Patent ID: 7684549

Claim:
A message management system comprising: a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone; a broadband network access device communicatively coupled to an interface of the VoIP telephone and operable to form at least a portion of a link communicatively coupling the VoIP telephone to a remote broadband network node; a premises-based answering machine module associated with the VoIP telephone, the premises-based answering machine module comprising a memory populated with a subscriber identifier and updatable call completion rules to manage incoming calls to a subscriber, the updatable call completion rules including a particular updatable call completion rule to selectively save voice messages at a premises of a subscriber, the premises-based answering machine module operable to initiate answering of an incoming VoIP call to the VoIP telephone, playing of a recorded announcement to a calling party, saving a message from the calling party, and presenting a graphical user interface (GUI) element to present information about the incoming VoIP call on a display, wherein the premises-based answering machine module has an address and the VoIP telephone has a different address; and a housing component of the VoIP telephone, the housing component at least partially defining an interior cavity and an exterior surface, wherein at least a portion of the premises-based answering machine module resides in the interior cavity.