Importance

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Abstract

A personalized voice mail identification system is enclosed. In a preferred embodiment, the system of the present invention resides on a personal computer (PC) connected to a phone line via a TAPI-compliant or other appropriate device for enabling telephone functions to be performed by the PC. In one aspect of the invention, when a caller calls a system subscriber, a callerID code, if present, is detected and a determination is next made whether there is an ID recording comprising the spoken caller's name associated with the callerID code already stored in a database of the system. If there is an ID recording for the caller in the database, the recording is accessed and played to the subscriber as part of a call screening function. Alternatively, if no callerID code was detected or if there is not an ID recording associated with the caller in the database, the caller is prompted to speak his or her name into the phone, at which point the caller's name is announced to the subscriber and the ID recording is stored in the database in association with the callerID code, if one was detected. In another aspect of the invention, the accessed ID recording is incorporated into an audio message header of a message left by the caller when the subscriber is unavailable.

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First Claim