Importance

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Abstract

Voice messages are stored in both a user's voice mailbox in a voice mail system and an e-mail box in an e-mail system distinct from the voice mail system. When a voice message is stored in a user's voice mailbox in the voice mail system, a corresponding e-mail message is sent to and stored in an e-mail system with the voice message located in an attachment to the e-mail message. Information identifying the voice mail system and the voice mail message are included in a predefined portion of the email message, such as a particular field of the header. At predetermined times the user's voice mailbox and e-mail box are synchronized. In particular, the voice mail system uses standard e-mail protocols to retrieve the predefined portion of the e-mail messages sent by the voice mail system, analyzes the retrieved information to determine what updates need to be performed to synchronize the information contained in the two systems, and then performs the synchronization, deleting messages and changing the status of messages as needed.

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First Claim