Google Inc. v. Rockstar Consortium US LP et al

Filing 134

MOTION for Issuance of Letters Rogatory to the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, Canada for Nortel Networks Corporation, Jean-Pierre Fortin, Angela de Wilton, Jaspreet Harit, Yee-Ning Chan, Brian Finlay Beaton, Bruce Dale Stalkie, Mitch A. Brisebois, Laura A. Mahan, Paul Michael Brennan, Brian Cruickshank, and John Eric Lumsden filed by Google Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A to Google's Notice of Unopposed Motion and Motion for Issuance of Letter Rogatory, # 2 Declaration of Kristin J. Madigan In Support of Google's Unopposed Motion for Issuance of Letter Rogatory, # 3 Exhibit 1, # 4 Exhibit 2, # 5 Exhibit 3, # 6 Exhibit 4, # 7 Exhibit 5, # 8 Exhibit 6, # 9 Exhibit 7, # 10 Exhibit 8, # 11 Exhibit 9, # 12 Exhibit 10, # 13 Exhibit 11, # 14 Exhibit 12, # 15 Exhibit 13, # 16 Exhibit 14, # 17 Exhibit 15, # 18 Exhibit 16, # 19 Exhibit 17, # 20 Exhibit 18, # 21 Exhibit 19, # 22 Exhibit 20, # 23 Exhibit 21, # 24 Proposed Order)(Curran, Patrick) (Filed on 9/29/2014) Modified on 9/30/2014 (cpS, COURT STAFF).

EXHIBIT 17

US006888927B1

(54)

United States Patent

(10) Patent N0.:

Cruickshank et al.

(12)

(45) Date of Patent:

May 3, 2005

GRAPHICAL MESSAGE NOTIFICATION

88.23
6,137,489 A

Inventors:

Paul Michael Brennan, Toronto (CA);
Brian Cruickshank,

6,252,588 B1 *

John Em Lumsden’ Toronto (CA)

6/2001

Dawson ..
Picard CI 8.1.

8/2001

Porter

( )
Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this

EP
GB
W0

patent is extended or adjusted under 35

741484 A2
2319431 A
WO 98/58332

U50 154(b) by 0 days-

Filed;

11/1996
5/1998
12/1998

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

AppL NO‘: 09/220,962

(22)

379/8817

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

CA

(21)

. . . . . . . . ...... .. 345/752
. ..

..... ..

6,317,757 B1 * 11/2001 Sakamaki ................. .. 715/502

(73) Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited, St. Laurent
Notice:

10/2000 Ohishi

6,282,270 B1 *

-

(*)

US 6,888,927 B1

Internet Draft, Usage of H.323 on the Internet , Feb.

Dec, 28, 1998

ITU—T Draft revision of Recommendation H.225 .0, Version

7

Copy of European Search Report Application EP 99 31
0512

455/4122
Field Of Search ......................... .. 379/8811, 8812,

Lie H.W. et al “SCREAM: Screen—Based Navigation in
Voice Messages” Visual Languages, 1993 Proceedings

379/88-19, 88-13, 142-06, 207-15, 88-17,
88-25, 9323, 67, 88-21, 93-03, 93-01, 142-01,

(58)

Int. Cl. ............................................... .. H04M 1/64
US. Cl. ............................... .. 379/88.11; 379/8812;

379/88-19; 379/8821; 379/141206; 379/20715;
379/8813; 379/8817; 379/8825; 379/93.23;

(51)
(52)

2, “Media Stream PacketiZation and SymchroniZation on
NOn_Guaranteed Quality of Service LANS”, Geneva, Mar‘
1997, pp 12_27_

1993, IEEE Symposium on Bergen, NorWay Aug. 24—27,
1993 Los Alamitos, CA, USA, IEEE Comput. Soc., US. pp.

88.22, 93.21; 455/4122
(56)

401—405 XP010032672 ISBN: 0—8186—3970—0; p. 404.

References Cited

* Cited by examiner

Primary Examiner—F an Tsang
Assistant Examiner—Simon P. Sing
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—MintZ Levin Cohn Ferris

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,461,488 A

* 10/1995 Witek ....................... .. 358/402

5,497,373 A
5,568,540 A

3/1996 Hulen et al.
* 10/1996 Greco et al.

5,651,054

A

5,675,507 A
5,724,412 A

*

7/1997

* 10/1997
* 3/1998

5,761,279 A

Dunn et al.

..... .. 370/79
.. 379/8825
.....

. . . ..

Glovsky & Popeo PC

(57)

379/8811

Bobo, II .... ..
.. 348/14.12
Srinivasan ............. .. 379/93.23

The invention provides a method, apparatus and system for
providing an addressee of a stored message With a graphical
noti?cation associated With a source of the stored message.
In general terms, a communications device of the addressee

6/1998 Bierman et a1. ....... .. 379/93.23

5,764,731 A

*

6/1998

5,778,053 A
5,778,054 A

*
*

Yablon ......... ..

7/1998 Skarbo et al. ..
.. 379/93.21
7/1998 Kimura et a1. ......... .. 379/93.23

5,875,239 A *

2/1999 Koralewski et al.

5,907,604
5,937,050
5,946,386
6,038,296

5/1999
8/1999
8/1999
3/2000

A
A

A
A

*
*
*
*

6,122,348 A *

.. 379/8815

is presented With the graphical noti?cation in the form of an
information signal Which relates the stored message to at
least one graphical image associated With the source of the
stored message.

379/142.15

Hsu .................... .. 379/142.06
Yue et al. ..... ..
379/100.06
Rogers et a1. ............ .. 379/265
Brunson et a1. ..... .. 379/100.11

9/2000 French-St. George et a1.

ABSTRACT

77 Claims, 12 Drawing Sheets

379/

WEE
...

_

_

_

_

_

Vole: Massiqlnq Saw

Mcssaqs
Nouncauon
Database

_

._.,

U.S. Patent

May 3,2005

Sheet 1 0f 12

User

Message

. Pro?‘e

Noti?cation
Database

Daubase

22

US 6,888,927 B1

U.S. Patent

May 3,2005

Sheet 2 0f 12

US 6,888,927 B1

30

32

\

Phone Numb“

34

\
5O

6O

\

/
Telephone Numbe:
_

-

Usq lnlon'na?on

36
\

User swung“)

38

Caller Lme ID Data

Name Fveid

4;)\

//2rsxi_/;\l_w

User Dem; Types

Other Calla! lnfp

-

Time and Date Stamp

‘2\

Device Addmsses

\

Grimm! Image Type

Graphical Image Type

Message Length
_

I
_

Graphical Image Data!

Addressmq lniormabon

Gyaphiwl Image Reference '

.

44

_

56
Reviewed Status Field

P,,,.,,.,,

Graphical Image Data

v

FIG. 4

46
Recorded Message: Index

Recorded Me‘ssage

FIG. 3

FIG. 2

U.S. Patent

May 3,2005

Sheet 3 0f 12

US 6,888,927 B1

3

DATA

D
OTHER APPLICATIONS

1g

MESSAGING SERVER

LAN NETWORK

SIW
B

Q

IIF

J)

\

CUMMUNICAUDNS

‘2

sum 31W

5
DIS

PROCESSOR

2E
\_—w_—-—J

Q
l

72

ms

-

25

gg
\las

DATA
as
‘ omen APPLICATIONS
mc

‘

9n

IMAGE ADMIN. slw
COMMUNICATION

SUITE slW
MESSAGE

DATggASE

MESSAGE
NOTIFICATION

DATABASE

PRQCESSQR

01s

g

msx DRIVE
2

FIG. 5

__

U.S. Patent

May 3,2005

OTHER

Sheet 4 0f 12

MESSAGING SERVER

APPLICATIONS

7B

US 6,888,927 B1

omen

TERM‘NAL BROWSER
MESSAGING

SIW(74)
"3P

'

mm

TC?

22

-

a

IP

0

NETWORK INTERFACE

_

c

IP

sm _

j APPucATmNG 8mm)

msrwonx INTERFACE

NETWORK

(12)

FIG. 6
f‘- 100
’

was

omen APPLICATIONS
"34 <

mm

Una

BROWSER SIW

ggqggégbi

HANDSET "F
HANIJSFHEE HF
um PAD "F

x110

TERMiNAL MESSAGING SIW U12
COMMUNICATIONS SUITE SM @114
-

\

01s

mPuT

U16

m?gm

UEWCE

PROCESSOR

_"

E

m

DISPLAY
"F
120

msPLAY

um NEWTOHK IIF

—

1_3_q

FIG. 7

33

U.S. Patent

May 3, 2005

Sheet 6 0f 12

US 6,888,927 B1

RECEIVE AND
PARSE REQUEST

l S

190

IDENTIFY
REOUESTOR AND
SUBSCRIPTION

PRIVILEGES

RETBIEVE

MESSAGES MESSAGE

N?TlFlCATgmI-a?? DIRECT

MESSAGE NOTIFICATIONS

RECEIVE CALI.
FROM CALLER AND
DIRECT TO CALLED
PARTY

g
I50

RETRIEVE
GDAPHICAL

RETRIEVE

MESSAGE

REQUESTED

NOTIFICATIONS
ASSOCIATED WITH
REOUESTOFI

MESSAGES

i 19s
8
SEND REQUESTED
MESSAGES TO
FIEOUESTOR

l 202
R

II

RETRIEVE

SEND
NOTIFICATIONS TO :

REOUESTOH

S

g

198

ZOE

MESSAGE
NOTIFICATIONS
ASSOCIATED WITH
REOUESTOR

S

284

FIG. 9

U.S. Patent

May 3, 2005

US 6,888,927 B1

Sheet 7 0f 12

________.____._..__.

luai

|
t
s
I

14

I

WEB SERVER CUMWTEB 15 J

l

1
I

WEB SERVER
SM

l

I
l

13-1 '1

\__._‘,_________....__

.lIu-n‘if

UH
VOICE MESSAGlNG
SERVER

E
ROUTER I GATEWAY

USER

MESSAGE
uonncmun
DATABASE

M E S sA G E

PROFILE

DATABASE

DATQSASE

1a

3g

—

WAN I iNTERNET

USER PROFILE

DATABASE
(lNCLUDiNB
GRAPHiCAL
DATA?

MESSAGING senvza

(HIW 8| 51w)

.L
K.
nn

"

DU2. .
FIG. 10

ROUTER I GATEWAY

U.S. Patent

May 3,2005

Sheet 8 0f 12

cowurea SERVER WITH

m?ggggg 1538M

MESSAGING SERVER SIW

US 6,888,927 B1

COMPUTER SERVER

.

AND REQUESTS

FROM SUBSCRIBERS
(.1

ESELABLISH

IL

CONN TIDN WITH

H

COMPUTER

I

226

CRIIEI‘IIEN

L‘
210

312

‘I

sewn GRAPHICAL
NQTlFIBATiQN

MODIFY CALLED
PARTY'S WEB PAGE

INFORMAUQN To

—-—->

WITH GRAPHICAL

WEB SERVER
‘COMPUTER

NOTIFICATION
INFORMATION
L,

T

‘-.

214

UPDATE CALLED

I

CALLED PARTY'S

216

TERMINAL

SEND CONFIRMATION

PARTY'S MESSAGE 4

NOTIFICATION
DATABASE

'

OF CHANGE TO

COMPUTER SERVER

l

L.‘

218

i

MONITOR FOR

I

MESSAGES FROM

1

COMPUTER SERVER

RECEIVE AND PARSE

AND REOUESTS

MESSAGE AND

FROM SUBSCRIBERS

[v

!

L“

i

:

226

I

5

SEND MESSAGE WITH
URL TO CALLED

PARTY'S TERMINAL
INSTRUCTING

RECEIVE REDUEST

TO RETRIEVE CALLED

WEB PAGE

TERMINAL TO'

CONTACT MODIFIED

I 230 '22s
r’
LAUNCH BROWSER

FOR CALLED PARTY'S 4

CALLED PARTY'S

EXECUTE
COMMANDS

l

PARTY'S WEB PAGE

FROM WEB SERVER

232

COMPUTER

‘

WEB PAGE -

L‘

224

6

-

RETRIEVE AND SEND

DISPLAY CALLED

PARTY'S WEB PAGE

CALLED PARTY'S

WITH UPDATED

WEB PAGE

CONTENT ON CALLED

j
1.

FIG- 1 1

L‘
234

WEB ssnvsn COMPUTER

PARTY'S TERMINAL
.

I

'-'\

1

235

U.S. Patent

May 3,2005

Sheet 10 0f 12

US 6,888,927 B1

sewn CALLER mmRMATmAT To
LOCAL LAN lP ADDRESS VIA TcPAP
MESSAGE To mTTTATE cuu msmv

RECEIVE CALL FROM CALLER

I

AT 12A

300

SERVER IF ADDRESS AND
CALLER w um

0

R

“E M “warm”

1 310
INFOHMA'HDN UN CALLED PARTY

R

TERMINAL

302

RETRIEVE CALLED PARTY's
1
was sERvER :P ADDRESS

i

3504

S

1

BETRIEVE ADDTITEONAL CALLER

INFORMATION mcwnms RRAPRTcs

TRoM cAuER's was SERVER
S

RENERATE massAss AND

“LLRAFRTRAT

To A ca: scR

-

-

PABY s WEB SERVE:

314
UPDATE CALLED PARTv's TERMINAL

WITH BRAPHIBAL lMAGE

306

g

l m

EXECUTE cs: SCRIPT 0N '

CALLED PARTY'S WEB
sERvER TU LOOK UP LUCAL
LAN IP ADDRESS ToR CALLED:

COMPLETE CALL

q

' PARTY

318

%

ans

FIG. 13

U.S. Patent

May 3,2005

blophono numberlO]
mm num?eq?

telephone numborln]

Sheet 11 0f 12

US 6,888,927 B1

IP address A
_ ,

. 1P addmss 8'

;—---~ 266

IP address X

' httpdl<called Party Web Server IP address>1<p0rt>lcgi~binl<$cript ?le name>7<query parameters>

FIG. 15
httpJl<Caller Web Sewer lP address>:<port>lcgkbinl<script ?le name>7<query parameters>

FIG. 16

US 6,888,927 B1
1

2

GRAPHICAL MESSAGE NOTIFICATION

ing caller selected graphical images associated With the
caller for display at the called party’s end-user communi

cations equipment.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

As Will be further appreciated, the continuing conver
gence of most forms of user traf?c has spaWned a groWing

The present invention relates generally to messaging

demand for telephony messaging systems and other user
messaging systems that offer communications services

systems, and more particularly, to a method, apparatus and

system for providing an addressee With graphical noti?ca

Which leverage the opportunities presented by integrating

tion of a Waiting message, and to a computer readable

telephony and data netWork infrastructures. In such a con

medium providing codes for directing a computer to provide

verging telecommunications market, it Would be desirable

same.

that a method of graphically notifying a user of Waiting
messages have application to a number of communications

BACKGROUND

Electronic messaging systems, such as voice mail systems
and email systems, have been Widely adopted in most
commercial and non-commercial arenas for storing and

netWorks, including telephony and data netWorks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
15

The above problems are addressed by providing an

retrieving digitiZed messages. Such messaging systems

addressee of a stored message With a graphical noti?cation

require a mechanism for notifying users of unrevieWed
messages.
Several methods of message noti?cation are knoWn in the

associated With the stored message, including presenting the
addressee With an information signal relating the stored
message to at least one graphical image associated With the

art. In conventional voice messaging systems, for instance,

source of the stored message.

a subscriber may be noti?ed that recorded messages are

In accordance With one aspect of the invention, there is
provided a method of indicating the source of the stored
message to the addressee. In this aspect, an information
signal is generated relating the stored message to at least one
graphical image associated With the source of the stored
message, and the information signal is transmitted to a
communications device associated With the addressee. In

aWaiting the subscriber’s revieW using one of a variety of
noti?cation schemes. In some messaging systems, a display
light connected to a panel of a telephone may ?ash on and
off to identify that recorded messages aWait retrieval. In
other instances, subscribers of voice mail systems are noti
?ed that messages are aWaiting revieW by Way of an inter
rupted dial tone Which is transmitted from the earpiece of a
phone When the subscriber picks up the receiver. While such
signalling techniques provide a user With noti?cation of a
Waiting message, they do not provide the user With further
information identifying the party that left the message or

25

this case, a representation of the one or more graphical

images may be included in the information signal.
Alternatively, the information signal may include a netWork
address identifying a location Where the graphical images
associated With the source may be accessed, directly or
indirectly, by the addressee. Such a netWork location may

other information related to the source of the message.

With digital display phones, a user subscribing to message
Waiting services receives a noti?cation from the voice
messaging server When a message has been recorded for the
user. The noti?cation typically includes a signal Which
triggers the display of a prede?ned text message, such as
“MSG”, on the phone display. In a number of display

refer to any of a variety of netWorked resources. For
instance, the netWork location may refer to the location of a

messaging system associated With the source, the location of
another netWork resource associated With the source such as
a Web page, or the location of an end-user communications
device associated With the source.

phones, a series of ASCII text characters are transmitted to

the display phone and are displayed to notify the subscribing

40

user of the pending messages Within the user’s voice mail,
although in such cases, the information provided is limited
to textual information identifying the caller name and/or

the information signal and the graphical image associated

number associated With a recorded message.

In other messaging systems, such as electronic mail
(email) systems, users may log into their email accounts and

The ?exibility available in identifying a netWork location
from Which graphical images associated With the source of
the stored message may be accessed extends further ?ex
ibility to the manner by Which graphical noti?cations such as
thereWith may be retrieved and presented to the addressee’s

45

communications device. For instance, in one embodiment a

request for pending noti?cations may be received by a
messaging system from the addressee. In this embodiment,
if there are any pending noti?cations for the addressee, they

doWnload stored email. If messages are received locally, a

single line of text typically identifying the sender’s name,
application. In systems such as HotMail(TM) and Yahoo

are retrieved and transmitted as information signals to the
addressee’s communications device. In the case Where such
a noti?cation includes a netWork location, the addressee’s

(TM) mail services, users connect remotely over the Internet

communications device may be prompted by the arriving

the date the message Was received and the title of the
message are displayed in a vieWing WindoW Within the email

to revieW email on Web pages Which present the user With a

information signal to connect With the appropriate net

vieWing WindoW containing the aforementioned textual
message information similar to locally managed email appli

Worked resources associated With the netWork location so as

cations. In other cases, PC messaging servers such as

55

Microsoft Exchange(TM) ?ash a small icon in the bottom of

the source.

In a preferred embodiment, the communications device of
the addressee is alerted that an incoming message from the
source is being stored and the communications device is

the user’s screen to alert the user that a message has arrived

but do not provide any indication as to Who has sent the
message.

permitted to interrupt the storage of the incoming message
and connect With the source. This mechanism provides a
called party With the ?exibility to connect With a commu

Although the provision of textual information associated
With a noti?cation of Waiting messages can provide the user

With some information pertaining to the Waiting messages,
it Would be desirable to deploy message Waiting noti?cation
services Which facilitate the ease of identifying the source of
a recorded message With graphical images. It Would be

to retrieve the one or more graphical images associated With

nication from the calling party even When the calling party
is recording a message for the called party.

In another preferred embodiment, graphical image infor
65

mation associated With the called party is retrieved and

particularly desirable that message Waiting noti?cation sys

presented to the calling party When the calling party initiates

tems provide graphical noti?cations to a called party includ

a communication.

US 6,888,927 B1
4

3

stored message to at least one graphical image associated
With a source of the stored message. In this embodiment, the
apparatus includes a transmitter to transmit the graphical

In another embodiment, once a message is stored, a

graphical image associated With the source and pre-selected
by the source is related to the stored message, giving the user

the ?exibility to arrange for graphical images to be presented
in communications according to the type of communication
and the class of recipient.
In yet another embodiment, the information signal may

noti?cation as an information signal to a communications

device associated With the addressee.

Preferably, the apparatus comprises application softWare
for performing the aforementioned method and Which is

prompt the communications device of the addressee to

operative to reside on a netWorked computer server. In one

on a netWork server, so as to retrieve a Web page identifying

embodiment, a netWork computer is programmed to present
to subscribing addressees their stored messages or pending
graphical noti?cations associated With such stored mes

one or more neW graphical noti?cations from one or more

sages.

sources. For instance, information encoded Within the infor

In accordance With another aspect of the invention, there
is provided a computer readable medium having codes for

connect With a netWorked resource associated With the

netWork location, such as a Web server application located

10

mation signal received by an addressee may prompt the
addressee’s communication device to launch a Web broWser

directing a netWork computer to
generate an information
signal relating a stored message to at least one graphical
image associated With a source of the stored message, and
(ii) transmit the information signal to a communications
device associated With an addressee of the stored message.

connecting the addressee to a Web page from Which pending
graphical noti?cations are available to the addressee for
revieW and for retrieval of associated stored messages.
Preferably, the method includes determining the source of
the stored message so as to support various identi?cation

In accordance With yet another aspect of the invention,
there is provided a system for performing the aforemen

mechanisms. For instance, in one embodiment the method

includes determining caller line identi?cation information
associated With the stored message, thereby offering the

tioned method. In one embodiment the system includes a
computer server operative to communicate With a database

advantage of associating graphical noti?cations With sub
scribers of a messaging system that are identi?ed by Way of
such caller line identi?cation information.
In another embodiment the method includes determining
a calling party associated With the stored message. This

of information in Which pending graphical noti?cations are
stored and from Which such noti?cations are retrieved by the
25

latter embodiment has the advantage of graphically identi

grated messaging server featuring both message recording
services and graphical noti?cation services. The messaging

fying a calling party associated With a stored message

independent of the subscribing communications line from
Which the stored message originated.
In one preferred embodiment, the method includes iden
tifying a media type of the stored message and presenting a
graphical image associated With the media type to the
communications device of the addressee. In this
embodiment, the addressee can be presented With both at
least one graphical image associated With a calling party and

a digital representation of a graphical image associated With
the media type of the stored message, offering Within the
noti?cation to the addressee additional graphical informa
tion associated With the calling party or subscriber of the

server is interconnected to at least one data store such as a

database storing messaging information including user pro
?les for subscribers of the messaging system, recorded
35

messages associated With subscribers and graphical message
Waiting noti?cations associated With the recorded messages
of subscribers. Such messaging information may be inte

grated into a single database structure, segregated logically
Within the same server or segregated physically on separate
computer servers.
User pro?les may each provide one or more data struc
40

tures for the management and provision of subscriber iden
ti?cation information and subscription services. In a cen
traliZed model, user pro?les may include at least one data

source communications line.

In yet another embodiment, the method may include
retrieving a digital representation of a sound Waveform
associated With the source and sending the digital represen
tation of the sound Waveform to the communications device
of the addressee for presentation to the addressee along With
an associated graphical noti?cation.

computer server for presentation to a communications

device of the addressee.
In a preferred embodiment, the system includes an inte

45

?eld relating a digital representation of at least one graphical
image to the subscriber of the corresponding user pro?le.
User pro?les may also identify at least one recogniZed
end-user communications device connected to the messag

ing netWork and capable of displaying graphical noti?ca
tions associated With recorded messages available for revieW

In another embodiment, a representation of at least one
video frame from a stream of video data associated With the

by the addressed subscriber.

source is included in the information signal for presentation
graphical images associated With the source of the stored

retrieves, directly or indirectly, information identifying the
caller from the caller’s user pro?le including graphical
image information associated With the caller. A graphical

message are reproduced from a video stream Within the
stored message itself so as to present the addressee With

generated by the messaging server and stored. The messag

When a message is recorded, the messaging server

to the addressee. In a preferred embodiment, the one or more

dynamically selected images of the calling party, irrespec

message noti?cation associated With the recorded message is
55

is provided an apparatus for performing the aforementioned

ing server preferably includes at least one process for

monitoring netWork messages from subscribers and other

tive of the subscriber associated With the communications
line from Which the stored message Was received.
Advantageously, the captured video frames can be used to
form a short video sequence for presentation to the
addressee as part of the noti?cation to the addressee of the
stored message. Such a video sequence Would preferably be
associated With an audio track also captured from the stored
message.
In accordance With another aspect of the invention, there

messaging servers.
In one embodiment, the messaging server retrieves and

sends to a subscribing called party pending graphical noti
?cations associated With stored messages from an appropri
ate database in response to a called party request for such

information. In this embodiment, the end-user messaging
softWare residing on an active subscriber communications

terminal logs-on With the messaging server. Alternatively,
65

the end-user messaging softWare may direct the user termi

method. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a gen

nal to periodically poll the messaging server for pending

erator for generating a graphical noti?cation relating the

noti?cations. In another embodiment, the messaging server

US 6,888,927 B1
6

5
polls recognized end-user communications terminals to

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating layering of com

munication functions of the graphical message Waiting noti
?cation system shoWn in FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a called party’s
end-user communications device of the graphical message
Waiting noti?cation system shoWn in FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is a How diagram illustrating the operation of a

determine if any are active to receive pending noti?cations.
Communications may be established With active terminals

associated With pending graphical noti?cations, and the
latter noti?cations may then be sent to the appropriate active

terminals for display.
The single messaging server embodiment advantageously
provides a uni?ed model, With both callers and called parties

graphical message Waiting noti?cation system including the

being subscribers of the same messaging server system

operation of the system of the ?rst embodiment shoWn in
FIG. 1;
FIG. 9 is a How diagram illustrating the monitoring

capable of supporting fully compatible data structures for
both caller and called party pro?les, messaging data and
noti?cation data, and Which reduces the need for interme
diary gateWays betWeen caller and called party domains. In
one variation of this embodiment, graphical noti?cation
services can be provided to a called party in respect of a
recorded message from a remote caller located on another
interconnected netWork or subnetWork.

operations carried out by a computer server at the direction
of messaging server softWare in accordance With the ?rst
15

noti?cation system including a Web noti?cation server in
accordance With a second embodiment of the invention;

In another embodiment, message recording services and
graphical message Waiting noti?cation services may be

FIG. 11 is a How diagram illustrating the operation of
various graphical message Waiting noti?cation services in

segregated logically Within the same server domain, or on

accordance With the second embodiment of the invention in

separate computer servers interconnected locally or

FIG. 10;

remotely over a netWork, thereby facilitating additional
?exibility in the provision of the graphical noti?cation
services With existing and expanding networks. In addition,

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a ?rst netWork architecture
implementing a communications system according to a third

callers and called parties may be located on separate inter
connected netWorks or subnetWorks.

embodiment of the invention in FIG. 1;
FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a graphical message Waiting

25

embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 13 is a How diagram of operations executed by

In accordance With another aspect of the invention, at
least one intermediary Web server may be provided Which is
interconnected to at least one called party messaging noti
?cation system. In this Web-based embodiment, the mes

netWork resources of the embodiments shoWn in FIG. 12 or
17 to achieve graphical caller identi?cation over a data

saging server may preferably send copies of pending graphi

FIG. 12;

cal noti?cations to a Web server for allocation to a Web page

FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate HTTP messages transmitted by
netWork resources in the netWork architectures shoWn in
FIGS. 12 and 17; and
FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a second netWork archi
tecture according to a fourth embodiment of the invention.

netWork;
FIG. 14 is an expanded vieW of a lookup table shoWn in

associated With the called party. Once the pending graphical
noti?cation is delivered to the server, either the messaging
server or the Web server may notify a recogniZed active

terminal associated With the called party of the pending

35

noti?cations available at the Web page or Web server.

It Will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of
illustration, elements illustrated in the accompanying draW
ings have not necessarily been draWn to scale. For example,

Preferably, a called party’s active terminal is prompted to
retrieve the neW Web content, including the pending graphi
cal noti?cations, for display on a netWork communications
device such as a computer terminal. This may include

transmitting a message from the Web server for instructing
the active terminal to launch a Web broWser, if available, to
pull doWn the Web page from a prede?ned Web resource.

the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated
40

analogous elements. Where also considered appropriate,
descriptive tags de?ned in the speci?cation have been

Other aspects and features of the present invention Will
become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon

revieW of the folloWing description of speci?c embodiments
of the invention in conjunction With the accompanying

45

repeated herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

draWings.

In the present invention there is provided a method,
apparatus and system for providing an addressee of a stored

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

message With a graphical noti?cation associated With a
source of the stored message. In general terms, a commu

In the accompanying draWings Which illustrate embodi
ments of the invention,
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a graphical message
Waiting noti?cation system Within a netWorked environment
according to a ?rst embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a data structure for

relative to other elements for clarity. Further, Where consid
ered appropriate, reference numerals and labels have been
repeated among the draWings to indicate corresponding or

nications device of the addressee is presented With the
graphical noti?cation in the form of an information signal
55

user pro?les accessed by messaging server softWare of the

Which relates the stored message to at least one graphical
image associated With the source of the stored message.

Referring to FIG. 1, a graphical message Waiting noti?
cation system according to a ?rst embodiment of the inven
tion is shoWn generally at 10 (also referred to herein, for ease

graphical message Waiting noti?cation system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a data structure

of reference, as graphical noti?cation system 10). For the
purposes of the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 1, graphical
noti?cation system 10 includes an integrated messaging
server system Which provides voice messaging and graphi

accessed by a messaging system for storing message pro?les
in accordance With the ?rst embodiment of the present

invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of another data

cal message noti?cation services to subscribing users over

structure accessed by a messaging system for providing
graphical message noti?cation in accordance With the ?rst
embodiment of the present invention;

netWork 12. HoWever, a voice messaging system (or such
other message acquisition services) may be separately asso

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the graphical message

Waiting noti?cation system shoWn in FIG. 1;

65

ciated With graphical noti?cation system 10, provided
graphical noti?cation system 10 includes graphical message
noti?cation services relating messages stored in the voice

US 6,888,927 B1
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8

messaging system to graphical noti?cations associated With
the source(s) of such stored messages.
As noted above, system 10 is a “graphical” noti?cation
system. Although, in general, the term “graphical” may have
several different meanings depending upon the context,

either by association With a subscriber of the caller line from
Which the stored message originated or an identi?er asso
ciated With the source such as a user ID or a calling party ID.

It Will also be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that
netWork 12 can be any one of a variety of netWork infra

persons skilled in the art Will appreciate that in this

structures. For instance, netWork 12 may be another type of

speci?cation, the terms “graphic”, “graphical”,

LAN, such as a Token-ring LAN or a carrier sense multiple

“graphically”, “graphical information”, “graphical image”

access With carrier detection (CSMA/CD) LAN.
Alternatively, or in addition, netWork 12 may include a Wide

and the like are each used to refer to (as Well as refer to the
use of) computer graphics, and more particularly to one or

area netWork
deployed using a netWork topology
such as X25, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode

more digital (or digitiZed) pictures, photos, icons, and/or
video frames (With or Without audio data), for display on a
display device such as a monitor, a liquid crystal display
(LCD), a digital screen or other electronic display device

(ATM) or synchronous optical netWork/synchronous digital
hierarchy (SONET/SDH), or internetWorked combinations

coded character sets include ASCII, EBCDIC and BCD.

thereof. NetWork 12 may alternatively be a circuit sWitched
netWork, such as a public sWitched telephone netWork
(PSTN) or a privately leased sWitched netWork (such as a
T1, E1, T3 or E3 circuit sWitched netWork). In any combi
nation of the above netWork topologies, netWork 12 may be
a public netWork, a private netWork or intranet, or part of the
Internet.

In the embodiment shoWn in FIG. 1, the graphical noti
?cation system 10 is connected to netWork 12 Which inter

discussed in the context of a voice messaging system,

capable of displaying computer graphics. The terms “text”
and “textual information”, on the other hand, are used in this
speci?cation to refer to information selected from a binary

15

coded character set consisting of one or more letters, num

bers and/or other typographic symbols. Examples of binary

Furthermore, While graphical noti?cation system 10 is

connects With other communications devices such as source

terminal device 14 and destination terminal device 16.
Network 12 is, for purposes of illustration, an Ethernet
based local area netWork
Terminal devices 14 and 16
represent end-user communications devices Which each

25

graphical noti?cation system 10 may in other embodiments
include, in the alternative or in addition, other messaging
services such as audio/video messaging, fax messaging or
email messaging. Similarly, terminal devices 14 and 16 may
include one or several different types of (end-user) commu

either include, or are connected in communication With, a

nications devices, such as netWork computer terminals,

display device for the display of graphical information

netWorked personal computers, netWork display telephones,

transported over netWork 12.

telephones optionally connected to associated personal com
puters (PCs), public display telephones, or Wireless com

As an overvieW, graphical noti?cation system 10 provides

munications devices such as mobile telephones connected
over a Wireless netWork, provided such communications

a mechanism for graphically notifying an addressee, via an

end-user communication device having graphical display
capabilities, of Waiting messages stored Within message
database 20 (or accessible from a separate messaging system
associated With system 10). When a communication is
initiated by a source connected to netWork 12, such as source
terminal device 14, the source attempts to make a connection

devices include, or are connected to, a display device so that
35

With the addressee of the communication at destination

and the caller name.

device 16, either directly or indirectly via graphical noti?
cation system 10 or another netWork resource supporting
such communication.

graphical noti?cation information may be received by the
terminal device and graphically displayed on the display
device, preferably along With other information such as the
calling number, the date and time of the associated message
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, subscribing users of graphical

If the source cannot connect With the addressee Within a

noti?cation system 10 are each allocated a user pro?le 30
Which is stored Within the user pro?le database 18. Each user
pro?le 30 provides one or more data structures for the

predetermined period of time, the source is directed by
graphical noti?cation system 10 to the message recording
services provided by system 10 if such services are available

management and provision of user identi?cation informa
tion and subscription services. User pro?le 30 includes a
graphical data ?eld 44 related to a digital representation of

40

to the addressee. When a message from the source is 45 at least one graphical image associated With the user corre

recorded for the addressee, the graphical noti?cation system

sponding to the user pro?le. Graphical data ?eld 44 may

10 retrieves graphical information associated With the source

include either a reference to one or more graphical images,

so as to form a graphical noti?cation identifying the source.

or digital representations of such graphical images. As Will

To this end, graphical noti?cation system 10 generates an

be seen beloW, When a subscribing caller records a message

information signal relating the stored message to at least one
graphical image associated With the source of the stored

for a subscribing called party, the caller’s graphical image
data is accessed by graphical noti?cation system 10 and
appended to graphical noti?cation message 60 Which is

message. The information signal is transmitted by graphical
noti?cation system 10 to the addressee’s destination termi
nal device 16 via netWork 12 preferably in response to a

request for pending noti?cations from the addressee
received by system 10.

stored in memory allocated to the called party Within a
55

message noti?cation database 22 for subsequent retrieval
and presentation to the called party.
User pro?le 30 may include a variety of other ?elds. For
instance, for a subscriber of a voice messaging system, user

For the purposes of illustration, a communication from a
source to an addressee is discussed beloW in the context of

pro?le 30 preferably is structured to include the subscriber’s
phone number, name and address information, and recorded

a telephone call from a calling party to a called party. It Will
be appreciated, hoWever, that a communication in the con
text of the present invention may also include communica
tions involving other media types such as a cell phone

user pro?les are used for calling subscribers and called
subscribers. Furthermore, user pro?le 30 may include a

transmission, a pager message, a fax communication, an
audio/video communication such as a video conference call

graphical identi?cation ?eld 42 to support the provision of
different classes of graphical information. For instance,

greetings in ?elds 32, 34, and 36, respectively. Preferably,

graphical images may be digital representations categoriZed

over a data netWork, a voice call over IP, or an electronic

mail (email) transmission (of arbitrary media, eg voice,
graphics, video, text or combinations thereof). As Well, the
source associated With a stored message may be identi?ed

65

as single images, digital video frames, one or more graphical
icons or digital audio/video data. Supporting a variety of
classes of graphical information has the advantage of

US 6,888,927 B1
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10

extending the functionality of graphical noti?cation system

pro?le database 18. Thus, for the ?rst embodiment shoWn in
FIG. 1, the information signal generated relates the stored
message With at least one graphical image associated With

10 to provide a more ?exible range of services to subscribers

Who may have different classes of end-user display devices.
AB another variation, user pro?le 30 may include a ?eld

38 identifying the type of end-user communications device
registered With the voice messaging system. This latter

arrangement provides graphical noti?cation system 10 With
the capacity to readily determine Which services a subscrib

ing user’s communication device is capable of handling.
This can be of advantage When system 10 supports a variety
of different classes of graphical information since not all
end-user communications devices may support all types of
graphical information. Recording a subscriber’s type of
communication device Within the user pro?le facilitates the

10

the source of the stored message. The graphical data stored
Within the message noti?cation packet may be an actual
digital representation of an image from the caller’s user
pro?le, a reference to the digital representation such as a
pointer reference, or a netWork address identifying a speci?c
location on netWork 12 Where the actual digital representa
tion may be retrieved for display on the called party’s
communications terminal When the called party revieWs

pending message noti?cations.
Referring to FIG. 5, there is shoWn a more detailed

representation of graphical noti?cation system 10 from the

advanced determination by system 10 of What graphical data

?rst embodiment in FIG. 1. As shoWn in FIG. 5, graphical
noti?cation system 10 includes computer server 70, memory
72, messaging server softWare 74, user pro?le database 18,
message database 20 and message noti?cation database 22.

of a caller is suitable to present to the called party’s display
device.
User pro?le 30 may also include address information for
a variety of subscriber devices as exempli?ed by ?eld 40, so
as to provide graphical noti?cation system 20 further ?ex

Computer server 70 is a netWorked computer Which is

directly or indirectly connected to netWork 12 (see FIG. 1)

ibility in notifying an addressee via one or more devices

and is a server suitable for hosting messaging services for a

identi?ed Within ?eld 40. For the illustrative embodiment
shoWn in FIGS. 1 and 2, terminals 14 and 16 include a
telephone set and a personal computer Which are co-located

plurality of subscribers. By Way of example, computer
server 70 may be a Reduced Instruction Set Computing

(RISC) device such as a Sun Microsystems UltraSparc(TM)

at a user’s Workstation and are registered in user pro?le

Station or an IBM RS/6000(TM), or a personal computer

tion system 10. It Will nevertheless be appreciated that a

suitable for hosting messaging services such as a Compaq
Proliant (TM) or an IBM NetFinity(TM) server. Preferably,
computer server 70 is scalable to the needs of graphical
noti?cation system 10 as the number of subscribers
increases.
As illustrated in FIG. 5, memory 72 provides a memory

user’s recorded messages may be referenced in one of many

store for softWare and data residing on computer server 70

different Ways. By Way of example, the recorded messages

such as messaging server softWare 74, communications suite
76 and operating system 78. Memory 72 also stores data 71

database 18, using ?elds 38 and 40, as belonging to asso
ciated subscribers.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, user
pro?le 30 is also shoWn having an index 46 to the user’s

25

recorded/Waiting messages received by graphical noti?ca

may be stored directly as part of user pro?le 30.
Alternatively, the recorded messages may be cross
referenced in a separate table cross-referencing users With
such messages, rather than having an index Within user

for remote or local retrieval and other applications 73.
35

pro?le 30.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, a received message is allo
cated by graphical noti?cation system 10 to a message
pro?le de?ned by a data structure 50. Message pro?les for
a called party are stored Within message database 20 for

Operating system 78 is preferably a multitasking operating
system such as Unix, Linux, Microsoft WindoWs NT(TM),
Sun Solaris(TM) or IBM AIX(TM). Communications suite
76 includes softWare providing transport and routing com
munication protocols as Well as netWork interface softWare
for enabling communications betWeen users over netWork

40

12 (FIG. 1). Preferably, communications suite 76 includes

subsequent retrieval and presentation upon the called party
requesting the corresponding recorded message from
graphical noti?cation system 10. As illustrated by message

the Well knoWn and ubiquitous TCP/IP suite of services,
although other communications protocols, such as those

data structure 50, each message pro?le includes a ?eld 58 for

ence model in the International Standards OrganiZation

the caller’s recorded message as Well as message identi?

adhering to the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) refer
45

graphical message Waiting noti?cation system contemplated
herein.
Referring to FIG. 6, there is shoWn an example of the

message, the priority of the message, and addressing infor
mation identifying, for example, a list of other recipients of
the recorded message.
When a message is received from a caller and recorded,

graphical noti?cation system 10 retrieves information iden
tifying the caller from the caller’s user pro?le Within user

pro?le database 18 and a message pro?le is generated. The
retrieved identi?cation information is preferably appended
by graphical noti?cation system 10 to the message pro?le
associated With the recorded call and the message pro?le is
stored by system 10 in the message database 20. Graphical
noti?cation system 10 furthermore generates an information
signal in the form of a message noti?cation packet structured

(ISO) standard 7498, or layered arrangements Which make
use of TCP or IP With other available protocols, may be used
in the alternative, so long as such communications suites are
suf?cient to provide a netWorked environment for use of the

cation ?elds 52 for storing caller line ID data such as the
caller’s telephone number and name. Other ?elds 54 and 56
may also be provided for recording information such as the
time and date the associated message Was recorded, the
message length or duration, the revieWed status of the

55

layering of communications functions in the present inven
tion using the TCP/IP suite. As is knoWn in the art, the
Internet Protocol (IP) is a Widely used connectionless rout
ing protocol, similar to the connectionless netWork protocol
(CNLP) speci?ed in ISO 8473, and serves as the foundation
for routing over a variety of netWorks, including the Internet.
Connection-oriented services can be, and often are, provided
over the IP protocol using a higher layer transport protocol
such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). TCP is a

connection-oriented, packet-switching protocol used for
communications betWeen processes in host computers and
connected users. TCP maintains status and state information

according to a data structure such as data structure 60. The

about each user data stream ?oWing into and out of the

message noti?cation packet encapsulates caller information
including the caller’s phone number and graphical data

associated TCP softWare module. The TCP protocol also

related to a digital representation of at least one graphical
image available from the caller’s user pro?le Within user

65 provides end-to-end data transfer across one netWork or

multiple netWorks to a higher layer protocol or application
at a destination resource. In the TCP/IP model in FIG. 6,

US 6,888,927 B1
11

12

communications at the network layer between computer

suitable processor. Data, such as graphical message
noti?cations, which are to be displayed by communications
device 100 are transmitted by processor 102 to display

server 70 and network 12 are handled by the network
interface which in the illustrative embodiment in FIG. 1

implements the IEEE 802.3 ethernet standard.
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, messaging server software 74
is an application layer entity which preferably resides on

device 122 which may be any type of display supporting the

computer server 70 in memory 72 and eXecutes on central
processor 80 of computer server 70. Messaging server

disk drive or Read only Memory (ROM).

display of graphical images. Memory 104 is preferably
comprised of volatile memory such as Random Access
Memory (RAM), and non-volatile memory such as a hard
As illustrated in FIG. 7, memory 104 may contain a

software 74 comprises computer readable codes which pro
gram computer server 70 to provide voice messaging ser

vices and graphical message waiting noti?cation services. It
will be appreciated, however, that voice messaging services
and graphical message waiting noti?cation services may be
provided in sets of codes within two or more interoperable
software applications running on the same computer server
70 or several connected computer servers.

10

variety of software programs, including an operating system
116, communications suite 114, and terminal messaging
software 112. The operating system 116 may be selected
from a variety of operating systems and preferably provides
a graphical user interface (GUI) such as in Microsoft Win

15

Messaging server software 74 directs computer server 70
to communicate with user pro?le database 18, message

dows 98(TM), Windows CE(TM) or Macintosh Operating
System 8(TM). It will be appreciated, however, that oper
ating system 116 is by no means limited to more robust

operating systems. In fact, for more speci?cally tasked
end-user communications devices, such as computeriZed
display phones, a more simpli?ed operating system such as

database 20 and message noti?cation database 22 optionally
via network interface 84 connected to private LAN 85.

pSOS, available from Integrated Systems Inc., is preferred.

Databases 18, 20 and 22 may reside in one or more memory

Communications suite 114 may include TCP/IP, Point-to

stores, preferably including at least one permanent storage

Point Protocol (PPP), or SLIP, as well as Ethernet or Token

device such as a hard disk drive, located on computer server
70 or on separate server computers networked in commu

Ring software protocols for network communication via
network interface 130. It will be appreciated, however, that
communications device 100 may alternatively interface with

nication
software
database
serve as
message

with computer server 70. The messaging server
74 uses the user pro?le database 18, message
20 and the message noti?cation database 22 which
data stores for the management and provision of
and user information within graphical noti?cation

25 a network via a wireless LAN or other wireless data network

equipment, or via a cable or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber
Line (ADSL) modem or the like. For more fully featured
end-user communications devices, such as with personal

system 10.
Also included in the graphical noti?cation system 10 there

computers, lap-top computers, or palm-top computers, com
munications device 100 preferably includes browser soft
ware 110, such as Netscape Navigator(TM), Microsoft Inter

is provided image administration software application 86

net EXplorer(TM), Mosaic(TM) or other commercially

which comprises codes which may reside on and be pro
cessed by a separate computer 88 connected via a network

available browsers for connecting device 100 to the World

Wide Web
and other IP based communications.
interface 90 to the computer server 70 so as to reduce the
amount of administrative load on computer server 70. The 35
Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown a How diagram

image administration software 86 provides services for the

illustrating the noti?cation services available with graphical

receipt and storage of digital representations of one or more

noti?cation system 10 for the embodiment in FIG. 1. For
ease of reference in the following discussion, reference is

graphical images associated with subscribers of graphical
noti?cation system 10. Preferably, image administration
software 86 includes commercially available software such
as Adobe Photoshop(TM) which may be used to direct

40

computer 88 to handle the resiZing of graphical images to
preset siZes suitable for end-user display devices. Computer
88 is preferably capable of handling the reception of such

made to FIGS. 1 to 8. In operation, a call is made by a caller
from source terminal 14, to a subscribing called party at

destination terminal 16, over network 12 via graphical
noti?cation system 10. Preferably, messaging server soft
ware 74 is executed by processor 80 and programs computer
70 to monitor for subscriber requests over a network inter
face to network 12 at step 148. When a call from the caller

images locally via a disk drive 87 or other local input device
such as a scanner connected to a Universal Serial Bus, or 45

is received by computer server 70, the call is directed by

from subscribers on a secured basis over network 12 (FIG.

messaging server software 74 at step 150 to the called

1) using, for instance, remote access software such as PC

party’s destination terminal 16 using the called party’s

Anywhere(TM). Graphical images received by computer 88

address information stored in user pro?le database 18. If the
call is answered at step 152 communication between the
caller and called party proceeds at step 154 in the usual way
available over the network until it is terminated by one of the
parties. If, on the other hand, the called party does not
answer the caller’s call within a predetermined period of
time, messaging server software 74 directs computer server
70 to query user pro?le database 18 at step 156 to determine
if the called party is a subscriber of graphical messaging
services. If computer server 70 determines that the called
party is a subscriber of the messaging services of system 10,
messaging server software 74 directs computer server 70 to
retrieve the called party’s recorded greeting from the cor
responding user pro?le and to transmit the greeting to the
caller at step 158, prompting the caller for a message. The
caller’s message is then recorded by computer server 70 at
the direction of messaging server software 74 at step 160 and

may be stored in user pro?le database 18 or another con

nected database, thereby facilitating the ability of system
administrators and subscribers (where suitable) to add to,
delete from or otherwise modify graphical images within
their user pro?les.
Referring to FIG. 7, there is shown a schematic diagram

of end-user communication device 100, exempli?ed earlier
by terminal devices 14 and 16 (see FIG. 1). Communication

55

device 100 includes central processor unit 102 connected to:

memory 104, display 122 (via display interface 120), user
input device 126 (via user input interface 124), and network
interface 130. Central processor 102 performs the operations
necessary to connect communications device 100 to a net

work via network interface 130 and is programmed by
terminal messaging software 112 to receive and display
graphical message noti?cations in the form of incoming

the caller’s identi?cation information including graphical

information signals associated with stored messages on

display 122. By way of eXample, processor 102 can be
selected from the Intel X86 chipset, Intel Pentium(TM)
series, Motorola PowerPC(TM) or G3 series, or another

65

data (if available and if the called party subscribes to the
graphical service) is retrieved at step 162 from the caller’s
user pro?le in user pro?le database 18.

US 6,888,927 B1
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14

At step 164 messaging server software 74 directs com
puter server 70 to generate a graphical message waiting

a request to retrieve one or more of the subscriber’s recorded

messages, a request to retrieve message noti?cations for the
subscriber, or a request to connect a call. Requests to connect
a call are handled by messaging server software 74 at step

noti?cation represented by an information signal which is
associated with the recorded message from the caller and
which includes a digital representation of at least one

150 in the manner described above (in FIG. 8). Requests for
the retrieval of recorded messages are processed at the
direction of messaging server software 74 at step 196
wherein computer server 70 queries the message database 20
for the appropriate messages. Retrieved messages are sent

graphical image associated with the subscribing caller. In
this way, messaging server software 74 directs computer
server 70 to generate an information signal relating the
stored message to the at least one graphical image. As a
variation, if messaging server software 74 supports video or
audio/video messaging, one or more frames of the recorded

10

requests identi?ed at step 194 as requests for message
noti?cations, computer server 70 determines at the direction

video or audio/video message may be reproduced within the

graphical message waiting noti?cation at the direction of
messaging server software 74. Inserting into the noti?cation
live frames of video of the calling party offers the advantage

of making available to the called party graphical images
associated with the actual calling party, irrespective of the
subscribing line, subscribing connection or subscriber ID
used by the calling party to send the recorded message.

of messaging server software 74 whether or not the
15

Computer server 70 stores the caller’s recorded message

computer server 70, at the direction of messaging server

software 74, in the form of information signals to the
terminal address of the subscribing requestor at step 206. For
a subscriber that is a subscriber of noti?cation services but

not the graphical noti?cation service, pending non-graphical
25

recorded message and noti?cation. Preferably, subscribers
connect to computer server 70 via network 12 to retrieve

pending noti?cations. Alternatively, pending noti?cations

user pro?le a networked resource of the called party should

be noti?ed of the recorded message or graphical noti?cation,
computer server 70 proceeds to additional processing at step
toring for subscriber requests over network 12 at 148.
The process of monitoring for user requests at step 148 of

message noti?cations associated with the requestor are
retrieved at step 204 and sent to the subscriber at step 206.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 8, as an additional enhancement

to graphical message waiting noti?cation system 10, mes
saging server software 74 may optionally direct computer

may be pushed to subscribers. For instance, if, at the
direction of messaging server software 74, computer server
70 determines at step 168 that based on the called party’s

210 (in FIG. 11) and otherwise preferably returns to moni

subscriber/requestor has subscribed to the graphical mes
sage services of graphical noti?cation system 10 at step 200.
If the requester is a subscriber of the graphical message
services, messaging server software 74 initiates at step 202

retrieval of pending graphical message noti?cations associ
ated with the requester from graphical noti?cation database
22. Retrieved graphical noti?cations are transmitted by

with appended caller and call information (which in com
bination form the message pro?le) and the graphical mes
sage waiting noti?cation at step 166 in message database 20
and graphical message noti?cation database 22,
respectively, and modi?es the called party’s user pro?le in
user pro?le database 18 to record a reference to the newly

by computer server 70 at step 198 using the TCP/IP protocol
to the terminal address of the subscribing requestor. For

35

server 70 to query at step 180 (in FIG. 8) the caller’s user
pro?le in user pro?le database 18 to determine if the caller
subscribes to called party identi?cation services. If the caller
is a subscriber to called party identi?cation services, then
computer server 70 queries at step 182 the called party’s user
pro?le in user pro?le database 18 to determine if the called
party has a graphical image associated with the called party.
If a graphical image for the called party is found, and if

FIG. 8 by messaging server software 74 (FIG. 5) is decom

computer server 70 can determine that the caller’s terminal

posed into several operations in FIG. 9. For ease of

is capable of receiving such graphical information based on
the caller’s user pro?le (step 184), messaging server soft

reference, the decomposition of the monitoring process is
described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9. With TCP/IP

40

communications, a client/server model is preferably imple
mented wherein a network-side server process running on

computer server 70 with messaging server software 74

monitors a ?rst port for incoming requests and data from
subscribers. A network-side client process also running on

45

computer server 70 with messaging server software 74 is

ware 74 can direct computer server 70 to retrieve and

transmit the graphical information to the caller’s terminal for
display (step 186) as the call is processed or a message
recorded. In addition to providing the calling party with
graphical information, teXtual information about the called
party can be retrieved by computer server 70 at step 186 and
communicated to the calling party’s terminal device 14.

used to initiate transmissions to networked subscribers over
a second port. At each networked subscriber terminal, a
user-side server process running on such terminal with the

providing a calling party with information associated with

user-side terminal messaging software 112 monitors the
second port for transmissions directed from the network-side

calling party before the call was initiated. For eXample,
textual information presented to the calling party may

client process via computer server 70. A user-side client

include the called party’s e-mail address, postal address,

process also running with the terminal messaging software

title, and alternative addressable communications numbers
such as telephone numbers, faX numbers or cell phone
numbers.
Preferably, in the latter case, teXtual information and
graphical information associated with the called party are
presented to the calling party at step 186 in a business
card-like format for display within a viewing window on
terminal 14. Such graphical and teXtual information associ
ated with the called party may be saved locally on terminal

112 initiates transmissions and subscriber requests to the
messaging server software 74 over the ?rst port being
monitored by the networked-side server process.
When computer server 70 receives a request at step 190

These enhancements offer an automated mechanism for

the called party which may not have been available to the

55

(while monitoring at step 148) over network 12, messaging
server software 74 directs computer 70 to parse the request.
At step 192 messaging server software 74 identi?es the

requester (including the requestor’s terminal address) and
the subscription privileges of the requestor. This latter

14 in a contact list database or as separates ?les in a directory

operation includes authenticating the requestor as a recog

for subsequent easy retrieval and use by the calling party.
For instance, such locally saved graphical and teXtual infor

niZed subscriber of graphical noti?cation system 10 and
instructing computer server 70 to query the user pro?le
database 18 for information on the requestor’s subscription
services. For identi?ed subscribers, messaging server soft
ware 74 determines at step 194 whether the request includes

65

mation may be subsequently retrieved on terminal 14 for use
in an autodialer coded to program terminal 14 to call the

party associated with the retrieved information. Similarly,

calling party information, including graphical information