Patent ID: 7187759

Claim:
A voice mail screening method for a communication system comprising the steps of: making a call by a calling subscriber to a called subscriber wherein the call is routed through one of a mobile switching center (MSC) or through an internet protocol multi-media system; determining whether the called subscriber has a voice mail screening feature; transferring the call if routed through the mobile switching center (MSC) to the internet protocol multi-media system; transferring control of the call from the internet protocol multi-media system to a voice screening server (VSS); initiating recording of a voice message from the calling subscriber to the voice screening server; sending an offer message recorded by the voice screening server (VSS) to the called subscriber through the internet protocol multi-media system, wherein the offer message is a portion of the voice message previously recorded from the calling subscriber; and indicating by the called subscriber whether the called subscriber will accept the call.