Telecommunication and multimedia management method and apparatus
A telecommunication and multimedia management apparatus and method that supports voice and other media communications and that enables users to: (i) participate in multiple conversation modes, including live phone calls, conference calls, instant voice messaging or tactical communications; (ii) review the messages of conversations in either a live mode or a time-shifted mode and to seamlessly transition back and forth between the two modes; (iii) participate in multiple conversations either concurrently or simultaneously; (iv) archive the messages of conversations for later review or processing; and (v) persistently store media either created or received on the communication devices of users. The latter feature enables users to generate or review media when either disconnected from the network or network conditions are poor and to optimize the delivery of media over the network based on network conditions and the intention of the users participating in conversations.
1. A method of providing and operating a progressive, store and forward, messaging system capable of supporting near real-time communication, the method comprising:
providing a communication application, configured to be embedded in a non-transitory computer readable medium on a communication device, the communication application including a progressive, store and forward, messaging module that progressively stores and progressively transmits over a network media of an outgoing message created using the communication device as the media of the outgoing message is created, the outgoing message intended for a recipient using a second communication device; and
operating a progressive, store and forward, node on the network, the progressive, store and forward node on the network configured to:
(i) progressively receive the voice media of the outgoing message from the communication device;
(ii) progressively store the voice media of the outgoing message at the progressive, store and forward, node as the voice media of the outgoing message is progressively received; and
(iii) progressively forward the voice media of the outgoing message to the second communication device, as the voice media is progressively received, when the second communication device is connected to and available on the network, so that the voice media of the outgoing message can be selectively reviewed in near real-time on the second communication device, without establishing a synchronous connection over the network between the communication device and the second communication device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selective near real-time review of the voice media of the outgoing message means the rendering of the voice media on the second communication device, as the voice media is transmitted by the communication device and progressively forwarded to the second communication device by the progressive, store and forward, node, delayed by the latency on the network between the two communication devices.
3. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, node to progressively deliver the voice media of the outgoing message to the second communication device as the voice media is transmitted by the communication device.
4. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, node to progressively forward the voice message to the second communication device as the voice message is being created and transmitted by the first communication device.
5. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, messaging module to guarantee delivery of the outgoing voice message to the progressive, store and forward, node by transmitting the voice media of the outgoing message out of storage on the communication device if the communication device was disconnected from the network and/or unable to transmit the outgoing message when the voice media was created.
6. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, node to guarantee the delivery of the outgoing voice message to the second communication device by transmitting the outgoing message out of storage if the second communication device was disconnected from the network and/or unable to receive the outgoing message when received at the progressive, store and forward, node.
7. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, node to check the integrity of the outgoing voice message by noting missing and/or defective voice media of the outgoing voice message received at the progressive, store and forward, node.
8. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, messaging module to transmit a complete copy of the outgoing voice message by retransmitting lost and/or defective voice media in response to retransmission requests from the progressive, store and forward, node.
9. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, node to deliver a complete copy of the outgoing voice message to the second communication device by retransmitting lost and/or defective voice media in response to retransmission requests from the second communication device.
10. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, messaging module to progressively transmit the voice media of the outgoing voice message using a non-IP address identifier associated with the recipient, the progressive, store and forward, node using the non-IP address identifier to identify the second communication device on the network and to automatically and progressively transmit the voice media of the outgoing voice message over the network to the second communication device when connected to and available on the network.
11. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, node to guarantee delivery of the outgoing voice message to the second communication device, if the second communication device is disconnected from the network when the outgoing message is received at the progressive, store and forward node, by:
(i) ascertaining when the second communication device reconnects to the network; and
(ii) transmitting the voice message out of storage on the progressive, store and forward node when the second communication device reconnects to the network.
12. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, messaging module to store the voice media of the outgoing voice message and voice media of an incoming voice message on the communication device so that the voice media of the incoming and/or the outgoing voice messages may be selectively rendered from storage.
13. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, messaging module to generate retransmission requests for voice media of an incoming voice message noted as missing and/or defective so that a complete copy of the voice media of the incoming voice message as transmitted is received at the communication device when the retransmission requests are satisfied.
14. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, messaging module to selectively render the voice media of an incoming voice message for the first time:
(i) progressively as the voice media is progressively received over the network in a near real-time rendering mode; and
(ii) in a time-shifted mode by retrieving and progressively rendering the voice media of the incoming voice message out of storage.
15. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, messaging module to selectively render voice media of an incoming voice message in either a near real-time mode or a time-shifted mode without interfering with the progressive storage of the voice media of either the outgoing message and/or another incoming voice message.
16. The method of claim 1 , further configuring the progressive, store and forward, messaging module to thread together one or more outgoing voice messages and one or more incoming voice messages sharing a common attribute into a conversation.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the outgoing voice message, in addition to voice media, comprise one or more of the following types of media: audio, video, sensor data, radio signals, position or GPS information, or any combination thereof.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein operating the progressive, store and forward, node on the network further comprises configuring the progressive, store and forward, node to:
(i) check the integrity of the outgoing message by noting and obtaining any missing/defective voice media;
(ii) find a delivery route over the network for delivering the outgoing message to the second communication device associated with the recipient; and
(iii) automatically forwarding the outgoing message over the delivery route as the delivery route becomes available.