Abstract:
Methods, apparatus and computer-readable media for registering and retrieving contact information associated with a potential calling party. The registration method comprises receiving an originating address associated with the potential calling party, receiving contact information associated with the potential calling party and storing the originating address associated with the potential calling party in an originating address field of a record associated with the potential calling party and storing the contact information associated with the potential calling party in a contact information field of the record associated with the potential calling party. This increases the variety of contact information that can be left by the potential calling party, contributes to a greater efficiency with which the eventual called party may retrieve contact information associated with a voice mail message and also accelerates the process by which an actual calling party can leave contact information for the called party.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a CONTINUATION of PCT Patent Application Serial No. PCT/CA2005/001516, filed on Sep. 30, 2005, designating the United States and hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
     This application CLAIMS THE BENEFIT under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/638,391 to Dave Clark et al., filed Dec. 27, 2004 and hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
     The subject matter of the present application is related to the subject matter of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/638,386 to Dave Clark et al., filed Dec. 27, 2004 and hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
     The subject matter of the present application is also related to the subject matter of PCT Patent Application Serial No. PCT/CA2005/001514, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RENDERING VOICE MAIL CONTACT INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO A CALLED PARTY”, filed on Sep. 30, 2005, designating the United States and hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to voice mail systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for registration and retrieval of contact information associated with callers who leave messages in a voice mail system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Voice mail systems provide a convenient way for a caller to leave a message for an intended recipient who is unavailable to answer an incoming call. Specifically, a conventional voice mail system detects when the intended recipient is busy or unresponsive to the call, and consequently answers the call by playing the intended recipient&#39;s audio greeting. Following this, the caller is prompted to record a voice mail message, which is stored as an audio recording in a voice mailbox associated with the intended recipient. 
     When the owner of the mailbox (i.e., the intended recipient) wishes to retrieve the contents of the mailbox at a later time, he or she dials into the voice mail system. The voice mail system authenticates the owner of the mailbox, and subsequently allows the owner of the mailbox to navigate through his or her mailbox in order to perform various functions, such as playback, deletion and forwarding of individual voice mail messages. 
     In a conventional voice mail system, any contact information that the caller may wish to leave for the owner of the mailbox forms part of the recorded voice mail message. This has several disadvantages. 
     Firstly, the contact information may be non-existent or, if it is present, it may be buried at an arbitrary point within the voice mail message. This makes it difficult for the owner of the mailbox to retrieve the contact information in an efficient manner. 
     Secondly, conventional approaches limit the type of contact information that can be left for the intended recipient to audio information in the form of recorded utterances or tones. 
     Thirdly, the caller who leaves multiple voice mail messages in multiple mailboxes must remember to replicate the contact information each time he or she leaves a voice mail message, making the process of leaving contact information tedious and slow. 
     Thus, the industry would welcome an improvement that overcomes one or more of the aforementioned deficiencies. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to a first broad aspect, the present invention seeks to provide a method of registering contact information associated with a potential calling party. The method comprises receiving an originating address associated with the potential calling party; receiving contact information associated with the potential calling party; and storing the originating address associated with the potential calling party in an originating address field of a record associated with the potential calling party and storing the contact information associated with the potential calling party in a contact information field of the record associated with the potential calling party. 
     According to a second broad aspect, the present invention seeks to provide a registration entity for registering contact information associated with a potential calling party. The registration entity comprises a database of records including a record associated with the potential calling party; an input for receiving an originating address associated with the potential calling party and contact information associated with the potential calling party; and a processing entity for storing the originating address associated with the potential calling party in an originating address field of the record associated with the potential calling party and storing the contact information associated with the potential calling party in a contact information field of the record associated with the potential calling party. 
     According to a third broad aspect, the present invention seeks to provide computer-readable media tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a computer to perform a method of registering contact information associated with a potential calling party. The method comprises receiving an originating address associated with the potential calling party; receiving contact information associated with the potential calling party; and storing the originating address associated with the potential calling party in an originating address field of a record associated with the potential calling party and storing the contact information associated with the potential calling party in a contact information field of the record associated with the potential calling party. 
     According to a fourth broad aspect, the present invention seeks to provide a method of retrieving stored contact information associated with a calling party. The method comprises receiving an originating address associated with the calling party, followed by accessing a database of records associated with respective potential calling parties. Each of the records in the database comprises a respective originating address field and a respective contact information field, the originating address field of the record associated with a given potential calling party containing an originating address associated with the given potential calling party and the contact information field of the record associated with the given potential calling party containing contact information associated with the given potential calling party. According to this aspect, accessing the database of records comprises attempting to identify a particular record in the database for which the originating address contained in the respective originating address field corresponds to the originating address associated with the calling party. Responsive to successful identification of a particular record in the database for which the originating address contained in the respective originating address field matches the originating address associated with the calling party, the method further comprises retrieving the contact information contained in the contact information field of the particular record, wherein the contact information contained in the contact information field of the particular record corresponds to previously stored contact information associated with the calling party. 
     According to a fifth broad aspect, the present invention seeks to provide a network entity, which comprises a database of records, each of the records being associated with a respective potential calling party and including (I) an originating address field containing an originating address associated with the respective potential calling party and (II) a contact information field containing previously stored contact information associated with the respective potential calling party. The network entity further comprises an input for receiving an originating address associated with a calling party and a processing entity in communication with the input. The processing entity is operative for accessing the database of records in an attempt to identify a particular record in the database for which the originating address contained in the respective originating address field corresponds to the originating address associated with the calling party. Responsive to successful identification of a particular record in the database for which the originating address contained in the respective originating address field matches the originating address associated with the calling party, the processing entity is further operative for retrieving the contact information contained in the contact information field of the particular record. The network entity also comprises an output for releasing the retrieved contact information. 
     According to a sixth broad aspect, the present invention seeks to provide a system, which comprises a contact information server that comprises a database of records, each of the records being associated with a respective potential calling party and including (I) an originating field containing an originating address associated with the respective potential calling party; and (II) a contact information field containing previously stored contact information associated with the respective potential calling party. The system also comprises a voice message taking entity that comprises a plurality of mailboxes associated with respective mailbox owners, the voice message taking entity being operable for executing a reconnaissance process to (I) determine an originating address associated with a particular calling party attempting to reach an owner of a particular mailbox; and (II) supply the originating address associated with the particular calling party to the contact information server. Responsive to receipt of the originating address associated with the particular calling party from the voice message taking entity, the contact information server is adapted for accessing the database of records in an attempt to identify a particular record in the database for which the originating address contained in the respective originating address field corresponds to the originating address associated with the particular calling party. Responsive to successful identification of a particular record in the database for which the originating address contained in the respective originating address field matches the originating address associated with the particular calling party, the contact information server is adapted for retrieving the contact information contained in the contact information field of the particular record. Finally, the contact information server is adapted for returning the retrieved contact information to the voice message taking entity for delivery to the owner of the particular mailbox. 
     According to a seventh broad aspect, the present invention seeks to provide a method of retrieving stored contact information associated with a calling party making a call. The method comprises receiving an originating address associated with the calling party and accessing a database of records associated with respective potential calling parties. Each of the records in the database comprises a respective originating address field and a plurality of respective contact information fields, the originating address field of the record associated with a given potential calling party containing an originating address associated with the given potential calling party and each of the contact information fields of the record associated with the given potential calling party containing respective contact information associated with the given potential calling party. The method further comprises receiving a contact information selection associated with the call. According to this aspect, accessing the database of records comprises attempting to identify a particular record in the database for which the originating address contained in the respective originating address field corresponds to the originating address associated with the calling party. Responsive to successful identification of a particular record in the database for which the originating address contained in the respective originating address field matches the originating address associated with the calling party, the method further comprises retrieving the contact information contained in a selected one of the contact information fields of the particular record, the selected one of the contact information fields being related to the contact information selection associated with the call, wherein the contact information contained in the selected one of the contact information fields of the particular record corresponds to previously stored contact information associated with the calling party. 
     According to an eighth broad aspect, the present invention seeks to provide a network entity, which comprises a database of records, each of the records being associated with a respective potential calling party and including (I) an originating address field containing an originating address associated with the respective potential calling party and (II) a plurality of contact information fields each containing previously stored contact information associated with the respective potential calling party. The network entity further comprises an input for receiving (I) an originating address associated with a calling party and (II) a contact information selection associated with the call. The network entity further comprises a processing entity in communication with the input and operative for accessing the database of records in an attempt to identify a particular record in the database for which the originating address contained in the respective originating address field corresponds to the originating address associated with the calling party. Responsive to successful identification of a particular record in the database for which the originating address contained in the respective originating address field corresponds to the originating address associated with the calling party, the processing entity is operative for retrieving the contact information contained in a selected one of the contact information fields of the particular record, the selected one of the contact information fields being related to the contact information selection associated with the call. Finally, the network entity comprises an output for releasing the retrieved contact information. 
     These and other aspects and features of the present invention will now become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the accompanying drawings: 
         FIGS. 1A to 1E  are conceptual block diagrams depicting interaction between a caller and a voice mail system that comprises a voice message taking entity (VMTE) and a contact information server (CIS); 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a possible structure of a contact information database in the CIS, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 3A to 3C  are conceptual block diagrams illustrating the manner in which the VMTE passively obtains an originating address associated with the caller, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIGS. 4A to 4C  are conceptual block diagrams illustrating the manner in which the VMTE actively obtains an originating address submitted by the caller, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a possible structure of the contact information database in the CIS, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a conceptual block diagram illustrating retrieval of a voice mail message from a mailbox by the owner of the mailbox, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a possible structure of the contact information database in the CIS, in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a possible structure of a mailbox database in the VMTE, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     It is to be expressly understood that the description and drawings are only for the purpose of illustration of certain embodiments of the invention and are an aid for understanding. They are not intended to be a definition of the limits of the invention. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       FIGS. 1A through 1E  show a voice mail system in accordance with various non-limiting embodiments of the present invention. In each case, the voice mail system comprises a voice message taking entity (VMTE)  12  in communication with a contact information server (CIS)  14 . The VMTE  12  comprises or is in communication with a mailbox database  30  that includes a mailbox  16 . Each of the mailboxes in the mailbox database  30 , including mailbox  16 , has the capability of storing one or more voice mail messages and is associated with a called party that is hereinafter referred to as the “owner” of the respective mailbox. 
     In the embodiments of  FIGS. 1A ,  1 B and  1 C, the VMTE  12  and the CIS  14  are both reachable over a telephony network  18 . The telephony network  18  may include the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and/or it may include one or more wireless networks. In addition, the VMTE  12  and the CIS  14  may optionally be connected to each other by a direct link  20  that bypasses the telephony network  18 . Furthermore, a private branch exchange (not shown) may act as a gateway between the telephony network  18  and either or both of the VMTE  12  and the CIS  14 . 
     In the embodiment of  FIG. 1D , the VMTE  12  is reachable over the telephony network  18 , while the CIS  14  is reachable over a data network  22 . The VMTE  12  is connected to the CIS  14  over a communications link  20 . Alternatively, an interworking unit (not shown) disposed between the telephony network and the data network  22  may provide communication between the VMTE  12  and the CIS  14 . The data network  22  may include the Internet and/or one or more wireless networks. Accordingly, the CIS  14  may be implemented as a Web server. 
     In the embodiment of  FIG. 1E , the VMTE  12  and the CIS  14  are both reachable over the data network  22 . Each of the VMTE  12  and the CIS  14  may have direct access to the data network  22  or may be connected thereto via an access gateway (not shown). 
     Generally speaking, the present invention contemplates a scenario whereby a calling party (hereinafter a caller  24 ) attempts to reach the owner of mailbox  16 , but fails and is prompted by the VMTE  12  to leave a voice mail message in mailbox  16 . This can be termed the “calling phase”. The calling phase is preceded by a “registration phase”, during which the caller  24  will register “contact information” (to be described later on in greater detail) with the CIS  14 . The registration phase and the calling phase are now described in the context of the various embodiments depicted in  FIGS. 1A through 1E . 
     I—Registration of Caller&#39;s Contact Information with the CIS  14   
     
       FIG. 1A 
     
     
         
         
           
             In the embodiment of  FIG. 1A , the caller  24  uses a telephone  110  connected to the telephony network  18  when accessing the CIS  14  during the registration phase. Then, during the calling phase, the caller  24  uses another telephone  112  connected to the telephony network  18  when placing a call to the owner of mailbox  16 . It is within the scope of the present invention for the telephone  110  and the telephone  112  to be one and the same device, as it is also possible for the two telephones  110 ,  112  to be different devices and possibly located in different geographic areas. 
             Upon being contacted by the caller  24  using the telephone  110 , the CIS  14  and the caller  24  undergo a registration phase. The registration phase involves the CIS  14  receiving an originating address associated with the caller  24  and contact information associated with the caller  24 . 
             Specifically, the originating address associated with the caller  24  can take on at least two different forms. In a first form, the originating address refers to the directory number of the telephone  112  from which the caller  24  expects to make future calls. In a second form, the originating address refers to a code that the caller  24  intends to use to identify himself or herself when interacting with the VMTE  12  during the later calling phase. The registration phase can involve the CIS  14  implementing an interactive voice response system  32  in order to prompt the caller  24  to enter the originating address using the telephone  110 . 
             The contact information refers to information that the caller  24  wishes to render available to the owner of mailbox  16  when such owner retrieves the caller&#39;s  24  voice mail message from mailbox  16  at a later time. Examples of contact information include but are not limited to a name, telephone number, alternate telephone number, fax number, email address, web page address (URL), salutation, slogan, confidentiality notice (e.g., of the type “ THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MESSAGE IS CONFIDENTIAL AND ONLY FOR THE INTENDED RECIPIENT  . . . ”), etc. In addition, the contact information may, as a matter of redundancy, also include the originating address associated with the caller  24 . The CIS  14  may implement the aforementioned interactive voice response system  32  in order to prompt the caller  24  to enter the contact information using the telephone  110 . The CIS  14  may also implement a speech-to-text conversion utility (not shown) to facilitate the entry of contact information by the caller  24 .
 
 FIG. 1B 
 
             In the embodiment of  FIG. 1B , the caller  24  accesses the CIS  14  during the registration phase using a computer  120  that is equipped with a modem  122  connected to the telephony network  18 . Then, during the calling phase, the caller  24  uses a telephone  124  when placing a call to the owner of mailbox  16 . 
             Upon being contacted by the caller  24  using the computer  120 , the CIS  14  and the caller  24  undergo a registration phase, which involves the CIS  14  receiving an originating address associated with the caller  24  and contact information associated with the caller  24 . 
             Specifically, the originating address can take on at least two different forms. In a first form, the originating address refers to the directory number of the telephone  124  from which the caller  24  expects to make future calls. In a second form, the originating address refers to a code that the caller  24  intends to use to identify himself or herself when interacting with the VMTE  12  during the later calling phase. The CIS  14  may execute an interactive query-response program  34  in order to prompt the caller  24  to enter the originating address using the computer  120 . 
             The contact information refers to information that the caller  24  wishes to render available to the owner of mailbox  16  when such owner retrieves the caller&#39;s  24  voice mail message from mailbox  16  at a later time. In addition to the above examples of contact information, additional examples of contact information that can be entered with the aid of the computer  120  include but are not limited to a company logo, an image and a file attachment (e.g., text, video, audio, multimedia). The CIS  14  may execute the aforementioned interactive query-response program  34  in order to prompt the caller  24  to enter the contact information using the computer  120 .
 
 FIG. 1C 
 
             In the embodiment of  FIG. 1C , the caller  24  uses a telephone  130  when accessing the CIS  14  during the registration phase. Then, during the calling phase, the caller  24  places a call to the owner of mailbox  16  using an IP-enabled telephony device  132 . The IP-enabled telephony device  132  is connected to a data network  134  (such as the Internet) via an access gateway or server  136 . The data network  134  is connected to the telephony network  18  via an interworking unit (IWU)  138 . Non-limiting examples of the IP-enabled telephony device  132  include an IP phone and a desktop or laptop computer equipped with telephony software. 
             Upon being contacted by the caller  24  using the telephone  130 , the CIS  14  and the caller  24  undergo a registration phase, which involves the CIS  14  receiving an originating address associated with the caller  24  and contact information associated with the caller  24 . 
             Specifically, the originating address can take on at least two different forms. In a first form, the originating address refers to the directory number of the IP-enabled telephony device  132  from which the caller  24  expects to make future calls. In a second form, the originating address refers to a code that the caller  24  intends to use to identify himself or herself when interacting with the VMTE  12  during the later calling phase. The CIS  14  may implement an interactive voice response system  32  in order to prompt the caller  24  to enter the originating address using the telephone  130 . 
             The contact information refers to information that the caller  24  wishes to render available to the owner of mailbox  16  when such owner retrieves the caller&#39;s  24  voice mail message from mailbox  16  at a later time. Examples of contact information include but are not limited to a name, telephone number, alternate telephone number, fax number, email address, web page address (URL), salutation, slogan, confidentiality notice, etc. In addition, the contact information may, as a matter of redundancy, also include the originating address associated with the caller  24 . The CIS  14  may implement the aforementioned interactive voice response system  32  in order to prompt the caller  24  to enter the contact information using the telephone  130 . The CIS  14  may also implement a speech-to-text conversion utility (not shown) to facilitate the entry of contact information by the caller  24 .
 
 FIG. 1D 
 
             In the embodiment of  FIG. 1D , it is recalled that the CIS  14  is connected to the data network  22  such as the Internet. The caller  24  accesses the CIS  14  during the registration phase using an IP-enabled communication device  140  that is also connected to the data network  22 , possibly via a gateway or server  142 . Non-limiting examples of the IP-enabled communication device  140  include a desktop computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, etc. During the calling phase, in this embodiment, the caller  24  uses a telephone  144  connected to the telephony network  18  when placing a call to the owner of mailbox  16 . 
             Upon being contacted by the caller  24  using the IP-enabled communication device  140 , the CIS  14  and the caller  24  undergo a registration phase, which involves the CIS  14  receiving an originating address associated with the caller  24  and contact information associated with the caller  24 . 
             Specifically, the originating address can take on at least two different forms. In a first form, the originating address refers to the directory number of the telephone  144  from which the caller  24  expects to make future calls. In a second form, the originating address refers to a code that the caller  24  intends to use to identify himself or herself when interacting with the VMTE  12  during the later calling phase. The CIS  14  may execute a graphical user interface (GUI) program  36  to present to the caller  24  an interface that facilitates entry of the originating address using the IP-enabled communication device  140 . 
             The contact information refers to information that the caller  24  wishes to render available to the owner of mailbox  16  when such owner retrieves the caller&#39;s  24  voice mail message from mailbox  16  at a later time. Examples of contact information include but are not limited to a name, telephone number, alternate telephone number, fax number, email address, web page address (URL), salutation, slogan, confidentiality notice, company logo, image and file attachment (e.g., text, video, audio, multimedia), etc. In addition, the contact information may, as a matter of redundancy, also include the originating address associated with the caller  24 . The registration phase can involve executing the aforementioned GUI program  36  to present to the caller  24  an interface that facilitates entry of the contact information using the IP-enabled communication device  140 .
 
 FIG. 1E 
 
             In the embodiment of  FIG. 1E , the caller  24  accesses the CIS  14  during the registration phase using an IP-enabled communication device  150  that is connected to the data network  22 , possibly via a first gateway or server  152 . Examples of the IP-enabled communication device  150  include a desktop computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, etc. During the calling phase, the caller  24  uses an IP-enabled telephony device  154  when placing a call to the owner of mailbox  16 . The IP-enabled telephony device  154  is also connected to the data network  22 , possibly via the first gateway or server  152 , or via a second gateway or server  156 . Examples of the IP-enabled telephony device  154  include an IP phone and a desktop or laptop computer equipped with telephony software. Clearly, IP-enabled communication devices with telephony capabilities can serve as both the IP-enabled communication device  150  and the IP-enabled telephony device  154 . 
             Upon being contacted by the caller  24  using the IP-enabled communication device  150 , the CIS  14  and the caller  24  undergo a registration phase, which involves the CIS  14  receiving an originating address associated with the caller  24  and contact information associated with the caller  24 . 
             Specifically, the originating address can take on at least two different forms. In a first form, the originating address refers to an IP address of the IP-enabled telephony device  154  from which the caller  24  expects to make future calls. In a second form, the originating address refers to a code that the caller  24  intends to use to identify himself or herself when interacting with the VMTE  12  during the later calling phase. The CIS  14  may execute a GUI program  36  to present to the caller  24  an interface that facilitates entry of the originating address using the IP-enabled communication device  150 . 
             The contact information refers to information that the caller  24  wishes to render available to the owner of mailbox  16  when such owner retrieves the caller&#39;s  24  voice mail message from mailbox  16  at a later time. Examples of contact information that can be entered in this embodiment include but are not limited to a name, telephone number, alternate telephone number, fax number, email address, web page address (URL), salutation, slogan, confidentiality notice, company logo, image and file attachment (e.g., text, video, audio, multimedia), etc. In addition, the contact information may, as a matter of redundancy, also include the originating address associated with the caller  24 . The CIS  14  may execute the aforementioned GUI program  36  to present to the caller  24  an interface that facilitates entry of the contact information using the IP-enabled communication device  150 . 
           
         
       
    
     Of course, it should be understood that the above examples are not exhaustive of the scenarios in which the present invention is applicable and that further scenarios will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. 
     With additional reference now to  FIG. 2 , the CIS  14  stores the aforementioned originating address associated with the caller  24  and the aforementioned contact information associated with the caller  24  in a database  202  (hereinafter referred to as a “contact information database”). The database  202  may reside internally or externally to the CIS  14 . The contact information database  202  comprises a set of records associated with respective callers, each record having an originating address (OA) field as well as a contact information (CI) field. In the case of the caller  24 , the associated record is denoted by the reference number  204  in  FIG. 2 . The originating address associated with the caller  24  is stored as an entry  206  in the OA field of the record  204 , while the contact information associated with the caller  24  is stored as an entry  208  in the CI field of the record  204 . Where the entry  206  in the OA field of the record  204  is a caller-specified code (as opposed to a phone number or IP address), such code is hereinafter denoted by the reference number  210 . 
     II—Interaction Between the VMTE  12  and the Caller  24   
     At some instant in time subsequent to the registration phase, the caller  24  may decide to place a call to the owner of mailbox  16 . In the embodiments of  FIGS. 1A ,  1 B and  1 D, the caller  24  is depicted as using a telephone (either  112 ,  124  or  144 ) in an attempt to reach the owner of mailbox  16 . Alternatively, in the embodiments of  FIGS. 1C and 1E , the caller  24  uses an IP-enabled telephony device (either  132  or  154 , as appropriate) in an attempt to reach the owner of mailbox  16 . 
     In the event that the owner of mailbox  16  cannot be reached, the VMTE  12  begins an interaction with the caller  24  and prompts the caller  24  to record a voice mail message for the owner of mailbox  16 . Upon termination of the recording, the VMTE  12  stores the voice mail message in mailbox  16  for subsequent retrieval by the owner of mailbox  16 . Commonly, the voice mail message may be stored as an audio file, which may be in a format such as “.wav” or “.au”, for example. 
     At some point after interaction between the VMTE  12  and the caller  24  has begun, and either before, during or following the act of recording the voice mail message, the VMTE  12  executes a “reconnaissance process” to determine the originating address associated with the caller  24 . Two different embodiments of the reconnaissance process are now described in greater detail. 
     Firstly, in an example embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 3A ,  3 B and  3 C, the reconnaissance process passively determines the originating address associated with the caller  24  without interacting therewith. This embodiment is particularly applicable where the entry  206  in the OA field of the record  204  specifies either (a) the directory number of the telephone ( 112 ,  124 ,  144 ) from which the caller  24  expected to make future calls or (b) the IP address of the IP-enabled telephony device ( 134 ,  154 ) from which the caller  24  expected to make future calls. 
     Specifically, as shown in  FIG. 3A , when the caller  24  uses a telephone ( 112 ,  124 ,  144 ), the VMTE  12  may rely on caller line identification (CLID) technology to learn the point A in the telephony network  18  from which the call has originated. On the other hand, as shown in  FIGS. 3B and 3C , when the caller  24  is using an IP-enabled telephony device ( 132 ,  154 ), the VMTE  12  may use Internet Protocol (IP) technology (e.g., IP address sniffing) to learn the IP address B of the device having originated the call. 
     In a second example embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 4A ,  4 B and  4 C, the reconnaissance process actively determines the originating address associated with the caller  24 , i.e., through actual interaction with the caller  24 . This embodiment is particularly useful where the entry  206  in the OA field of the record  204  contains a code  210 . It is recalled that the code  210  will have been specified by the caller  24  during the registration phase. 
     Specifically, as shown in  FIG. 4A , when the caller  24  uses a telephone ( 112 ,  124 ,  144 ), the VMTE  12  may execute an interactive voice response system  402  to prompt the caller  24  to input a second code  404 . In a similar fashion, when the caller  24  is using an IP-enabled telephony device ( 132 ,  154 ), the VMTE  12  may also execute an interactive voice response system  408  to elicit the second code  404  from the caller  24 . However, because of the relatively high level of sophistication inherent to the IP-enabled telephony device being used by the caller  24 , it may be possible to enhance the interactive voice response system  408  to include text-based or graphical means for eliciting the second code  404  from the caller  24  (e.g., by way of a graphical user interface). 
     The second code  404  is presumed to correspond to the code  210  occupying the entry  206  in the OA field of the record  204  in the contact information database  202 . However, if there is reason to believe that the second code  404  may differ from the first code  210 , then an authentication process may be performed by the VMTE  12 , such as to require the caller  24  to enter additional information that will authenticate him or her. To this end, and as shown in  FIG. 5 , the contact information database  202  in the CIS  14  may be augmented so as to contain an additional information field. For the caller  24 , an entry  406  in the additional information field of the record  204  could be supplied during the registration phase, at the same time as the caller  24  provided information for the entries  206  and  208  in the OA field and CI field, respectively, of the record  204 . 
     Once the VMTE  12  has determined the originating address associated with the caller  24  in accordance with the reconnaissance process described above, and once recording of the voice mail message is complete, the VMTE  12  stores both items of information in association with one another in mailbox  16 . Referring to  FIG. 8 , the voice mail message deposited by the caller  24  in mailbox  16  is denoted by the reference number  26 , and as mentioned above, the originating address associated with the caller  24  is stored in association with the voice mail message  26  and represented by reference number  28 . Due to this double association, i.e., the originating address associated with the caller  24  being associated with the voice mail message  26 , the item of information that is denoted by reference numeral  28  will hereinafter be referred to as the “message- 26 -caller-originating-address”. 
     III— Delivery of Contact Information to the Owner of Mailbox  16   
     At some instant in time subsequent to the calling phase, and as now described with reference to  FIG. 6 , the owner of mailbox  16  (hereinafter referred to simply as the “owner” and designated by reference numeral  600 ) interacts with the VMTE  12 , using a telephony device  604  of the user&#39;s choice, which may be a conventional wireline or wireless telephone, an IP-enabled telephony device (including but not limited to an IP phone or a desktop or laptop computer equipped with telephony software), etc. During the owner&#39;s  600  interaction with the VMTE  12 , a “contact information acquisition process” in the VMTE  12  will be triggered, followed by execution of a “delivery process” that delivers the acquired contact information to the owner  600 . 
     The contact information acquisition process can be triggered under various conditions, e.g., in response to the owner  600  accessing mailbox  16 , or in response to the owner  600  initiating playback of any one of the voice mail messages (such as the message  26 ) in mailbox  16 , etc. The contact information acquisition process begins with the VMTE  12  obtaining the contact information associated with one or more callers who left voice mail messages in mailbox  16 . 
     In the specific case of the voice mail message  26  that was deposited by the caller  24 , it is recalled (see  FIG. 8 ) that the VMTE  12  stores the voice mail message  26  in association with the “message- 26 -caller-originating-address”  28 . Thus, as part of the contact information acquisition process, the VMTE  12  uses the “message- 26 -caller-originating-address”  28  to query the CIS  14 . The CIS  14  then consults the contact information database  202  in an attempt to find a record for which the entry in the OA field corresponds to the “message- 26 -caller-originating-address”  28  supplied by the VMTE  12 . 
     In this particular example, it is assumed that there is a match, namely it is assumed that the entry  206  in the OA field of the record  204  in the contact information database  202  of the CIS  14  corresponds to the “message- 26 -caller-originating-address”  28 . In response, the CIS  14  returns the entry  208  in the CI field of the record  204  to the VMTE  12 . The contact information obtained in this manner may be termed “message- 26 -acquired-contact-information” and denoted by the reference number  602 . (The aforementioned sequence may be repeated for other voice mail messages, if any, in mailbox  16 .) 
     Next, the delivery process involves the VMTE  12  delivering the acquired contact information, including the “message- 26 -acquired-contact-information”  602 , to the owner  600 . For example, where the device  604  being used by the owner  600  to access the voice mail message  26  in mailbox  16  is a conventional telephone, the “message- 26 -acquired-contact-information”  602  can be audibly played back (e.g., converted into speech) responsive to entry of a command by the owner  600  via a touch-tone keypad or voice utterance, in which case it is apparent that delivery is performed in response to an action by the owner  600 . Alternatively, the “message- 26 -acquired-contact-information”  602  can be audibly played back at the tail end or beginning of the voice mail message  26  in an autonomous fashion, i.e., delivery occurs without the entry of specific commands from the owner  600 . 
     Alternatively, the VMTE  12  may send an electronic message (e.g., instant message, email message, real-time text message such as SMS) to an address (e.g., an IP address) associated with the owner  600 . The electronic message may contain the “message- 26 -acquired-contact-information”  602  in the form of, for example, a text message, an attachment, a uniform resource locator (URL), etc. It is noted that in order for the VMTE  12  to learn the address associated with the owner  600 , the VMTE  12  may consult a database  606 . 
     In one embodiment, the database  606  maintains an association between the address associated with the owner  600  and the identity of mailbox  16 , which is also associated with the owner  600 . Thus, the mere fact that the owner  600  has accessed mailbox  16 , is sufficient to determine the address associated with the owner  600 . 
     In another embodiment, the database  606  maintains an association between the address associated with the owner and one or more parameters that can be learned during the time that the owner  600  is accessing mailbox  16 . One example of such a parameter is a directory number of the device  604  when implemented as a telephone. For its part, the directory number of the device  604  can be obtained using technologies such as caller line identification (CLID). Other examples of such a parameter include a MAC address of the device  604  when implemented as a computing device (such as a computing device implementing a soft client), an electronic serial number (ESN) of the device  604  when implemented as a wireless device (such as a cellular phone or networked personal digital assistant, to name a few) and an IP address of the device  604  when implemented as an IP-enabled telephony device such as an IP phone. The MAC address, IP address or ESN can be learned from packets or signals received from the respective device  604  during interaction with the VMTE  12 . 
     It should be noted that the database  606  may be populated during an initial registration phase involving the owner  600  (this registration phase being distinct from the registration phase described earlier in this specification and involving the caller  24 ). 
     Alternatively, the VMTE  12  may send a plurality of electronic messages to respective pre-determined addresses (e.g., IP addresses) associated with the owner  600 . In the case of two electronic messages, one can be in the form of a notification (such as an instant message or real-time text message) sent to a first pre-determined address, while the other can be in the form of a lengthier electronic message (e.g., an email message) sent to a second pre-determined address. 
     Also, the pre-determined address(es) can be totally independent of the device  604  that is being used by the owner  600  to access mailbox  16 . For example, the owner  600  may be using a pay phone to access the voice mail message  26 , while the electronic message(s) can be sent to the owner&#39;s  600  Internet service provider. 
     It will thus be appreciated that because the “message- 26 -acquired-contact-information”  602  is not embedded in the voice mail message  26 , the contact information  602  can be accessed by and delivered to the owner  600  independently of the manner in which the voice mail message  26  is accessed by or delivered to the owner  600 . This contributes to a greater efficiency in the manner in which the owner  600  can retrieve the contact information for various messages in the mailbox  16 . 
     Moreover, the contact information  602  may be more than a mere audio recording, since the present invention provides for a wide variety of text, audio and video to be delivered as contact information. This is made possible by advance registration of the caller&#39;s  24  contact information at the CIS  14 , which allows the caller  24  to leave non-audio contact information that is beyond the capabilities of the device being used by the caller  24  to leave the voice mail message  26 . Furthermore, the contact information  602  may contain actionable items such as hyperlinks. 
     In addition, because the contact information associated with the caller  24  is registered centrally (at the CIS  14 ), the caller  24  who wishes to leave his or her contact information for multiple intended recipients need not be concerned with replicating the contact information for each intended recipient; rather the contact information to be delivered to each intended recipient is retrieved by the VMTE  12  on the basis of the originating address associated with the caller  24 , which is determined either autonomously or by having the caller  24  enter a code. The process by which the caller  24  leaves contact information for the intended recipient is therefore accelerated. 
     IV—Alternatives and Variants 
     It is within the scope of the invention to deliver and present contact information in a form that is convenient for the owner  600 . For example, if the device  604  used by the owner  604  executes a Microsoft Outlook™-type software application, then it is within the scope of the present invention for the VMTE  12  to provide contact information in a format that is easily actionable by the owner through mouse clicks. Taking the example of the voice mail message  26 , if the “message- 26 -acquired-contact-information”  602  contains an attachment or URL, then it is within the scope of the present invention for the VMTE  12  to send this information to the device  604  in a suitable format so as to allow the owner  604  to simply double-click on the attachment in order to open it or click on the URL in order to visit it on the Internet. 
     In yet another alternative embodiment, it is not necessary to wait until the owner  600  had begun an interaction with the VMTE  12  before executing the contact information acquisition process. Specifically, the VMTE  12  may query the CIS  14  at an earlier stage, e.g., as soon as the “message- 26 -caller-originating-address”  28  has been obtained. In response to obtaining the “message- 26 -acquired-contact-information”  602  from the CIS  14 , the VMTE  12  stores this information in mailbox  16  in association with the voice mail message  26 . In this case, it is not necessary to store the “message- 26 -caller-originating-address”  28 . It is noted that this alternative embodiment may require more memory in the VMTE  12  because contact information tends to be more memory-rich than an originating address. 
     It should also be appreciated that in applications where voice mail messages are forwarded to a conversion entity for conversion to other forms of messages (e.g., electronic messages), the acquired contact information associated with a given voice mail message can accompany the given voice mail message when it is forwarded to the conversion entity. 
     Various other modifications and enhancements are possible. Consider, for example, the scenario where the caller  24  wishes to choose between leaving first contact information (e.g., personal contact information with home telephone number) and second contact information (e.g., business contact information with company logo and URL). In this case, and with reference to  FIG. 7 , the contact information database  202  in the CIS  14  will store records that contain an OA field, as well as a first CI field and a second CI field. Thus, during the registration phase for the caller  24 , the first contact information associated with the caller  24  will reside in the first CI field and the second contact information associated with the caller  24  will reside in the second CI field. 
     This alternative embodiment also calls for an additional level of interaction between the VMTE  12  with the caller  24  in order to ensure that the appropriate CI field is being delivered to the owner  600 . Specifically, the VMTE  12  implements, as part of the interactive voice response system  402  or  408 , a function whereby the caller  24  inputs a “contact information selection” specifying which contact information applies for the current voice mail message. For example, this could be achieved by way of an interactive voice prompt such as “press 1 for personal contact information, 2 for business contact information, or 9 for no contact information”. The selection (e.g., personal or business) is stored alongside the originating address associated with the caller and the voice mail message left by the caller  24 . 
     It will thus be appreciated that in the above embodiment, the contact information delivered to the owner  600  will reflect the nature of the contact information that the caller  24  wanted to leave. This concept can be extended to provide for various possibilities such as seasonally dependent electronic greeting cards, as well as availability-dependent electronic greeting cards (such as when the caller  24  is temporarily unavailable or out of the office or on vacation, etc.). 
     Still other embodiments are possible. For example, consider a registration phase whereby the caller  24  uploads multiple attachments over the data network  22 . Then, during the calling phase, the caller  24  is permitted to navigate through the previously uploaded attachments in order to select a specific attachment to deposit as contact information for a given voice mail message in mailbox  16 . In this way, selected attachments can be left for selected owners and/or in associated with selected messages. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, certain functionality of the VMTE  12  and the CIS  14  may be implemented as pre-programmed hardware or firmware elements (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), etc.), or other related components. In other embodiments, the VMTE  12  and the CIS  14  may comprise an arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) having access to a code memory (not shown) which stores program instructions for the operation of the ALU in order to execute the various processes described above. The program instructions could be stored on a medium which is fixed, tangible and readable directly by the VMTE  12  and the CIS  14 , (e.g., removable diskette, CD-ROM, ROM, or fixed disk), or the program instructions could be stored remotely but transmittable to the VMTE  12  and the CIS  14  via a modem or other interface device (e.g., a communications adapter) connected to a network over a transmission medium. The transmission medium may be either a tangible medium (e.g., optical or analog communications lines) or a medium implemented using wireless techniques (e.g., microwave, infrared or other transmission schemes). 
     While specific embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.