Abstract:
The present invention is directed to the coordination of a voicemail response (e.g., away message) with calendar scheduling. A method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: receiving a phone call; forwarding the phone call to a voicemail system; determining a phone number associated with the phone call; determining a calendar entry for a current time; and generating a voicemail response based on the phone number and the calendar entry.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention generally relates to voicemail. More specifically, the present invention is directed to the coordination of a voicemail response with calendar scheduling. 
         [0003]    2. Related Art 
         [0004]    When someone calls a person&#39;s phone and that person does not answer, usually a single, generic response (e.g., away message) will be played informing the caller that the person they are trying to reach is unavailable. In certain cases, however, the intended recipient of the call may like to provide certain callers with a more detailed response (e.g., informing the caller where they are and at what time they will be available), while leaving unknown or casual callers a more generic response. However, current voicemail systems are not capable of providing this type of functionality. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention is directed to the coordination of a voicemail response with calendar scheduling. 
         [0006]    The present invention provides a “smart” voicemail system, which is linked to a calendar program on a user&#39;s cellular telephone, and which can be updated from an external source, such as Lotus Notes. The voicemail allows for different levels of authorization based on a caller&#39;s phone number. Different responses will be read back from the calendar program to the caller based on an authorization level and a configuration of an associated calendar entry. In this way, selected callers (e.g., spouse, family members, boss, etc.) can be provided with more detailed information (e.g., exact whereabouts, next available free time, etc.), while other callers can be provided with a more generic response. 
         [0007]    A first aspect of the present invention is directed to a method for coordinating a voicemail response with calendar scheduling, comprising: receiving a phone call; forwarding the phone call to a voicemail system; determining a phone number associated with the phone call; determining a calendar entry for a current time; and generating a voicemail response based on the phone number and the calendar entry. 
         [0008]    A second aspect of the present invention is directed to a system for coordinating a voicemail response with calendar scheduling, comprising: a system for receiving a phone call; a system for forwarding the phone call to a voicemail system; a system for determining a phone number associated with the phone call; a system for determining a calendar entry for a current time; and a system for generating a voicemail response based on the phone number and the calendar entry. 
         [0009]    The illustrative aspects of the present invention are designed to solve the problems herein described and other problems not discussed. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    These and other features of this invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the various aspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  depicts a system for the coordination of a voicemail response with calendar scheduling in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0012]    The drawings are merely schematic representations, not intended to portray specific parameters of the invention. The drawings are intended to depict only typical embodiments of the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    As detailed above, the present invention provides a “smart” voicemail system, which is linked to a calendar program on a user&#39;s cellular telephone, and which can be updated from an external source, such as Lotus Notes. The voicemail allows for different levels of authorization based on a caller&#39;s phone number. Different responses will be read back from the calendar program to the caller based on an authorization level and a configuration of an associated calendar entry. In this way, selected callers (e.g., spouse, family members, boss, etc.) can be provided with more detailed information (e.g., exact whereabouts, next available free time, etc.), while other callers can be provided with a generic response. 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  depicts a flow diagram  10  of an illustrative process for the coordination of a voicemail response with calendar scheduling in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0015]    In step S 1 , a phone call  12  initiated by a caller  14  via a device  16  (e.g., telephone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP), etc.) is received by a cell phone  18 . If the phone call  12  is answered (step S 2 ) by the user  20 , the process ends. If the phone call  12  is not answered by the user  20 , the phone call  12  is forwarded to a voicemail system  22  in step S 3 . 
         [0016]    The voicemail system  22  is linked  24  to a calendar program  26  on the cell phone  18 . The data used by the calendar program  26  can be provided by the user  20  of the cell phone  18 , provided via an external source, such as Lotus Notes, or provided in any other suitable manner. In step S 4 , the cell phone  18  determines from the calendar program  26  whether there is a calendar entry  28  for the current time (e.g., the time at which the phone call  12  was forwarded to the voicemail system  22 ). If a calendar entry  28  for the current time does not exist, flow passes to step S 5 , where a generic voicemail response  30  is generated by the voicemail system  22  and provided to the caller  14  via the device  16 . If a calendar entry  28  exists for the current time, flow passes to step S 6 . 
         [0017]    In step S 6 , the level of authorization of the caller  14  to obtain information regarding the user  20  is determined based on the phone number of the device  16  used by the caller  14  to place the phone call  12 . The phone number of the caller  12  can be determined using caller-ID, which is generally available on most cell phones, or in any other suitable manner. The authorization level of a given caller can be set in the cell phone  18  by the user  20  when entering/editing an entry in a “Contact” list or via an external contact manager. For instance, an authorization level of “3,” “Low,” or “L” can be used to indicate a low priority level, an authorization level of “2,” “Medium,” or “M” can be used to indicate a middle priority level, while an authorization level of “1,” “High,” or “H” can be used to indicate a high priority level. Any number/types of authorization levels can be used in the practice of the present invention. 
         [0018]    If the authorization level of the caller  14  is determined to be “Low” (e.g., indicating a low priority level), flow passes to step S 5 , where a generic voicemail response (e.g., generic voicemail response  30 ) is generated by the voicemail system  22  and provided to the caller  14  via the device  16 . If the authorization level of the caller  14  is determined to be “Medium” (e.g., indicating a middle priority level), flow passes to step S 7 , where a more specific voicemail response  32  is generated by the voicemail system  22  and provided to the caller  14  via the device  16 . In this case, the voicemail response  32  can provide additional information to the caller  14 , such as the next available free time of the user  20 , but not the exact whereabouts of the user  20 . Information regarding the next available free time of the user  20  can be extracted from the calendar program  26  as part of step S 4  or in a separate step, and can be verbalized, for example, using a text-to-speech system  36 , for incorporation into the voicemail response  32 . Using the illustrative calendar entry  28  as an example, the voicemail response  32  can provide information such as “I am not available right now, but will be available to receive calls after 2:00 PM.” 
         [0019]    If the authorization level of the caller  14  is determined to be “High” (e.g., indicating a high priority level), flow passes to step S 8 , where an even more specific voicemail response  34  is generated by the voicemail system  22  and provided to the caller  14  via the device  16 . In this case, the voicemail response  34  can provide further additional information to the caller  14 , such as the current location of the user  20  and the next available free time of the user  20 . Information regarding the current location and next available free time of the user  20  can be extracted from the calendar program  26  as part of step S 4  or in a separate step, and can be verbalized, for example, using the text-to-speech system  36 , for incorporation into the voicemail response  34 . Again using the illustrative calendar entry  28  as an example, the voicemail response  34  can include information such as “I am currently meeting with John Doe at Acme, Inc., and am not available right now, but will be available to receive calls after 2:00 PM.” Alternatively, the voicemail response  34  can include a word-for-word reading of the calendar entry  28 . 
         [0020]    The present invention allows for different levels of authorization based on a caller&#39;s phone number. Although three levels of authorization are described above, it will be apparent that any number and type of authorization levels can be used in the practice of the present invention. Further, the illustrative voicemail responses described above are not meant to be limiting in any way. To this extent, any type of voicemail response can be generated for each different authorization level. In addition, different voicemail responses can be generated for different callers who have the same authorization level. 
         [0021]    The present invention or portions thereof can be implemented on any now known or later developed computer system that is capable of executing computer program code. The computer program code can be provided on a computer-readable medium or provided in any other suitable manner. 
         [0022]    The foregoing description of the embodiments of this invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and many modifications and variations are possible.