Patent ID: 6870830

Claim:
A system for communicating messages comprising: a data network to provide data connectivity for a plurality of data communications channels using data transport protocols; first, second and third data network telephones connected to the data network, each of the first, second and third data network telephones operable to communicate a voice signal as voice-over-data packets on a voice-over-data channel, the voice over data channel being one of the plurality of data communications channel on the data network, each data network telephone operable to convert voice-over-data packets communicated on the voice-over-data channel to voice signals; a messaging application connected to the data network, the messaging application adapted to detect a first voice over data channel between the first data network telephone and the second data network telephone, to estalish a messaging media connection comprising a second data communications channel to the first data network telephone, to receive data messages from the third data network telephone and to send the data messages to the first data network telephone; a contact list comprising at least one contact user identifier, wherein the messaging application is adapted to establish a data channel to each of the at least one contact user identifier; a contacts detector to detect a data communications channel with the at least one of the contact user identifier; and a contacts reporter operable to communicate a report data message to the first telephone, the report data message comprising selected ones of the at least one contact user identifier with whom the first telephone may communicate messages.