Patent ID: 6768789
Filing Date: 2004-07-27
Classification: H04M

Abstract:
A system for responding to an incoming telephone call, comprising:a switching device for receiving said incoming telephone call from a caller, said switching device operable to selectively transmit a notification of said incoming telephone call over a single communications link and further operable to selectively connect said incoming call over said same single communication link; a telephony-interface device, operable to receive said notification of said incoming telephone call and to be connected to said incoming telephone call over said same single communication link, said telephony-interface device further operable to gather at least one input value from a callee after receiving said notification and transmit said at least one input value over said same single communication link; a storage device for storing a plurality of pre-composed messages, each of said plurality of pre-composed messages including at least one argument portion; and a processing unit connected to said storage device and said telephony-interface device via said switching device, said processing unit operable to determine the identity of the caller and assemble an outgoing message based upon said identity of said caller, said outgoing message being a selected one of said plurality of pre-composed messages and where said at least one argument portion is determined by said at least one input value transmitted from said telephony-interface device over said same single communication link.