Patent ID: 7308083

Claim:
A message retrieval subsystem that provides streaming audio in a distributed voice messaging system, the subsystem comprising: a voice extensible mark-up language browser having an application programming interface; a message server communicatively coupled to the application programming interface, the message server configured to receive a request to open a connection from a client process operative on the voice extensible mark-up language browser, spawn a thread to enable the connection, use the thread to queue one or more subscriber requests for respective blocks of audio information, remove the one or more subscriber requests from the queue, process the one or more subscriber requests, and use the thread to forward a retrieved block of audio information to a subscriber; and a message library comprising: an upper library having an interface that encapsulates device-specific logic; and a lower library having an interface in communication with a storage device under the management and control of a message store, wherein the upper library is communicatively coupled to the message server, interposed between the message server and the lower library, and isolates the voice extensible mark-up language browser from a streaming protocol used to access a stored message.