Voice mail interface
Contents
1. 0 SETTINGS EB gt Cun T 6 DONE TIME O US 2002 0191753 A1 Patent Application Publication Dec 19 2002 Sheet 1 of 2 NOLLVOIHILON DNIDVd LUV word LH x BALL 9 EDIL US 2002 0191753 A1 Patent Application Publication Dec 19 2002 Sheet 2 of 2 CYOMSSVd DIA INIL INOG 9 AWIL HNOG Of AWIL INOG 99 Bl x HILL HIALL uc HINLL HNOG TIVO US 2002 0191753 A1 VOICE MAIL INTERFACE CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 0001 This application is a continuation of U S patent application Ser No 09 558 292 which was filed Apr 25 2000 the content of which is incorporated herein in its entirety BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0002 1 Field of the Invention 0003 The present invention relates to the field of tele communications More particularly the present invention relates to a voice mail interface having a non hierarchical interface structure that permits a user to access voice mail features without having to memorize commands 0004 2 Background Information 0005 When a user subscribing to a voice mail service accesses a voice mail system for example to listen to a recorded message the user interacts with a voice mail interface Typically the user enters a password to access a voice mailbox and then enters a command for example presses a key on the telephone touchpad to play a message or to enter a setting2. contemplated as is accommodating voice recognition 0102 In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention the methods described herein are intended for operation as software programs running on a computer processor Dedicated hardware implementations including but not limited to application specific integrated circuits programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement the methods described herein Furthermore alternative software implementations including but not limited to distributed processing or component object distributed processing parallel process ing or virtual machine processing can also be constructed to implement the methods described herein 0103 It should also be noted that the software imple mentations of the present invention as described herein are optionally stored on a tangible storage medium such as a magnetic medium such as a disk or tape a magneto optical or optical medium such as a disk or a solid state medium such as a memory card or other package that houses one or more read only non volatile memories random access memories or other re writable volatile memories A digital file attachment to email or other self contained information archive or set of archives is considered a distribution Dec 19 2002 medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium Accord ingly the invention is considered to include a tangible storage medium or di
3. an extension mailbox number change the temporary password record the extension greeting record the exten sion name recording and then change record the group greeting This process varies slightly if the particular exten sion mailbox is a mailbox having multiple lines such that each phone line greeting and name recording is set up before the group greeting 0083 Once initialization is completed and messages are received subscribers will first access any new voice and fax messages Subscribers can choose to bypass the new mes sages by pressing the star key at any time If they do not press the star key the new voice and fax messages will begin autoplaying according to priority e g urgent messages first and order of arrival At any time subscribers can skip individual messages by pressing the pound key During or immediately after message playback when the message options are explicitly presented the subscriber can choose to do the following replay the message by pressing 1 back up to a previous message by pressing 1 1 save the message by pressing 2 erase the message by pressing 3 reply with a recorded message by pressing 4 if recipient information available to a distribution list to another subscriber s for US 2002 0191753 A1 mailbox delivery or to a non subscriber s for delivery to that person s telephone perform a Live Reply Message Direct where the sender is called directly by pressing 4 4 send a copy by pre
4. cannot send a new message while reviewing messages Instead the user must leave message review and return to the main menu 0008 Another disadvantage of conventional menu driven interfaces is that due to the tree type structure and hierar chical nature of the options menus many features are nested within menus and are therefore not used or understood by the majority of users Consequently users avoid or have trouble changing the settings of their mailboxes Further the tree type structure makes finding options and navigating difficult to the point where unless the option is frequently Dec 19 2002 used it is often forgotten or thought to not exist As a result most users eventually learn how to change their greeting and little else 0009 Conventional voice mail interfaces are also saddled with drawbacks when adding a new setting In order to add a new setting several decisions are required First the location in the decision tree must be selected Second how to restructure new and existing features to attempt to main tain consistency must be determined Third how to inform subscribers of the new setting must be decided That is the basic architecture of the service must be redesigned when adding new features to the service 0010 The Message Center a voice mail system available from Pacific Bell Telephone Co is a conventional menu driven voice mail program As with all conventional voice mail interfaces the user m
5. printed by pressing 5 5 Reply and copy functionality are also possible e g by sending a wav file to the email sender Once the last email message is played timing out will return the subscriber to the voice fax new or saved message queues depending upon the existence of messages and where the subscriber was when first entering email review 0087 Pressing the star key at any time will also return the subscriber to the voice fax new or saved message queues 0088 Once a subscriber presses 0 to enter the Settings Area the subscriber can move to each setting by pressing the pound key or return to a previous setting by pressing 1 1 Pressing the star key at any time will return the subscriber to the voice fax new or saved message queues depending upon the existence of messages and where the subscriber was when first entering the Settings Area Subscribers are presented with the name for a setting If the subscriber does not immediately press a key then the prompt continues with information describing the particular setting If the sub Scriber still does not press a key then the setting title and information will be repeated again If the subscriber still does not press a key then the title for the next setting will be played and so on Subscribers can access the setting that is being prompted by pressing zero at any time After pressing zero to enter a setting various instructions are presented Once the subscriber completes the desir
6. return command 7 The method of claim 1 in which the changing one of the persistent settings features further comprises immedi ately returning to the message review area after the persis tent settings feature has been changed US 2002 0191753 A1 8 The method of claim 1 in which the sequentially listing a series of persistent settings features further comprises initially listing a greetings persistent settings feature 9 The method of claim 8 in which the sequentially listing a series of persistent settings features further comprises listing persistent settings features in a priority order 10 The method of claim 1 in which the changing one of the persistent settings features further comprises sequen tially listing parameters for changing the persistent settings feature 11 An interface to a subscriber based voice mail compo nent of a telecommunications system embodied on a com puter readable storage medium comprising a message review area from where messages are played to a subscriber settings area accessed from the message review area when the subscriber enters a predetermined command a plurality of persistent voice mail settings features that can all be sequentially listed from the settings area and a plurality of functions directly available from the mes sage review area including an option of accessing the settings area wherein the subscriber is enabled to review all persistent voice mail settings fea
7. which when the sub scriber enters a return command the subscriber returns to the message review area 17 The interface of claim 11 in which the subscriber immediately returns to the message review area after a persistent voice mail settings feature has been changed 18 The interface of claim 11 in which the plurality of persistent voice mail settings features further comprise a greetings settings feature which is listed first 19 The interface of claim 18 in which the plurality of persistent voice mail settings features further comprise per sistent voice mail settings features listed in a priority order 20 The interface of claim 11 further comprising a plurality of sequentially listed parameters for each persistent voice mail settings feature the parameters being for chang ing the settings feature 0k
8. 02 not have to press 0 to change the native language of the mailbox This is because when using the mailbox with an unfamiliar language it is difficult or impossible to figure out how to revert to the user s native language For instance if Mandarin Chinese had been selected and the user speaks English the user should be able to hit 0 to enter the Settings Area and wait until For English press 1 is heard This situation supports the present invention s auto roll behav ior in the Settings Area where the mailbox moves to the next setting eventually if no key is pressed 0057 An embodiment of a Settings Area will now be described Settings are presented sequentially one after another not as branches in a menu tree Moreover within each setting parameters are also presented one at a time As a result of this sequential approach the user must listen through or skip through all of the items prior to the item desired to be changed or added In addition the user is led through the changes and has few decisions to make other than the choices for the settings themselves Such an arrangement provides the advantage that if it is determined at a later time that the order of settings should be changed the order can be easily changed According to another aspect each setting is confirmed at the time it is entered or changed Consequently an enhanced feeling of control and certainty is gained 0058 When a list e g phone numbe
9. US 20020191753A1 a2 Patent Application Publication co Pub No US 2002 0191753 A1 as United States Valco et al 43 Pub Date Dec 19 2002 54 VOICE MAIL INTERFACE 75 Inventors Larry Lee Valco Pleasanton CA US Sherrill J Packebush Austin TX US John Payton Beans Oakland CA US Correspondence Address GREENBLUM amp BERNSTEIN P L C 1941 ROLAND CLARKE PLACE RESTON VA 20191 US 73 Assignee SBC TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES INC Austin TX US 21 Appl No 10 166 654 22 Filed Jun 12 2002 CALL C DONE TIME 4 66 DONE TIME DONE TIME TIME 55 Related U S Application Data 63 Continuation of application No 09 558 292 filed on Apr 25 2000 now Pat No 6 442 243 Publication Classification 61 Int CL sie H04M 1 64 53 ME UE o O TIENDA 379 67 1 57 ABSTRACT A method for interfacing a subscriber to a voice mail component of a telecommunications system is provided The method includes playing messages to the subscriber when the subscriber is in a message review area and providing a plurality of functions to the subscriber while the messages are playing and including an option of accessing a settings area The method further includes placing the subscriber in a settings area in response to a subscriber s command and sequentially listing a series of persistent settings features when the subscriber is in the settings area DONBE TIME
10. age access email or change a setting the user may request to do so at virtually any time Although a number of current voice mail systems have a system option to begin playing messages immedi ately these systems typically retain the main menu func tionality but skip over it upon mailbox access Consequently navigation back to the main menu is still required to send a message or change a setting 0035 Messages are classified as new or saved New messages are played first then saved messages then the cycle repeats A message remains new until the user explic itly saves or erases it Messages marked as urgent float to the top of each queue Saved messages are aged off after a certain period 0036 According to one embodiment of the present inven tion the following functions are available during message review the most important of which are shown in FIG 2 Repeat 1 Save 2 Erase 3 Reply 4 Copy 5 a k a Send new forward message 6 Jump back in a message 7 Pause message playing Jump ahead in message 9 Jump to next queue Go to settings area 0 Skip a message Go back to previous message 1 1 Perform Quick Reply 4 4 Print 5 5 if an call a message sender email or fax directly Slow down a message 7 7 Play time date stamp Speed up a message 8 8 9 9 Go to email 6 6 0037 The user may activate each function both during and after a message with a single comman
11. d In most cases a menu is played after each message that only prompts for replay save and erase Reply and copy are included when applicable and print is included if the message is a fax or email 0038 After successfully executing modal commands i e commands unique to an area such as reply copy send check time date or enter Settings Area the user is returned to the end of the current message If a message is skipped saved or erased the system moves to the next message The user can however return to the previous message at any time If the user does not enter a command within several seconds from the playing of the after message menu the system moves to the next message 0039 Some branching or modality the condition of being constrained to the task at hand cannot be eliminated As seen in FIG 2 which shows the primary modes of the current design the user is immediately placed in message review From message review the other major states are all available US 2002 0191753 A1 0040 According to an aspect of the present invention inactivity on the users part is a valid input and should gracefully allow hands free usage and exit from any func tional modes in an appropriate manner e g when listening to emails or changing a setting doing nothing will even tually lead the user back to voice messages In addition double keystrokes cannot be relied on for mainstream usage and are reserved
12. during address entry To do this the system is designed to recognize valid numbers without a pound key recognize abbreviations of valid numbers allow plenty of Dec 19 2002 time to dial numbers and allow entry of any number up to eleven digits long if necessary an extension is subsequently prompted so it can be typed along with the number 0045 The logic and timeouts used during address entry will now be discussed In order to end an address the system assumes that entry is complete when one of three things happens the pound key is depressed the star key is depressed or a time out occurs As each digit is entered the system evaluates the validity of the entry The system will classify the numbers entered so far into one of three cat egories The first category is VALID occurring when 7 or 10 digits are recognized as a subscriber or 11 digits are entered The second category is MIGHT BE VALID occurring when 1 to 5 digits correspond to a entry in a personal distribution list 1 to 5 digits correspond to a valid extension 7 digits are entered and 1 to 3 digits are not a recognized area code or 5 digits have been entered and digit 1 is digit 3 of the subscriber s NXX The numbers are classified as NOT VALID in all other cases 0046 To achieve the desired behavior three different timeout criteria are used depending on the status of the numbers entered so far A three second timeout period is set when a VALID number is e
13. ed actions for a setting or presses the star key the subscriber will be returned to the voice fax new or saved message queues depending upon the existence of messages and where the subscriber was when first entering the Settings Area 0089 Subscribers end their voice mail session at any time by hanging up This instruction is presented at the end of the Dec 19 2002 message queues along with the instructions for sending messages and accessing email 0090 Callers who reach the voice mail system of the present invention will not necessarily know whether they have reached a voice mail service or an answering machine They will hear either the subscriber s recorded greeting or a system standard greeting depending upon what greeting the subscriber has selected and which phone line was called If the called subscriber has extension mailboxes the caller will first hear the group greeting and depending upon what extension number is pressed then the appropriate extension greeting During the greeting and the recording of a mes sage bad key sequences invoke a polite error prompt and cause the greeting to be replayed Once a caller leaves a voice message if the caller knows to press the pound key the caller will have the option to review the message to re record the message to mark it urgent or to mark it private 0091 An advantage of the present invention is that there is minimal keystroke duplication and consistent key assign
14. ed in a preceding prompt 0095 Another advantage of the present invention is that the flat structure of the Settings Area explicitly presents all features by prompting one after the other The flat Settings Area makes the settings features more conspicuous unlike hierarchical structures in which features are often hidden in lower menus Also options are explicitly prompted and therefore not hidden from subscribers 0096 The Settings Area presents the most frequently used and important settings first e g Greeting Passcode Change and Home No Password Erased Message Queue etc This minimizes the number of times the pound key must be pressed to reach the more common settings 0097 Because of the flat structure and minimal key assignments documentation will be simple and uncluttered US 2002 0191753 A1 Instructions should be easily transferable to Quick Refer ence Cards In addition because the Settings Area is flat settings can simply be listed without the need to show paths and menus Because key assignments rarely change the telephone keypad can be shown with the main key assign ments 0098 All prompts are interruptible and will accept data entry before playing is complete If a user accidentally presses the wrong key or decides not to complete a process the user can interrupt the subsequent prompt and or cancel with the star key returning to the previous step or area 0099 According to one embodiment of the
15. edesigned whenever a new setting is added 0028 The present invention provides business and resi dential subscribers with access to many basic and advanced voice mail messaging capabilities Subscribers can receive and review various message types including voice mail fax and email They can reply to a received message via Live Reply Message Direct i e the sender is called directly or US 2002 0191753 A1 with a recorded message depending upon the availability of the sender information They can send a copy of a received message to other subscribers and non subscribers provided that the received message is not marked private They can also record messages to be sent to both subscribers and non subscribers Through the Settings Area subscribers can change various mailbox features and access additional func tionality including Greeting s Password s Erased Mes sages Transfer to Pager Caller Transfer Phone Search Distribution Lists Recorded Name Time and Date Stamp New Message Notification Phone Number Nicknames and Helpful Hints Subscribers can also have extension mail boxes with one group greeting and individual extension greetings Other features are of course contemplated by the present invention In terms of overall style the prompts are brief and direct allowing focus on the messages themselves and making the interface feel as light unobtrusive and forgiving as possible 0029 According to one embodime
16. er enters a return command during the sequential listing of settings features the subscriber is returned to the message review area 0022 In one embodiment changing one of the settings features includes immediately returning to the message review area after the settings feature has been changed In addition the series of settings features are listed in a prioritized order with a greetings settings feature being first Changing one of the settings features involves sequentially listing parameters for changing the settings feature 0023 According to another aspect of the present inven tion an interface to a voice mail system embodied on a computer readable storage medium is provided The inter face includes a message review area from where messages are played to a subscriber and a settings area The message review area is immediately accessed when the subscriber enters the voice mail system The settings area is accessed from the message review area when the subscriber enters a predetermined command Multiple settings features are sequentially accessed from the settings area and multiple functions are directly available from the message review area In one embodiment the message review area plays a subsequent message a predetermined time period after a current message finishes playing in the event that the subscriber does not enter a command 0024 A number of prompts associated with each settings feature are provided A first pro
17. er possible the amount of navigation required has been eliminated or kept to a minimum That is all options and settings or placed in a single location the Settings Area 0018 An object of the present invention is to provide an easy to learn and convenient to use interface to a voice mail system In order to achieve this object the interface does not include a main menu reducing navigation throughout the interface More specifically the user can press a predeter mined key e g 0 to enter a special Settings Area Once in the Settings Area the system presents options that the user can select When an option is selected the user can set the desired preference for that option Thus the user need only learn the predetermined key and the system will then guide the user through the process According to another aspect of the present invention more experienced users can press a second predetermined key e g the pound key to quickly skip to the setting the user needs After completing the setting the user is returned to message review Alternatively a third predetermined key e g the star key can cancel an action and immediately return the user to message review 0019 According to an aspect of the present invention a method is provided for interfacing a subscriber to a voice mail system The method includes immediately placing the subscriber in a message review area when the subscriber enters the voice mail system and pla
18. for advanced features only To prevent a late command e g a late press of the 3 key from erasing the following message which is automatically played after the previous message the erase command is applied to the previous message during the first 0 5 seconds of the next message s number prompt Other delay periods can be set based upon need 0041 Individual features available in an exemplary implementation of the present invention are now discussed A reply feature if reply information is available can be provided and will cause the system to ask the user if he wishes to reply to the message without entering the sender s phone number When pressing the reply command the user will be prompted to record a message or to place a call directly back to the message originator For sending a recorded message after pressing the pound key to complete the message options for review and delivery are presented Upon pressing the pound key to deliver the message the message is sent with a reply sent prompt If a call is placed directly to the message originator the user can return to their voice messages at any time by pressing the pound key twice or when the called party disconnects 0042 When a copy feature allowing users to transfer received messages is selected the system asks the user to address the message to one or more recipients or a distri bution list When the user has programmed at least one distribution list the addres
19. ment More particularly there are no hierarchical menu layers and therefore the majority of key assignments stay the same the majority of the time Consistently the pound key moves to the next step option or terminates entry the star key cancels or moves to a previous queue and the zero key accesses the Settings Area and enables changes 0092 Another advantage of the present invention is that minimal steps and number entry are required Because of the non hierarchical structure frequently performed options require a minimal number of steps The service also suggests appropriate phone numbers rather than requiring subscribers to reenter phone numbers e g the service suggests the last fax number printed to states the phone numbers in Greetings by Telephone Number etc reducing the need to enter seven or ten digit numbers 0093 The present invention also provides the ability to act with no main menu Because there is no Main Menu subscribers can act to send a message retrieve Email or access the Settings Area at any point while reviewing messages This eliminates the need to be in or navigate to a specific menu in order to do specific things 0094 According to another aspect of the present inven tion after entering a string of numbers or making a record ing subscribers can terminate by pressing the pound key or by letting time out move them to the next step The pound key is not required even though it is sometimes request
20. mpt is played to identify the title of each settings feature and when the settings command has not been entered a second prompt is played describing the settings feature When the settings command has still not been entered the first and second prompts are played again and when the settings command has still not been entered a first prompt associated with a next command is played 0025 According to one embodiment a next settings feature is skipped to upon receiving a skip command from the subscriber and a previous settings feature is repeated when receiving a repeat command from the subscriber Furthermore when the subscriber enters a return command the subscriber returns to the message review area 0026 According to one aspect of the invention the subscriber immediately returns to the message review area after a settings feature has been changed The settings features also include a greetings settings feature which is listed first and other settings features listed in a priority order Sequentially listed parameters can also be provided for each settings feature the parameters being for changing the settings feature 0027 By providing the flat interface of the present inven tion new settings can be added to a list of settings and can be used immediately without special user training The user simply presses 0 to access the Settings Area and then either waits or jumps to the new setting Thus the menu structure need not be r
21. nt of the present inven tion when the user calls in to check messages for the first time the voice mail system presents a brief thanks an introduction about what is going to happen how long it will take and how it can be handled by the user The system then walks the user through steps for changing the temporary password selecting creating a greeting and recording a name announcement The system confirms each step when appropriate and offers the user the option to do it over The system also coaches the user on each feature and setting as appropriate and only continues to the next item when the last item has been confirmed The voice mail system resumes initialization on the next call if the user hangs up before all of the settings have been presented at least once Initialization resumes where the user left off preventing the user from having to redo any previously completed portion of the initialization process The initial call ends with a quick tip on operation and a thank you and puts the user into the user s mailbox on that first call 0030 By far the most common activity for users is listening to new messages both voice and fax If a sub scriber has multiple phone lines for one mailbox as a feature then messages from multiple phone lines will be available for review within a single mailbox of the present invention When the user calls to listen to messages the messages begin playing automatically Thus the message review p
22. ntered A seven second timeout is set when a MIGHT BE VALID number is entered A fifteen second timeout period is set for all other cases 0047 Some example situations using the above rules and timeouts will now be discussed One to five digits not recognized as an extension or a list will time out after fifteen seconds One to five digits recognized as an extension or a list will time out after seven seconds Five digits that start with digit three of the subscriber s NXX will time out after seven seconds Seven digits recognized as a subscriber will time out after three seconds Seven digits not recognized as a subscriber will time out after seven seconds as long as digits one to three are not an area code 0048 If Message Delivery to Non subscribers MDNS has been activated an added set of prompts appear during addressing Message Delivery to Non subscribers allows messages to be sent to people who are not subscribers to the voice mail system by ringing their phones and delivering the messages when the phones are answered When the user requests delivery to a non subscriber number if charges will be applied either per minute or per message the user is notified of this fact In addition the system notifies the user that this message will be delivered to a non subscriber and will be returned if delivery is not possible If the number is a valid subscriber the above two steps are not executed 0049 According to an aspect of the
23. playing a subsequent message a predeter mined time period after a current message finishes playing in the event that the subscriber does not enter a command 3 The method of claim 1 in which the sequentially listing a series of persistent settings features further comprises playing a prompt listing the title of each persistent settings feature and when a command to select the persistent settings feature has not been entered playing a second prompt describing each persistent settings feature and when the command to select the persistent settings feature has still not been entered again playing the first and second prompts describing the persistent settings feature and when the command to select the persistent settings feature has still not been entered playing prompts associated with a subsequent persistent settings feature 4 The method of claim 1 in which the sequentially listing a series of persistent settings features further comprises skipping to a next persistent settings feature when receiving a skip command from the subscriber 5 The method of claim 4 in which the sequentially listing a series of persistent settings features further comprises repeating a previous persistent settings feature when receiv ing a repeat command from the subscriber 6 The method of claim 1 in which the sequentially listing a series of persistent settings features further comprises returning to the message review area when the subscriber enters a
24. present inven tion the present invention operates on a Unisys mainframe computer employing application software release UVMS 12 5 NAP 17 8 MCP 4 61 An exemplary service creation environment is Unisys NapTool 15 1 Although the Unisys platform is discussed any platform system have appropriate functionality may be substituted 0100 Although the invention has been described with reference to several exemplary embodiments it is under stood that the words that have been used are words of description and illustration rather than words of limitation Changes may be made within the purview of the appended claims as presently stated and as amended without depart ing from the scope and spirit of the invention in its aspects Although the invention has been described with reference to particular means materials and embodiments the invention is not intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed rather the invention extends to all functionally equivalent structures methods and uses such as are within the scope of the appended claims 0101 The present invention also contemplates including new features and functionality such as features available with The Message Center that are not currently in the design They may also include new features such as Reminders Future Delivery Email Reply Email Copy and changing the subscribers Ring Cycle Finally expansion to a Unified Messaging service i e access from a personal computer is
25. present invention recording stops when a pound key a star key or a time out occurs Three different timeout criteria are used depending on the status of the recording The time outs are designed to provide adequate time to continue input without being so long that subscribers become frustrated A period of three seconds is set after initial silence e g silence after a record tone after entering a recognized digit or number or after entering a single digit that is not valid A periods of seven seconds is set when there is silence after sound e g after recording a message or greeting or after entering a number of the expected length that is not valid A period of fifteen seconds is set after entering a number of unexpected length An exemplary total recording time is 120 seconds 0050 Example situations using the above rules and tim eouts follow A beep tone followed by three seconds of US 2002 0191753 A1 silence re prompts the user to begin recording after the tone If the user records a message and then says nothing for seven seconds the system acts as if the message was then termi nated by the pound key If the total time allowed for the recording is exceeded in this example 120 seconds the user is informed and prompted to accept or re record If the user presses the star key during the first two seconds the entire action sending replying etc is canceled If the user presses the star key after the first two seconds
26. recording or entry talk or digits T Canceling recording or entry and returning to just messages 8 Roll to next setting or item timeout 0060 The settings appear in order of frequency of usage so that more frequently accessed settings require as few as possible steps In an embodiment of the present invention the list of settings options in order of appearance includes 0061 1 Greeting s Group and extension or just single line greeting with options to use a system greeting or alternate recorded greeting for each phone line when multiple lines are connected to a single mailbox 0062 0063 0064 0065 0066 6 Helpful Hints includes help topics on the pound key changing greetings features that make listening to messages faster replying copying and sending messages email review and advanced call management features 0067 7 Time date stamp on off 0068 8 Transfer to Pager 0069 9 Transfer to Attendant Caller Transfer 0070 10 Phone Search 0071 0072 0073 0074 14 Phone Number Nickname allows sub Scribers to record a brief descriptive label for each phone line when multiple lines are connected to a single mailbox to be played as part of each message header 0075 15 Extension number 0076 This list loops so that Greeting s follows Exten sion Number The Previous command 1 1 works in the settings area as expected Note that only settings that apply will be p
27. resented For example if the subscriber does not have email then no email Helpful Hint will be presented Another example is if the subscriber does not have multiple phone lines assigned to one mailbox then Phone Number Nickname will not be presented and the Greetings setting will not include multiple phone line greetings 2 Change Password Password Skip 3 Erased Message queue 4 Reminder Messages 5 Distribution Lists 11 New Message Notifications 12 Outcall Notification 13 Recorded Name 0077 From session to session a queue of the most recently erased messages is kept in the Settings Area These age off after a certain time period and the queue size may be limited so that newly erased messages bump the oldest ones out of the queue Unlike every other queue erased messages are presented in reverse chronological order so Dec 19 2002 that the most recently erased messages appear first Controls within the erased message queue work identically to the new and saved message queues but like email the star key allows the user to return to the main voice and fax queues All functions are available including reply copy send and save 0078 If a user accidentally erases a message the message can still be retrieved and acted upon The erased message queue is explicitly mentioned within the Additional Options and is conspicuous within the Settings Area the third setting 0079 After hearing or skipping the last mes
28. rocess is streamlined Each message is numbered First new message second new message and then the time and date that the message was received is played unless the user has turned off the time date feature from the Settings Area Exemplary prompts that a user might hear upon dialing their access number include 0031 You have two new messages Message one Hi there it s Alan calling at around five p m I guess you re not home I ll call back later To repeat press 1 to save press 2 to erase press 3 to reply press 4 to send a copy press 5 five seconds Message two 0032 Notice that the password was not requested in this example As an option the user may request that calls from their own phone are not screened with a password Callers from other phones however would still need to enter a password to obtain access This user settable option is referred to as Password Skip In this example the time date Dec 19 2002 stamp was not played prior to the message This is another user settable option having an on off option 0033 If the user does not choose to repeat save erase reply or send a copy within about five seconds the next message is announced and played This hands free opera tion facilitates wireless and speaker phone review 0034 According to the present invention there is no main menu rather messages begin playing automatically If a user wants to send a new mess
29. rs in a distribution list is being edited existing items are accepted edited or removed first Then new items may be entered Conse quently inserting an item between two existing items in an order sensitive list can be laborious because the user must listen to or skip ahead to the insertion position and all subsequent items must be edited or erased and reentered Fortunately no significant adverse impact of this approach has been identified because distribution lists are the only lists of significant size and they are not order sensitive On the other hand no memorization of list items or the location of list items is required to modify them easing enhancement of the list i e changing a specific distribution list does not require the entry of the distribution number first although a user can do so and go directly to the desired distribution list 0059 Table 1 shows exemplary key conventions within the Settings Area which provide for consistency and avail ability TABLE 1 1 On off or return to messages 1 1 Keep on off 1 2 Change to on off 0 1 3 Leave the Settings Area 2 Skip change or return to messages 2 1 Skip 2 2 Change 0 2 3 Return to messages P 3 For lists keep change or remove return to messages 3 1 Keep 3 2 Change 0 3 3 Remove 3 3 4 Leave the Settings Area 4 Entering a number number US 2002 0191753 A1 TABLE 1 continued 5 No more numbers to enter just 6 Canceling a partial
30. s area 0006 Traditional settings areas rely heavily on menus To change a setting the user navigates to the appropriate area and modifies the setting The user then navigates back to other functions As seen in FIG 1 conventional placement of functions and settings in tree like menus requires that the user be in the right place at the right time to perform any function For example the user accesses a main menu after calling into the system and being validated From the main menu the user can access various states settings areas by pressing 1 to review messages 2 to send a message 3 to access a personal profile 4 to set greetings 5 to access a groups function or 11 to scan i e review envelope infor mation for all messages To return from each state to the previous state the user presses the key Thus in order to return to the main menu from replying to a message the user presses the key twice once to return to the message review area after finishing the reply and once to return from the message review area to the main menu 0007 As can be seen users often have to go up and down the typical voice mail options tree structure to find a desired function For example if a user reviewing messages would like to set a password the user must press the key to leave message review press the 3 key to enter the personal profile area and finally press the 1 key to access the set password area Similarly the user
31. s the 0 key From that point on the user is guided through and instructed about the meaning and procedure for changing each setting 0054 According to an embodiment of the present inven tion the system acknowledges that the user has pressed O to enter the Settings Area Subsequently the system gives a very brief set of instructions e g Press pound until you hear the item that you want then press zero to change it In this embodiment the system uses the bottom row of keys as user controls the user may press the pound key to skip to the next setting 0 to change a setting and the star key to leave the settings area 0055 Moreover the system returns the user to their messages after changing a setting it assumes that user wanted to change just one setting The system leads the user from option to option if the user does not make a choice if the user does nothing the user will hear each setting twice and listen to a clear description of what each setting does That is the system coaches assists the user by playing a description of that setting when the user does not react to the setting Finally the system places the greeting at the very top of the settings area so a shortcut to changing the greeting is to press 0 0 and places other settings in order of impor tance and frequency of use 0056 There may be special exceptions to this approach For instance after entering the Settings Area the user should Dec 19 20
32. s will look at the user s manual It is also known that calls to customer service are a significant expense But perhaps the most expensive consequence of complex voice mail interfaces is the effect that frustration can have on customer satisfaction retention and word of mouth refer rals 0013 Therefore a need exists to simplify the user inter face of voice mail systems Accordingly the present inven tion attempts to make every function or feature available at all times in order to reduce the amount of learning and customer support time required and to increase day to day user satisfaction BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0014 The present invention is further described in the detailed description that follows by reference to the noted drawings by way of non limiting examples of preferred embodiments of the present invention in which like refer ence numerals represent similar parts throughout several views of the drawings and in which US 2002 0191753 A1 0015 FIG 1 shows a state diagram of a conventional voice mail interface and 0016 FIG 2 shows a state diagram of a voice mail interface in accordance with an aspect of the present inven tion DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 0017 In view of the foregoing the present invention is directed to simplifying the user interface to voice mail systems The present invention includes a flat non modal non hierarchical interface structure Whenev
33. sage sub scribers are explicitly prompted with a set of Additional Options that list the Send Email when available and Settings Area options and to hang up if the subscriber is finished Within this prompt the Change Greeting setting and Erased Messages are mentioned with respect to the Settings Area An exemplary prompt states 0080 End of messages To record a message to be sent to another subscriber press 6 To review your email press 8 To change something about your mailbox such as your greeting or to review your erased messages press 0 If you have finished lis tening to your messages you may hang up 0081 This feature allows subscribers to automatically hear their messages and options without having to press a key Instead a time out after message review options Additional Options Send Email Settings or after a set ting will move the user to the next message set of options after two time outs or help coaching prompt Settings Area 0082 According to an aspect of the present invention subscribers go through a typical initialization process the first time they call their voice mail service including chang ing the temporary password selecting creating a greeting and recording a name announcement Subscribers having multiple phone lines connected to a single mailbox will also record separate greetings for each phone line For those subscribers with extension mailboxes the subscriber will select
34. sing prompt changes to reflect this option Distribution lists allow a user to enter phone numbers for a group of people When the user decides to send copy or reply to the group the user can address the message to the distribution list rather than having to enter all of the recipients phone numbers The system places no minimum duration on the recorded introduction that the user is asked to record allowing in effect no introduction if desired After pressing the pound key to complete the message options for review and delivery are presented Upon pressing the pound key to deliver the message the message is sent with a copy sent prompt The recipient of the message hears a single time date stamp that reflects the time the message was received 0043 When a send feature is selected the system asks the user to address the message to one or more recipients or a distribution list When the user has programmed at least one distribution list the addressing prompt changes to reflect this option According to one embodiment of the present invention the message must be at least two seconds long After pressing the pound key to complete the message options for review and delivery are presented Upon press ing the pound key to deliver the message the message is sent with a message sent prompt When replay is selected the system repeats the message that was just played 0044 The system should be as forgiving and helpful as possible
35. ssing 5 to a distribution list to another subscriber s for mailbox delivery or to a non subscriber s for delivery to that person s telephone or if the message is a fax print a copy of the fax by pressing 5 5 0084 During message playback subscribers can also rewind by pressing 7 slow down message playing by pressing 7 7 pause by pressing 8 receive time and date and if applicable phone number nickname information by pressing 8 8 fast forward by pressing 9 or speed up message playing by pressing 9 9 Once the subscriber has either heard all new messages or skipped past them any saved messages are autoplayed Subscribers have the same options during saved message playback as they do during new message playback 0085 At any time whether messages are being played or not subscribers can send a message by pressing 6 to a distribution list to another subscriber s for mailbox deliv ery or to a non subscriber s for delivery to that person s telephone access email by pressing 6 6 or access the Settings Area by pressing 0 Sent recorded reply and copied messages may also be marked urgent or private Subscribers also have the capability to review and record the message or introduction 0086 If a subscriber presses 6 6 to access email the new and saved email messages have essentially the same order of presentation and functionality as the other message types Email messages are autoplayed via text to speech They can be
36. stribution medium as listed herein and including art recognized equivalents and successor media in which the software implementations herein are stored 0104 Although the present specification describes com ponents and functions implemented in the embodiments with reference to particular standards and protocols the invention is not limited to such standards and protocols Each of the standards represents examples of the state of the art Such standards are periodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentially the same func tions Accordingly replacement standards and protocols having the same functions are considered equivalents What is claimed is 1 A method for interfacing a subscriber to a voice mail component of a telecommunications system comprising playing messages to the subscriber when the subscriber is in a message review area providing a plurality of functions to the subscriber the functions being available while the messages are play ing and including an option of accessing a settings area placing the subscriber in a settings area in response to a subscriber s command sequentially listing a series of persistent settings features when the subscriber is in the settings area and changing one of the persistent settings features in response to a subscriber s command to change the persistent settings feature 2 The method of claim 1 in which the playing messages further comprises
37. the user is prompted to re record 0051 The present invention was developed in response to the fact that users typically change one setting at a time and the greeting is by far the most often changed setting The present invention also respond to the facts that users cannot be expected to memorize a different procedure for changing each setting and settings not very easily found are not changed sometimes preventing features of the mailbox from being used The present invention also is flexible enough so that more features and thus settings can be added in the future and different configurations of the product can have different sets of settings 0052 The present invention does not require naviga tion to and from features Rather several basic design philosophies are adhered to whenever practical in the Set tings Area For example according to an aspect of the present invention menus do not lead to other menus i e menus are only used for the setting itself not to get to the setting According to another aspect lists are treated as lists that the user can review from top to bottom That is lists have no arbitrary limit on the number of items which would be the case if each list item was a choice in a menu Furthermore the presence or absence of a setting does not effect the structure of the Settings Area 0053 The new design gives the user a simple instruction for changing their greeting or any other setting Pres
38. tures of the voice mail compo nent of the telecommunications system without taking any action once the subscriber is in the settings area 12 The interface of claim 11 in which the message review area plays a subsequent message a predetermined time period after a current message finishes playing in the event that the subscriber does not enter a command 13 The interface of claim 11 further comprising a plurality of prompts associated with each persistent voice Dec 19 2002 mail settings feature a first prompt being played to identify the title of each persistent voice mail settings feature and when a command to select the persistent voice mail settings feature has not been entered a second prompt is played describing the persistent voice mail settings feature and when the command to select the persistent voice mail settings feature has still not been entered the first and second prompts are again played and when the command to select the persistent voice mail settings feature has still not been entered a first prompt associated with a next persistent voice mail settings feature is played 14 The interface of claim 11 in which a next persistent voice mail settings feature is skipped to upon receiving a skip command from the subscriber 15 The interface of claim 14 in which a previous persistent voice mail settings feature is repeated when receiving a repeat command from the subscriber 16 The interface of claim 11 in
39. ust develop a basic mental map before being able to easily navigate from state to state The typical user will invent and share shortcuts that allow a function in one state to be immediately accessed from another state An example is using 3 3 7 to erase a message This shortcut spans two major program states message listening in which 3 3 means go to the end and 7 means reduce volume and message disposition after the message has played in which 7 means erase Notice in the midst of 3 3 7 that the 7 key changes meaning A user must under stand that just pressing 7 during a message will not erase it and that the user must first go to the menu that follows the message and then erase the message 0011 Itis more user friendly to allow any command to be issued at any time where practical The Message Center and CallNotes a voice mail system available from South western Bell Telephone Co took a step in this direction by collapsing message listening and message disposition into a single state you can erase a message during and after a message However a system is still needed to take this approach further That is a system is desired that reduces the number of states or modes of the application gives promi nence to commonly used functions at the expense of less used or advanced user functions and is as similar as pos sible to the current interface 0012 It is known that only about ten percent of voice mail user
40. ying messages to the subscriber The method also includes providing multiple functions to the subscriber which are available while the messages are playing The method further includes placing the subscriber in a settings area in response to a subscriber s settings area command sequentially listing a series of set tings features when the subscriber is in the settings area and changing one of the settings features in response to a subscriber s settings command According to another aspect of the present invention a subsequent message is played a predetermined time period after a current message finishes playing in the event that the subscriber does not enter a command 0020 Sequentially listing a series of settings features also includes playing a prompt listing the title of each settings feature and when the settings command has not been entered playing a second prompt describing each settings feature When the settings command has still not been entered the first and second prompts describing the settings feature are again played and when the settings command has still not been entered prompts associated with a subse quent command are played 0021 Sequentially listing a series of settings features may also include skipping to a next settings feature when receiving a skip command from the subscriber and repeating Dec 19 2002 a previous settings feature when receiving a repeat com mand from the subscriber When the subscrib
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search