Patent ID: 8031846

Claim:
An electronic mail gateway to facilitate delivery of cross-media messages from an online information service to a telecommunications service comprising: an electronic mail messaging system of an online information service for managing electronic mail messages addressed to subscribers of said online information service; a subscriber profile database for storing rules to be applied to electronic mail messages arriving at said electronic mail messaging system, said rules comprising subscriber preferences for receiving electronic mail messages at a telecommunications service; a telecommunications service mailbox associated with said electronic mail messaging system for delivering to said telecommunication service electronic mail messages addressed to said subscribers of said online information service; an electronic mail distributor connected to said electronic mail messaging system for: (1) applying said rules to electronic mail messages addressed to said subscribers of said online information service arriving at said electronic mail messaging system; (2) accessing a telecommunications service routing information database to locate routing information for said telecommunications service mailbox; and (3) modifying said electronic mail messages according to said routing information for routing of said electronic mail messages to said telecommunications service mailbox for receipt by a computer at said telecommunications service that facilitates access to said electronic mail messages by subscribers specifying a preference for receiving electronic mail messages at said telecommunications service.