Patent ID: 8571584

Claim:
In a communication system, a method of initiating delivery of an instant voice message to a recipient device, comprising: receiving a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message for a recipient from a sender device at a message server without the sender device placing a call to the recipient, the sender device associated with a messaging service that includes the message server and an interactive voice response (IVR) system, the MMS message designating a recipient, wherein the sender device is associated with the message server and the recipient device is not associated with the message server; determining the content of the MMS message; if the MMS message includes audio content, storing the audio content in an interactive voice response (IVR) system; initiating transmission of a Short Message Service (SMS) notification to the recipient device, the SMS notification including information permitting the recipient device to access the IVR system; and transmitting the stored audio content from the IVR system to the recipient device.