Dynamic voicemail receptionist system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9350843-B2
Application number	US-201514669372-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 26, 2015
Priority date	Mar 23, 2007
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

A voicemail receptionist system includes a memory and a processor. The memory can store data relating to one or more users. An incoming communication can be handled by the voicemail receptionist system and provided with functionality based upon a user's preferences, for example. The data stored by the voicemail receptionist system can be updated at any time, or automatically updated upon updating of the data, or upon occurrence of a trigger event. Voicemail receptionist functionality can include standard voicemail system functionality as well as functionality relating to email, text messaging, MMS messaging, calendar features, schedule announcements, location data, as well as other features.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a server comprising a processor, a communication from a wireless communications device associated with a calling party, the communication directed to a user;
retrieving, by the processor, user data associated with the user;
generating, by the processor, a first menu option for the calling party based on the user data associated with the user, wherein the first menu option allows the calling party to listen to calendar data associated with the user, and wherein the calendar data comprises data indicating at least one of an appointment associated with the user, free time associated with the user, busy time associated with the user, or vacation time associated with the user;
transmitting, by the server comprising the processor, the first menu option to the wireless communications device associated with the calling party;
receiving, by the server comprising the processor, a response from the calling party;
determining, by the server comprising the processor, whether the response from the calling party corresponds to the first menu option transmitted to the wireless communications device associated with the calling party; and
if the response does not correspond to the first menu option transmitted to the wireless communications device associated with the calling party, informing, by the server comprising the processor, the calling party that the response is unavailable.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user data comprises user preferences and the calendar data, and wherein at least a portion of the calendar data is provided to the calling party in response to a selection of the first menu option.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a second menu option allowing the calling party to access location data associated with the user, wherein at least a portion of the location data is provided to the calling party in response to a selection of the second menu option.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication from the calling party to the user is a voice communication, and wherein the method further comprises:
receiving call data associated with the calling party;
determining, based on the call data associated with the calling party, that the wireless communications device associated with the calling party does not support simultaneous voice and data communications; and
in response to determining that the wireless communications device associated with the calling party does not support simultaneous voice and data communications,
terminating the voice communication,
initiating a data session with the wireless communications device of the calling party, and
transmitting the first menu option to the wireless communications device of the calling party using the data session.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a second menu option allowing the calling party to provide contact information associated with the calling party to the user.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a second menu option allowing the calling party to send a voicemail message to the user, a third menu option allowing the calling party to send an email message to the user, and a fourth menu option allowing the calling party to send a short message service message to the user.

7. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
retrieving, in response to receiving a communication from a wireless communications device associated with a calling party directed to a user, user data associated with the user,
generating a first menu option for the calling party based on the user data associated with the user, wherein the first menu option allows the calling party to listen to calendar data associated with the user, and wherein the calendar data comprises data indicating at least one of an appointment associated with the user, free time associated with the user, busy time associated with the user, or vacation time associated with the user,
transmitting the first menu option to the wireless communications device associated with the calling party for display at the wireless communications device,
receiving a response from the calling party,
determining whether the response from the calling party corresponds to the first menu option transmitted to the wireless communications device associated with the calling party,
if the response does not correspond to the first menu option transmitted to the wireless communications device associated with the calling party, informing the calling party that the response is unavailable, and
if the response does correspond to the first menu option, executing the response.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the user data comprises user preferences and the calendar data, and wherein at least a portion of the calendar data is provided to the calling party in response to a selection of the first menu option.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise generating a second menu option allowing the calling party to access location data associated with the user, wherein at least a portion of the location data is provided to the calling party in response to a selection of the second menu option.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the communication from the calling party to the user is a voice communication, and wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving call data associated with the calling party;
determining, based on the call data associated with the calling party, that the wireless communications device associated with the calling party does not support simultaneous voice and data communications; and
in response to determining that the wireless communications device associated with the calling party does not support simultaneous voice and data communications,
terminating the voice communication,
initiating a data session with the wireless communications device of the calling party, and
transmitting the first menu option to the wireless communications device of the calling party using the data session.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise generating a second menu option allowing the calling party to provide contact information associated with the calling party to the user.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise generating a second menu option allowing the calling party to send a voicemail message to the user, a third menu option allowing the calling party to send an email message to the user, and a fourth menu option allowing the calling party to send a short message service message to the user.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
retrieving, in response to receiving a communication from a wireless communications device associated with a calling party to a user, user data associated with the user;
generating a first menu option for the calling party based on the user data associated with the user, wherein the first menu option allows the calling party to listen to calendar data associated with the user, and wherein the calendar data comprises data indicating at least one of an appointment associated with the user, free time associated with the user, busy time associated with the user, or vacation time associated with the user;
transmitting the first menu option to the wireless communications device associated with the calling party for display at the wireless communications device;
receiving

Assignees

• At & T Mobility Ii Llc

Inventors

• Swanburg Scott
• Okada Andre
• Hanson Paul
• Young Chris

Classifications

• H04M2203/2072

  Schedules, e.g. personal calendars · CPC title

• H04W4/12

  Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements · CPC title

• H04L51/046

  Interoperability with other network applications or services · CPC title

• H04M3/42357

  where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server · CPC title

• H04L67/1095

  Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes · CPC title