Patent ID: 6542584
Filing Date: 2003-04-01
Classification: H04M

Abstract:
A process for managing voice mail messages in a telephone system having a plurality of extension phones, comprising:receiving a phone call ring signal on a telephone line and answering a call placed by a caller; causing an extension phone to ring either by sensing DTMF tones entered by the caller or by other means of determining an extension to which the caller desires to be connected; timing an amount of time the extension phone rings, and if the phone is answered within a predetermined time, coupling signals from the caller to that extension phone; if the extension phone is not answered within a predetermined time or if the extension phone is busy with another call, or if a signal is generated at the extension phone by a user indicating the call is to be sent directly to voice mail, connecting the call to a voice mail channel; opening a greeting file in a memory, the greeting file containing data of a voice mail greeting for the extension phone which was called; playing a voice mail greeting to the caller by reading the greeting data, sending said data out over said voice mail channel and converting it to analog signals for coupling to a telephone line in use by said caller; sending data over said voice mail channel and converting said data to a tone which is transmitted via said telephone line, the transmitted tone indicating to the caller that a voice mail message recording interval is starting; receiving audio signals of a voice mail message from said telephone line and converting said signals to digital data and transmitting said digital data over said voice mail channel; receiving said data of said message and formatting it, if necessary, for transfer to a voice mail recording and redirection process in execution on a computer; receiving said data and formatting it, if necessary, for recording in a voice mail file in a memory and recording said data in said voice mail file; storing a pointer to a location in said memory of said voice mail message file just recorded, said pointer being stored in a voice mail box in memory associated with the extension phone; locating an available telephone line to make a call to a radio pager; looking up, in a table storing phone numbers of pagers for at least some users of said plurality of extension phones, a phone number of a radio pager used by a user of the extension phone associated with the voice mail message just recorded, and dialing said phone number; monitoring call progress tones of a radio pager system to determine when it is time to send a message to said pager; sending a voice or alpha-numeric, numeric or two-way message to said pager indicating that a voice mail message has been left in a voice mail box of the user; monitoring the voice mail box or voice mail file to determine if the voice mail message just recorded has been retrieved by the user within a predetermined interval after the time the voice mail message was recorded or after the message sending to the pager; and if the message was not retrieved, moving the pointer to the voice mail message file to the voice mail box of another user.