Patent ID: 8249226

Claim:
A method for connecting telephone calls, the method comprising the steps of: a processor re-directing, to a voicemail system, a telephone call that has been placed by a telephone of a first party to a telephone of a second party and that has not been answered by the telephone of the second party, the voicemail system including a voicemail mailbox for the second party; the processor determining that the telephone of the second party is placing a telephone call to the telephone of the first party while the first party is leaving a voicemail message in the voicemail mailbox for the second party during the re-directed telephone call; the processor sending an inquiry to the telephone of the first party as to whether to switch connectivity on the telephone of the first party from the re-directed telephone call to the telephone call being placed by the second party; and in response to an affirmative response to the inquiry by the first party: the processor connecting, to the telephone of the first party, the telephone call being placed by the second party; and the processor automatically sending a command to the voicemail system to delete the voicemail message from the voicemail mailbox for the second party.