At+t Corp.

Mark Meier Rochkind

Lee B Strahs

Brian Dean Freeman

Bruce Lowell Hanson

Karl Andres Siil

Alan I Feiertag

A computer-telephony call which includes encoded voice communication from a calling party to a called party who has a computer capable of receiving the call, within a communication network having a services platform, can be screened by the called party. The call is received at the services platform, within the communications network, where a communication from the calling party is recorded. The communication of the call is routed to the computer of the called party so that the called party can perceive the communication of the call as the communication is being recorded at the services platform.

Method and apparatus for screening computer-telephony calls

A method and apparatus for partitioning each job within a plurality of jobs into stateless tasks. Each job is marked with at least one task divider defining two tasks. Each task divider indicates where, in the job flow, required data is unavailable. For each task divider, state information is preserved, a task is created which tests for availability of the required data, and predefined actions are taken. An initial task is entered into an alert table or an execution queue. When that task executes, it queues subsequent tasks for immediate or delayed execution.

Method for partitioning tasks into stateless elements

An electronic mailbox filters or sorts messages according to personalized or customized rules set by the owner of the mailbox through the use of address extensions. The addressee will assign an address extension to a prospective sender before the sender sends a message. The sender may use this address extension when addressing and sending a message to the addressee. The addressee can also provide a specific sender with multiple address extensions so that the sender could send messages relating to particular topics or projects. The addressee will maintain a look-up table of valid address extensions. This look-up table correlates address extensions with particular levels of priority. The addressee can change the priority associated with particular messages by reassigning the priority associated the corresponding address extension in the look-up table. Thus, even if a sender continues to use a particular address extension in the sending address, the mailbox may no longer treat such messages with the priority level expected by the sender.

Method and apparatus providing personalized mailbox filters

A messaging system is arranged to substitute an alias address for the real address of a messaging subscriber with an unlisted address thereby allowing the subscriber to be known and yet to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of the unlisted address while enabling the subscriber to a) transmit messages to targeted recipients, b) receive reply messages and other types of messages from these recipients, and c) receive spontaneous messages from others with knowledge of the alias address. The messaging system, which may be communicatively coupled to a communications carrier network, comprises a mailbox system for transmitting and receiving messages and a routing database to manage the use of alias addresses.

Unlisted address messaging system

A communications system allows special messages to be transmitted to a wireless device subscriber if certain conditions are met. Identification information authenticating the sender may be sent using an originating device, such as a personal computer with a modem. A location information generating device, such as the ANI generator in a telephone end-office connected by physical telephone wire (local loop) to the computer, generates location information. The identification information and location information are provided to a message platform. The message platform establishes time of day and compares sender identification information, originating device location information, and time of day information to prestored values to determine whether a special prestored message should be sent. If a message should be sent, the message platform initiates message transmission. Message transmission can be initiated if appropriate sender identification and location information are not received within a specified time window. The personal identification information, location information, and time of day information are furnished by three different devices operating independently of each other.

Method and apparatus for initiating wireless messages

A system and method is provided for playing back a recorded voice message, and, in particular, for automatically playing back a spoken numeric portion of the message at a rate that is slower than the rate for playing back the remaining portion of the recorded voice message. A voice messaging system receives and analyzes the voice message. Specifically, the messaging system determines whether the voice message includes spoken numeric information and, if so, determines the relative position of the spoken numeric information within the message. The computer system stores both the voice message and the positional information in a storage device. Upon playback of the message, the messaging system retrieves the stored voice message and positional information from the storage device. As the voice message is played back, the messaging system processes the positional information. When the positional information indicates that a particular portion of a voice message includes spoken numeric information, that particular portion is played back at a decreased speed.

System and method for enhanced intelligibility of voice messages

An improvement in providing simultaneous voice and data communication is achieved by provisioning within the public switched telephone network one or more simultaneous voice/data (SVD) modems that a) can communicate with SVD modems of the network users over a single 'plain old telephone service' (POTS) connection, and b) can separate, and deliver to different destinations the voice and data channels received from an SVD modem. The SVD modems in the network can also combine voice and data traffic from separate sources for transmission together over a single POTS connection to a user's SVD modem. In one embodiment of the invention, an SVD modem pool is provided by an inter-exchange carrier. The voice and data channels of an SVD call are separated at the network side of the SVD modem pool, so that they may be routed to different destinations. The voice channel of the call a) may be routed in the usual manner to a voiceband destination device or b) it may be routed to an SVD modem pool for possible combination with a data channel for delivery to an end-point subscriber who has an SVD modem. The data channel or the call may be routed over the packet network to a) a conventional data device or b) an SVD modem pool for possible combination with a voice channel for delivery to the end-point subscriber who has an SVD modem.

Simultaneous voice and data communications

The disruption on the data channel caused by use of the conventional call waiting feature with simultaneous voice/data (SVD) modems, when the data channel is active, is overcome by employing SVD modems in the public switched telephone network and supplying the call waiting signal over only one of the channels made available by such an SVD modem. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the call waiting signal from the public switched telephone network is supplied by coupling it into the network side of the SVD modems that are provisioned in the public switched telephone network for providing simultaneous voice and data service. Advantageously, a data call that is in progress will not be disturbed by the coupling of an audible signal into the voice channel. Also, since the connection between the user's local SVD modem and the SVD modem in the network to which he is connected can be maintained while changing the source of the data that is coupled to the SVD modem on the network side, it is possible to implement a 'data call waiting' feature as well. Moreover, the fact that a voice call is waiting may be signaled over the voice channel or the data channel and, likewise, the fact that a data call is waiting may be signaled over the voice channel or the data channel.

Method for providing call waiting service

In an environment in which simultaneous voice/data (SVD) modems are provisioned in the public switched network for separating and separately routing voice and data calls from users having SVD modems, at least one user who is already employing a first connection through an SVD modem provisioned in the public switched network, for interacting with a remote destination over one of the two channels provided by an SVD modem, may have a second connection, over the second of the two channels provided by an SVD modem, automatically established for him. The second connection may be established in response to a request by one of the users. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the data channels supplied from each SVD modem of each of said users are routed to a common data application, e.g., a game, and a direct connection is established between the voice channels of the SVD modems in response to a command from the data application in response to the request of one of the users. Such a feature is called 'voice assist' or, in the gaming context, 'talk and play'. A similar 'data assist' feature can to automatically establish a data connection between users who are interacting with a common application over their voice channels. A context-sensitive voice assist feature is also provided to automatically establish a voice connection between a user of an application and an appropriate person, given the context in which the user requests the voice connection.

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Morristown, NJ, United States of America

Mark Meier Rochkind