Abstract:
In a voicemail service system having a voicemail mailbox and a caller ID device that are remote from a user of the voicemail service system, there is provided a method for providing caller ID information to the user. A call to the user from another party is received, when a phone of the user is already in use ( 310 ). Caller ID information for the call is stored for subsequent playback to the user ( 320 ). The storing step may be performed irrespective of whether the other party leaves a voicemail message for the user.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
         [0001]    1. Technical Field  
           [0002]    The present invention generally relates to voicemail communications and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for providing caller ID information with voicemail services that are supplied by the phone company.  
           [0003]    2. Background Description  
           [0004]    When a user is on the phone or online with a computer, incoming callers will not reach the user&#39;s home answering machine. Phone companies provide voicemail services where the caller&#39;s voicemail message is stored at the phone company. The user dials a number and types in a pass code to play back the voicemail message. However, if the caller doesn&#39;t leave a voicemail message, the user will not know that he received a call. Also, he will not be able to retrieve any caller ID information (caller name, caller number, date and time of call) from the phone company&#39;s service.  
           [0005]    Accordingly, it would be desirable and highly advantageous to have a method and apparatus for providing caller ID information with voicemail services that are supplied by the phone company, particularly when a caller calls a user but does not leave a voicemail message.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The problems stated above, as well as other related problems of the prior art, are solved by the present invention, a method and apparatus for providing caller ID information with voicemail services that are supplied by the phone company.  
           [0007]    Advantageously, the present invention not only provides call information (caller name, caller number, date and time of call) for calls with messages, but the present invention also allows the user to get call information about callers that did not leave a message. Moreover, the present invention allows users to have caller ID service without purchasing the additional Caller ID box similar to the way that the current voicemail system allows users to have voicemail capability without purchasing an answering machine.  
           [0008]    According to an aspect of the present invention, in a voicemail service system having a voicemail mailbox and a caller ID device that are remote from a user of the voicemail service system, there is provided a method for providing caller ID information to the user. A call to the user from another party is received, when a phone of the user is already in use. Caller ID information for the call is stored for subsequent playback to the user.  
           [0009]    According to another aspect of the present invention, the storing step is performed irrespective of whether the other party leaves a voicemail message for the user.  
           [0010]    These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer processing system  100  to which the present invention may be applied according to an illustrative embodiment thereof;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a communication system to which the present invention may be applied, according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing caller ID information with voicemail services that are supplied by the phone company, according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0014]    The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for providing caller ID information with voicemail services that are supplied by the phone company.  
         [0015]    It is to be understood that the present invention may be implemented in various forms of hardware, software, firmware, special purpose processors, or a combination thereof. Preferably, the present invention is implemented as a combination of hardware and software. Moreover, the software is preferably implemented as an application program tangibly embodied on a program storage device. The application program may be uploaded to, and executed by, a machine comprising any suitable architecture. Preferably, the machine is implemented on a computer platform having hardware such as one or more central processing units (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), and input/output (I/O) interface(s). The computer platform also includes an operating system and microinstruction code. The various processes and functions described herein may either be part of the microinstruction code or part of the application program (or a combination thereof) that is executed via the operating system. In addition, various other peripheral devices may be connected to the computer platform such as an additional data storage device and a printing device.  
         [0016]    It is to be further understood that, because some of the constituent system components and method steps depicted in the accompanying Figures are preferably implemented in software, the actual connections between the system components (or the process steps) may differ depending upon the manner in which the present invention is programmed. Given the teachings herein, one of ordinary skill in the related art will be able to contemplate these and similar implementations or configurations of the present invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer processing system  100  to which the present invention may be applied according to an illustrative embodiment thereof. The computer processing system  100  includes at least one processor (CPU)  102  operatively coupled to other components via a system bus  104 . A read only memory (ROM)  106 , a random access memory (RAM)  108 , a display adapter  110 , an I/O adapter  112 , and a user interface adapter  114  are operatively coupled to the system bus  104 .  
         [0018]    A display device  116  is operatively coupled to the system bus  104  by the display adapter  110 . A disk storage device (e.g., a magnetic or optical disk storage device)  118  is operatively coupled to the system bus  104  by the I/O adapter  112 .  
         [0019]    A selection device (e.g., mouse, joystick, and so forth)  120  and keyboard  122  are operatively coupled to the system bus  104  by the user interface adapter  114 . The selection device  120  and keyboard  122  may be used to input/output information to/from the computer processing system  100 .  
         [0020]    Phone companies provide voicemail services where the caller&#39;s voicemail is stored at the phone company. If the user is on the phone (either talking or logged on with a computer), the incoming caller cannot get to the user&#39;s answering machine/caller ID unit. Instead, the caller is sent to a voicemail service supplied by the phone company. The caller&#39;s message (if he or she chooses to leave one) is stored at the phone company. The user can check to see if he or she has any messages by picking up his or her phone. If the user has messages stored on the phone company&#39;s voicemail system, the user will hear a different dial tone (typically a triple tone). The user can then call a number to access the voicemail system and replay his or her messages.  
         [0021]    Advantageously, the present invention extends that concept to include caller ID information (caller name, caller number, date and time of call). This caller ID information would also be stored at the phone company and the user could access the caller ID information the same way that the user accesses his or her voicemail messages in the current system. This would provide the user with many benefits. For example, the user would be able to hear caller ID information for any voicemail message that the user has. Further, the user would know if he or she had any missed calls. The user would not only know that someone called and did not leave a message, but the user would also have their caller ID information in case the user wanted to call them back.  
         [0022]    This service would work the same way as the phone company voicemail system. Suppose the user is logged onto the Internet with his or her computer. Someone calls but does not leave a message. When the user logs off, the user picks up his or her phone and hears the special ring. The user dials the number for his or her phone company&#39;s voicemail system, and is told that he or she had an incoming call. Even though there is no message, the service will tell the user the name and number of the caller as well as the date and time of the call.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a communication system to which the present invention may be applied, according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. The system includes a caller ID device  210 ; a server  220 ; and a phone network  230 .  
         [0024]    The phone network  230  provides a communication medium between the phone of a user (hereinafter “user phone”)  240  and the phone of a caller (hereinafter “caller phone”)  250 . The phone network  230  also provides a communication medium to the server  210 .  
         [0025]    The caller ID device  210  generates caller ID information for any calls to the user. The caller ID information may be generated by the caller ID device  210  irrespective of whether the caller leaves a voicemail message.  
         [0026]    The server  210  stores voicemail messages. The server  210  also stores caller ID information corresponding to the voicemail messages and caller ID information corresponding to calls for which no voicemail message was left.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing caller ID information with voicemail services that are supplied by the phone company, according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0028]    The user receives an incoming call on his or her phone  240 , while the phone  240  is in use (e.g., the user may be on a call, or logged onto the Internet through a dial-up connection) (step  310 ). The caller may or may not leave a message.  
         [0029]    The caller ID information (e.g., caller name, caller number, date of call, time of call) corresponding to the call is stored in the server  220  (step  320 ). Preferably, the caller ID information is stored in the server  220  along with the voicemail message, if the caller leaves a voicemail message.  
         [0030]    The user terminates use of his or her phone  240  (step  330 ). A special ring or other alert is provided by the phone  240  to inform the user that a call was missed (step  340 ).  
         [0031]    Upon the user dialing a predetermined number (e.g., his or her typical voicemail mailbox number), a call is received from the user and the user is provided with the caller ID information for the missed call (step  350 ). The user may optionally provide a pass code prior to receiving the caller ID information.  
         [0032]    Although the illustrative embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may be affected therein by one of ordinary skill in the related art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.