SAMSUNG EXHIBIT 1043
`Samsung Electronics America, Inc. v. Uniloc Luxembourg, S.A.
`IPR2017-01800
`
`Page 1 of 23
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 12, 2012
`
`Sheet 1 of 9
`
`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`100
`
`116
`
`120
`= VoIP
`102
`=~|swITCH
`
`—F08
`-
`\E=]_[4-=fhi06 =
`IPNETWORK
`
`
`(INTERNET) es|Tea Co
`a
`— “VoIP
`TT}
`114
`PHONE
`GATEWAY
`bodGATEWAY
`104
`——
`EI LEGACY Cos
`
`:
`112
`
`devemnrarh
`
`110
`
`Sia| LEGACY
`eH PHONE
`
`FIG. 1
`(PRIOR ART)
`
`
`0
`SOFTPHONE
`
`Page 2 of 23
`
`Page 2 of 23
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 12, 2012
`
`Sheet 2 of 9
`
`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`216
`
`200
`
`214 IVM CLIENT
`
`(VoIP
`PHONE)
`
`FIG, 2
`
`Page 3 of 23
`
`Page 3 of 23
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 12, 2012
`
`Sheet 3 of 9
`
`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`T¥OO1OLTVOO1HATONVE|og¢
`
`
`WAAWASWAI—~=:
`
`a“WHOMIANdtVLogra|
`
`y602ONIDVSSAIN
`
`||a|asof,
`z1¢NOLViaO01g~JDSN|FTO1aAYnO)|WOVNVAL
`
`
`802
`
`oz¢
`
`Page 4 of 23
`
`
`
`ref(asvaseTCEWE)wiwa
`
`INaWNOOU
`
`WHISAS
`
`€DIF
`
`Page 4 of 23
`
`
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 12, 2012
`
`Sheet 4 of 9
`
`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`20
`
`
`
`MHAVTTOXINOD
`
`
`
`
`
`WaOd1V'IdNOLLYOINIININODSHAaHS
`
`COP
`
`OCF
`
`Page 5 of 23
`
`RIVERSMATHS|
`
`aSVavLVa
`
`YEDYNVN
`
`viv
`
`|ASV
`
`“VIVE
`
`OzP
`
`ONIONSMAANHS
`
`
`
`(740ONTHOLIMS)
`
`p0E
`
`DNISVSSAA
`
`WHISAS
`
`TWOOT
`
`WAIOL
`
`WEOMLEN
`SINATT)
`802“907
`
`
`
`
`
`SUAANASTHINGIddns
`
`PvDIA
`
`Page 5 of 23
`
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 12, 2012
`
`Sheet 5 of 9
`
`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`LNSTIOWAI
`
`(ANOHd
`dA)
`
`ps
`
`WOO
`
`NHTTOWAL
`
`806 SRIOMLANdl
`
`WHISA
`
`WAAWASWee—=
`
`
`
`pc~te_
`
`\SOALLAINdl
`
`
`
`*(LANYELND
`
`Page 6 of 23
`
`Page 6 of 23
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 12, 2012
`
`Sheet 6 of 9
`
`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`
`
`WALTYE019
`
`WAAWAS
`
`WALSKS
`
`9“DIA
`
`COS
`
`OTS
`
`Page 7 of 23
`
`Page 7 of 23
`
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 12, 2012
`
`Sheet 7 of 9
`
`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`
`
` vol|YAANAS|WaO:LLIVTdNOLLVOINNIAINOD
`
`ANION
`
`804
`
`TYOOT
`
`aaAdHS
`
`
`
`"YOVNVN
`
`JNA
`
`qHOVNVA
`
`DNIDVSSHA
`
`WALSAS
`
`LDI
`
`HSVEVIVd
`
`YHOVNVA
`
`cI
`
`BOVSSHNi
`
`HSVaVIVG
`
`cOL
`
`909“P09
`
`IL
`
`Page 8 of 23
`
`Page 8 of 23
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 12, 2012
`
`Sheet 8 of 9
`
`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`ANIONv8WIAWS
`TIOUSNVULO18
`WOVNVA
`8Did
`
`
`
`WaOdIV’IdNOLLVOINNAWOD
`
`
`
`ooONIOVSSAN
`iUSOVNVAL|_||HBOVNVA
`
`
`Lone|||WIAYASWALSXSTYOOTwasn
`
`208
`
`cts
`
`ct
`
`aYOMLAN
`
`(CANWHLLND
`
`Page 9 of 23
`
`Page 9 of 23
`
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 12, 2012
`
`Sheet 9 of 9
`
`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`918
`
`920
`
`922
`
`900
`
`924
`
`926
`
`928
`
`[DISI
`
`
`
`HEEL)CEE]||OC suevensyste pe
`34
`
`Page 10 of 23
`
`Page 10 of 23
`
`

`

`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`1
`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INSTANT VOIP
`MESSAGING
`
`CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED
`APPLICATION
`
`This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
`No. 10/740,030 fled on Dec. 18, 2003, the entire contents of
`which are incorporated herein by this reference.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Technical Field of the Invention
`The present invention generally relates to Internet tele-
`phony (IP telephony). More particularly, the present inven-
`tion is directed to a system and methodfor enabling local and
`global instant VoIP messaging over an IP network,such as the
`Internet, with PSTN support.
`2. Description of the Prior Art
`Traditional telephony is based on a public switchedtele-
`phone network (i.e., “PSTN’). In the PSTN, a telephone
`terminalis electrically connected to a conventional or legacy
`switch. The telephone terminal and the legacy switch com-
`municate via a proprietary protocol, which may be different
`depending on the vendorofthe legacy switch. Circuit switch-
`ing provides acommunication path (i.e., dedicated circuit) for
`atelephone call from the telephone terminal to another device
`over the PSTN,including another telephone terminal. During
`the telephonecall, voice communication takes place over that
`communication path.
`An alternative to the PSTNis Voice over Internet Protocol
`
`(i.e., “VoIP”’), also known as IP telephony or Internet tele-
`phony. In the IP telephony, a VoIP terminal device is con-
`nected to a packet-switched network(e.g., Internet) and voice
`communication from the VoIP terminal device is digitized,
`packetized and transmitted over the packet-switched network
`to a destination VoIP terminal device, which reconstructs the
`packets and audibly plays, stores or otherwise processes the
`transmission. The VoIP terminal device may be a VoIPtele-
`phoneor a general-purpose personal computer (PC) enabled
`for IP telephony. More specifically, the PC is programmed
`with the software and equipped with audio input/output
`devices (e.g., a combination of microphone and speakeror a
`headset) to serve as a VoIP terminal device. The PC so enabled
`and equipped will herein be referred to as a VoIP terminal
`device or a VoIP softphone.
`FIG.1 is an illustrative example of a prior art IP telephony
`system 100. The IP telephony system 100 comprises a packet-
`switched IP network 102, such as the Internet, which trans-
`mits VoIP traffic from andto a plurality of terminal devices
`104, 106 and 110. Terminal device 104 is a VoIP softphone
`that is enabled for IP telephony over the network 102. Termi-
`nal device 106 is a VoIP telephone, which is connected to the
`network 102 via a softswitch 108. The VoIP softswitch 108is
`
`disposed on the packet-switched network(e.g., Internet) 102
`between an origination terminal device (such as VoIP soft-
`phone 104) and a destination terminal device (such as VoIP
`telephone 106), and routes packets over the packet-switched
`IP network 102. The softswitch 108 may also manage and
`perform administrative functions for the terminal device or
`devices (e.g., VoIP telephone 106) to which it is connected.
`Whetherthe terminal device is a VoIP softphone 104 or a VoIP
`telephone 106, the terminal device is connected to the IP
`network 102 via a networking standard such as Ethernet,
`Bluetooth, IEEE 1394 (also known as “Firewire”), IEEE
`802.11 (also known as “WiF?’), or networking over serial
`communication channels such as the Universal Serial Bus
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`2
`(i.e., “USB”). Data communication over the network then
`takes place using a connection protocol, e.g., transfer control
`protocol/Internet protocol (1.e., “TCP/IP”).
`Further regarding FIG. 1, terminal device 110 is a legacy
`telephonethatis connected to a legacy switch 112 for (circuit-
`switched) voice communications over the PSTN 116 with
`other terminal devices. A media gateway 114 maybe pro-
`vided betweenthe legacy switch 112 and the packet-switched
`network 102 to enable IP telephony between the legacytele-
`phone 110 and a VoIP terminal device, such as a VoIP soft-
`phone 104 or VoIP telephone 106. More specifically, the
`media gateway 114 converts the audio signal carried over
`PSTN to packets carried over the packet-switched IP network
`102. In addition, a media gateway 118 maybe disposed over
`the PSTN 116 and connected to a softswitch 120 to convert
`
`the audio signal from the legacy telephone 110 to packets
`routed over the IP network 102 via the softswitch 120.
`
`Voice messaging in both the VoIP and PSTN is known.
`More specifically, the foregoing systems may be provided
`with a facility to allow users to leave voice messages for
`recipients, which is a feature that is familiar to anyone who
`uses a telephone. Conventionally, leaving a voice message
`involves dialing the recipient’s telephone number (often
`without knowing whetherthe recipient will answer), waiting
`for the connection to be established, speaking to an operator
`or navigating through a menuofoptions, listening to a greet-
`ing message, and recording the message for later pickup by
`the recipient. In that message, the user must typically identify
`himself or herself in order for the recipient to return thecall.
`Instant text messaging is likewise known. More specifi-
`cally, a user is provided with a client terminal, which is
`typically a general-purpose PC programmed with instant text
`messaging software and in data communication over an IP
`network with an instant text-messaging server. The instant
`text-messaging server presents the user, via the client termi-
`nal, with a list of persons who are currently “online” and
`ready to receive text messages on their own client terminals.
`The user then uses the client terminal to select one or more
`
`persons to whom the message will be sent and types in a text
`message. The text message is sent immediately via the text-
`messaging server to the selected one or more personsandis
`displayed on their respective client terminals.
`However, notwithstanding the foregoing advancesin the
`VoIP/PSTN voice communication and voice/text messaging,
`there is still a need in the art for providing a system and
`method for providing instant VoIP messaging over an IP
`network. More particularly, there is a need in the art for
`providing local and global instant voice messaging over VoIP
`with PSTN support.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention is directed to a system and method
`for enabling local and global instant VoIP messaging over an
`IP network, such as the Internet.
`According to an embodiment of the present invention,
`there is provided an instant voice messaging system for deliv-
`ering instant messages over a packet-switched network, the
`system comprising: a client connected to the network, the
`client selecting one or morerecipients, generating an instant
`voice message therefor, and transmitting the selected recipi-
`ents and the instant voice messagetherefor over the network;
`and a server connectedto the network, the server receiving the
`selected recipients andthe instant voice messagetherefor, and
`delivering the instant voice messageto the selected recipients
`over the network, the selected recipients being enabled to
`audibly play the instant voice message.
`
`Page 11 of 23
`
`Page 11 of 23
`
`

`

`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`3
`According to another embodimentofthe present invention,
`there is provided an instant voice messaging system for deliv-
`ering instant messages over a packet-switched network
`enabling public switched telephone network (PSTN) support,
`the system comprising: a PSTN telephone connected to the
`network for providing input audio; a client connected to the
`network,the client selecting one or more recipients, generat-
`ing an instant voice message therefor using the input audio
`provided by the PSTN telephone, and transmitting the
`selected recipients and the instant voice message therefor
`over the network; a server connected to the network, the
`server receiving the selected recipients and the instant voice
`messagetherefor, and delivering the instant voice message to
`the selected recipients over the network, the selected recipi-
`ents being enabledto audibly play the instant voice message.
`According to a further embodiment of the present inven-
`tion, there is provided an instant voice messaging system for
`delivering instant messages over a packet-switched network,
`the system comprising: a voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP)
`telephone connectedto the networkfor providing input audio;
`a client connected to the network, the client selecting one or
`morerecipients, generating an instant voice message therefor
`using the input audio provided by the VoIP telephone, and
`transmitting the selected recipients and the instant voice mes-
`sage therefor over the network; a server connected to the
`network, the server receiving the selected recipients and the
`instant voice message therefor, and delivering the instant
`voice messageto the selected recipients over the network, the
`selected recipients being enabled to audibly play the instant
`voice message.
`According to still another embodiment of the present
`invention, there is provided an instant voice messaging sys-
`tem for delivering instant messages overa plurality ofpacket-
`switched networks, the system comprising: a client con-
`nected to a local network, the client selecting one or more
`external recipients connected to an external network outside
`the local network, generating an instant voice messagethere-
`for, and transmitting the selected recipients and the instant
`voice message therefor over the local network andthe exter-
`nal network; and a server connected to the external network,
`the server receiving the selected recipients and the instant
`voice message therefor, and delivering the instant voice mes-
`sage to the selected recipients over the external network, the
`selected recipients being enabled to audibly play the instant
`voice message.
`Accordingto yet another embodimentofthe present inven-
`tion, there is provided an instant voice messaging system for
`delivering instant messages over a plurality of packet-
`switched networks enabling public switched telephone net-
`work (PSTN) support, the system comprising: a PSTNtele-
`phone connectedto a local networkfor providing input audio;
`a client connected to the local network,the client selecting
`one or more external recipients connected to an external
`network outside the local network, generating an instant
`voice message therefor using the input audio provided by the
`PSTNtelephone, and transmitting the selected recipients and
`the instant voice message therefor over the local network and
`the external network; a server connected to the external net-
`work, the server receiving the selected recipients and the
`instant voice message therefor, and delivering the instant
`voice message to the selected recipients over the external
`network,the selected recipients being enabled to audibly play
`the instant voice message.
`According to yet a further embodiment of the present
`invention, there is provided an instant voice messaging sys-
`tem for delivering instant messages overa plurality ofpacket-
`switched networks, the system comprising: a voice-over-in-
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`4
`telephone connected to a local
`(VoIP)
`ternet-protocol
`network for providing input audio; a client connected to the
`local network,the client selecting one or more externalrecipi-
`ents connected to an external network outside the local net-
`work, generating an instant voice message therefor using the
`input audio provided by the VoIP telephone, and transmitting
`the selected recipients and the instant voice message therefor
`over the local network and the external network; an server
`connectedto the external network, the external server receiv-
`ing the selected recipients and the instant voice message
`therefor, and delivering the instant voice message to the
`selected recipients over the external network, the selected
`recipients being enabled to audibly play the instant voice
`message.
`According to still a further embodiment of the present
`invention, there is provided an instant voice messaging sys-
`tem fordelivering instant messagesovera plurality ofpacket-
`switched networks, the system comprising: a client con-
`nected to an external network, the client selecting one or more
`recipients connectedto a local network, generating an instant
`voice message therefor, and transmitting the selected recipi-
`ents and the instant voice message therefor over the external
`network; an external server system connectedto the external
`network, the external server system receiving the selected
`recipients and the instant voice message, and routing the
`selected recipients and the instant voice message over the
`external network and the local network; a local server con-
`nected to the local network, the local server receiving the
`selected recipients andthe instant voice messagetherefor, and
`delivering the instant voice messageto the selected recipients
`over the local network, the selected recipients being enabled
`to audibly play the instant voice message.
`According to an embodiment of the present invention,
`there is provided a methodfor instant voice messaging over a
`packet-switched network, the method comprising: selecting
`one or morerecipients for instant voice messagingat a client;
`generating an instant voice messagefor the selected recipi-
`ents at the client; transmitting the selected recipients and the
`instant voice message therefor over the network from the
`client to a server; receiving the selected recipients and the
`instant voice message therefor at the server; delivering the
`instant voice message from the server to the selected recipi-
`ents over the network; and audibly playing the instant voice
`messageat the selected recipients.
`According to another embodimentofthe present invention,
`there is provided a methodfor instant voice messaging over a
`packet-switched network enabling public switched telephone
`network (PSTN) support, the method comprising: providing
`input audio via a PSTN telephone connected over the net-
`work; selecting one or more recipients for instant voice mes-
`saging at a client; generating an instant voice message using
`the input audio from the PSTN telephone for the selected
`recipients at the client; transmitting the selected recipients
`and the instant voice message therefor over the network from
`the client to a server; receiving the selected recipients and the
`instant voice message therefor at the server; delivering the
`instant voice message from the server to the selected recipi-
`ents over the network; and audibly playing the instant voice
`messageat the selected recipients.
`According to a further embodiment of the present inven-
`tion, there is provided a method for instant voice messaging
`over a packet-switched network, the method comprising: pro-
`viding input audio via a voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP)
`telephone connected over the network; selecting one or more
`recipients for instant voice messaging at a client; generating
`an instant voice message using the input audio from the VoIP
`telephoneforthe selected recipientsat the client; transmitting
`
`Page 12 of 23
`
`Page 12 of 23
`
`

`

`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`5
`the selected recipients and the instant voice messagetherefor
`over the network from the client to a server; receiving the
`selected recipients and the instant voice message thereforat
`the server; delivering the instant voice message from the
`serverto the selected recipients over the network; and audibly
`playing the instant voice messageat the selected recipients.
`According to still another embodiment of the present
`invention, there is provided a method for instant voice mes-
`saging over a plurality of packet-switched networks,
`the
`method comprising: selecting one or more externalrecipients
`for instant voice messaging at a client connected to a local
`network, the one or more external recipients connected to an
`external network outside the local network; generating an
`instant voice message for the selected external recipients at
`the client; transmitting the selected external recipients and the
`instant voice messagetherefor over the local network and the
`external network; receiving the selected external recipients
`and the instant voice message therefor at an external server
`connected to the external network; delivering the instant
`voice message to the selected external recipients over the
`external network; and audibly playing the instant voice mes-
`sage at the selected external recipients.
`Accordingto yet another embodimentofthe present inven-
`tion, there is provided a method for instant voice messaging
`system overa plurality ofpacket-switched networks enabling
`public switched telephone network (PSTN) support,
`the
`method comprising: providing input audio via a PSTNtele-
`phone connected to a local network; selecting one or more
`external recipients for instant voice messagingat a client, the
`one or more external recipients connected to an external
`network outside the local network; generating an instant
`voice message for the one or more external recipients using
`the input audio provided by the PSTN telephone; transmitting
`the selected recipients and the instant voice messagetherefor
`over the local network and the external network; receiving the
`selected recipients and the instant voice messagethereforat a
`server connected to the external network; delivering the
`instant voice message to the selected recipients from the
`server over the external network; and audibly playing the
`instant voice messageat the selected recipients.
`According to still a further embodiment of the present
`invention, there is provided a method for instant voice mes-
`saging system overa plurality of packet-switched networks,
`the method comprising: providing input audio via a voice-
`over-internet-protocol (VoIP) telephone connectedto a local
`network; selecting one or more external recipients for instant
`voice messaging at a client, the one or more external recipi-
`ents connected to an external network outside the local net-
`work; generating an instant voice messagefor the one or more
`external recipients using the input audio provided by the VoIP
`telephone; transmitting the selected recipients and the instant
`voice message therefor over the local network andthe exter-
`nal network; receiving the selected recipients and the instant
`voice message therefor at a server connected to the external
`network; delivering the instant voice messageto the selected
`recipients from the server over the external network; and
`audibly playing the instant voice message at the selected
`recipients.
`According to yet a further embodiment of the present
`invention, there is provided a method for instant voice mes-
`saging over a plurality of a plurality of packet-switched net-
`works, the method comprising: selecting one or morerecipi-
`ents connected to a local network at a client connected to an
`
`external network; generating an instant voice messagefor the
`selected recipients at the client; transmitting the selected
`recipients and the instant voice message therefor over the
`external network from the clientto an external server system;
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`6
`receiving the selected recipients and the instant voice mes-
`sage at the external server system; routing the selected recipi-
`ents and the instant voice messageover the external network
`and the local network; receiving the selected recipients and
`the instant voice messagethereforat a local server connected
`to the local network; delivering the instant voice message to
`the selected recipients over the local network; audibly playing
`the instant voice messageat the selected recipients.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The objects, features and advantagesofthe present inven-
`tion will become apparentto one skilled in the art, in view of
`the following detailed description taken in combination with
`the attached drawings, in which:
`FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a prior art IP telephony
`system;
`FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary local IVM system for
`enabling instant voice messaging according to the present
`invention;
`FIG.3 illustrates an exemplary IVM client of FIG. 2 for
`enabling instant voice messaging according to the present
`invention;
`FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary IVM server of FIG. 2 for
`enabling instant voice messaging according to the present
`invention;
`FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary global IVM system com-
`prising alocalVM system andglobal IVM clients, according
`to the present invention;
`FIG.6 illustrates an exemplary global IVM server system
`depicted in FIG. 5, according to the present invention;
`FIG.7 illustrates an exemplary transport server depicted in
`FIG.6, according to the present invention;
`FIG.8 illustrates an exemplary directory server depicted in
`FIG.6, according to the present invention; and
`FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary global IVM system com-
`prising a plurality of local IVM systems and global IVM
`clients, according to the present invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention is directed to a system and method
`for enabling local and global instant VoIP messaging over an
`IP network with PSTN support.
`FIG.2 is an exemplary illustration of a local instant voice
`messaging (IVM) system 200 according to the present inven-
`tion. The instant voice messaging system 200 comprises a
`local IVM server 202 that provides the core functionality for
`enabling instant voice messaging with PSTN support accord-
`ing to the present invention. The architecture ofthe local IVM
`server 202 will be described in detail hereinbelow withref-
`
`erence to FIG. 4. According to the exemplary IVM system
`200, the local IVM server 202 is enabled to provide instant
`voice messaging to one or more IVM clients 206 and 208, as
`well support instant voice messaging for PSTN legacytele-
`phones 110. It is noted that although FIG. 2 depicts one of
`each IVM client 206, 208 and legacy telephone 110 for clarity
`and brevity, the local IVM server 202 is enabled to support a
`plurality of each of the foregoing IVM clients 206, 208 and
`legacy telephone 110. The local packet-switched IP network
`204 interconnects the IVM clients 206, 208 and the legacy
`telephone 110 to the local IVM server 202 as well as inter-
`connecting the local IVM server 202 to the local IP network
`204. The network 204 may be a local area network (LAN), a
`wide area network (WAN), or the like, which supports both
`wired and wireless devices. The exemplary IVM client 208 is
`
`Page 13 of 23
`
`Page 13 of 23
`
`

`

`US 8,199,747 B2
`
`7
`a VoIP softphone,the architecture of which will be described
`in detail hereinbelow with reference to FIG. 3. A microphone
`212 is connected to the IVM client 208 and enables the
`
`recording ofan instant voice message accordingto the present
`invention into an audio file 210 for transmission to the local
`
`IVMserver 202 over the network 204. An input device 218
`(e.g., a keyboard) is connected to the IVM client 208 to select
`one or morerecipients that are to receive the recorded instant
`voice message. Although not depicted in FIG. 2, the input
`device 218 may include a trackball, digitizing pad or mouse,
`or the like. A display device 216 is connected to the IVM
`client 208 to display instant voice messages recorded and/or
`received by a user ofthe IVM client 208. An audio device 214,
`such as external speaker, is is connected to the IVM client 208
`to play received instant voice messages. It is noted that the
`microphone 212, audio device 214, display device 216 and
`input device 218 may form integral parts of the IVM client
`208.
`Further with reference to FIG. 2, IVM client 206 is inter-
`connected via the network 204 to the local IVM server 202.
`An exemplary IVM client 206 is a VoIP telephone, which
`comprises a screen display (not shown) capable of displaying
`instant voice messages recorded and/or received by a user of
`the IVM client 206 according to the present invention. The
`VoIP telephone 206 further comprises a handset and/or
`speakerphonefor recording instant voice messages andlis-
`tening to instant voice messages received at the VoIP tele-
`phone 206 according to the present invention. The VoIPtele-
`phones which may be implemented to provide instant voice
`messaging functionality according to the present invention
`are commercially available from many vendors, including
`Alcatel™, Lucent™, NEC™and Cisco™,to namejust a few.
`In addition to the foregoing IVM clients 206, 208, the IVM
`system 200 supports a legacy telephone 110 for instant voice
`messaging according to the present invention. The legacy
`telephone 110 is connectedto a legacy switch 112. The legacy
`switch 112 is further connected to a media gateway 114. Both
`the legacy switch 112 and the media gateway 114 intercon-
`nect the legacy telephone 110 via the network 204to the local
`IVMserver 202, thereby facilitating instant voice messaging
`according to the present invention. The media gateway 114
`may be a gatewaythat supports trunk pack network control
`(i.e., “TPNCP”’) protocol, media gateway control protocol
`(i.e., “MGCP”), or a media gateway control H.428 protocol
`(i.e., “MEGACO”). As previously mentioned, the media gate-
`way 114 converts the audio signal carried over PSTN to
`packets to be transmitted over a packet-switched IP network,
`such as the local network 204.
`The implementation of the instant voice messaging for
`IVM client 208 will be describedfirst and will be followed by
`the implementations for 1VM client 206 and legacy telephone
`110, with reference to the local IVM system 200 depicted in
`FIG. 2. These implementations implement a “record mode”
`ofthe instant voice messaging accordingto the present inven-
`tion. There will further be described an “intercom mode” of
`the instant voice messaging according to the present inven-
`tion. Therefore, in operation of the IVM client 208 according
`to FIG.2, the IVM client (VM softphone) 208 is connected
`over the network 204 to the IVM server 202, which as afore-
`mentioned enables instant voice messaging functionality
`over the network 204. The IVM client 208 displays a list of
`one or more IVM recipients on its display 216, provided and
`stored by the local IVM server 202, as will be particularly
`described hereinbelow with reference to FIG. 4. The user
`
`operates the IVM client 208 by using the input device 218 to
`indicate a selection of one or more IVM recipients from the
`list. The user selection is transmitted to the IVM server 202.
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`8
`The user selection also generates a start signal to the IVM
`client 208 that the user is ready to begin instant voice mes-
`saging according to the present invention. In response to the
`start signal, the IVM client (softphone) 208listens to the input
`audio device 212 and records the user’s speech into a digi-
`tized audiofile 210 (i.e., instant voice message) stored on the
`IVMclient 208. The audio file 210 at the IVM client 208 is
`
`finalized via a stop signal, which is generated by the user via
`the input device 218 or a preset time period without speech
`input via the input audio device 212 on the IVM client 208.
`Once the recording of the user’s speech is finalized, IVM
`client 208 generates a send signalindicating that the digitized
`audio file 210 (instant voice message) is ready to be sentto the
`selected recipients. The user generates the send signal when
`the user operates the IVM client 208 via the input device 218,
`e€.g., pressing a key on a keyboard or clicking a button on a
`mouse. The IVM client 208 transmits the digitized audiofile
`210 and the send signal to the local IVM server 202. In
`response to the send signal indicating that the instant voice
`message is ready to be sent, the IVM client 208 sends the
`recorded audio file 210 destined for the selected one or more
`
`recipients via local IVM server 202. After receiving the audio
`file 210, the IVM server 202 thereafter delivers the transmit-
`ted instant voice messageto the selected one or morerecipi-
`ents via the local IP network 204. The one or morerecipients
`are enabled to display an indication that the instant voice
`messagehas been received and audibly play theinstant voice
`message to an associated user. It should be understood that
`only the available IVM recipients, currently connected to the
`IVMserver 202, will receive the instant voice message. It is
`noted that if a recipient IVM client is not currently connected
`to the local IVM server 202 (i.e., is unavailable), the [VM
`server temporarily saves the instant voice message anddeliv-
`ers it to the IVM client when the IVM client connects to the
`local IVM server 202 (i.e., is available).
`There are several embodiments for the operation of the
`IVM client (VoIP telephone) 206 within the IVM system 200,
`according to the present invention. In the first embodiment,
`the VoIP telephone 206 is a standalone IVM client 206
`enabled for instant voice messaging accordingto the present
`invention.In the second embodiment, the VoIP telephone 206
`operates synchronously either with the IVM client 208 or
`IVMserver 202 to enable instant voice messaging according
`to the present invention. Thus, in operation according to the
`first embodimentin FIG. 2, the 1VM client (VoIP telephone)
`206 is connected over the network 204 to the IVM server 202,
`which as aforementioned enables instant voice messaging
`functionality over the local network 204. The IVM client 206
`displays a list of one or more IVM recipients onits associated
`display provided and stored by the local IVM server 202, as
`will be particularly described hereinbelow with reference to
`FIG. 4. The user operates the IVM client 206 by using a
`keypad on the VoIP telephone 206 to indicate a selection of
`one or more IVMrecipients from the list. The VoIP telephone
`206 transmits the selection to the IVM server 202. The user
`selection also generates a start signal to the IVM client 206
`indicating the useris ready to begin instant voice messaging
`according to the present invention. The user speaks into the
`handsetof the IVM client 206 or a speakerphone on the [VM
`client 206. Although not shownin FIG.2, the VoIP telephone
`206 may provide a dedicated storage device, which in
`response to the start signal records an audiofile, similar to the
`audiofile 210 in the IVM client 208. The audiofile is finalized
`
`via a stop signal. The stop signal is generated when the user
`presses a button on the keypad, a preset time period without
`speech input to the VoIP telephone 206, or when the user
`returns the handset to the cradle of the VoIP telephone 206.
`
`Page 14 of 23
`
`Page 14 of 23
`
`

`

`US 8,199,7