Communication system with voice mail access and call by spelling functionality
View Patent ↗A method of initiating a communication from a mobile communication device includes receiving a plurality of spoken letters corresponding to a spelling of at least a portion of a contact name and identifying a contact and associated contact information from a database associated with a mobile communication device in response to the spoken letters. A communication to the contact is initiated from the mobile communication device using the associated contact information. A method of presenting voicemail to a user establishes communication with a mobile communication device. A first voicemail box is checked for messages, the first voicemail box being associated with the mobile communication device. A second voicemail box is checked for messages, the second voicemail box being associated with a second communication device. At least one voicemail message received from at least one of the first and second voicemail boxes is presented to a user via a single interface.
1. A method of presenting voicemail to a user, comprising:
A) establishing communication with a mobile communication device;
B) checking a first voicemail box for messages, the first voicemail box being associated with the mobile communication device;
C) checking a second voicemail box for messages, the second voicemail box being associated with a second communication device; and
D) presenting a first voicemail message received from the first voicemail box and a second voicemail message received from the second voicemail box to a user via a unified, single voice user interface, wherein said step (D) is performed according to prioritization rules stored in a user profile.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step (C) is performed using the data network access of the mobile communication device.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step (C) is performed using a data network access of the control unit.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
E) providing an indication to the user in response to discovery of a new voicemail.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user profile is stored on the mobile communication device.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step (D) includes:
referencing voicemail meta-data for the at least one voicemail message; and
presenting spoken or visual information about the at least one voicemail message to the user, wherein the information is retrieved from the voicemail meta-data.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the voicemail meta-data includes information about at least one of a caller, a voicemail length, a voicemail priority, and a voicemail age.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step (C) includes
initiating a dual-tone multi-frequency command to the second voicemail box in response to a spoken voice command from the user.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second communication device is a land-line telephone.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
E) storing voicemail login information in a user profile;
F) transmitting the voicemail login information to perform said step (C).
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
E) registering via a voice-driven menu on the control unit each of the first voicemail box and the second voicemail box;
F) transmitting the voicemail registration data from said step (E) to an Internet server.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said step (D) includes converting the voicemail message to text using a speech-to-text engine, and transmitting the text to the user.
13. A method of presenting voicemail to a user, comprising:
A) establishing communication with a mobile communication device;
B) checking a first voicemail box for messages, the first voicemail box being associated with the mobile communication device;
C) checking a second voicemail box for messages, the second voicemail box being associated with a second communication device;
D) presenting a first voicemail message received from the first voicemail box and a second voicemail message received from the second voicemail box to a user via a unified, single voice user interface;
E) referencing voicemail meta-data for the second voicemail message;
F) cross-referencing the voicemail meta-data against a contact database on the mobile communication device to identify contact information for the second voicemail message; and
G) presenting the contact information associated with the second voicemail message to the user.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the contact information includes a contact nickname.
15. A voicemail retrieval system comprising:
a mobile communication device;
a control unit in communication with the mobile communication device, the control unit being operable to check a first voicemail box associated with the mobile communication device for messages, to check a second voicemail box associated with a second communication device for messages, and to present a first voicemail message received from the first voicemail box and a second voicemail message from the second voicemail box to a user via a unified, single voice user interface according to prioritization rules in a profile associated with the user.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the user profile is stored on the mobile communication device.
17. The method of claim 15 wherein the control unit is further programmed to reference voicemail meta-data for the second voicemail message, cross-reference the voicemail meta-data against a contact database on the mobile communication device to identify contact information for the second voicemail message, and present the contact information associated with the second voicemail message to the user.