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:
Apr. 11, 2006
Filed:
Jun. 28, 2001
David A. Scott, Norcross, GA (US);
Stephen R. Lapierre, Union City, GA (US);
Joseph M. Knoerle, Atlanta, GA (US);
Vernon Meadows, Lilburn, GA (US);
David A. Scott, Norcross, GA (US);
Stephen R. LaPierre, Union City, GA (US);
Joseph M. Knoerle, Atlanta, GA (US);
Vernon Meadows, Lilburn, GA (US);
BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation, Wilmington, DE (US);
Abstract
This invention is directed to a system and method for providing a status notification and reply for a message in a communications network. An embodiment of this invention is a voicemail system, which provides a caller in a telecommunications network with the option of requesting a status notification and reply for a voicemail message when the recording of the message is complete. By requesting status notification and reply, the caller is indicating that the voicemail system should track any actions related to the message that occur within the voicemail system. The caller also specifies a destination identifier, which includes formatting and addressing information that the voicemail system uses for subsequent notification and for communicating any reply to the message. As actions are taken in relation to the message, the voicemail system creates disposition identifiers and associates these identifiers with the message. When a triggering event occurs, such as the recipient deleting the message, the voicemail system retrieves the disposition identifiers to generate the status notification and sends the status notification in the format and to the address specified by the destination identifier. If the recipient replies to the message, the voicemail system also communicates the reply in the format and to the address specified by the destination identifier.