Method and System for Providing Visual Notification in a Unified Messaging System
A method and system for interfacing a legacy e-mail, voice mail and facsimile system into a unified messaging system. The system includes visual message notification for notifying a user of incoming messages. Visual notification may include a flashing light emitting diode and/or text messages. The text messages may include various characteristics of the waiting messages, such as identification of the sender, subject header, message type, time and date received and a like.
1 - 13 . (canceled)
14 . A service for notifying a user of messages from a plurality of disparate message sources, comprising:
enabling an adjunct display system of said user to access a unified messaging server, operable for storing messaging data, to determine the presence of stored messaging data originating from an enterprise communication system coupled to said unified messaging server; and
enabling said adjunct display system to provide a visually detectable indication of said presence responsive to detecting the presence of said stored messaging data.
15 . The service of claim 14 , wherein said adjunct display system includes an interface to said unified messaging server for polling said unified messaging server and providing an indication of said messages
16 . The service as recited in claim 14 , wherein said interface includes a modem.
17 . The service as recited in claim 14 , wherein said adjunct display system includes a microprocessor, a memory and a display, and a control system for retrieving message information from said unified messaging server and processing any retrieved message information and displaying retrieved messages on said display.
18 . The service as recited in claim 14 , wherein enabling said adjunct display system to provide said indication includes activating a light emitting diode.
19 . The service as recited in claim 14 , wherein enabling said adjunct display system to provide said indication includes providing said indication to a human readable display describing one or more characteristics of each message retrieved from said unified messaging server.
20 . The service as recited in claim 19 , wherein said one or more characteristics include the identification of the sender.
21 . The service as recited in claim 19 , wherein said one or more characteristics include subject header.
22 . The service as recited in claim 19 , wherein said one or more characteristics include message type.
23 . The service as recited in claim 19 , wherein said one or more characteristics include time and date of message.
24 . Computer executable code, stored on a computer readable medium, for providing to a user a visually detectable message indicator, comprising:
computer code for storing, in storage of a unified messaging server, a first message received from a first message source and a second message received from an enterprise communication system coupled to said unified messaging server; and
computer code for causing an adjunct display system of said user to generate a visually detectable message indicator responsive to said storing of said first and second messages.
25 . The computer code of claim 24 , wherein said computer code for causing said adjunct display system to provide a visually detectable indication includes computer code for detecting a polling request from said adjunct display system and computer code for responding to said polling request by sending at least one message notice to said adjunct display system.
26 . The computer code of claim 24 , wherein said first and second messages are email messages and wherein said a protocol of said first message is a standard protocol selected from the group consisting of POP3 and IMAP4 and wherein a protocol of said second message is a nonstandard protocol and wherein receiving said second message include converting said protocol of said second message from said nonstandard protocol to a standard protocol.
27 . The computer code of claim 24 , wherein said computer code for causing include computer code for detecting a polling event from said adjunct display system and, responsive thereto, sending at least one message notice to said adjunct display system.
28 . The computer code of claim 24 , wherein said computer code for detecting a polling event includes computer code for detecting a caller ID signal from the adjunct display system wherein the caller ID signal includes an alphanumeric identification (ANI) associated with the adjunct display system.
29 . A unified messaging system, comprising:
a unified messaging server operable to receive a first message from a first source and a second message from a legacy messaging system; and
a notification server operable to respond to (a) said unified messaging server receiving said first and second messages and (b) receiving a polling event from an adjunct display system of a user by transmitting at least one message notice to said adjunct display system.
30 . The system of claim 29 , wherein said first and second messages are email messages and wherein said a protocol of said first message is a standard protocol selected from the group consisting of POP3 and IMAP4 and wherein a protocol of said second message is a nonstandard protocol and wherein receiving said second message include converting said protocol of said second message from said nonstandard protocol to a standard protocol.
31 . The system of claim 29 , wherein receiving the polling event comprises receiving a caller ID signal including an alphanumeric identification (ANI) associated with the user.
32 . The system of claim 29 , wherein said computer code for detecting a polling event includes computer code for detecting a caller ID signal from the adjunct display system wherein the caller ID signal includes an alphanumeric identification (ANI) associated with the adjunct display system.