Interactive telephonic message delivery method and apparatus for providing an intended recipient of a voice audio message with options as to when he or she will hear the message

摘要

An interactive telephonic message delivery method and apparatus for providing an intended recipient of a voice message with options as to when the intended recipient will hear the message. Initially, the recipient of the voice mail is directed to indicate that he or she has a touch-tone telephone by generating a recognizable tone through pressing any one of the telephone touch-tone buttons. If the recipient does not generate a recognizable tone before the expiration of a predetermined amount of time, the recipient is informed of a telephone number to dial at a later time from a touch-tone telephone in order to retrieve the message. On the other hand, if the recipient indicates that he or she possesses a touch-tone telephone (i.e., if the recipient generates a recognizable tone), the recipient is then provided with a number of options for processing the message. The recipient then selects particular options by pressing the telephone buttons associated with the particular options.