Patent ID: 8548438

Claim:
A method for managing incoming voicemail messages at a visual voicemail system, the method comprising: receiving, at the visual voicemail system, a new voicemail message for a voicemail account associated with a mobile device; in response to receiving the new voicemail message, generating, by the visual voicemail system, a deposit notification message that is directed to the mobile device to inform the mobile device that the new voicemail message is available for download; sending, by the visual voicemail system, the notification message to the mobile device; receiving, at the visual voicemail system, a request from the mobile device, the request being for voicemail message header information; sending, by the visual voicemail system, the voicemail message header information to the mobile device, wherein the mobile device is configured to utilize the voicemail message header information to determine a status for each voicemail message stored on the mobile device and to identify, based upon the status for each voicemail message stored on the mobile device, the new voicemail message; receiving, at the visual voicemail system, a request for the new voicemail message; and sending, by the visual voicemail system, the new voicemail message to the mobile device.