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:
May. 28, 2002
Filed:
Nov. 02, 1998
John Joseph O'Donovan, Galway, IE;
Jeff Williams, Scarborough, CA;
Brian Cruickshank, Oakville, CA;
Lloyd Florence, Toronto, CA;
Nortel Networks Limited, St. Laurent, CA;
Abstract
An apparatus and method for transferring a message from a calling party to an unavailable telephonically called party. The method comprises the steps of inititating a call to the called party over a communications channel, identifying that the called party is not available and instructing the calling entity to record the message at the calling entity and after recording to transmit the message to the called entity as a data message via a data channel for reception by the called entity. The system reduces the use of the voice/telephone communications networks by allowing a voice message to be transmitted through data channels, reducing the amount of voice traffic on the voice communication lines. The fact that the original voice message was actually stored with the calling entity after the telephone voice communication had been discontinued is transparent to both the calling party and the called party. Greetings for the called party can be stored at a messaging system of the calling entity.