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:
Oct. 28, 2003
Filed:
Jan. 29, 1999
Stephen C. O'Neal, San Francisco, CA (US);
George Alex Terry, San Francisco, CA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
An integrated message system receives and stores telephonic and data messages through a telephony-centric network and a data-centric network, respectively, and provides voice access through the data-centric network. As a result, the familiar message access of an ordinary telephony-centric network is provided through a data-centric network, e.g., the Internet. As a result, a user's messages can be retrieved via a voice interface through the Internet from anywhere in the world toll-free. In addition, the message system provides a gateway to the telephony-centric network, e.g., the public switched telephone network, such that the user can respond to messages from anywhere in the world through the Internet for the same toll charges that would accrue to the user for responding to the messages from home or the home office.