Providing unified access to voice messages from disparate systems

Abstract

Managing voice messages across multiple voicemail systems. A server acts as a gateway and interacts with multiple voicemail systems and with multiple user devices. The server can retrieve voice messages from one voicemail system and transmit the retrieved voice messages to another separate voicemail system without user assistance. The voice messages are transcoded as necessary. The server also enables a recipient to generate a reply voice message that can be delivered to the original sender's device or delivered to the sender in another manner, such as a Vnote, SMS or an email.

1 . A method for managing voice messages across disparate voicemail systems, the method comprising: 
 accessing a first voicemail system of a user;    retrieving at least one voice message from the first voicemail system;    transmitting the at least one voice message to a second voicemail system of the user, the second voicemail system independent of the first voicemail system; and    updating a status of the at least one message at both the first voicemail system and the second voicemail system.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein accessing a first voicemail system further comprises providing credentials to the voicemail system and providing credentials to the second voicemail system.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein retrieving at least one voice message from the first voicemail system further comprises changing a status of the at least one voice message as the at least one voice message is retrieved.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting the at least one voice message further comprises transcoding the at least one voice message to a format compatible with the second voicemail system.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein transmitting the at least one voice message further comprises transcoding the at least one voice message to a Vnote.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein updating the status of at least one message further comprises updating the status in response to a user action.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the user action comprises listening to a Vnote.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the user action comprises deleting a voice message on a mobile phone.  
   
   
       9 . A method for managing voice messages across disparate voicemail systems, the method comprising: 
 accessing a first voicemail system of a user;    retrieving a voice message from the first voicemail system from a sender, the voice message associated with a first address of the sender;    creating a reply voice message to the voice message;    mapping the first address of the sender to a second address for the, sender; and    transmitting the reply message to the sender using the second address.    
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein mapping the first address of the sender to a second address for the sender further comprises mapping phone number information associated with the voice message to at least one of: a mobile phone number, an email address, a PBX phone number, an IM address, or an MMS address.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein transmitting the reply message further comprises transmitting the reply voice message as at least one of: a reply voice message, a reply Vnote, an attachment in an email, an instant message, or an SMS message or MMS message with instructions to access the reply voice message.  
   
   
       12 . A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing the method of  claim 9 .  
   
   
       13 . A method for replying to a voice message that is retrieved from a voicemail system, the method comprising: 
 transmitting a voice message to a recipient, wherein the voice message was retrieved from a first voicemail box associated with the recipient;    determining that the recipient desires to send a reply voice message to the voice message;    collecting information related to the voice message, the information identifying an original sender of the voice message;    receiving the reply voice message from the recipient; and    transmitting the reply voice message to the caller based on the information collected about the voice message.    
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein transmitting the voice message to a recipient further comprises transmitting the voice message as a Vnote.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein transmitting the voice message to a recipient further comprises transmitting the voice message to a second voicemail box associated with the recipient.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein transmitting the voice message to a recipient further comprises synchronizing a status of the voice message at the first voicemail box and at a second voicemail box.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein transmitting a voice message to a recipient further comprises: 
 monitoring actions performed by the user on a device; and    updating a status of the voice message stored in the first mail box based on the actions performed by the user on the device that receives the voice message.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein transmitting the reply voice message to the caller based on information collected about the voice message further comprises: 
 determining if the first voicemail box is a PBX voicemail system based on a telephone number included in the information; and    transmitting the reply voice message to a PBX voicemail box of the caller through the PBX voicemail system.    
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein transmitting the reply voice message to the caller based on information collected about the voice message further comprises: 
 determining that the telephone number is associated with a mobile device;    identifying capabilities of the mobile device; and    sending the reply voice message as a reply Vnote if the mobile device is enabled for Vnotes.    
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising: 
 storing the reply voice message at an IVR system; and    sending an SMS message or an MMS message to the mobile device if the mobile device is not enabled for Vnotes, either the SMS message or the MMS message including instructions for retrieving the reply voice message from the IVR system.    
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein transmitting the reply voice message to the caller based on information collected about the voice message further comprises: 
 mapping the information to a preferred reply channel; and    transmitting the reply voice message through the reply channel, wherein the reply channel is one of: a Vnote to a mobile device; an email having the voice message as an attachment; an MMS message providing access to an audio portion of the voice message; an instant message; or a voice message.    
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising: 
 transcoding the voice message from a first format to a second format; and    transcoding the reply message from the second format to the first format.    
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising transmitting the reply voice message to a PBX voicemail system associated with the caller, wherein a number for the PBX voicemail system of the caller is stored in a database.  
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the information includes a telephone number associated with the caller.