Patent Publication Number: US-2011053563-A1

Title: Portable handsfree device with local voicemail service for use with a mobile terminal

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to the field of portable electronic equipment, and in particular to a portable handsfree device with local voicemail service for use with a mobile terminal. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Portable electronic equipment of course exists in many different types. One very common example is a mobile terminal, such as a mobile telephone for a mobile telecommunications system like GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS, CDMA2000, FOMA or TD-SCDMA. 
     Nowadays, mobile terminals are frequently used for various different telecommunications services, such as voice calls, Internet browsing, video calls, data calls, facsimile transmissions, still image transmissions, video transmissions, electronic messaging, and e-commerce. Still, traditional voice calls of course remain as a central intended use for mobile terminals. 
     Accessories have been developed to facilitate the use of mobile terminals when conducting voice calls. A popular type of accessory is the portable handsfree device. Such a device provides the user with an audio interface (including an extra set of speaker(s) and microphone(s)) for the user to the mobile terminal for the purpose of conducting a voice call without having to hold the mobile terminal in the traditional position next to the head. 
     WO 2006/136266 discloses a handsfree device which is used with a mobile terminal and enables a user to monitor calls in a “whisper mode”, that is, not by directly responding to the caller, but by listening to the message left by the caller in real time while it is being recorded, offering the option to interrupt the process and establish a conversation with the caller. 
     The handsfree device disclosed in WO 2006/136266 thus acts to provide a local voicemail service by recording a voicemail message in local memory in the handsfree device. When the handsfree device detects an incoming call as received and forwarded from the mobile terminal, the handsfree device reads a greeting message from its local memory and generates an audio signal to be played to the caller. The caller will thus be informed that he has reached a mailbox service and that he may leave a spoken voicemail message to the intended call recipient. According to WO 2006/136266, the greeting message may also typically inform the caller about the existence of the “whisper mode”, i.e. that the receiver may listen to the voicemail message as it is being recorded, and may decide to pick up the call if desired. 
     It is to be noticed that in WO 2006/136266, the greeting message is a single predefined message, i.e. its content has been defined at some previous point in time, and the handsfree device has no means which allows later modification of the greeting message. 
     SUMMARY 
     An object of the invention is to provide a portable handsfree device with improved local voicemail service compared to the prior art as referred to above. 
     As a conceptual understanding behind the invention, it has been realized that a single predefined greeting message does not draw full benefit of the potential usability of a portable handsfree device with local, or “built-in”, voicemail service. 
     Based on this conceptual understanding, the idea has been reduced to practice at least according to the aspects and embodiments of the invention referred to below. 
     One aspect of the present invention therefore is a portable handsfree device for use with a mobile terminal, the portable handsfree device comprising:
         an audio interface over which a user may conduct voice calls;   a processing unit; and   a memory unit,   wherein the processing unit is adapted for providing a local voicemail service by playing a greeting message to a caller of an incoming voice call to said mobile terminal and recording, in said memory unit, a voicemail message from said caller, and   wherein the processing unit is adapted for making the greeting message configurable by said user.       

     Making the greeting message configurable by the user will increase the usability of the portable handsfree device. 
     In one embodiment, the memory unit has memory areas for storing a plurality of greeting message alternatives, and the processing unit is adapted for selecting the greeting message to be played to the caller from among the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives. 
     Having a plurality of prestored greeting message alternatives allows for real-time selection of an appropriate greeting message to be played to the caller of an incoming call, more tailored to the particular caller than a single predefined greeting message. 
     In one advantageous embodiment, the portable handsfree device further comprises a user interface over which the user may control the portable handsfree device, and the processing unit is adapted to
         receive caller identifying information for the incoming voice call from the mobile terminal;   cause presentation of the caller identifying information in the user interface;   accept from the user interface an action made by the user indicating one of said plurality of greeting message alternatives; and   cause said one greeting message alternative to be played as said greeting message.       

     This will allow the user to manually select which greeting message alternative to use based on the caller identifying information shown on the local display of the portable handsfree device. 
     Additionally or alternatively, the portable handsfree device may automatically select which greeting message alternative to use by analyzing the received caller identifying information. In such an embodiment, the processing unit of the portable handsfree device is adapted to:
         receive caller identifying information for the incoming voice call from the mobile terminal;   analyze the received caller identifying information to determine at least one of a type or an identity of the caller; and   select the greeting message to be played to the caller from among the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives based on the determined type or identity of the caller.       

     Advantageously, the memory unit of the portable handsfree device has memory areas for storing defined rules, which are configurable by said user and which associate possible types or identities of callers with different ones of the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives, wherein the processing unit is adapted to apply the defined rules for selecting the greeting message to be played to the caller from among the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives. 
     This will allow the user to configure the rules on how the portable handsfree device shall select which greeting message alternative to use for an incoming call. 
     Advantageously, geographical origin, or likely language preference, of a caller is a factor when the portable handsfree device automatically selects which greeting message alternative to use. This may be obtained by an embodiment for which the portable handsfree device receives caller identifying information which includes a telephone number of the caller,
         wherein the processing unit is adapted to estimate a language preference of the caller by analyzing at least one of a country code or an area code of the telephone number of the caller, and   wherein the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives includes at least two messages in different languages.       

     Additionally or alternatively, the geographical origin, or likely language preference, of the caller may be assessed in an embodiment for which the portable handsfree device receives caller identifying information which includes information from a contacts book entry associated with the caller,
         wherein the processing unit is adapted to estimate a language preference of the caller by analyzing at least one of a country field, an area field, a zip code field or an address field of the contacts book entry, and   wherein the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives includes at least two messages in different languages.       

     In one advantageous embodiment, the processing unit of the portable handsfree device is adapted to
         receive caller identifying information for the incoming voice call from the mobile terminal, said caller identifying information including a telephone number of the caller;   store in said memory unit at least the telephone number of the caller together with the voicemail message recorded by the caller;   accept a voicemail message playback command from the user over the user interface;   cause playback over the audio interface of the voicemail message stored in the memory unit;   accept a recall command from the user over the user interface; and   cause generation of a voice call back to the caller via said mobile terminal.       

     This will provide the user with a recall feature, i.e. offering him to place a call back to a caller after having listened to a voicemail message left by the latter. 
     In addition to the alternatives given above, the greeting message of the portable handsfree device may also be made configurable by adapting the processing unit of the portable handsfree device to
         accept over the audio interface a new greeting message as spoken by the user;   store a digital audio representation of the new greeting message in the memory unit; and   use the stored digital audio representation in the memory unit for playing the greeting message to the caller of the incoming voice call.       

     It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, or components, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components, or groups thereof. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Objects, features and advantages of embodiments of the invention will appear from the following detailed description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic illustration of a non-limiting example of an environment in which embodiments of the present invention may be exercised; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic front view of a portable handsfree device according to an embodiment of the present invention, used together with a mobile terminal; and 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram representing the major components, within the context of the present invention, of a portable handsfree device according to one embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Embodiments of the invention will be now described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. The terminology used in the detailed description of the particular embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements. 
     Before turning to a detailed description of the disclosed embodiments, an exemplifying environment in which they may be exercised will now be briefly described with reference to  FIG. 1 . 
     In  FIG. 1 , a portable electronic apparatus in the form of a mobile terminal  100  is part of a cellular telecommunications system. A user  1  of the mobile terminal  100  may conduct voice calls with other users accessible through the cellular telecommunications system. As will be explained in more detail in the following, the user  1  may use a portable handsfree device  300  ( FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3 ) as an accessory for such voice calls. In the remainder of this section, the user  1  will be described as the receiver, recipient or callee of an incoming voice call from another user or caller  2 . The caller  2  may use any available equipment in or connected to the cellular telecommunications system in order to call the user  1 . In addition to voice calls, the user  1  may use various other tele-communications services, such as Internet browsing, video calls, data calls, facsimile transmissions, still image transmissions, video transmissions, electronic messaging, and e-commerce. Such additional telecommunication services are however not central within the context of the present invention; there are no limitations to any particular set of services in this respect. 
     The mobile terminal  100  connects to a mobile telecommunications network  110  over a radio link  111  and a base station  112 . The mobile terminal  100  and the mobile telecommunications network  110  may comply with any commercially available mobile telecommunications standard, including but not limited to GSM, UMTS, D-AMPS, CDMA2000, FOMA and TD-SCDMA. 
     A conventional public switched telephone network (PSTN)  130  is connected to the mobile telecommunications network  110 . Various telephone terminals, including a stationary telephone  131 , may connect to the PSTN  130 . 
     The mobile telecommunications network  110  is also operatively associated with a wide area data network  120 , such as the Internet. Server computers  121  and client computers  122  may be connected to the wide area data network  120  and therefore allow communication with the mobile terminal  100 . 
     An embodiment  300  of the portable handsfree device is illustrated in more detail in  FIG. 2  together with a possible implementation  200  of the mobile terminal  100 . Starting with the latter, the mobile terminal  200  has a housing that includes a front side  201   F . The front side  201   F  has a man-to-machine interface (MMI), or user interface, which includes a speaker or earphone  202 , a microphone  205 , a display  203 , and an ITU-T-type keypad  204  having twelve alpha-numeric keys distributed within a keypad area  204   b,  wherein the keys represent the digits 0-9 and the characters * and #. Certain other special keys such as soft keys  205   a,    205   b  may also be provided. Furthermore, the mobile terminal  200  may also have a navigational input device  207 , such as a joystick, a touch pad, a rotator, a jog dial or a set of arrow keys (navigation keys). Other well-known external components may also be provided, such as power switch, battery, volume controls and external antenna, but are not indicated in  FIG. 2  for the sake of brevity. 
     The mobile terminal  200  also has one or more machine-to-machine interface(s). In  FIG. 2 , there is shown a first interface  206  which can be used in a well known manner for connecting an accessory such as a charger. The first interface  206  may be a serial interface such as, for instance, Universal Serial Bus (USB). Furthermore, the mobile terminal  200  has a second interface  208  which is wireless and can be used for wireless connection of accessories and for short-range wireless data communication. The second interface  208  may for instance be compliant with the Bluetooth™ standard, or IrDA (Infrared Data Association), WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) or NFC (Near Field Communication). 
     As seen in  FIG. 2 , and within the context of the invention, the user  1  ( FIG. 1 ) may typically connect his portable handsfree device  300  to his mobile terminal  200  via a wireless link  306  and the second wireless interface  208 . Alternatively, the user  1  may connect his portable handsfree device  300  to his mobile terminal  200  via a cable-based connection  308  and a connector  309  to the accessory interface  206 . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , the portable handsfree device  300  has one or more speaker(s)  302 ,  302 ′, one or more microphone(s)  304 , a display  322  and a set of keys  324 . 
     The internal component structure of the portable handsfree device  300  according to one embodiment will now be described with reference to  FIG. 3 . The portable handsfree device  300  of  FIG. 3  has a processing unit  310  which serves as a controller of other components. For instance, the processing unit  310  is operatively coupled with a user interface  320  of the portable handsfree device. In the disclosed embodiment, the user interface  320  comprises the keys  324  and the display  322 , and it enables the user  1  to control the portable handsfree device  300 , its different operation modes and its interaction with the mobile terminal  200 . In other embodiments, the user interface  320  may comprise other elements than keys and a display, including but not limited to voice control functionality. 
     The processing unit  310  may be implemented by any commercially available and suitably programmed CPU (“Central Processing Unit”) or DSP (“Digital Signal Processor”), or alternatively by any other electronic logic device such as an FPGA (“Field-Programmable Gate Array”), an ASIC (“Application-Specific Integrated Circuit”) or basically any combination of digital and/or analog components which, in the mind of a skilled person, would be a natural choice in order to implement the disclosed functionality. 
     The processing unit  310  also includes, is coupled to or otherwise associated with a memory unit  360 . The memory unit  360  may be realized by any available kind of memory device, such as a RAM memory, a ROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a flash memory, a hard disk, or any combination thereof, and may be made up of a single physical memory device or a plurality of physical memory devices. The memory unit  360  may be used for various purposes by the processing unit  310 , including storing of data and program instructions required for the functionality to be provided by the portable handsfree device  300 . 
     The portable handsfree device  300  has a phone interface  350  for connection to the mobile terminal  200 . Thus, the phone interface  350  may be an interface for short-range wireless data communication (cf link  306  in  FIG. 2 ) such as Bluetooth™, IrDA, WLAN or NFC, and/or it may be an interface for cable-based communication such as USB (cf cable connection  308  in  FIG. 2 ). The phone interface  350  enables transmission and reception of control signals as well as audio signals between the portable handsfree device  300  and the mobile terminal  200 . 
     The portable handsfree device  300  moreover has an audio interface  330  which includes the speaker  302  and microphone  304 . In a manner well known per se, the microphone  304  will convert acoustic signals, emanating from the voice of the user  1 , into electrical audio signals. Correspondingly, the speaker  302  will convert electrical audio signals into acoustic signals, which the user  1  can listen to. An audio CODEC  332  is arranged to transform the electric audio signals from the microphone into a format suitable for the processing unit  310 . The Audio CODEC  332  is also used to transform audio data from the processing unit  310  into electrical audio signals to the loudspeaker  302 . 
     As is seen by a dashed box  340  in  FIG. 3 , the audio interface  330  may in some embodiments comprise an audio co-processor, speech synthesizer or other circuitry which will assist the audio CODEC  332  and the processing unit  310  in their tasks of handling, processing and transforming voice-related data and signals. In some embodiments, at least some of the components of the portable handsfree device  300  may be integrated into the same electronic circuit chip. 
     The portable handsfree device  300  also comprises a power supply unit (not shown) which supplies power to the different components of the device  300 . For embodiments which connect over a wireless link  306  to the mobile terminal  200 , the power supply unit will typically include one or more batteries and circuitry for battery charging. For embodiments which connect over a cable connection  308  to the mobile terminal  200 , the power supply unit may include an interface (e.g. a USB interface) for receiving and using electric energy from the mobile terminal  200  for driving the components of the portable handsfree device  300 . 
     The operation of the portable handsfree device  300  will now be described in further detail. Initially, it is assumed that the user  1  has connected the portable handsfree device  300  to his mobile terminal  200  in any of the ways previously explained. The caller  2  makes a telephone call to the user  1 , and the mobile telecommunications network  110  of  FIG. 1  routes the incoming call to the mobile terminal  200  ( 100 ) of the user  1 . The processing unit  310  in the portable handsfree device  300  is notified of the incoming call by the mobile terminal  200  through the phone interface  350 , and further alert may be given to the user  1  through the user interface  320  and/or speaker  302 . 
     The user  1  may answer the call in the traditional way by making a call accept command in the user interface  320 , wherein the processing unit  310  accordingly will communicate with the mobile terminal  200  to have the call established and then act to control the audio interface  330  to produce sound through the speaker  302 —corresponding to the voice of the caller  2 —and to receive sound through the microphone  304  as generated by the voice of the user  1 . 
     Alternatively, however, the portable handsfree device  300  may use its local voicemail service and present the caller  2  to the functionality of an answering machine. Whether or not the local voicemail service shall be invoked for an incoming call can be determined in different ways. For instance, a first way is to provide the local voicemail service as an operational mode which can be enabled or disabled by the user  1  of the portable handsfree device  300  through the user interface  320 . When this operational mode is enabled, any incoming call would be subjected to local voicemail service, whereas when disabled, incoming calls would trigger a ringtone and be answerable as usual. A second way is to allow the user  1  some time to answer the incoming call before local voicemail service is invoked. The delay for this may be set by the user  1 , e.g. in the form of x ringtones or y seconds. A third way is to generated ringtones for incoming calls but allow the user  1  to send the incoming call to local voicemail service by performing a command in the user interface  320 . Combinations of these ways are also possible, and so are other ways not explicitly disclosed herein but easily conceivable by a man skilled in the art. 
     When the processing unit  310  in the portable handsfree device  300  invokes local voicemail service, it causes playing of a greeting message to the caller  2  to inform him that he has reached a mailbox service and that he may leave a spoken voicemail message to the intended call recipient. Within the concept of the present invention, this greeting message is made configurable by the user  1 , as will be explained in more detail later. In embodiments of the invention, the greeting message may also serve to notify the caller about the existence of a “whisper mode” like in the aforementioned WO 2006/136266—i.e. that the receiver of the call may listen to the voicemail message as it is being recorded, and may decide to pick up the call if desired. 
     When the greeting message has finished playing, the caller  2  may start leaving his voicemail message (e.g. to explain the reason of his call), which will be recorded by the processing unit  310  as a voicemail entry  362  in the memory unit  360  of the portable handsfree device  300 . In embodiments that offer “whisper mode”, the processing unit  310  will cause playback of the voicemail message, as it is still being recorded, to the user  1  through the audio interface  330 , so that the user  1  may decide whether to answer the call or not. If so, the user  1  and caller  2  may start talking in a normal telephone call conversation once the processing unit  310  has activated the microphone  304 , if required. 
     At any time, the user  1  can listen to a stored voicemail entry  362  by making a request in the user interface  320 . If several voicemail entries  362  are stored in the memory unit  360 , they may typically be listened to, skipped or deleted in a sequential order. 
     When the user  1  requests playback of a stored voicemail entry  362 , the processing unit  310  will read the voicemail entry  362  from the memory unit  360  and control the audio interface  330  to reproduce the corresponding acoustic signal through the loudspeaker  304 . After playback of the stored voicemail entry  362 , it may be kept in or deleted from the memory unit  360  depending on a default setting of a user preference set in the memory unit  360 , or a user command given through the user interface  320 . 
     In accordance with embodiments of the invention, some different and beneficial ways of making the greeting message of the local voicemail service configurable by the user  1  will now be described. 
     In one embodiment, the portable handsfree device  300  is adapted to store several greeting message alternatives  364  in memory areas of the memory unit  360 . When local voicemail service is invoked, the processing unit  310  will select the greeting message to be played to the caller  2  from among the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives  364 . 
     In one refinement of this embodiment, the user  1  may manually select one of the stored greeting message alternatives  364  for use as the greeting message to be played to the caller  2 . To assist the user  1  in this selection, the processing unit  310  is adapted to receive caller identifying information for the incoming voice call from the mobile terminal  200 . In this or other embodiments, such caller identifying information may be the telephone number (A number) of the caller  2 . To this end, the caller identifying information may be communicated over the mobile telecommunications network  110  using existing network functionality known as, for instance, Caller ID, Caller Identification (CID), Calling Number Identification (CNID), or Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP). Some networks similarly allow for communication of the name of the caller  2 , instead of or in addition to his telephone number. 
     If the caller identifying information received from the mobile telecommunications network  110  for the incoming call does contain a telephone number but not an associated name, the mobile terminal  200  may be configured to search for the detected telephone number of the caller  2  in a Contacts application stored in local or remote memory, and to retrieve the corresponding name of the user  2  from a matching entry in the Contacts application. Such retrieved name information may then be included in the caller identifying information sent from the mobile terminal  200  to the portable handsfree device  300 . 
     Upon receipt of the caller identifying information in the portable handsfree device  300 , the processing unit  310  will cause presentation of the caller identifying information, or a part thereof, in the user interface  320 . The presented caller identifying information will assist the user  1  in determining who the caller  2  is, and, in particular, which of the plurality of greeting message alternatives  364  that is best used for this particular caller  2 . 
     The selection may be done in different ways. According to one alternative, the available greeting message alternatives  364  are represented on the display  322 , and the user  1  may use the keys  324  to select the desired alternative. Because of the typical small size of the portable handsfree device  300  and therefore its display  322 , the available greeting message alternatives  364  may be represented as icons, labels or abbreviations on the display  322 . 
     According to another alternative, the available greeting message alternatives  364  in the memory unit  360  are mapped to different ones of the keys  324  in the user interface  320 , for instance such that a first of the keys  324  represents a greeting message alternative which is to be used for family members, whereas a second of the keys  324  represents a greeting message alternative intended for friends, and a third key  324  represents a standard, “official” greeting message intended for all other callers, including unknown ones. 
     Once a greeting message alternative has been selected by the user  1  via the user interface  320 , the processing unit  310  will cause the selected greeting message alternative to be played as the greeting message to the caller  2 . 
     In another refinement of the embodiment referred to above with several greeting message alternatives  364 , the portable handsfree device  300  automatically selects which greeting message alternative to use. This automatic selection is based on received caller identifying information for the incoming voice call from the mobile terminal  200 . The processing unit  310  analyzes the received caller identifying information to determine at least one of a type or an identity of the caller  2 , and then selects the greeting message to be played to the caller from among the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives  364  in the memory unit  360  based on the determined type or identity of the caller  2 . To this end, the memory unit  360  has memory areas for storing defined rules  366 , which associate possible types or identities of callers with different ones of the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives  364 , and the processing unit  310  is adapted to apply these defined rules  366  for selecting the greeting message to be played to the caller  2  from among the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives. 
     For example, the defined rules  366  may categorize different potential callers into different groups, each having its own greeting message alternative  364 . One or more such group(s) may include known telephone numbers (or other kind of caller identifying information) of family members, relatives, friends, etc, whereas one or more other group(s) may include known telephone numbers of professional contacts within for instance business, education or public authorities. 
     In one advantageous improvement, the defined rules  366  are configurable by the user  1 . It is conceived that this may be done through the local user interface  320 , or alternatively—if a more convenient user interface is desired—by means of a settings application run in the mobile terminal  200  or at a remote computer connected to the mobile terminal  200 . In the latter case, any changes made by the user  1  to the defined rules  366  will be received by the processing unit  310  over the phone interface  350  and stored in the memory unit  360 . 
     In one advantageous improvement, the geographical origin, or likely language preference, of the caller  2  is a factor when the portable handsfree device  300  automatically selects which greeting message alternative to use. To accomplish this, the processing unit  310  may detect a telephone number of the caller  2  as included in the caller identifying information, and then the processing unit  310  may be adapted to estimate a language preference of the caller  2  by analyzing at least one of a country code or an area code in the detected telephone number. The stored plurality of greeting message alternatives  364  may include at least two messages in different languages, and the defined rules  366  may specify which greeting message alternative to use for different country codes or area codes. 
     Alternatively, the geographical origin, or likely language preference, of the caller  2  may be determined from a Contacts entry available to the mobile terminal  200 . By receiving, in the caller identifying information from the mobile terminal  200 , information from a contacts book entry associated with the caller  2 , the processing unit  310  may be adapted to estimate a language preference of the caller  2  by analyzing at least one of a country field, an area field, a zip code field or an address field of the received information from the contacts book entry. Again, the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives  364  may include at least two messages in different languages, and the defined rules  366  may specify which greeting message alternative to use for different geographical data derivable from contacts book entries. 
     In one embodiment, the portable handsfree device  300  is adapted to provide the user  1  with a recall feature according to the following. When caller identifying information for the incoming voice call has been received from the mobile terminal  200 ), the processing unit  310  will act to store in the memory unit  360  at least the telephone number of the caller  2  together with the voicemail message  362  recorded by the latter. Subsequently, when having accepted a voicemail message playback command from the user  1  over the user interface  320 , the processing unit  310  will cause playback over the audio interface  330  of the voicemail message  362 , as already described earlier in this document. In addition, the processing unit  310  is adapted to accept a recall command from the user  1  over the user interface  320 , and in response to this cause generation of a voice call back to the caller  2  via the mobile terminal  200 . 
     In one embodiment, the greeting message of the local voicemail service is made configurable by the user  1  in the following way. The processing unit  310  is adapted for accepting over the audio interface  330  a new greeting message as spoken by the user  1 . Using the audio CODEC  332 , the processing unit  310  will store a digital audio representation of the new greeting message in the memory unit  360 . For embodiments which handle a plurality of greeting message alternatives  364 , the digital audio representation may be stored as one of these greeting message alternatives  364 —either replacing an existing one, or being added as a new alternative. For embodiments where the defined rules  366 , which associate possible types or identities of callers with different ones of the stored plurality of greeting message alternatives  364 , are configurable by the user  1 , the user  1  may act to update the defined rules  366  if required. Subsequently, the stored digital audio representation in the memory unit  360  will be read by the processing unit  310  for playing the greeting message to the caller  2  of the incoming voice call. 
     The invention has been described above with reference to some embodiments thereof. However, as is readily understood by a skilled person, other embodiments are also possible within the scope of the present invention, as defined by the appended claims.