System and method for providing configurable, dynamic multimedia message service pre-transcoding

Abstract

System and methods for providing multimedia message service (MMS) interoperability between an initiating carrier and a destination carrier. A transcoding facility receives an MMS message from an initiating carrier and accesses a number portability database to determine an identity of a destination carrier to which the MMS message is intended to be sent and a carrier profile repository to obtain a carrier profile for the destination carrier, the carrier profile including information regarding an MMS format acceptable to the destination carrier. The transcoding facility determines, based on the carrier profile and a format of the MMS message received from the initiating carrier, whether the format of the MMS message received from the initiating carrier must be modified to be effectively received by the destination carrier and, if so, transcodes the MMS message in accordance with the carrier profile to generate a transcoded MMS message, and thereafter sends one of (i) the MMS message received from the initiating carrier and (ii) the transcoded MMS message to the destination carrier.

1 . A method for providing multimedia message service (MMS) interoperability between a first carrier and a second carrier, comprising: 
 receiving an MMS message from a first carrier;    querying a number portability database to determine an identity of a second carrier to which the MMS message is intended to be sent;    querying a carrier profile repository to access a carrier profile for the second carrier, the carrier profile including information regarding an MMS format acceptable to the second carrier;    transcoding the MMS message in accordance with the carrier profile to generate a transcoded MMS message; and    sending the transcoded MMS message to the second carrier.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first carrier is an MMS message initiating carrier.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second carrier is an MMS message destination carrier.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising preliminarily determining whether the step of transcoding is necessary.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the carrier profile repository contains carrier profiles for a plurality of carriers.  
   
   
       6 . A method for providing multimedia message service (MMS) interoperability between an initiating carrier and a destination carrier, comprising: 
 receiving an MMS message from an initiating carrier;    querying a number portability database to determine an identity of a destination carrier to which the MMS message is intended to be sent;    querying a carrier profile repository to access a carrier profile for the destination carrier, the carrier profile including information regarding an MMS format acceptable to the destination carrier;    determining, based on the carrier profile and a format of the MMS message received from the initiating carrier, whether the format of the MMS message received from the initiating carrier must be modified to be effectively received by the destination carrier and, if so, transcoding the MMS message in accordance with the carrier profile to generate a transcoded MMS message; and    sending one of (i) the MMS message received from the initiating carrier and (ii) the transcoded MMS message to the destination carrier.    
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the carrier profile repository contains carrier profiles for a plurality of carriers.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the MMS message received from the initiating carrier is sent to the destination carrier via an MM 4  message.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising sending an SMS message to the destination carrier to alert an intended recipient of a received MMS message.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising sending an email to the destination carrier to alert an intended recipient of a received MMS message.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising delivering the MMS message to a legacy system belonging to the destination carrier.  
   
   
       12 . A system for providing multimedia message service (MMS) interoperability between an initiating carrier and a destination carrier, comprising: 
 A transcoding facility comprising means for receiving an MMS message from an initiating carrier;    a number portability database, in communication with the transcoding facility and configured to determine an identity of a destination carrier to which the MMS message is intended to be sent;    a carrier profile repository also in communication with the transcoding facility and configured to access a previously-stored carrier profile for the destination carrier, the carrier profile including information regarding an MMS format acceptable to the destination carrier;    the transcoding facility configured to determine, based on the carrier profile and a format of the MMS message received from the initiating carrier, whether the format of the MMS message received from the initiating carrier must be modified to be effectively received by the destination carrier and, if so, to transcode the MMS message in accordance with the carrier profile to generate a transcoded MMS message, and thereafter send one of (i) the MMS message received from the initiating carrier and (ii) the transcoded MMS message to the destination carrier.