Patent ID: 7184786

Claim:
A method of multi-modal communication comprising: generating an SMS message, wherein the underlying content that is to be represented in the form of an SMS message comprises at least one of: text; and audio; sending the SMS message to a recipient; and the recipient opening the SMS message on a device that supports the rendering of both said text and said audio to retrieve the content of the SMS message, wherein at least one of the following holds: the underlying content represented in the form of the SMS message comprises said audio, and wherein the SMS message comprises a link to listen to said audio; the underlying content represented in the form of the SMS message comprises said text and said audio, and wherein the SMS message comprises said text and a link to listen to said audio; and the underlying content represented in the form of the SMS message comprises said text and the recipient takes an action to have the text synthesized as audio, wherein: the underlying content represented in the form of the SMS message comprises said audio, and wherein the SMS message comprises a link to listen to said audio, wherein said link refers to a first platform that is enabled to identify, and cause to be retrieved, a stored form of said audio based on information contained in the link or based on identity of the SMS message, wherein the first platform causes a second platform on which said audio is stored to be retrieved and synthesized, and wherein the second platform transmits said audio to a telephone set operated by said recipient without said audio passing through said first platform.