The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 16, 1993
Filed:
Jun. 01, 1990
Scott A Jones, Cambridge, MA (US);
Donald F Picard, Medford, MA (US);
James A Hamilton, Carlisle, MA (US);
Eric A Houston, Cambridge, MA (US);
Stephen R Kowal, Arlington, MA (US);
Boston Technology, Inc., Wakefield, MA (US);
Abstract
A pay telephone message system is disclosed that includes a voice message system storing and forwarding to a destination telephone a voice message left by a user. Call information including the destination telephone number is routed out-of-band, that is, in a data or service request channel separate from the voice channel, over a packet concentrator network separate from the voice telephone network. During operation a message telephone call is placed to the voice message system over the existing telephone network. The call information is routed over the concentrator network as a voice message service request. The voice message system returns a token, a call identifier or service request number, corresponding to the service request to the pay telephone interface making the request and handling the pay telephone call. The interface sends the token in-band over the telephone network to the voice message system prior to allowing the pay telephone user to store a message. The token allows the voice message system to correlate the incoming voice message with the call information.