Method and apparatus for providing virtual messaging

Abstract

A method and apparatus of providing virtual messaging is provided. The method comprises examining status information associated with a plurality of servers for notifying call recipients of messages using at least one messaging protocol, wherein each of the plurality of servers operates independently, identifying an available server of the plurality of servers, based on the status information, for handling a message and directing an incoming call to the available server, wherein the available server stores the message until communication of the message to at least one call recipient, wherein the available server communicates at least one notification message associated with the message to at least one telephone number of the at least one call recipient, wherein the at least one notification message comprises a telephone number associated with the call origination device and a message link number for communicating with the available server.

1 . A method of providing boxless virtual messaging, comprising:
 responsive to an incoming call from a caller device to a call recipient device of a recipient not being accepted by the recipient device, identifying any one of a plurality of servers, wherein each of the plurality of servers operates independently;   receiving the incoming call at the identified server;   recording, by the identified server, a message from the caller device;   storing, by the identified server, the recorded message to memory, wherein said storing is boxless such that the recorded message is individually indexed among a plurality of messages and stored in memory without association to a dedicated recipient device mailbox; and   sending at least one notification message associated with the recorded message to at least one call recipient device, wherein the at least one notification message comprises at least one of:
 a) a message link for retrieving the recorded message from the identified server, and 
 b) the recorded message for playback by the at least one call recipient device. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the recorded message is a voice message. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the recorded message is a video message. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining from a profile of the recipient one or more call recipient devices and one or more types of notification messages to send in said sending operation. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising retrieving the recorded message based on said message link and identification of the call recipient device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising authenticating the call recipient device for retrieval of the recorded message from the identified server by a combination of said message link and said identification of the call recipient device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein a combination of the message link and the identification of the call recipient device form a unique identifier for the recorded message on the identified server. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one notification message comprises a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message that contains the recorded message for playback by the at least one call recipient device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one notification message comprises a Short Message Service (SMS) message that contains the message link for retrieving the recorded message from the identified server. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein responsive to said recipient device accessing the identified server via the message link, the identified server plays back the recorded message to the recipient device. 
     
     
         11 . A boxless virtual messaging server comprising:
 at least one processor;   at least one network interface responsive to an incoming call from a caller device to a call recipient device not being accepted by the recipient device, and receiving the incoming call;   memory storing virtual messaging software executable by said at least one processor for:
 i. recording a message from the caller device, 
 ii. storing the recorded message to said memory, wherein said storing is boxless such that the recorded message is individually indexed among a plurality of messages and stored in memory without association to a dedicated recipient device mailbox; and 
 iii. sending, via said at least one network interface, at least one notification message associated with the recorded message to at least one call recipient device, wherein the at least one notification message comprises at least one of:
 a) a message link for retrieving the recorded message from the server, and 
 b) the recorded message for playback by the at least one call recipient device. 
 
   
     
     
         12 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein the recorded message in memory is a voice message. 
     
     
         13 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein the recorded message in memory is a video message. 
     
     
         14 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein the virtual messaging software further determines from a profile of the recipient one or more call recipient devices and one or more types of notification messages to send in said sending operation. 
     
     
         15 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein the virtual messaging software further retrieves the recorded message based on said message link and identification of the call recipient device. 
     
     
         16 . The server of  claim 15 , wherein the virtual messaging software further authenticates the call recipient device for retrieval of the recorded message from the server by a combination of said message link and said identification of the call recipient device. 
     
     
         17 . The server of  claim 15 , wherein a combination of the message link and the identification of the call recipient device form a unique identifier for the recorded message stored on the server. 
     
     
         18 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein the wherein the at least one notification message comprises a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message that contains the recorded message for playback by the at least one call recipient device. 
     
     
         19 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one notification message comprises a Short Message Service (SMS) message that contains the message link for retrieving the recorded message from the identified server. 
     
     
         20 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein responsive to said recipient device accessing the server via the message link, the server plays back the recorded message to the recipient device.