on the following concepts: that is, the intended recipient may access his own voicemail inbox (hereinafter referred to as an inbox) to which the sender of the message (hereinafter collectively referred to as the sender) may leave one or more messages, such as voicemail messages, short messages, email messages, and video mail (hereinafter collectively referred to as messages), or to which the sender may send messages.

The currently adopted concepts of these inboxes have inherent problems, namely that they all have the following disadvantages: on one hand, the sender has no control right on the message; on the other hand, the intended recipient has a limited possibility to access the message. For example, the intended recipient may simply retrieve and delete the message.

More specifically, the inbox of the intended recipient has some disadvantages from the perspective of the sender. First, the inbox has a limited storage capacity. This may lead to disadvantages such as limited message storage space or even denial of service to the sender. The inbox is integrated in the operator's network except in the case where the intended recipient has an answering machine installed in his home. Therefore, it is impossible for either the sender or the intended recipient to control these restrictions. For example, some previous senders may have filled the intended recipient's inbox. If the inbox is full, subsequent messages, along with those that may be very important, will not be able to be added to the inbox.

Another disadvantage is identified when the way in which the message is recorded and the way in which it is controlled after recording are taken into account. In a typical example, a sender may wish to leave a message after his call is rerouted to the inbox of an intended recipient. In the prior art, the sender merely leaves the message without any authentication and authorization measures and also cannot add data to the message that can provide information about importance, urgency, category, etc. Furthermore, the lack of control is also a disadvantage from the sender's point of view. For example, after a sender leaves a message, the message is outdated because, for example, the sender and intended recipient have otherwise been reached. The sender cannot delete the outdated message from the intended recipient's inbox, and the intended recipient knows that the message is outdated only after listening to (a portion of) the message. The lack of control also prevents the sender from being able to undo an original message when there is reconsideration for the left message after the message has been left.

The disadvantages of conventional inbox systems also exist for the intended recipient of a message retrieved from the inbox. Where the intended recipient must listen to all stored messages in turn. Typically, only time/date stamps are automatically inserted. For example, while it is possible to jump to the next message after, for example, listening to the initial part of the message, it is not possible to jump directly to a particular message sent by a particular sender. The intended recipient cannot know the sender and the subject of the message in advance to choose which messages to listen to and which to ignore. If the intended recipient has access to such information, he may first listen to messages deemed more urgent rather than other messages deemed less important, which may require deducting a certain fee from his account. In order to selectively respond to messages, the intended recipient may wish to prioritize some messages first. Currently, this is only possible when all messages are listened to and then returned to the starting position. The more important messages in the queue cannot be identified.

Furthermore, according to the prior art, there is no standardized method for informing the sender that the message has been read, received or listened to (reading, listening or having been received will be collectively referred to as received later).

From the intended recipient's point of view, the current solutions suffer from other drawbacks, such as the inability of the intended recipient to control what messages are directed to his inbox. In this regard, so-called ghosting (stalker) leaves messages ambiguous in nature as a problem. The intended recipient can gain some control over the received message, but only based on the identity of the sender, by simply predefining the blocking number or blocking message type. Currently, the intended recipient can only identify and skip messages after listening to at least a portion of the messages.

Another disadvantage of the current solutions is that they are too costly from the network and intended recipient point of view. This disadvantage is particularly acute when the intended recipient places a call (possibly a long distance call) from one telephone network to another to see if there is a message in its inbox. In this case, a real-time connection needs to be established (sometimes an international connection needs to be established), which requires utilization of various resources to be reserved along the path, thereby rendering the call costly. Even in the case where a message has been sent or a call is established through the network to notify the intended recipient of the message (the method of notifying the intended recipient is then referred to as alerting), the intended recipient may be abroad, which also requires the use of resources to be used along the path, resulting in an expensive alerting.

The storage space for these messages may be set up on the account of the intended recipient. As messages, especially multimedia messages, continue to increase in size, the available storage space may become so small at some point that additional incoming messages can no longer be received, resulting in access being denied. The intended recipient may solve this problem by obtaining additional storage space, but this adds additional cost to the intended recipient. This may be considered unfair because the sender responsible for the message size does not incur any charges for the storage facility of the intended recipient.

Us 2002/0101964Al discloses a voice messaging system in a communication network in which a sender may store a message intended for an intended recipient in a data storage device. At the end of the message the sender has message options such as check, delete, re-record and/or send the message. After the call is terminated, the sender is no longer able to access the message.

It may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms "include" and "comprise," as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term "or" is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases "associated with" and "associated therewith," and derivatives thereof, may mean including, included within, with, interconnected with, containing, contained within, connected to, connected with, coupled to, or coupled with, communicable with, cooperative with, interleaved with, juxtaposed with, proximate to, joined with, or combined with, having a property of, etc.; the term "apparatus" means any device, system or component thereof that controls at least one operation, and that may be implemented in hardware, firmware, or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular apparatus may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. In particular, an apparatus may include one or more data processors and associated input/output devices and memory for executing one or more application programs and/or an operating system program. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, and those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

Disclosure of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for allowing a sender to store messages addressed to an intended recipient, for example during a telephone call, and to provide access to such messages without the sender being hindered by the limitations of the intended recipient's inbox.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a terminal and a network node arrangement for use in the system and for performing the method.

Additional features and advantages will be disclosed in accordance with system and method embodiments of the present invention.

In a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multimedia messaging system in a communication network arranged for sending and receiving messages between at least one sender and at least one intended recipient, the system comprising:

-at least one storage facility arranged for storing at least one message, wherein the or each storage facility is assigned to the sender of a message;

-control means adapted to control the storing of messages and to control the access to stored messages;

-access means arranged to provide access to stored messages; and

-prompting means arranged to provide a prompt to an intended recipient regarding storage of the message;

the method is characterized in that: the control means is arranged to process stored messages under control of the sender of the message after final storage or call completion of the message.

The invention is based on the following innovative ideas: the above-described disadvantages of prior art systems are alleviated, in whole or in part, by providing a sender of a message with control over the storage and access of messages to intended recipients. Because the sender maintains control over the storage and access of stored messages, the sender may process stored messages at any time, e.g., by modifying, enhancing, deleting, prioritizing, etc. messages. This is in contrast to the prior art disclosed above, which neither discloses nor suggests any system according to the present invention.

The or each storage facility is allocated to the sender of the message. That is, the sender may be its owner or virtual owner, or may lease the storage facility. I.e. will be paid by the sender, e.g. using the storage facility. Thereby, the sender may decide whether to leave a long message with e.g. large data content.

In an embodiment of the invention the control means comprise means arranged for processing the stored message by the sender, said processing comprising at least one of the following under control of the sender: reading, editing and deleting stored messages.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention said alerting means is arranged for controlling alerting by the sender of the message. That is, the sender may also control the alert provided to the intended recipient. Thus, the sender may decide, for example, when to forward the reminder to the intended recipient, the content of the reminder, the priority of the reminder, etc.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the alerting means comprises means arranged to operate an alert including at least one of the following under the control of the sender: read, edit, and delete prompts. With this embodiment, the sender may advantageously modify the alert, for example if the message gets priority or if a previously provided alert has become outdated.

In yet another embodiment, the invention supports the inclusion of additional information in the stored message or prompt. The additional information may include one of: a message identifier, at least one identification key for identifying at least one intended recipient, a telephone number, a URL, a message identifier, a subject, a personal identification number for access authorization and authentication purposes, urgency of the message, validity or expiration time of the message, type of prompts including call attempts and multimedia messages, number of prompts, location of the message in the storage facility, key date, message status, and flags that would trigger a notifier to transmit status change information to the sender.

With this additional information, a powerful tool is provided so that both the sender and one or more intended recipients can process the message, e.g., prioritize, list, display, etc. the message.

In another embodiment, the invention also supports the notification of a sender of a stored message of a change in the status of the message or a prompt relating to a stored message by providing means for this purpose or by suitably arranging the control means and prompting means, respectively, in order to track whether a message is received or read by the intended recipient. The state may comprise one of the following states: "sent", "unread", "read", "expired", "prompted", and "processed".

The system according to the invention can be made fully compatible with existing communication devices and systems by: access to the control device, the access device, and the prompt device is provided through interfaces including a graphical user interface, a voice control interface, an interactive voice response interface, and a dual tone multi-frequency interface.

For security and reliability reasons, in order to prevent a message from being received and read by someone other than the intended recipient, in a further embodiment of the system according to the invention the control means further comprise authentication means arranged to perform authentication and authorization of a subscriber of the communication network attempting to access a stored message, to determine whether the subscriber is the intended recipient of the message, before allowing the subscriber to access the message.

Preferably, said authentication means is arranged for performing authentication and authorization of said subscriber using said additional information.

In order to make the use of the system more flexible and easier for inexperienced users to understand, in a further embodiment of the invention, the prompting means is arranged for including in the prompt information on how to access the stored message.

The or each storage facility of the sender may be distributed across the network and the storage facilities may be optimised for their storage and processing according to the type or nature of the message, for example but not limited to different storage facilities for voice mail messages, short messages, e-mail messages and video mail. It will be appreciated that each storage facility may be located in or connected to a particular network in order to provide optimal performance and to handle a particular type of message. For example, the video mail store may be connected to the internet, and the short message store may be connected to a public land mobile network, such as a GSM (global system for telecommunications) network.

In order to make the use of the system as flexible and optimized as possible, in a further preferred embodiment of the invention said control and prompting means are arranged for storing and accessing messages and control prompts, respectively, under control of said intended recipient of said message.

In such embodiments, the sender and the intended recipient may each equally control and access stored messages or prompts. However, in another embodiment, the invention provides that the control range may be defined by the sender. I.e. the access means may be arranged to provide access to the intended recipient of the message under control of access conditions defined by the sender of the message.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the prompt is provided in the form of a form for processing and display by a graphical user interface, the form containing information of at least one message addressed to said intended recipient. By adapting the graphical user interface for bi-directional transfer of data and the form being an interactive form, a very easy to use message retrieval and prompting system can be implemented to meet the current and future needs of the user.

The invention also provides a terminal for use in the inventive system disclosed above, said terminal comprising control means arranged to interface with at least one of said control means, prompting means and access means.

The present invention also provides a network node device for use in a communications network, the network node device comprising the following devices for use in the above disclosed inventive system: control means arranged to control the storage of messages and to control access to stored messages; access means arranged to provide access to stored messages; and prompting means arranged to provide a prompt to an intended recipient relating to said storing of the message.

In another embodiment of the invention, the network node arrangement may comprise at least one storage facility arranged for storing at least one message.

The present invention also provides a method for transmitting and receiving multimedia messages between at least one sender and at least one intended receiver of the messages in a communication network, said method comprising the steps of:

-allocating at least one storage facility arranged for storing at least one message to said sender of a message;

-storing, by the sender, at least one message in at least one storage facility arranged for storing at least one message;

-prompting at least one intended recipient by means of a prompt related to said storing of messages; and

-providing access to a stored message,

the method is characterized in that: stored messages may be processed under the control of the sender of the message after final storage of the message or call completion.

In another embodiment of the method according to the invention the sender of the message may select the destination and destination storage facilities most suitable for the sender to store the message.

Further embodiments of the method according to the invention are given by the appended claims and advantages and features of these embodiments can be explained with reference to corresponding embodiments of the system described above.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention is illustrated by way of example of embodiments thereof in the following sections and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art message retrieval system currently in use, which is based on the intended recipient's voicemail inbox;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the present invention utilizing the Internet, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN);

FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c are flow charts illustrating in detail an embodiment of the method of the invention;

FIGS. 4a and 4b show examples of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) for use with the present invention; and

fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a multimedia messaging system according to the present invention.

Detailed description of the embodiments

The various innovative principles of the present invention will be described in detail with particular reference to presently preferred exemplary embodiments. It is to be understood that such embodiments provide only a few examples of the innovative teachings of the invention. In general, the description set forth in the specification of the invention does not necessarily limit any of the features of the claimed invention. Furthermore, some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others.

Referring to fig. 1, there is shown a prior art message retrieval system that is based on the voicemail inbox of the intended recipient. The system comprises the following units:

a voicemail inbox 101 assigned to a subscriber a105 and having a storage facility for storing voicemail messages;

-a first telephone network 102 to which a subscriber a105 has subscribed;

a second (e.g. external) telephone network 104 to which the subscriber B106 has subscribed and by which the subscriber B106 attempts to call the subscriber a 105;

a communication path 103 through which call setup is routed from the second telephone network 102 to the first telephone network 104;

a path 107 via which subscriber B106 reroutes to the voicemail inbox 101 when subscriber a105 does not answer the call; and

a path 108 through which the subscriber 105 accesses his voicemail inbox 101.

Unlike the illustrated embodiment, in which the voicemail inbox 101 is controlled and provided by the network operator of the first telephone network 102, a voicemail inbox, for example in the form of an answering machine, may also be located in the subscriber a105 premises.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention having one or more message storage facilities, also referred to as outboxes 201a, 201b, 201 c. The outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c may optionally be distributed across the network or even across different networks. One or more outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c may be dedicated to storing certain types of messages or may have functionality that is lacking in other outboxes. Examples of proprietary outboxes include outboxes that are proprietary to Multimedia Messages (MMS), email, voicemail, video mail, or Short Messages (SMS). The illustrated embodiment includes two options.

The first option is referred to as ISP selection, where one or more outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c are provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP). Each of the outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c is identified by a Unique Resource Locator (URL) to look up content on the Internet. According to this solution, the outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c are separate from the network provider and assigned to specific subscribers, i.e. senders of messages. The outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c may be accessed from any location, if desired, through one or more multimedia gateways 204 and 205. The message is transmitted via, for example, the internet 202. The rerouting to one of the outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c is effected by the provider of the network 206 used by the sender 208 (network provider) and/or by the provider of the network 207 used by the intended recipient 209 of the message and the ISP. Networks 206 and 207 may comprise, for example, a PSTN, PLMN, or the internet.

In a second option (not shown), referred to as "PSTN/PLMN option", one or more outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c provided by the network provider, including the PSTN or PLMN202, are assigned to the sender 208. The system can also easily co-exist with the prior art voicemail inbox system 203. The multimedia gateway 204 of the first network 206 routes the unanswered call of the sender 208 to at least one of the outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c of the sender 208. The multimedia gateway 205 of the second network 205 routes access requests for messages destined for the intended recipient 209 to a respective one of a plurality of outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c of the sender 208.

Both of these options can easily coexist with the prior art voicemail inbox system 203.

In order to store and retrieve or access the messages, the following steps are performed in the embodiment shown in fig. 2.

One or more of the outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c are selected by the sender 208 during rerouting or based on a priori information. The sender 208 may select one of the outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c that is accessible to the intended recipient, or may select an outbox that is suitable for a particular purpose.

The sender 208 leaves a message in one or more of the selected outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c and indicates one or more intended senders 209 to which the message is destined.

The multimedia messaging system 201 issues a prompt to the intended recipient 209. The prompt may be an SMS, MMS, email or any other kind of multimedia message or pre-recorded message that is played after a call attempt from one of the outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c is successful. In the latter case, the sender 208 selects a number of attempts for call setup of the multimedia messaging system 201. The sender also selects the type of message to be used as a reminder. The prompt to the intended recipient 209 includes the following elements: a URL, the subject and/or content of the message, the sender, and optionally a Personal Identification Number (PIN).

The intended recipient 209 connects to the sender's multimedia messaging system 201 (from any location) using the provided URL; the intended recipient 209 employs a real-time connection or a non-real-time connection.

When the intended recipient 209 is connected to one of the outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c of the sender 208, the intended recipient 209 must identify the message in one of the sender's outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c using, for example, the identification (e.g., telephone number) and/or the subject of the intended recipient. Optionally, verification means are provided for performing verification and authorization, whereby the intended recipient 209 is identified by its Calling Line Identification (CLI) or URL by comparing the CLI or URL with a CLI or URL stored in additional information in a message addressed to the intended recipient 209. Furthermore, authorization of the intended recipient 209 after using the properly provided PIN may also be required. When the intended recipient 209 retrieves a message from another phone, and the intended recipient 209 has authenticated himself to the network On that phone, Single Sign On (SSO) identification of the intended recipient 209 implies authentication and authorization. Alternatively, the intended recipient 209 is connected to the multimedia messaging system 201 through the internet 202 using a browser or dedicated software. After verification and authorization, the message is sent to the intended recipient 209.

In PSTN/PLMN selection, its parameters differ from ISP selection in the following way.

One of the outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c of the sender 208 is identified by the telephone number of the sender 208.

Rerouting to one of the outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c is effected by the network provider in the event that the call is not answered, etc.

The sender 208 may select the type of message and the manner of delivery that should be delivered using, for example, voice control, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), or DTMF tones generated by the telephone. The prompt may comprise one or more messages generated by the multimedia messaging system 201 intended for the intended recipient 209.

Authentication (including authentication and authorization) of the intended recipient is accomplished by identifying the CLI of the intended recipient.

When the sender 208 instructs the multimedia messaging system 201 to call the intended recipient 209 and the multimedia messaging system 201 subsequently calls the intended recipient 209 to transmit the alert, the intended recipient 209 may choose to receive the complete message immediately or choose to have the multimedia messaging system 201 attempt to establish a call with the sender 208.

Although both options described above comprise essentially the same steps, there is a distinction when referring to the details of one option or the other. When referring to elements of the first option, it should be noted that the same description applies to the second option, unless otherwise noted.

Fig. 3a, 3b and 3c illustrate the basic method of the invention. Referring now to FIG. 3a, there is shown a flow chart of a method 300 for recording and alerting of calls that have been forwarded to an outbox in accordance with the invention.

In a first step (311), an incoming call directed to a particular subscriber station of the intended recipient 209 (see fig. 2) is received at a switch of the network 207 and routed to the subscriber station of the intended recipient 209. Subscriber station 209 is monitored (step 312) to determine if the call is answered a predetermined number of rings or within a predetermined time. If the phone is answered, the call is processed according to normal call processing procedures (step 313). If, however, the call is not answered within the specified time, the original call routing connection is released and the call is rerouted to one outbox on the sender (step 314), or to a selected one of the multiple outboxes 201a, 201b, 201c on the sender.

Reference is made to fig. 3b, which illustrates the details of step 314, wherein the sender is prompted by the multimedia messaging system 201 to select 321 whether to record the message (step 323) or not (step 324). If the sender chooses 322 to record the message, he or she can control the manner and type of information of the message using IVR or DTMF controls; alternatively, as is the case in ISP selection, this may be done through a Graphical User Interface (GUI) (see fig. 4a and 4 b). After the message is recorded, the process continues (step 325). When no messages are recorded, the process ends (step 326).

Referring to fig. 3c (details of step 315), the multimedia messaging system 201 provides the possibility to alert the intended recipient when the sender has recorded a message intended for the intended recipient. The outbox prompts sender a (step 331) to select (1) to prompt the intended recipient by attempting to call him, or (2) to prompt the intended recipient by sending a notification that a message is available for retrieval by the intended recipient. The multimedia messaging system 201 also suggests (step 332) sending a notification to the sender that the alert has been delivered to the intended recipient (option (3)) or not sending a notification (option (4)). If the sender makes selection (1) (step 333), he or she enters the number of calls N to be attempted by the multimedia messaging system 201 (step 334). The multimedia messaging system 201 will then call the intended recipient N times (step 336). If the multimedia messaging system 201 successfully establishes a call with the intended recipient, the multimedia messaging system 201 plays a (standardized or pre-recorded) message informing the sender that the intended recipient is left with the message. On the other hand, if the sender makes the selection (2) (step 333), he also selects the type of message to be sent to the intended recipient. The message types include SMS, MMS or email. The multimedia messaging system 201 will then send the message to the intended recipient. If the sender has previously made the selection (3) at step 332, the multimedia messaging system 201 sends a notification as to whether the prompt was successful (step 339). If the sender previously made the selection (4) at step 332, the multimedia messaging system 201 does not send any notification (step 340).

Referring to fig. 4a, a computer user with a normal display (as opposed to the display screen of a mobile device such as a mobile phone) wishes to use the GUI to record, access and control messages stored in the outbox. The prompt takes the form of a form containing various fields that allow the user to register additional information with the message and to view, for example, the current state of the message.

Referring now to FIG. 4b, an alternative GUI is depicted which may also be used to record, access and control messages stored in the outbox. The format also allows a user of a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone) with a smaller display screen to use the GUI. By scrolling the display up and down, the user may view basic information about the message. When the user selects a particular message, the details of the message will be displayed on the same display screen as shown in FIG. 4 c. In the example of fig. 4b, "1 month 22 day mark unread" is selected, which means that a message that has been recorded to mark at 1 month 22 days has not been read. In fig. 4c, the details of this message are shown. By making the GUI bi-directional, interactive forms can be displayed and used for prompting purposes, whereby prompts or changes in message status (e.g., "read") can be easily communicated and processed.

Referring now to fig. 5, there is shown a multimedia messaging system according to the present invention for use in a network (communication or data network) suitable for network subscribers to send and receive messages, wherein the system comprises:

-control means 501 adapted to store messages in one or more storage facilities (outboxes) 201a, 201b, 201 c;

a component 502 for reading, editing, deleting stored messages and prompts, or for adding, editing or deleting additional information in stored messages or prompts;

an interface 503, such as a graphical user interface, a voice control interface, an interactive voice response interface, and a dual tone multi frequency interface, for the sender 208 to use for controlling or accessing the control means;

prompting means 504 adapted to provide a prompt to the intended recipient 209, such as indication information indicating that there is a message in the one or more storage facilities and information on e.g. how to access a stored message;

-means 505 arranged for notifying the sender 208 of a change of state of an existing message or alert;

-an authentication component 506 arranged for performing authentication and authorization of a subscriber of a communication or data network attempting to access a stored message, in order to determine whether the subscriber is the intended recipient 209 before authorizing the subscriber to access the message;

an interface 507, such as a graphical user interface, a voice control interface, an interactive voice response interface or a dual tone multi frequency interface, for the intended recipient 209 to access the control means 501; and

-access means 508 adapted to provide access to stored messages.

For accessing and, where applicable, controlling stored messages and prompts, subscriber terminal equipment 208 and 209 is provided having a control unit 210 for interfacing with one of the control means 501, the prompting means 504 and the access means 508.

The control means 501, the prompting means 504 and the access means 508 may be implemented as one network node means, optionally provided with storage facilities (inboxes) 201a, 201b, 201c, for use in a communication network for performing the method according to the invention.

Although the above steps are described by specific embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate that some of these steps may be omitted or these steps may be performed in a different order or simultaneously.

Although preferred embodiments of the system, method and apparatus of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing detailed description, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth and defined by the following claims.

Claims (48)

1. A multimedia messaging system (201) in a communication network (202, 206, 207) arranged for sending and receiving messages between at least one sender (208) and at least one intended recipient (209), said system comprising:

-at least one storage facility (201a, 201b, 201c) arranged for storing at least one message, wherein said at least one storage facility (201a, 201b, 201c) is assigned to said sender (208) of messages;

-control means (501) adapted to control the storage of messages and to control access to stored messages;

-access means (508) arranged for providing access to stored messages; and

-prompting means (504) arranged for providing a prompt relating to said storing of the message to an intended recipient (209);

the method is characterized in that: the control means (501) is arranged for selecting a storage facility (201a, 201b, 201c) by the sender (208) and processing a stored message under the control of the sender (208) of the message after final storage or call completion of the message.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein: the processing includes at least one of the following under control of the sender (208): stored messages are stored, accessed, read, edited, and deleted.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein: the alerting means (504) is arranged for controlling the alerting by the sender (208) of a message.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein: the alerting means (504) comprises means arranged for operating an alert, the operation comprising at least one of the following under control of the sender (208): read, edit, and delete prompts.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein: the control means (501) is arranged to include additional information with the stored message.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein: the prompting means (504) is arranged for including additional information with the prompt.

7. The system of claim 5 or 6, wherein: the additional information includes one of the following information: a message identifier, at least one identification key for identifying at least one intended recipient, a telephone number, a URL, a message identifier, a subject, a personal identification number for access authorization and authentication purposes, urgency of the message, validity or expiration time of the message, type of prompts including call attempts and multimedia messages, number of prompts, location of the message in the storage facility, key date, message status, and flags that would trigger a notifier to communicate a change in status to the sender.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein: the control means (501) comprises means (505) arranged for notifying the sender (208) of a change in status of a stored message or alert.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein: the prompting device (504) is adapted to provide a prompt to an intended recipient.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein: the state includes one of: "sent", "unread", "read", "expired", "prompted", and "processed".

11. The system of claim 1, wherein: the control device (501) may be accessible through interfaces (503) including a graphical user interface, a voice control interface, an interactive voice response interface, and a dual tone multi-frequency interface.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein: the prompting device (504) may be accessible through interfaces (507) including graphical user interfaces, voice control interfaces, interactive voice response interfaces, and dual tone multi-frequency interfaces.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein: the control device (501) comprises authentication means (506) arranged for performing authentication and authorization of a subscriber of a communication network (202, 206, 207) attempting to access a stored message, in order to determine whether the subscriber is an intended recipient (209) of the message before allowing the subscriber access to the message.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein: the authentication means is arranged to perform authentication and authorization of the subscriber using additional information contained in the stored information or prompt.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein: the prompting means (504) is arranged for including in the prompt information on how to access the stored message.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein: the control means (501) is arranged to store and access messages under the control of the intended recipient (209) of the messages.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein: the prompting means (504) is arranged for controlling the prompting by the intended recipient (209).

18. The system of claim 16 or 17, wherein: the scope of the control is defined by the sender (208).

19. The system of claim 1, wherein: the access means (508) is arranged for providing access to an intended recipient (209) of the stored message under access conditions defined by the sender (208) of the stored message.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein: the access means (508) may be accessed through interfaces (507) including graphical user interfaces, voice control interfaces, interactive voice response interfaces, and dual tone multi-frequency interfaces.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein: the storage facilities (201a, 201b, 201c) are distributed over the communication network (202, 206, 207).

22. The system of claim 1, wherein: arranged to send and receive messages including voicemail messages, short messages, email messages and video mails.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein: arranged to provide prompts in the form of messages including voicemail messages, short messages, email messages and video mails.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein: the prompt is in the form of a form for processing and display by a graphical user interface, the form containing information of at least one message to the intended recipient (209).

25. The system of claim 24, wherein: the graphical user interface is adapted for bi-directional transfer of data and the form is an interactive form.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein: the communication network (202, 206, 207) comprises at least one of the following telecommunication and data networks: the internet, the public switched telephone network, the integrated services digital network and the public land mobile network.

27. A terminal (208, 209) for use in the system as claimed in claim 1, the terminal comprising means (210) arranged for interfacing with at least one of the controlling means (501), prompting means (504) and accessing means (508).

28. A network node arrangement for use in a communication network (202, 206, 207), the network node arrangement comprising: control means (501) arranged for selecting a storage facility (201a, 201b, 201c) by the sender (208) and controlling the storage of messages and controlling access to stored messages; -access means (508) arranged to provide access to stored messages; and prompting means (504) arranged to provide a prompt to the intended recipient (209) relating to said storing of the message.

29. A method for transmitting and receiving multimedia messages between at least one sender (208) and at least one intended receiver (209) of the messages in a communication network (202, 206, 207), the method comprising the steps of:

-allocating at least one storage facility (201a, 201b, 201c) arranged for storing at least one message to said sender (208) of messages;

-storing, by the sender (208), at least one message in the at least one storage facility (201a, 201b, 201 c);

-prompting at least one intended recipient (209) by a prompt related to said storing of messages; and

-providing access to a stored message,

the method is characterized in that: the sender (208) selects a storage facility (201a, 201b, 201c) to store a message and stored messages may be processed under the control of the sender (208) of the message after final storage or call completion of the message.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein: the processing includes at least one of the following under control of the sender (208): storing, reading, editing and deleting the message.

31. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of controlling the prompting by the sender (208) of a message.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of manipulating the alert, the manipulation including at least one of the following under the control of the sender (208): reading, editing and deleting the prompt.

33. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of including additional information with the stored message.

34. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of including additional information with the prompt.

35. The method of claim 33 or 34, wherein: the additional information includes one of the following information: a message identifier, at least one identification key for identifying at least one intended recipient, a telephone number, a URL, a message identifier, a subject, a personal identification number for access authorization and authentication purposes, urgency of the message, validity or expiration time of the message, type of prompts including call attempts and multimedia messages, number of prompts, location of the message in the storage facility, a key date, message status, and a flag triggering a notifier to communicate a change in status to the sender.

36. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of notifying the sender (208) of a change in status of a stored message or prompt.

37. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of providing a prompt to the intended recipient.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein: the state includes one of: "sent", "unread", "read", "expired", "prompted", and "processed".

39. The method of claim 29, further comprising the steps of: a subscriber to a communication network (202, 206, 207) attempting to access a stored message is authenticated to determine if the subscriber is an intended recipient (209) of the message before allowing the subscriber access to the message, wherein the authentication includes authentication and authorization of the subscriber.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein: the authentication of the subscriber is performed using additional information contained in stored information or prompts.

41. The method of claim 29, further comprising including in the prompt information on how to access a stored message.

42. The method of claim 29, further comprising storing and accessing messages under control of an intended recipient (209) of the messages.

43. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of controlling said prompting by said intended recipient (209).

44. The method of claim 42 or 43, wherein: the scope of the control is defined by the sender (208).

45. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of: providing access to an intended recipient (209) of a message under access conditions defined by the sender (208) of the message.

46. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of: sending and receiving messages including voicemail messages, multimedia messages, short messages, email messages, and video mail messages.

47. The method of claim 29, further comprising the steps of: prompts are provided in the form of messages including voicemail messages, multimedia messages, short messages, email messages, and video mail.

48. The method of claim 29, further comprising the steps of: the prompt is provided in the form of an interactive form for processing and display by a graphical user interface, the form containing information of at least one message to the intended recipient (209).