At+t Corp.

Salvatore R Di Rubbo

Paul F Gibilisco

Richard L Mansdoerfer, Jr

Stephan R Bash

When a caller making a collect call encounters a busy called party or one that does not answer after a prescribed time, the telephone network offers the caller the opportunity to store a voice message in a messaging system at no charge to the caller. After the caller stores a message, one or more attempts are made to establish a connection between the messaging system and the called party's telephone. This may be done by periodically alerting the called party's telephone when it is in an on-hook state. When the called party answers, e.g., by going off-hook, the messaging system informs the called party that a collect voice message awaits him and asks if he is willing to pay to receive same. If the called party signals that he is willing to pay to receive the voice message, the messaging system plays the stored voice message from the collect caller and signals the telephone network to charge the account of the called party for supplying the message. If the called party signals that he is unwilling to pay to receive the voice message, the message is not delivered.

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Port Murray, NJ, United States of America

Salvatore R Di Rubbo