The voicemail system (also known as voicemail or voice bank ) is a computer-based system that allows users and customers to exchange personal voice messages; to select and submit voice information; and to process transactions related to individuals, organizations, products and services, using a normal telephone. The term is also used more broadly to indicate any system that delivers stored telecom voice messages, including using an answering machine. Most mobile phone services offer voice-mail as a basic feature; many corporate PBXs include versatile internal voicemail services, and * 98 Vertical code subscription services available to most individual landline business customers and small businesses.
Video Voicemail
History
The term Voicemail was created by Televoice International (then Voicemail International, or VMI) for the introduction of the first US Voicemail service in 1980. Although the VMI trademarked the term, it eventually became the generic term used to refer to almost all services automated voice using the phone. Voicemail's popularity continues today with Internet phone services like Skype, Google Voice and ATT that integrate voice, voicemail and text services for tablets and smartphones
The voicemail system was developed in the late 1970s by the Voice Message Exchange (VMX). They became popular in the early 1980s when they were available on PC-based boards. In September 2012, a report from USA Today and Vonage claimed that Voice mail had decreased. The report says that the number of voicemail messages dropped 8 percent compared to 2011.
Maps Voicemail
Features
The voicemail system is designed to deliver audio messages that the caller is recording to the recipient. To do so they contain a user interface to select, play, and manage messages; delivery method to play or send a message; and notification capabilities to notify users about waiting messages. Most systems use a telephone network, whether cellular or landline, as a channel for all of these functions. Some systems may use some telecommunication method, enabling recipients and callers to retrieve or leave messages through several methods such as PC, PDA, Mobile or Smartphone.
A simple voicemail system works as a remote answering machine using touch tones as the user interface. More complicated systems can use other input devices such as voice or computer interfaces. A simpler voice messaging system can play audio messages over the phone, while more sophisticated systems may have alternative delivery methods, including email or text messaging, message transfer and forwarding options, and multiple mailboxes.
Almost all modern voicemail systems use digital storage and are usually stored in computer data storage. The notification methods also vary based on the voicemail system. Simple systems may not provide active notifications at all, instead requiring the recipient to check the system, while others may indicate that the message is waiting.
More sophisticated systems can be integrated with enterprise PABX, with ACD call centers for automatic call distribution; with mobile terminal or paging for message alerts; and computer systems/databases to transmit information or process orders. The Interactive Sound Response System (IVR) may use digital information stored in the enterprise database to select previously recorded words and phrases stored in the voicemail vocabulary to form sentences sent to the caller.
Message center
The conventional solution for handling efficient telephone communications in business is the "message center". The message center or "message table" is a centralized in-house manual answering service managed by multiple operators that answers all incoming phone calls. A busy extension or "no answer" rings will be forwarded to the message center using a device called a "call director". The call director has a button for each extension in the company that will blink when the person's extension is forwarded to the message center. A small label next to a button tells the operator that the person is called.
Although it is an improvement over a multi-baseline system, the message center has many disadvantages. Many calls will come simultaneously during peak periods, such as lunch time, and operators are often busy. This left messenger with little time to retrieve each message accurately. Often, they are not familiar with employee names and "keywords" and how to spell or pronounce them. Messages are written on pink slip and distributed by internal mail systems and messages, often reaching people's desks after long delays, containing little content other than caller names and numbers, and are often inaccurate, with misspelled names and wrong phone number.
A ribbon-based answering machine has entered the residential phone market, but it is not widely used in the corporate environment due to the physical limitations of the technology. An answering machine is required for each phone; messages can not be recorded if the user is using the phone; messages must be taken in order; and messages can not be taken remotely, are selectively discarded, stored, or forwarded to others. Furthermore, PBX manufacturers (private branch exchanges - names for corporate phone systems) use exclusive digital phone devices to improve PBX functionality and value. This phone set, by design, is not compatible with answering machine.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, the cost of long distance calls decreased and more business communications were conducted over the phone. As the company grows and employment rates increase, the ratio of secretaries to employees decreases. With multiple time zones, fewer secretaries and more communication over the phone, real-time phone communication is hampered by callers because it can not reach people. Some preliminary studies show that only 1 in 4 calls generates complete calls and half calls are one way (ie, they do not require a conversation). This is because people are not working (due to time zone differences, being away on business, etc.), or if they're at work, they're on the phone, away from their desks at meetings, during breaks, etc. This bottleneck hampers the effectiveness of business activities and decreases the productivity of both individuals and groups. It also wastes caller time and creates delays in resolving time-critical issues.
Discovery
The first public record describing the sound recording was reported in New York and Scientific American newspapers in November 1877. Thomas A. Edison has announced his discovery of a "phonograph record" saying "the object was to record a phone message and send it over the phone." Edison filed the US patent application in December 1877 and soon demonstrated it to publishers, the US congress and President Hayes, recorded and played "Mary has a little lamb..." and "there is a little girl who has a bit of a curl..." and other popular ditties at the time. In an article that outlines his own ideas about the future use of his machine, Edison's list begins with "Writing letters, and all kinds of dictations without the aid of a stenographer." In other words, "voicemail" or "voicemail". In 1914, the Edison phonograph business included dictation machines (Ediphone) and "Telescribe", a machine incorporating phonographs and telephones, which recorded both sides of a telephone conversation.
For nearly a hundred years, there have been several innovations or advances in telephone service. Voicemail is the result of innovations in phone products and services made possible by the development of computer technology during the 1970s. This innovation began with Motorola Pageboy, a simple "pager" or "pager" introduced in 1974 that is commonly offered along with answering service that handles busy/no-answer overload and business-after-hours calls for professionals. The operator writes the caller's message, sends a page warning or "beep" and when the caller returns, the operator dictates the message.
With the introduction of "voice" pagers, such as Motorola Pageboy II operators can send voice messages directly to the pager and users can hear messages. However, the arrival of messages is often not timely and privacy issues and high costs eventually lead to the demise of this service. In the mid-1970s digital storage and analog to digital conversion devices had emerged and paging companies began handling electronic client messages. The operator records a short message (5-6 seconds, eg "please contact Mr. Smith") and the message is sent automatically when the client calls an answering service. It only takes a short step for the first voicemail application to be born.
Computer manufacturers, telephone equipment manufacturers, and software companies are beginning to develop more sophisticated solutions as the stronger and cheaper computer processors and storage devices become available. It set the stage for the creation of a broad spectrum of computer-based Headquarters and Customer Tools that will ultimately support enhanced sound solutions such as voicemail, audiotex, interactive voice response (IVR) and voice recognition solutions that began to emerge in the 1980s. However, the widespread adoption of these products and services will depend on the global proliferation of touch-tone phones and cellular services that will not happen until the late 1980s.
Controversy
Many contributed to the creation of the modern ballot. Legal battles have occurred for decades. The first inventor of voicemail, patent number 4,124,773 (Audio Storage and Distribution System), is Robin Elkins. "Although Elkins received a patent in 1978, the telecommunications giant started offering voicemail without paying a penny to Elkins in the form of royalties." "Elkins never expected to spend 10 years in his life against some of the biggest companies in the world, but once he patented his system, he thought he should protect it." Later, Elkins successfully licensed patent technology to IBM, DEC, WANG, and many others. Unfortunately, the patent does not deal with the synchronization of voice and storage access and application for patents filed after patent applications from patented systems by Kolodny and Hughes, as described below.
Pioneer apps
One of the first modern voicemail applications was invented by Gerald M. Kolodny and Paul Hughes, described in an article in the medical journal Radiology (Kolodny GM, Cohen HI, Kalisky A. Rapid access system for radiology reports: a New concept: Radiology, 1974, 111 (3): 717-9) Patents applied by Kolodny and Hughes in 1975, prior to patent applications of both Elkins and Matthews and issued in 1981 (US Pat. 4,260,854). The patent was assigned to Sudbury Systems Sudbury Massachusetts who began marketing and selling such systems to companies and hospitals. IBM, Sony, and Lanier, as well as some smaller voice mail system makers, licensed Sudbury's patent rights to their voicemail system. A patent suit, brought by Pitney Bowes, claimed the previous art for the Sudbury patent, was rejected by US District Court, Connecticut District on 8 November 2000. A similar lawsuit filed by VDI Technologies against patents Kolodny and Hughes claiming the prior art was dismissed by the US District Court in New Hampshire on 12/19/1991.
IBM Audio Distribution System
The first voice messaging app, Speech Filing System, was developed at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in 1973 under the leadership of Stephen Boies. It was later renamed the Audio Distribution System (ADS).
ADS uses human voice and fixed-tone phones that precede computer screens and cell phones. The first operational prototype was used by IBM 750 executives primarily in the United States for their day-to-day work. The prototype is run on IBM System/7 computers connected to the IBM VM370 for additional storage.
In 1978 the prototype was converted to run on IBM Series 1 computers. In September 1981 IBM began marketing ADS in America and Europe: the first customer installation was completed in February 1982.
ADS, marketed by IBM and briefly by AT & T Corporation, is a good feature for voice messaging, a result of considerable IBM human factor research plus operational usage observations. Using a 1980 computer that needs air conditioning, it's expensive and physically big. With further development it grows to handle up to 3000 users, 100 hours of messages, multiple languages, message notifications to host computers, and 16 users simultaneously.
ADS can be connected to private exchange and exchange channels including IBM 2750 and 3750 Switching Systems available in Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and the UK.
IBM sells many systems, Installation includes:
- The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics with 7 systems serving 7800 athletes and 6000 staff - and computer voice in 12 languages ​​for 55,000 messages
- General Motors, AS with 8 ADS systems save 30% of long distance call costs
- Systems across America and Europe for insurance company staff to report their assessment of damaged vehicles and hear the location of their next assessment site
- Esso in France and Mars in the UK for the coordination of salespeople
- Rowntree's in York, England to work with browning agents in various time zones across Europe, North America, Middle East and Australia
- Italy: 10 systems throughout Italy for public to be contacted to hear local
autostrade traffic mooring information - Milan, Italy: two systems for automated airport announcements, handle many languages.
Delta 1
Another company, Delphi Communications of California, deserves some praise for the discovery of voicemail. Under Jay Stoffer's leadership, Delphi developed a proprietary system called Delta 1 that takes incoming calls directly from the telephone company. Stoffer presented the Delphi concept openly to the association of Telephone Answering Services around 1973 and a prototype system was launched in San Francisco in 1976 by a Delphi company called VoiceBank. Delphi developed Delta 1 as a purely service-oriented voice mail system to answer customer calls for businesses and professionals. Delta 1 requires human intervention for message storage. While three machines were built, only one machine was put into operational service. The automated voice mail system (Delta 2) was developed for initial operational use in Los Angeles in 1981. Apparently Delta 2 was built, installed and operational for a while, but unfortunately Delphi's large initial investor, Exxon Enterprises, suddenly closed Delphi in July , 1982. Nothing is further done with Delphi technology. Patents are applied and issued to Delphi Automatic Telephone Voice Service System. Patent, US Pat. 4,625,081, issued after the closure of Delphi, but Delphi's assets (and patents) were transferred to another Exxon company, Gilbarco, which makes equipment for gas pumps at gas stations. Gilbarco is now owned by GEC in the United Kingdom.
AT & amp; T
AT & amp; T developed a system called Voice Storage System 1A to support special services including voicemail for public phone systems. It works in conjunction with the ESS 1A system and 5ESS companies. Development began in mid-1976, with the first placement in early 1979. Friendly user service began in March 1980. The service was discontinued in 1981 as a result of FCC Computer Inquiry II AS, which prohibited the increase of services provided by the regulated network.
VMX
In 1979, a company was founded in Texas by Gordon Matthews called ECS Communications (the name was later changed to VMX, for Voice Mail exchange). VMX developed a 3000 voicemail system called VMX/64 and was the first company to offer a voice mail system for commercial use for corporate use. In the early 1980s, VMX sold voice mail systems to several major companies, such as 3M, Kodak, American Express, Intel, Hoffmann-La Roche, Corning Glass, Arco, Shell Canada, and Westinghouse. An impressive list of early users started rolling the ball on the corporate voice mail. While VMX started with a good start, it failed to develop the market, and the company was not commercially successful. It may take several years before the product can answer outside calls (and then only under certain circumstances), they are physically very large, expensive, light on important user features and have serious reliability issues. In addition, the user interface is complicated, requiring users to remember non-intuitive multi-digit touch-tone commands. Matthews, a productive and patent entrepreneur, filed a petition and was granted a patent on a ballot (patent number 4.371.752) published in February 1983. The patent was promoted as a pioneer patent for ballots. However, the patent application was filed on 11/26/1979, 5 years after and issued in 1983, 2 years after Kolodny and Hughes as described above, and therefore can not be regarded as the pioneer foundation of the ballot.
VMX confirms its first offense with IBM, AT & T and then Wang, but the three companies reportedly will be able to cancel patents based on their prior art and licenses from Sudbury Systems Inc., for their Kolodny and Hughes patents (see above). VMX cleverly reached a settlement where patents were left, not challenged in court and IBM, Wang and AT & amp; T (in separate settlements) receives a royalty-free license for all VMX patents. Wang, the last of the majors to obtain such a license for himself and Voice-mail International, basically paid $ 20,000 and licensed several patent applications (not patents issued). IBM and AT & T also licensed a number of patents to VMX, mostly outdated or outdated. VMX can claim that some big companies license patents (although they hardly pay VMX for their rights), but that part is not disclosed. The patent was never challenged in court and VMX then continued to affirm (wrongly) that it had created voice mail and that Matthews was "the father of voice-mail". Upon completion with Wang, VMX is settled with Octel Communications in exchange for small payments and Octel agrees not to sue any VMX patents, Octel receives a free, royalty-free license on all existing and future VMX patents.
IVR Voice Recognition
In 1985, Voice Response Inc. (formerly Call-It Co.), a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises, Davenport IA, entered the rapidly growing Interactive Interactive (IVR) response market under the direction of Bob Ross, President. About a year later, VRI introduced one of the first successful "IV" IVR apps that utilized speech recognition (rather than touch tone) to capture the caller's response. Voice recognition technology has great difficulty with regional and ethnic differences and nuances that result in high incidence of errors. VRI found that doubt (delayed response) signifies the confusion or misunderstanding of the caller that often results in an inaccurate response. VRI develops proprietary techniques that measure user response time and use data to make real-time changes to the app dialogue with the caller. VRI found that the trust level of the "suspect" caller response could be improved by asking "Whether you say (Chicago), Yes or No", standard questions are heard in order to pick up or make reservations for IVR applications today. VRI's pioneering apps, including subscription for Time-Life Magazine, are proven to be faster and cheaper than call centers using direct operators and although VRIs do not survive, their speech recognition process becomes industry standard and USPTO VRI patent - RE34,587 patent finally licensed by Intel/Dialogic and Nuance.
International Voicemail Association
In 1987, voicemail providers in the US and Europe joined together to form the Voice Mail Association of Europe (VMA) with Renà ©  © Beusch, Radio-Suisse, and Paul Finnigan, Finnigan USA, respectively serving as Chair and President VMA. VMA invites service providers, vendors, and consultants to attend semi-annual conferences that include presentations, discussions, and experience reporting. VMA membership was eventually expanded to include representatives of telecommunications organizations around the world and became "The International Voice-mail Association". In the late 1980s, Bell Operating, Tigon and other independent service providers in the US had joined the VMA. In 1992, VMA members organized a "Sunday Information Tour in the US", sharing ideas with major telecoms operators. The VMA working group promotes the collaboration and adoption of industry standards into ITU and CCITT and at the CCITT 1999 conference in Geneva, Switzerland, demonstrating worldwide messaging exchanges between major voice-mail vendor platforms using VPIM network standards. Beusch and Finnigan led the VMA until 1998 and 1999 respectively and the organization continues to serve the voice service industry today.
Enterprise voicemail
In the early 1980s there were over 30 companies vying for the corporate voicemail market. Among the many competitors are IBM, VMX, Wang, Octel, ROLM, AT & amp; T, Northern Telecom, Delphi Communications, Voice and Data Systems, Opcom, Commterm, Genesis, Brook Trout, Innovative Technology (ITI), Glenayre, BBL, AVT, AVST, Digital Sound, Centigram, Voice-mail International and Voice Active. Only a few of these companies have managed to capture a significant market share and remain in the voice-mail business today.
ROLM Corporation, founded in 1969 by Gene Richeson, Ken Oshman, Walter Loewenstern and Robert Maxfield, is the first PBX manufacturer to offer integrated voice mail with its PhoneMail system, registered trademark. PhoneMail offers an impressive recording quality of its digital messaging. Digital PBX ROLM (called CBX, for Computerized Branch eXchange) is the first to enable PhoneMail to light up the message waiting light on ROLM phones equipped with message waiting lights (also stutter dialtone used with analog and digital phones). Rolm was sold to IBM, which then sold it to Siemens offering PhoneMail in various configurations/sizes (including micro-sized versions) and unified messaging messengers, Xpressions 470. ROLM was purchased by IBM in the mid-1980s (which was a financial disaster for ROLM profitable, because IBM clearly could not understand the casual attitude, "think out of the box" from ROLM, which was the # 2 PBX supplier in the US from the mid-70s to the late 80s), then sold half the interest to the German company Siemens. In 1992, Siemens bought ROLM completely from IBM and the original ROLM product line was done for, except for PhoneMail (the only product that Siemens did not destroy). VMX suffers from poor product and ineffective management and will be folded when Opcom joins him. The surviving company is called VMX, but VMX is removed by Opcom except for its name and portfolio.
Opcom, a company founded by David Ladd, developed a voicemail system that is primarily marketed to small companies. Opcom pioneered and patented the auto attendant feature (US Pat. No. 4,747,124 and 4,783,796 both issued in 1988), an integral part of the voicemail system. The auto attendant allows callers to direct calls by pressing a single number key, e.g. "If you make a domestic reservation, press 1; for international reservation, press '2'; etc." Opcom then pioneered the concept of Unified Messaging (to be discussed later in this article). Opcom has finally acquired VMX through merger behind, (Opcom is private and VMX is public) and VMX's surviving company is finally acquired by Octel.
Octel Communications, founded in 1982 by Bob Cohn and Peter Olson, extensively commercializes the corporate voice messaging market. While Octel benefits from the work and experiments of others, it is the first independent voicemail company to build a strong business and strategy to win in this tough market. In addition, Octel innovates substantially new technology that contributes greatly to its success including system architecture that is physically smaller, faster, more reliable, and much cheaper than other enterprise vendors. The Octel voicemail system, introduced in 1984, includes a unique, patented, multiple system feature that provides the leadership of the Octel market. In 1990 Octel was one of the first companies to introduce the concept of Unified Messaging .
AT & amp; T/Lucent created a voicemail version in the early 1990s (called Audix) but only worked on AT & amp; T/Lucent PBXs. Northern Telecom | Nortel develops Meridian Mail and follows the same strategy as AT & amp; T in Meridian Mail that only works with Northern Telecom PBXs. As a result, no company reaches a large market share with large national or multi-national accounts. AT & amp; T separated its equipment business into a company called Lucent Technologies, and Northern Telecom changed its name to Nortel.
In the mid-1990s, Octel has become the number one supplier of voicemail for both companies and operators. Octel has about 60% market share in the US, Canada, Europe, and Japan (for large companies) and between 30% and 100% of the operator market, depending on the country. In 1997, Octel's biggest competitor was Audix, created by Lucent, and Meridian Mail, created by Nortel. In July 1997, Octel was purchased by Lucent Technology. Lucent AUDIX Division combined into Octel to form the Octel Farewell Division. In 2000, some parties estimated there were over 150,000,000 active users of corporate voice messaging and operators made by the Octel Farewell Division. Soon Lucent separated his corporate business, including the Octel Farewell Division, into a company known as Avaya.
Boston Technology, uReach Technologies and Comverse Technology entered the operator market in the early 1990s. Boston was finally acquired by Comverse, making it the second largest supplier of operators after Octel. However, within a few years, Comverse became the largest supplier of operators with Lucent/Octel holding its leadership in the corporate market and second place with operators. Comverse today maintains its leadership of an old voicemail system that is sold to carriers around the world. For IP-based voicemail systems, Ericsson claims market leadership with Ericsson Messaging-over-IP (MoIP) solutions. uReach provides VoiceMail services for Verizon and hosts from other Tier 1 and Tier 2 operators and is a voice-mail system used by Verizon FIOS. uReach Technologies was acquired by GENBAND in 2014.
Public phone service
In the US, Bell Operating Companies and their cellular divisions are prohibited by the FCC from offering voice mail and other enhanced services such as pager services and answering phones (no such restrictions in foreign countries). The decision by Judge Harold H. Greene on 7 March 1988 removed this barrier and allowed BOC to offer voice mail services, but they were not allowed to design or make the equipment used to provide voice mail services.
Opportunities created by Greene's decision, plus market abandon by Voicemail International for carrier class systems, create new opportunities for competing manufacturers and those who have focused on the corporate market. Unisys, Boston Technology, and Comverse Technology quickly deal with BOC and PTT markets. Octel, which has a high capacity system that is used internationally by all seven Regional Bell Operating companies, launches a new generation of large system designed specifically for operators and complies with the "NEBS standards," the stringent standards required by the telephone company for any equipment that located. at their headquarters.
While Unisys finally secured PacBell's residential voice-mail service, Boston Technology became the flagship of Bell Atlantic's voicemail offerings and Comverse Technology enjoyed some success in the European market; Octel is the leading provider of voice-mail platforms for virtually all major US wireless carriers (including seven RBOC, AT & amp; T Wireless and McCaw), Canadian mobile operators and most GSM operators worldwide.
However, Comverse did not take long to become the largest supplier for BOC and PTT with Lucent/Octel holding its leadership in the corporate market and second place with the operator. Boston was eventually acquired by Comverse making it the second largest supplier to operators after Octel.
Integrated messaging
Integrated voice messages are integrated into Microsoft Exchange, a corporate email system created by Microsoft. Unified Messaging has been discovered by Roberta Cohen, Kenneth Huber and Deborah Mill at AT & amp; T Bell Labs. Patent for Unified Messaging received in June 1989 (Patent number 4,837,798).
Unified Messaging enables users to access voice and email messages using a graphical user interface (GUI) on their PC, or using the phone's user interface (TUI). By using a PC, users can view voice-mail and mixed emails in their email inbox. Voicemail has a small phone icon next to it and email has a small envelope icon next to it (see image below). For voice-mail, they will see "header information" (sender, date sent, size, and subject). Users can double-click voice mail from their email inbox and hear messages via PC or phone next to their desk.
Using any phone in the world, users can listen to voicemails as they normally do, and also have emails read to them (in synthesized sounds). Voice messages can be sent using email or telephone addressing schemes, and data network infrastructure is used to send messages between locations rather than publicly diverted telephone networks. It was not until the early 2000s and the availability of a reliable high capacity email server, high speed internet connection and PC with speakers or microphones that Unified Messaging achieved commercial success.
Virtual phone
Other attractive markets developed from the operator market include a concept called " virtual phone ." Virtual Telephony, developed by Octel, uses voice-mail to provide telephone services quickly in developing countries without phone cord. The problem solved is that developing countries do not have many phones. Telephone wiring is very expensive, and many poor people do not have a house to wire. Developing country economies are being held partially because people can not communicate outside of areas where they can walk or ride bicycles. Giving them phones is one way to help their economy, but there is no practical way to do it. In some countries, waiting for the phone for several years and costing thousands of dollars. Cell phones are not an option at the time because they are very expensive (thousands of dollars per handset) and the infrastructure to install cell sites is also expensive.
With a virtual phone, everyone can be assigned a phone number (just the number, not the phone) and the voice mail box. Residents will also be given a pager. If someone calls a phone number, the phone never rings on the actual phone, but it will be routed immediately to the central voicemail system. The voicemail system answers the call and the caller can leave a long, detailed message. As soon as the message is received, the voicemail system will trigger the citizen pager. When the page is received, people will find a pay phone and call to pick up the message. This concept has been used successfully in South America and South Africa.
Instant message in voice
In 2000, voicemail has become a common feature in phone systems that serve businesses, cellular and residential customers. Mobile and resident voice messages continue today in the previous form, especially answering regular phones. Email becomes a common messaging system, email server, and software becomes fairly reliable, and almost all office workers are equipped with a multimedia desktop PC.
Increased wireless mobility, originally via mobile services and today via IP-based Wi-Fi, is also a driving force for messaging convergence with mobile phones. Today not only encourages the use of speech user interfaces for message management, but increases the demand for integrated voice mail with email. It also allows people to reply to voice and email messages in voice rather than text. New services, such as GotVoice, SpinVox, and YouMail, help blur the boundaries between voice and text messaging by sending voice messages to mobile phones as SMS text messages.
Instant message in voice : The next development in messaging is in creating text messages in real-time, rather than just sending and sending deliveries to the unsynchronized mailbox. It started with America America Online (AOL) Internet service provider as an Internet-based free text "chat" service for consumers, but was soon used by business people as well. It introduces the Internet Protocol "attendance management" concept or is able to detect device connectivity to the Internet and contact the recipient's "availability" status to exchange real-time messages, as well as a personalized Buddy list directory to allow only people you know to know your status and initiate the exchange of real-time text messages with you. Instant Presence and Messaging has since evolved into more than just a short message, but can now include exchange of data files (documents, images) and escalation of contacts into voice conversation connections.
Integrated messaging with VoIP
Corporate voice-mail has not changed much until the advent of Voice over IP and the development of IP telephony applications to replace legacy PBX telephony (called TDM technology). IP phones (Internet Protocol) change the style and technology of PBX and the way the voice-mail system integrates with them. This, in turn, facilitates a new generation of Unified Messaging, which is now likely to become more popular. Flexibility, manageability, lower cost, reliability, speed, and user convenience for messaging convergence are now possible where not before. This may include intra- and inter-company contacts, mobile contacts, proactive application delivery information, and customer contact applications.
CPEmarket voice-mail based IP telephony company is serviced by several vendors including Avaya, Cisco systems, Adomo, Interactive Intelligence, Nortel, Mitel, 3Com, and AVST. Their marketing strategy should address the need to support multiple legacy PBX as well as new Voice over IP as companies are migrating to converging IP-based telecommunications. The same situation exists for the operator market for the voice mail server, which is currently dominated by Comverse Technology, with some parts still held by Lucent Technologies.
VoIP phones allow centralized, shared servers, with remote administration and usage management for corporate customers (companies). In the past, operators lost this business because it was too expensive and inflexible to have facilities remotely managed by the phone company. With VoIP, remote administration is much more economical. This technology has reopened the opportunity for operators to offer hosted, shared services to all forms of converged IP telecommunications, including IP-PBX services and voice mail. Due to the convergence of wired and wireless communications, the service may also include support for multi-modal handheld devices and desktop end-user devices. This service, when offered for some extensions or phone numbers is sometimes also called Unified Voice-mail.
Benefits
Introduction to voice mail allows people to leave long, secure and detailed messages in a natural voice, working alongside the corporate phone system. The adoption of the ballot in the company increases the flow of communication and saves huge amounts of money. GE, one of the pioneers of voice-mail adopters in all of its offices worldwide, claims that voice-mail stored, on average, is over US $ 1,100 per year per employee. Needless to say, the ability to tell someone something without talking to them, could be a compelling reason to choose Voice-mail for a particular message delivery.
Voicemail has two main operating modes: answering phones and voicemails . The answer phone mode answers outgoing calls and retrieves messages from outside callers (either because of busy extensions or no reply). Voicemail allows every customer (someone with mailbox number) to send messages directly to one or many customer mailboxes without first calling them. These two modes are described below.
How voicemail works
This section explains how native, standalone style, voicemail systems work with corporate PBX. The principle is the same as the Switch Head Office (Switching CO) or Mobile Car Office (MTSO). A more modern voice-mail system works on the same principle, but some components can be shared with other systems, such as email systems.
The voicemail system contains several elements shown in the image below:
- The central processor (CPU) that runs the operating system and the program (software) that gives the system the look and feel of the voicemail system. The software includes thousands of pre-recorded instructions that "talk" to users when they interact with the system;
- Disk controllers and multiple disk drives for message storage;
- System disks that not only include the above software, but also contain a full directory of all users with related data about each (name, extension number, voice mail preferences, and pointers to each message stored on their message disk );
- A telephone interface system that allows multiple phone lines to connect to it.
The image below shows how the voicemail system interacts with the PBX. Suppose a caller from outside calls Fred extension 2345. Incoming calls are from the public network (A) and entered into PBX. The call is diverted to the Fred (B) extension, but Fred does not answer. After a number of rings, the PBX stops ringing Fred's extension and forwards calls to extensions connected to the voicemail (C) system. This is done because the PBX is generally programmed to forward a busy or unanswered call to another extension. Simultaneously, the PBX notifies the voicemail system (via signaling link D) that the call forwarded to voice-mail is for Fred in extension 2345. In this way, the voicemail system can answer calls with Fred's remarks.
There are many microprocessors throughout the system because the system has to handle a large amount of data and it is unacceptable to have a waiting time (for example, when the system is recording or playing your message, it is unacceptable if the system stops recording for a moment as computers often do when accessing files big).
Upon Fred's extension to the voicemail system, the Phone Interface detects a ringer. It signals to the Central Processor (CPU) that the call is coming. The CPU simultaneously receives a signal on the PBX-Voicemail Data Link (D) says that extension 2345 is being forwarded to the ring-no answer for a particular extension is now ringing. The CPU directs the Telephone Interface (which controls the line interface card) to answer calls. The CPU program realizes that it's a call for Fred so it looks directly greet and directs the Disk Controller to start playing it to the caller. It also plays some system hints telling the caller what's going on next (for example, "When you finish recording, you can close or press '#' for other options"). All "talking" to the caller is done through the instructions chosen by the CPU according to the program stored in the voicemail system. The CPU selects a prompt in response to a key pressed by the caller.
Caller messages are digitized by the Telephone Interface system and sent to Disk Controller for storage to Disk Messages. Some voicemail systems will randomize messages for further security. The CPU then saves the location of the message in System Disk inside Fred's mailbox directory entry. After the caller closes and the message has been saved, the CPU sends a signal to the PBX through a link (D) instructs the PBX to turn on a message waiting for the light on Fred's phone.
When Fred returns to his desk and sees the light on his phone, he dials the designated extension number for the voicemail system (the actual extension number assigned to the line in "C" in the image above).
Again, the Phone Interface tells the CPU that there is an incoming call on a particular channel, but this time the signal from the PBX-Voicemail Data Link (D) indicates that Fred is calling directly, not forwarded. The CPU directs the Telephone Interface to answer calls.
Since the CPU "knows" it is Fred (from a signal on Data Link D), he searches for Fred information in System Disk, especially his password. The CPU then directs the Disk Controller to play a log-on prompt to the user: "Please enter your password." After the password is entered (via Touch tones), the CPU compares it to the correct one and, if entered correctly, allows Fred to continue.
The CPU then determines (from Fred's directory entry) that Fred has a new message. The CPU then presents its Fred options (for example, "You have a new message.) To listen to your new message, press 1; to record a message, press 2" etc.) The options are presented by the CPU that directs the Disk Controller to request play , and the CPU listens to the Touch-tone from Fred. This play interaction pushes and responds with the Touch Tone allowing Fred to interact with the voicemail system with ease.
If Fred presses 1 to listen to his message, the CPU searches for the location of Fred's new message in his mailbox directory (on the System Disk), and directs the Disk Controller to play the message. The Disk Controller encounters messages on the Message Diskette, and sends the data stream directly to the Phone Interface. The Phone interface then converts the data stream to sound and plays it to Fred via the Line Interface Card connected to Fred.
Playback controls (like backward, pause, fast forward, change volume, etc.) All input via Touch Tone, "read" by the CPU, and the corresponding action is taken based on the program stored in the system. For example, if Fred wants to stop message playback, he may press 2. Since the CPU is constantly listening to the Touch Tone from Fred, the command causes the CPU to direct the Disk Controller to stop playing the message. A variety of playback controls and options are available on most of the advanced voicemail systems so that users can control message playback, store messages in archives, send messages to groups, change their preferences, etc.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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