Importance

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Abstract

Video and telephony messaging are integrated by a telephony multi-media messaging system (101) connected to a plurality of video workstations (103-104) by a LAN or WAN (100). The workstations are connected to ISDN telephone lines (153-154). The workstations answer video calls on the video lines and/or on the LAN or WAN that go unanswered by users, record video messages from the video calls, and send the video messages via the LAN or WAN to the messaging system for storage. They also retrieve stored video messages via the LAN or WAN from the messaging system and play them to users. The messaging system stores both video and non-video messages and has a telephony user interface (114-115 and 118) for storing and retrieving non-video messages and for accessing non-video portions of all messages. The video terminals perform functions, such as answering of video calls and recording of video messages, on behalf of the telephony messaging system which cannot itself perform those functions, while the messaging system performs functions, such as providing a rich set of messaging features and providing telephony access from a variety of different telephony terminals to at least portions of the video messages, on behalf of the video terminals which cannot themselves perform those functions.

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First Claim