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DoubleTree by Hilton San Jose
- Shuttle bus service
- Suites
- Airport Transportation
- Shuttle bus service
- Adjoining Rooms
- Adjoining Rooms
TravelPod Member ReviewsDoubleTree by Hilton San Jose
Everyone was quite friendly and helpful especially since our evening had not been the best once landing at the San Francisco airport.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TravelPod member and not of TravelPod.com.
Historical Traveler Reviews DoubleTree by Hilton San Jose
Very nice hotel - clean, new, nicely decorated
We recently stayed at the Hyatt in San Jose, CA (Aug 12-14 2005). After checking in, we couldn't wait to check out. It was dirty and run down. I cancelled my reservation after one night and moved to the Doubletree just down the street.
The rooms were newly redecorated. They were large, clean and very nice. The pool was small but clean with very comfortable chairs. The price was cheaper than the Hyatt and the hotel was much nicer.
The staff was excellent and recommended great places for dinner. Sonoma Chicken Coop is great.
Great Staff
My fiance was attending a two day real estate appraisal class at the Doubletree, which is only about an hour and a half from our home in Oakley. Since he'd been traveling the whole week prior, we decided to book a room and I would accompany him and take advantage of the recreational opportunities while he attended class. I had a great time, and the staff was wonderful about things like early check-ins and late check-outs. The pool and spa area was lovely - a great place to while away the afternoon reading a good book and enjoying a beverage. The night we spent there, we had a very nice dinner in the Coffee Garden. Then sat out by the pool and enjoyed the evening breeze. What should have been a boring weekend for me turned into a very pleasant one.
Quality Experience
The San Jose Doubletree Hotel has all of the amenities that you would expect in a hotel of this caliber, so I won't repeat those here. I appreciated some extra touches: each bed has five pillows -- four well-stuffed feather pillows and one firm pillow with "Sweet Dreams" stitched on its cover. I also appreciated the comfy down comforter, even though it was summer. It would be heavenly to snuggle into it during a cold winter's night. Another nice touch was that there were lots of easily-accessible electrical outlets. This included a six-plug outlet immediately adjacent to the bed, and only one plug was being utilized by a lamp. Therefore, there's lots of room for your laptop, your cell phone charger, my kid's GameBoy charger, etc.
Room service and the restaurants all provided decent food and good service. My daughter enjoyed the pool and jacuzzi.
Only a few missed beats kept the hotel from perfection: housekeeping staff didn't replenish our shampoo, so we had to ask for more -- but they immediately sent up not one, but three additional bottles as soon as I asked. Our room was nice and quiet -- as long as you don't open the slider. Our room was on the freeway side, and the noise was uncomfortably loud if the window was open, so I had to use the air conditioner even though San Jose cools down nicely at night. Not much Doubletree can do about that, though, given its location. We never heard any airport noise at all during our three-day stay.
All in all, we were quite pleased with our stay and will definitely return if we come to San Jose again.
Not worth the money
My husband was in town for a conference in San Jose recently and we stayed one night at the Doubletree San Jose. I searched every website imaginable for the lowest rate but found that the hotel's own website gave me the lowest rate of $199 per night. I had also stayed at the Fairmont the month before nearby at a rate of $139 so I was astonished at the price! I called to make the reservation and was told that the rooms at the conference rate were all booked and we would have to take the regular rate. They did not even try to compensate by asking if we had AAA. When I asked about it, the man on the line said they didn't have AAA rate. Don't most hotels have that? Due to the conference, my husband and I decided that it might be worth the money to be only four floors above his early morning meetings rather than battle the downtown traffic.
I checked in was not approached by a bell person and not even asked if I needed help. Granted I was carrying a duffle bag but I am pregnant and thought that this would at least get an offer. The front desk person was polite but not overly friendly.
The rooms was nicely decorated and we were given a chocolate cookie upon arrival which was perfect for me as I am pregnant and needed a snack. Our view was of the parking lot which didn't bother me a bit since I spent so much of my time laying down. We did hear airplanes very loudly throughout the early evening hours so we weren't able to have our balcony open. The bathroom was average and the towels looked a bit worn.
We ate dinner at the sushi bar in the lobby. My husband had sushi which he said was "Okay" and I opted for some non-seafood fare from the regular menu. The service was slow and sporadic. The young man that helped us was nice and accomodating but again, dissapeared for a while.
We finally settled into our room and had an overall good sleep with no disturbance. We did order breakfast through room srvice. It came as expected and was average as far as contents, taste and price.
If you need to stay in downtown San Jose, definetely look into the Fairmont. The rooms are better and the rates are better. I would say that the Doubletree is not worth the high rates!
Cut above your average airport hotel
Large and attractive room. Relatively soundproof, although you obviously can't banish airport noise completely. Good shuttle service to the airport. All in all, a cut above your average airoprt hotel.
Very nice airport hotel, good for business travellers
The Doubletree San Jose is a very nice airport hotel. Lobby is spacious and relaxing, rooms are clean and well-decorated. Hotel is very convenient to the airport and freeways, and there is ample free parking. For the business traveller, the public areas offer free high-speed wireless internet access, and the rooms have large work desks with plenty of electrical outlets. In-room high-speed internet (through network cable) is $10. Bathroom is clean with basic amenities, but shower pressure was very bad. The beds are very comfortable with plenty of pillows, and there is a nice lounge chair with ottoman. Do beware the "shared balcony rooms." The balcony is actually an outdoor public patio, and several rooms open onto it. If you're worried about security, opt out of this room as the patio is easily reached from other parts of the hotel. These rooms are also noisy because they overlook the pool. I would certainly stay again if in the area.
Pleasant stay, used priceline, caveat about shared patio and adjacent mtg rooms
Drove up to attend the Gilroy Garlic Festival and found this hotel by bidding on Priceline. I bid $35 for 2.5 stars and was upgraded to 3 stars which was great! We stayed on the second floor in the back of the hotel next to the freeway. Didn't hear the freeway and airport noise. The room size was larger than normal, as noted by other reviewers. Didn't try out the free wireless in the public areas, but high-speed internet in rooms is $9.95, unfortunately. Furnishings are nice. Room was clean. Nice additional sink/bar separate from bathroom. In-room bathroom amenities were disappointing (only shampoo, conditioner, 2 soaps, and lotion). You can request complimentary additional amenities by calling lobby (razor, shower cap, etc). Water pressure in shower was bad. 2 beds are queens (w/ 3 pillows) and not doubles, which was nice. Also came with nice ottoman. Ample electrical outlets. Nice big work desk. Lighting in room was a bit dim. Note: when we checked in the woman warned us that we would have a "shared balcony" which she explained was a balcony that the guests next door could use to walk over and look into our room. We decided it would be okay. What it ended up being was basically a public area patio above the pool. Fortunately, no one ever used it, so we weren't bothered by noise. Another note: the hotel often hosts meetings/conventions and is designed such that small meeting rooms are adjacent to guest rooms. (You can tell if yours is next to a meeting room is your room has a number and the room adjacent has a name like "Riesling" or "Chardonnay" etc). We weren't advised that our room was next to one of these. Around 10am a bunch of people were singing songs next door. We were up already though, so it was ok. Overall, it was a nice stay, especially with the priceline price. Being able to avoid the "shared balcony" and adjacent meeting room would've made the stay perfect.
Great Doubletree Property
We stayed here recently (Feb 23, 2004) after finishing a vacation in California. We wanted a hotel near the airport for an early morning flight. This is a wonderful hotel with many rooms (very nice apportioned), a very friendly and helpful staff, 2 restaurants, a bar, a nightclub, pool, hot tub, and exercise room. The location is ideal for access to the airport and is quiet, considering this fact. I highly recommend this hotel.
Great Service
I spent the week of August 18-21 at this hotel. The place was packed due to the search engine confrence and the Grambling Football team staying there.The staff of the hotel was kind, patinet, friendly and professional.I would recommend this property to anyone staing in San Jose that wants to be near the airport.The property it's self was clean and quiet. www.doubletreesanjose.com/
Convenient for the business traveler
Very nice restaurant inside, and the DoubleTree is nicely located close to the airport (not too noisy considering the location). Nice amenities also include high speed internet access and workout facilities. Clean rooms and nice people as well.
TripAdvisor Reviews DoubleTree by Hilton San Jose
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Pass on this, not so much as this law as for the precedent! !0 years down the road a Prog Tranzi wants a "Common Sense" amendment to regularize CCW. You know of course that that would be built on a MA or CA model!
No Thanks I will pass on this!
This is a discussion on National Reciprocity Action Needed within the Concealed Carry Issues & Discussions forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; Pass on this, not so much as this law as for the precedent! !0 years down the road a Prog Tranzi wants a "Common Sense" ...
Pass on this, not so much as this law as for the precedent! !0 years down the road a Prog Tranzi wants a "Common Sense" amendment to regularize CCW. You know of course that that would be built on a MA or CA model!
No Thanks I will pass on this!
William Wallace
Do not stand between Me and Mine!!
I think that the premise is good but it is still a violation of the 2A. What part of shall not be infringed do they not understand. I think that long term this could be a sheep in wolfs clothing. The more that we let the Feds "regulate" the more we lose our rights.
The proposed law as written looks pretty good to me. It could be better if it got rid of the 1,000 foot school radius, but it doesn't add any requirements to us, just tells the states they have to honor our permits as if they were theirs. The enforcement is real easy, it would happen when individuals filed suit for non-compliance by a state. And it means I wouldn't have to leave my G26 home when I visit my daughter and sister in NY.
I'm in favor of it as written.
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety), by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. by H. L. Mencken
How can we not? All the law means is that NJ would have to recognize the PA LTCF . CWP. If their residents get jealous, they'll get on their own legislature and push for shall issue.
When this is voted on in Congress (if it gets out of committee which I doubt), sure, NJ and IL and maybe NY will try to amend it and argue against it, but they are in the minority. They are the ones who presently are ignoring 2A and pretending Heller and McD don't exist. They would be told to do nothing they shouldn't already be doing.
Amazing. The same people who have been bitching about the "Feds" telling the states what kind of guns we can own( Feds stay out of my state gun laws bunch) are now screaming they want the Feds to tell the states where and when we can carry our guns (Feds stick noses in state laws bunch). You want the Feds to regulate firearms or you don't. No gray areas. If they can regulate carry permit recognition they later can regulate carry permit issue. It's called precedence and it will bite us in the rear if we let it pass.
Me, I live in Tennessee. I left Chicago over 20 Years ago and I don't intend to go back. I would rather have Tennessee laws than Illinois laws. FEDS GO HOME!
Retired Marine, Retired School Teacher, Independent voter, Goldwater Conservative.
I do take exception to those that gripe about the Postal Service.
Where else can you get a letter delivered coast to coast in about a week, for $0.44?
Sure Fed Ex and UPS can do it, but it cost over $5.00. Thats 11 times more!
If I give you a letter to a friend in California and 44 cents would you be willing to hand carry it there for me? I don't think so!
The 44 cent postage stamp is the absolute best deal in the world!
As far as the National Reciprocy law, I think it's a good idea. Why should I have to apply for 3 or 4 different state permits, even though I am not a resident of those states?
"I've noticed that everyone that is pro-abortion has already been born." - Ronald Reagan
"When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny." Thomas Jefferson
You are only paranoid until you are right - then you are a visionary.
I live in Tennessee. My HCP is good to go in 38 states by state-to-state reciprocity agreements. The states it is not good in either do not issue permits or do not have the same standards for issue ( state law/safety classes and Marksmanship qualification) so Tennessee won't enter into agreement with them.
The only neighboring state I am restricted in is Illinois and they wouldn't honor a HCP if the National Guard troops were occupying the capitol! They never are going to allow ordinary citizens to carry concealed handguns (at least not in Chicago and its environs), regardless of what the USSC says. The Federal Government can't afford the embarrassment of a Federal takeover so the laws and decisions are just so much paper, leaving Chicago to do its own thing. Springfield will follow, so it will reflect throughout the state..
I think the state Attorney Generals need to conclave and come up with mutual standards and reciprocal agreements.
Again, leave the Federal Government out of it.
Retired Marine, Retired School Teacher, Independent voter, Goldwater Conservative.
If you're arguing there shouldn't be permits needed at all, then I can agree. But, assuming permits are constitutional, then in reality, the Feds are within their power. You shouldn't have states making agreements with some and not others. It would be like having special trading status between states;it's not supposed to happen.
There is a question in that a small number of states will absolutely oppose this,unlike the driver's license compact, which all states agreed upon. But the idea is still the same.
"The right of the whole people, old and young, men, women and boys, and not militia only, to keep and bear arms of every description, not such merely as are used by the militia, shall not be infringed, curtailed, or broken in upon, in the smallest degree..."
Nunn v. State GA 1848
Permits are clearly constitutional. Heller did not in anyway indicate that the supremes objected to permitting. To the contrary actually, DC was allowed to keep an onerous permitting system.
So, if permitting is constitutional, we do indeed need national reciprocity because nationwide "constitutional carry" ain't gonna happen.
There are really only a few states which would be "adversely" affected by this new rule, either because they don't issue permits or because they are excessively stingy with their issuance or don't require permits at all.
In one camp NY IL Maryland, WI, in the other AZ, AK, Vermont? Even if I left a couple out of each camp, they barely total 10 affected states.
EIGHTY PERCENT would have no problem with this proposed law. The states that don't require permits could still issue them, as AZ does, so that their folks could travel.
It really makes no sense when you think about it that people have to get out of state licenses or that sometimes they can use an out of state license instead of their own state's license. These things defy common sense and don't have to be.
I don't want the Fedl Govt involved in any way. It's like the commerce clause, really it's only for this ONE things, now look at how far they've taken it. I don't want any Fedl Law where people like Feinstein, Bloomberg, Pelosi, etc. could modify it, amend it, change it, or add to it. And, they would. And since they had taken it over from the states, the States have lost their control or rights in regard to it. IT may take longer, but it is getting there with the states, and I'm for doing it that way.
EPA ... was "we're just going to ensure safe drinking water" . ..... now look at the EPA, and it enacts new regulations that never even see Congress.
ATF .... was set up to collect taxes on alcohol. That was "IT".... then in the 1950's it was expanded to "tobacco" , and the 1968 Gun Control Act.... and we all know where that has ended up , don't we.
There is no such thing in the Fedl Govt that stays with .... "it's just this ONE thing and that's all it will ever be". You know eventually it would get into issuing the permits, deciding who got the permits, etc. and so on..... and god forbid, they would probably use NY, Calif, DC or Chicago as the template and we'ld all lose out as a result.
I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. --- Will Rogers ---
Chief Justice John Roberts : "I don't see how you can read Heller and not take away from it the notion that the Second Amendment...was extremely important to the framers in their view of what liberty meant."
I agree except with one clarification-Heller didn't necessarily say that requiring permits were OK, it's just Heller didn't ask to overturn the permit requirement as long as it wasn't an arbitrary process.
I think folks are getting a knee jerk reaction to this proposed law, which doesn't regulate anything. It's more or less a defense that can be invoked in court. It doesn't set up a new Federal agency, nor does it require funding, unlike the ATF and EPA.
"The right of the whole people, old and young, men, women and boys, and not militia only, to keep and bear arms of every description, not such merely as are used by the militia, shall not be infringed, curtailed, or broken in upon, in the smallest degree..."
Nunn v. State GA 1848


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Feb 14, 2013
Pilot Posts $37,200 In Contingency Awards With CMRA
© 2015, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
(This original, copyrighted material may not be copied, cut and pasted, published or otherwise reproduced in any way in any medium, which means, don't post this on another website or BBS. If you want somebody else to see this, send, share or tweet a link or post a link to this page.)
Pilot Announces 2013 CMRA Contingency Program
Murrieta, CA - February 14, 2013 - Pilot continues its contingency program to all racers in all classes, novice and expert in the CMRA. A year end award certificate will be given to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers in each class championship. Racers who wear a Pilot suit at each round will also receive a championship bonus award of $100.00.
In all, there is $37,200.00 in Pilot contingency available to CMRA racers by signing up. To qualify, each racer needs fill out a simple claim form, list Pilot as a sponsor and display two decals on each bike at each round. That's it, nothing more and no purchase is necessary.
For more information, please call 800.299.9651 or go to
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"Well written, well read"
I really enjoyed this audio book, which is to a great part due to John Lee doing such an excellent job at reading it. I frequently zoned out when it came to the frequent architectural parts (something that would probably make Ken Follet sad), but I genuinely cared for the characters. I just wish there were less rapes in the story. Many of them don't seem to be "necessary" for the plot.
"Great Listen"
I love historical fiction, and this one didn't disappoint me. I don't think that Ken Follett is the best author that I have ever come across, but I loved the book all the same. The narration was good... I often hate when men make fake voices for women, but I never noticed this at all. I loved the descriptions of the way of life then; it truly brought the story to life for me.
"Good Narrator"
Enjoyed the story and didn't want it to end. The narrator was good however I don't have much listening experience with male narrators. Female narrators tend to have better variances with character changes. Nevertheless, I didn't want to stop listening. Looking forward to World Without End.
"The power of a good review....."
I am so happy I took the time to read this book. All of the reviews and ratings definitely helped in selecting it as something I would enjoy. Once I got going, I couldn't put it down. I was initially put off by one of the reviews commenting that the rape scenes were way to graphic. Upon reading them myself, I felt that Follett did a great job in providing a brutally honest level detail without being lewd or overly crewed. He used the rape to show how it shaped a woman's life over decades. The architectural aspects of cathedral building were presented in a very digestable manner and now I am hooked. I am not ready to read the sequel yet, but it is on my reading list.
"Mere Pop History, But Thoroughly Entertaining"
Not your usual Follett fare, Pillars of the Earth can be classified as a historical novel rather than a thriller. Still, it's rife with pop elements: lots of sex, blood, and hunger for money and power. If you are looking for a realistic sense of the time and place, say something along the lines of a James Michener novel, you'll be disappointed. But if you are looking for a very compelling book with colorful characters, great plot and an urgency that keeps you listening on pins and needles, you'll be very satisfied.
John Lee's narration is excellent. He has a compelling delivery that brings the story to life and complements the author's work beautifully.
"An amazing book that took me by surprise."
Ken Follett wowed me with this book. I admit I did not start listening to it until the series was on TV, but it peaked my interest. What an amazingly detailed and emotional book. Other than the books from the Ice & Fire and Gunslinger series, I haven't been moved to love, hate and switch between characters so much as I did with this book. Who knew I would care about a monk and his tibulations to build his cathedral. It is also quite racey in it's sexual content and graphic with pillaging, plundering, fighting and general killing. The way women were treated by William and some of the monks was appalling. I was amazed by the story. Love this book! Will read the next one set many generations later at some point.
"Captivating from start to finish"
I wish this story could go on and on. When listening I felt as if I were aging with the characters. This is a very well written novel and the reading is one of the best I have listened to.
"Perfect for those who enjoy historical fiction."
I do a lot of work that many would consider mindless tasks. For the past week I have listened to this book while gardening, cleaning house, driving and more.
The characters are engaging and the premise intriguing. Some might find it simplistic though I would disagree.
"Long but wonderful"
I decided to read Pillars after watching the miniseries on Starzs. The miniseries was good and somewhat true to the book but as always the book was better. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Reading is as necessary as breathing.
"Loved it!"
This is my first Ken Follett book after MANY years, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did my book club. The depth of knowledge he brought to the building of the cathedral itself was excellent and did not bog down the book at all with technical details. I found many of his characters to be multi-dimensional, interesting folks to spend time with. I'm disappointed that his antagonists are not--they seem very flat and purely evil. I was inspired to buy the mini-series, which I just got done watching. If you liked the book, the movie is worth it!


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Ever since I can remember I have loved new and innovative ideas and gadgets. I am the ultimate gadget girl; if it bleeps, has a USB and flashing LED's I have to have it, it doesn't stop there I have to know how it works and then how it could be improved lumix digital cameras


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Protect your iPhone with a one-piece, impact resistant, flexible plastic hard case featuring an extremely slim profile. Simply snap the case onto your iPhone for solid protection and direct access to all device features.
literally loving illustrated quote work at the moment and the colours used in this is awesome. Superduper.
Great design! I like the idea of it! Have a look of mine and see if you like it! http://society6.com/product/break-is-...rsonalidea
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Ryan Kwanten Filming True Blood in LA | Pictures
Ryan Kwanten Gets to Work With True Blood's Newest Bad Guy
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Ryan Kwanten Gets to Work With True Blood's Newest Bad Guy
Ryan Kwanten suited up for a day's work on the set of True Blood yesterday in LA. The handsome Aussie alternated between a muscle-baring tank and a police officer uniform while shooting scenes for the HBO hit. Ryan was joined by True Blood's newest villain, Rutger Hauer, who will play Macklyn — a man curiously linked to Sookie and Ryan's character, Jason Stackhouse.
True Blood's season five finale left a surprisingly high body count for fans of the vampire drama to tally and a cliffhanger to keep them stewing since August. The wait is nearing an end, as HBO announced the Summer series will return in June, with Ryan, Alexander Skarsgard, and new parents Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer reuniting for a sixth season.
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Russians fear the murder of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov could mark a revival of lethal violence among Moscow's leadership elite, the NYT reports.
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Recent bets on big oil and gas stocks show Warren Buffett and his stock-picking lieutenants are open to a wider range of energy investments.
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NHTSA says a heat shield in the car can rust, dislodge and cause the steering shaft to jam.
The Fed is risking its credibility among investors by refusing to consider a sooner interest rate hike, hedge fund manager David Gerstenhaber tells CNBC.
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This week on Third Eye Cinema, take a trip into worlds of SF&F, Atlantis and the Chariots of the Gods!
After sharing two bands and guitar duties with a man who is often cited as one of the founding fathers of the genre, he was present at the very dawn of the European power metal scene!
Making the move behind the console into studio production work for over a decade, he reunited with Hansen in the late 90's to form a uniquely science fiction oriented power metal act.
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Whenever we go to Disneyland I always like to take advantage of the Dining Package options for shows like World of Color or Fantasmic. Here's the reason I do it. 688 more words
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Sorry I have been MIA for a few weeks. It's just that school will be school and suck away all your life for a few weeks at a time. 414 more words
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Two weeks ago I was in SeaTac Airport waiting to catch my plane bound for Orange County, California.
To me, two weeks feels like an eternity. 759 more words
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Melissa H. is on her way to Disneyland later tonight, so she answered a few questions for us about her trip. We'll be doing this before most trips that any of us take. 675 more words
Traditions, Tradition, and a Passing of an Era
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Truck Driving Jobs in QLD
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Company Confidential - Paget, QLD
Email resume and driver print out to MC TRUCK DRIVING email@example.com Full Time...
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Warehouse Storeperson - Logistics - Carole Park based - Ref No.540224.014
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Drake International – Drake AU - ACACIA RIDGE, QLD
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Civil Construction Labourer
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Diesel Technician Isuzu
James Frizelle's Automotive Group - Nerang
We are currentlyseeking an experienced Diesel Mechanic to join our well established team in Nerang . The successful candidate will have: Full qualifications as a diesel mechanic Experience servicing trucks...
from: expr3ss.com - 8 days ago
Human Resources Manager
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US 20070025340 A1 Abstract A mailbox system that has a distributed architecture is disclosed. The system includes an application server, a media server, and message storage system having subscriber mailboxes. Application messages may be stored in a subscriber's mailbox. When the subscriber accesses an application message, the application server uses the application message to create an application, which is then provided to the media server. The media server then executes the application for the subscriber.
Claims(26) 1. A method of providing service to a user of a telecommunications platform, the method comprising the steps of:
retrieving a message from a message storage system; using the message to generate an application, wherein the application includes a Voice eXtensible Markup Language; providing content to a user by executing the application. 2. The method of
receiving the message; storing the message in a mailbox in the message storage system, wherein the mailbox belongs to the user. 3. The method of
receiving a request for the message from the user, wherein the user accesses the telecommunication platform to request the message, and wherein the steps of retrieving the message, using the message, and providing content are done in response to the user requesting the message. 4. The method of
5. The method of
6. The method of
7. The method of
decoding the message using an internet protocol to produce message artifacts. 8. The method of
9. The method of
10. The method of
generating a Voice extensible Markup Language page using at least one of the message artifacts. 11. The method of
validating the message. 12. The method of
prior to the step of providing content to the user, determining whether the message is valid, wherein content is provided to the user only if the message is determined to be valid. 13. The method of
processing the message to render message artifacts; modifying at least one message artifact; and using the modified message artifact to generate the application. 14. Logic embodied in a computer readable medium for providing service to a user of a telecommunications platform, the logic comprising:
a module for retrieving a message from a message storage system; a module for generating an application by using at least a portion of the message, wherein the application includes a Voice extensible Markup Langage page; a module for providing content to a user by executing the application. 15. The logic of
a module for receiving the message; a module for storing the message in a mailbox in the message storage system, wherein the mailbox belongs to the user. 16. The logic of
a module for receiving a request for the message from the user, wherein the user accesses the telecommunication platform to request the message, and wherein the modules for retrieving the message, using the message, and providing content are done in response to the user requesting the message. 17. The logic of
18. The logic of
19. The logic of
20. The logic of
a module for decoding the message using an internet protocol to produce message artifacts. 21. The logic of
22. The logic of
23. The logic of
a module for generating a Voice extensible Markup Language page using at least one of the message artifacts. 24. The logic of
a module for validating the message. 25. The logic of
a module for determining whether the message is valid, wherein content is provided to the user only if the message is determined to be valid. 26. The logic of
a module for processing the message to render message artifacts; a module for modifying at least one message artifact; and a module for using the modified message artifact to generate the application. Description This patent application is a U.S. non-provisional application filed pursuant to Title 35, United States Code � 100 et seq. and 37 C.F.R. Section 1.53(b) claiming priority under Title 35, United States Code � 119(e) to U.S. provisional application No. 60/596,752 filed Oct. 18, 2005 entitled �APPLICATION MESSAGE,� which application is herein incorporated by reference, and this patent application is a continuation in part of U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 11/170,530 filed Jun. 29, 2005, entitled �DISTRIBUTED TELECOMMUNICATIONS ARCHITECTURE PROVIDING REDUNDANT GATEWAYS AND IP DEVICE INTEGRATION,� which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety and which claimed the benefit of the filing dates of the following U.S. Provisional Applications, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety: Ser. No. 60/584,117 entitled DISTRIBUTED IP ARCHITECTURE FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,070 entitled AUTO BLOCK AND AUTO DISCOVERY FUNCTIONS, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,445 entitled IMPROVED COMPONENT PERFORMANCE USING DMA DATA TRANSFERS, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,444 entitled VXML BASED TELEPHONE SERVICE SYSTEM, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,270 entitled MESSAGE DURABILITY FOR VOICE MESSAGING SYSTEM, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,067 entitled AUDIO CHUNKING, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,394 entitled DISTRIBUTED TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,058 entitled MEDIA SERVER, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,079 entitled SIGNALING GATEWAY, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,312 entitled DOCUMENT SERVER, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,393 entitled NEXT GENERATION TELEPHONE PLATFORM, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,310 entitled TS SELECT, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,046 entitled MESSAGE DURABILITY AND RETRIEVAL, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,114 entitled HEALTH MONITOR SUBSYSTEM, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,311 entitled SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION: CDMS CHANGES FOR FRED, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,430 entitled Architecture Infrastructure For The Document Server And Telephony Server of FRED, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/584,068 entitled Architecture Design Document: Next Generation Message Store Project, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; and Ser. No. 60/584,313 entitled FAX MESSAGE STORING, filed on Jun. 30, 2004; and this application is related to, and incorporates by reference, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/080,744 entitled DISTRIBUTED IP ARCHITECTURE FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM filed on Mar. 15, 2005. The present invention relates to mailbox systems and, more particularly, to providing a user of a mailbox system with content by executing an application rendered from a message. Today, communication solution providers must rapidly create useful, vendor-agnostic, targeted, standards-compliant, and cost-effective telephony/video and entertainment applications that easily integrate with other enterprise or carrier solutions and leverage existing deployed infrastructure. These solutions can vary from VoiceXML-based voice mail to video-enabled store front applications. Messaging applications and call completion applications are a key offering of communication service providers. A vast majority of subscribers call into their mailbox to check their messages. This subscriber activity provides a unique and untapped distribution channel for both existing and new products. In terms of a distribution channel, the subscriber is familiar with the store (the mailbox), comes to the store often and receives a personalized and trusted experience. However, currently, there are only a few products in the store such as certain types of messages (voice, video and fax) and certain types of content through a portal. There exists a need for a communication system having a mailbox with the infrastructure capable of rapidly delivering a plethora of customized and personalized services, or product promotions with possibly short life spans to individual users and groups of users for services without massive deployment procedures and use of permanent platform resources. One aspect of the present invention is directed towards a VXML based telecommunications system that allows the operation to be easily customized. Embodiments of the present invention can also be viewed as methods for providing mailbox service. In this regard, one embodiment of such a method, among others, can be broadly summarized by the following steps: retrieving a message from a message storage system; using the message to generate an application, wherein the application includes a Voice eXtensible Markup Language; and providing content to a user by executing the application. Embodiments of the present invention can also be viewed as methods, which may be embodied in a computer readable medium, for providing mailbox service. In this regard, one embodiment, among others, can be broadly summarized by computer readable medium comprising: a module for retrieving a message from a message storage system; a module for generating an application by using at least a portion of the message, wherein the application includes a Voice eXtensible Markup Language; and a module for providing content to a user by executing the application. Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the present invention will be or become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following drawings and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the present invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. The present invention provides a distributed IP architecture, also described as a next-generation communications platform, for telecommunications equipment, such as a PBX, mailbox system, or the like. By utilizing the architecture of the present invention, the various functionalities of the telecommunications equipment can be divided amongst various physical components and the physical components can be geographically dispersed. Each of the components communicates with each other, as needed, through independent interfaces to an IP network. The complexities of interfacing to the telephone network are handled through a single gateway component and a simplified protocol is used for communication between the remaining components of the telecommunications equipment or to the telephone network through the gateway component. It should be understood that the distribution of functionality illustrated in the figures and described, although having novel aspects in itself, is not the only acceptable arrangement, and aspects of the present invention could be incorporated into a system that includes fewer or more components and a different arrangement of functionality among the components. As will be explained in detail hereinbelow, in some embodiments, an aspect of the present invention is that a subscriber shall be capable of receiving a personalized service by accessing an application message in his/her mailbox. It should be noted that from a subscriber's perspective, this application message appears to simply be just another message in his or her mailbox. Furthermore, it should be noted that application messages may be sent by an operator of the communication platform, by other subscribers of the communication platform, or by third parties, i.e., parties that do not operate or subscribe to the communication platform. When a subscriber accesses an application message, a voice or video application or other type of application is executed. Another aspect, in some embodiments, is that an operator shall be capable of limiting the delivery and execution of application messages in the communication platform. Yet another aspect, in some embodiments, is that an application may be delivered to a subscriber's mailbox using industry standard languages and tools such as, but not limited to, VoiceXML, HTML/XHTML, WML, ECMAScript, JSP, JSTL, JSP Custom Tags. With the advent of scripting languages such as, but not limited to, VoiceXML, HTML/XHTML, WML, frameworks such as JavaJSP, JSTL and JSP Custom Tags and common industry tools to create applications using these languages, a new application can easily be created and the application artifacts can be sent to another user. The user can then retrieve and assemble the documents and then execute them using an appropriate interpreter (VoiceXML browser, web browser, etc). It is this approach that is used to deliver an application in the form of a message in a subscriber's mailbox. Among other things, embodiments of the present invention can be used to deliver a targeted application to a subscriber in the form of a message that when accessed executes a specific, personalized, targeted application, which, in some embodiments, may be comprised of standard technologies. This type of targeted application that is delivered in the form of a message is what is known as an application message. Thus, embodiments of the present invention may include the ability to combine �executable Logic� with message content data to form a composite message that can be customized for each user. Now turning to the drawings, in which like labels refer to like elements throughout the several views, various aspects and features of the present invention are described. The communications platform 100 is illustrated as including one or more media servers (MS) 120, one or more system management units (SMU) 130, one or more application servers (AS) 140 and one or more central data and message store (CDMS) 150, which are connected by a network 160. Typically, the network 160 is an Internet Protocol (IP) network such that communications over the IP network conform to an internet protocol (IP), which are well known in the art. In some embodiments, a subscriber of the communications platform 100 can receive an email and the communication platform can notify the user that he or she has received the email. A computer 170 is in communication with the application server 140 via a network 180, which typically is the internet. The computer 170 may be used to send emails to the communications platform 100. The application server may provide emails for a subscriber to the CDMS 140, which then stores the messages in the subscriber's mailbox 152. Briefly described, the media servers 120 terminate IP from components of the communications platform 100 and/or terminate circuit switched traffic from the telephone network 110. The media servers 120 are also responsible for trunking and call control. Among other things, the application servers 140 may generate pages conforming to a scripting language such as, but not limited to, VoiceXML, HTML/XHMTL, and WML. In the following discussion, the pages are generally referred to as VoiceXML pages, but this is done for the sake of clarity and the description thereof is a non-limiting embodiment. Typically, the application servers 140 generate dynamic VoiceXML (VXML) pages for various applications. The application servers 140 provide the VXML pages to the media servers 120, which render the VXML pages or portions of the VXML pages. The applications servers 140 also provide an external interface to the communications platform 100. The SMU 130 is a management portal that enables service providers to provision and maintain subscriber accounts and manage network elements from a centralized web interface. The CDMS 150 stores messages, subscriber records, and manages specific application functions including notification. In some embodiments, the messages for a subscriber may include voice messages, video messages, email messages, and application messages, which are frequently sent to the subscriber in an email message. Mailbox 152 is used to store a subscriber's messages. Each of the components in the next-generation communications platform 100 is independently scalable and independently interconnected onto the network 160. Thus, the components can be geographically distributed but still operate as a single communications platform as long as they can communicate with each other over the network 160. This is a significant advantage of the present invention that is not available in state-of-the-art communication systems. Selected components of the communication platform 100 are described in greater detail hereinbelow. Media Server (MS) The MS 120 terminates circuit-switched traffic from the telephone network 110. The MS 120 is responsible for call set up and control within the platform architecture. The MS 120 processes input from the user in either voice, DTMF format or other signaling scheme (much like a web client gathers keyboard and mouse click input from a user). The MS 120 may present content to the user in voice/audio form and/or video form (similar in principle to graphic and text displayed back to the user on a PC client). This client/server methodology enables rapid creation of new applications and quick utilization of content available on the World Wide Web. The MS 120 processes incoming calls via requests to the AS 140. The requests to the application server are typically done by sending a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other internet standard such as HTTP to the application server 140. Among other information provided to the AS 140, the MS 120 normally includes the telephone number of the incoming call, i.e., the telephone number dialed by the caller of the incoming call. A load balancer (not shown) preferably directs traffic arriving at the MS 120 to one of the plurality of ASs 140. This functionality ensures that traffic is allocated evenly between active servers. The MS 120 may work as a client on behalf of the end-user. As a non-limiting example, in one embodiment, the MS 120 may include a VoiceXML client that works on behalf of the end-user in much the same manner as a client like Netscape works on behalf of an HTML user on a PC. The media servers 120 include a brower such as a VoiceXML browser 122 that renders pages such as VoiceXML pages for presentation to users. VoiceXML is a standards-based scripting language for developing voice-enabled software applications. This means that developers use and leverage Web-based (HTML) development expertise in developing speech-based telephony applications. Application Server (AS) The modular design of the next-generation communications platform 100 has the added advantage that it is easy to deploy enhanced services, such as voice dialing and voice navigation, unified communications solutions, multimedia messaging services, and presence & availability management applications. Adding applications to the platform is accomplished via the addition of standard application servers 140 to the common platform. The application servers 140 have a front end 142 that communicates with, among other things, the media server 120 and a back end 144 that communicates with, among other things, the CDMS 150. The front end 142 normally includes a Telephone User Interface (TUI), and the back end 144 may include a messaging system such as OpenUMS. Each application server 140 generates application documents such as, but not limited to, VoiceXML pages. Typically, the VXML pages are generated in response to requests from the media server 120. The application server 140 leverages a web application infrastructure to interface with back-end data stores such as CDMS 150 to generate the VXML pages. The overall web application infrastructure separates the core service logic (i.e., providing the business logic) from the presentation details (VXML) to provide a more extensible application architecture. In one embodiment, the application server 140 utilizes Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) environment and Java Server Pages (JSP) to create the dynamic pages such as, but not limited to, VXML pages for the media server. Combining these technologies enables rapid incorporation of Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) to provide interoperability (multimodal) between applications like WAP, HTML, XHTML and voice�allowing the end user to simultaneously input data via voice command and receive presentation via WAP or HTML. To create an environment for easy application development, the application server 140 preferably supports Template+JSPs. Applications are implemented in JSPs using an API for access to messaging functions. These JSPs are readily modifiable making changes in application behavior and creation of new applications very easy. Common Database and Message Store (CDMS) The CDMS 150 has sufficient storage capacity such that the communications platform 100 can provide services to multiple subscribers. Among other things, the CDMS 150 includes mailboxes 152 in which messages 154, which include application messages, are stored. Each one of the mailboxes 152 is associated with a subscriber of the communications platform 100. In addition to application messages 154, both voice/audio messages and email messages for a subscriber may be stored in a subscriber's mailbox. The CDMS 150 is preferably designed with fully redundant components and utilizes reflective memory and Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) technology for fault tolerance, immediate fail over and recovery. This ensures five 9's availability for associated hardware and software components. Essential disk drive and RAID controller components are preferably �hot swappable� eliminating the need to power down the system for replacements. With the CDMS 150, performance is optimized for the unique characteristics of voice messaging, eliminating the performance degrading, unnecessary e-mail-centric database functionality that comes with the searching and sorting of e-mail stores. The CDMS 150 can utilize standard of the shelf e-mail storage systems. The message store is abstracted through the use of Java middleware that allows the selection of the message store to be transparent to the application, enabling each message type to be stored in the most efficient store possible. Voice/audio messages are stored on the CDMS 150 when a caller leaves a mailbox message for a subscriber. Voice/audio messages also include voice/audio messages transferred and or forwarded between subscribers. Voice/audio messages can also include the subscriber's �greeting,� which can be played to a caller. System Management Unit (SMU) The SMU 130 provides a centralized point for service providers to manage all network elements, providing remote access, maintenance, and backup functionality. The SMU 130 provides a single interface for provisioning, alarming, reports, and subscriber migration. The SMU 130 integrates and customizes systems with new elements and applications, and provides operational support and network management functions for carriers experiencing swiftly growing networks and exploding traffic volumes. Software Architectural Each architectural layer encapsulates a specific set of responsibilities. In some embodiments, for layers 202, 204, 206, and 208, each architectural layer may depend only on the layers below it. Furthermore, in some embodiments, each architectural layer may include facades to reduce coupling between layers. It is important to note that these architectural layers do not represent layers in a protocol stack. The application-specific layer 202 manages interactions with users or interfaces with external applications using technologies such as servlets, JavaServer Pages (JSP), JSTL, JSP Custom Tags, Extensible Markup Language (XML), Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL), HTML, VoiceXML, SMIL, Wireless Markup Language (WML), and XHTML. This layer also represents client-specific logic in the form of a distributed client or local application that would use the services layer 204 or the business layer 206 to satisfy core use cases. In order to foster rapid development, increase extensibility and promote maintenance, common application layer components are reused by different applications where appropriate. For example, common application layer components include mediators to the business layer, user interface components, and speech objects. In this way, applications with disparate user interfaces can share common application components. Further, common application design patterns (e.g., Model-View-Controller, J2EE) may be used to develop applications at this layer. Typically, components of the application layer 202 that interface with users and external systems may be built on a messaging system 214 such as, but not limited to, OpenUMS (Open Unified Messaging System). Applications may use OpenUMS or other messaging system to provide the underlying business logic. For the sake of clarity, the messaging system 214 will be described in terms of OpenUMS, but this is intended as a non-limiting example. OpenUMS includes an OpenUMS API that provides a common and unified application interface for accessing disparate proprietary and standards-based messaging, directory and content servers. OpenUMS provides the business objects that enable different applications to perform functions such as access the common database and message store, manage voice, fax, and email messages and data from different systems (common store, email server, content servers, Profiler). OpenUMS provides the underlying service logic using an open, Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE)-based, object-oriented API to develop applications in a protocol, platform and vendor-independent manner. For example, OpenUMS presents objects to applications such as a message object that has a message sender, message recipient, subject, and date. An OpenUMS message can also comprise other objects such as message attachments. Thus, the application is abstracted from message details such as SMTP, IMAP, POP, and MIME and can focus on its core application logic. The services layer 204 provides a distributed interface that allows application layer components to satisfy use cases using distributed computing standards such as Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) and Web Services (SOAP). The services layer 204 may provide a coarse-grained, service-oriented interface for use by distributed clients. Application elements may allow other applications to access distributed interfaces using HTTP and XML-based protocols such as Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). The business layer 206 it typically an application-independent layer that provides the domain objects, which in some embodiments are �core� domain objects, that model abstractions in domains such as messaging, provisioning, directory services, calendaring, and informational services. Typically, the domain objects are platform, vendor and protocol independent. The business layer 206 may be used by both the application layer 202 and services layer 204 components. The business layer 206 may be implemented in Java and may or may not have a distributed computing interface. The business layer 206 may define a connector layer interface for plugging in disparate message, content, and directory devices. Implementations of the connector layer interface comprise the Connector layer 208. The business layer 206 may provide support for eventing and notification mechanisms where appropriate. The business layer 206 may be supported in OpenUMS. Typically, the connector layer 208 is a layer between the business layer 206 and a target messaging, directory service, calendar service, or informational service sources (not shown). The connector layer 208 may enable upper layers of the architecture to use the business layer 206 with different underlying messaging, informational service and directory service devices in a uniform and dynamic manner. The connector layer 208 may or may not have a distributed computing interface. The connector layer 208 may be supported in OpenUMS. Typically, the connector layer 208 may be a lower-level business layer that provides Java implementations of a defined set of classes and interfaces that are specified in the connector layer interface of the business layer 206. This layer defines how issues such as security, resource pooling need to be managed by a connector. This layer is used only by the business layer components and is dependent on the server-specific business logic. It provides the mapping between distinct interfaces-the OpenUMS connector interface and the native, and most likely, proprietary interface of the messaging or content source. The connectors shall use suitable J2EE API's to interface with external systems. A connector hides the complexities of the native interface from a developer using the business layer. There are two types of connectors: thick and thin connectors. Thin connectors do a binding from the business layer to the native API. Thick connectors provide additional functionality (e.g., load balancing, connection management, security) between the business layer and the native API. The persistence layer 210 encapsulates the behavior needed to persist objects and subscriber and application data. The persistence layer 210 may be an application-independent layer that encapsulates the behavior needed to persist objects and subscriber and application data. Typically, the business layer or the services layer or the application layer uses the persistence layer 210 in case direct persistence mechanisms are required. In some embodiments, the persistence layer 210 could also provide other types of persistence mechanisms such as object-relational mapping mechanisms and configuration database utilities. The common utilities layer 212 provides common foundation packages and utilities (e.g., logging, alarming) that should be used by all layers. The common utilities layer 212 may be an application-independent layer that provides common foundation packages and utilities that should be used by all layers. Typically, these components should not depend on another layer of the architecture. Examples include the alarm subsystem (ASU), security, logging, internationalization, statistics, application configuration. The connector layer 208 may also include components 612, 614, 616, 618, 620, 622, and 624, which may, among other things, connect to components in the business layer 206. System Architecture The communications platform 100 may use a standard VoiceXML architecture in which applications on the Application Server 140 generate documents in response to requests from the Media Server 120. The Application Server 140 leverages a web application infrastructure to interface with back-end data stores such as the CDMS 150 to generate VoiceXML documents. The communications platform applications may be designed to support an overall architectural vision of being able to provide an open application development environment to rapidly and effectively deliver feature-rich, customized, and personalized services using industry standard technologies. The web application infrastructure separates service logic (i.e., providing the business logic) from the presentation details (VoiceXML, XHTML, WML) to provide a more extensible application architecture. The application infrastructure may also be responsible for maintaining application dialog state in a form that is separate from a particular presentation language mechanism. The application infrastructure may be shielded from the back-end data store specifics by using abstractions provided by the business layer 206. The CDMS 150 may provide a highly available back-end data store for voice, video, and fax messages as well as subscriber profiles and has a notification engine. In order to process incoming calls, the Media Server 120 may request documents from the Application Server 140 using a protocol such as, but not limited to, HTTP. The VoiceXML browser 122 that resides on the Media Server 120 interprets the VoiceXML documents to interact with users on telephones such as, but not limited to, 2G and/or 3G phone. The Media Server 120 interfaces with the telephone network 110, which may be a PSTN, VoIP (SIP, H.323) and/or 3G-324M networks. The Media Server 140 may also interface with Application Speech Recognition (ASR) and Text-to-Speech (TTS) servers. In one embodiment, the communication platform 100 enables a user or subscriber to store application documents and artifacts (prompts, grammars) in the CDMS 150 as a message 154. Typically, the message 154, which may be represented as a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) multipart, is stored as a binary large object (BLOB) in the CDMS 150. When the application server 140 retrieves the message 154, the message 154 is MIME decoded. After MIME decoding the message may be comprised of artifacts including one or more VoiceXML documents and supporting files, which are deployed on the Application Server 140. The VoiceXML documents and the supporting files are used by a TUI application of the front end 142 to generate a VoiceXML page that is provided to the Media Server 120 for execution. Thus, the Media Server 120 is agnostic to the concept of an application message. Note that while the embodiments have described an application message 154 in terms of VoiceXML and voice applications, there is nothing to preclude the use of application messages with video or other type of markup languages (e.g., SALT) or applications. Creation and Deposit of Application Message Referring to Resources that support the application may be either included in the message 300 or accessed by defining a URL of the resource in the VoiceXML document. If JSP's are sent they normally use standard tags or available JSP Custom Tags that are supported on the communications platform 100. Alternatively, an operator can deposit the application message 300 by deploying the artifacts of an application such as prompts directly to the specific components of the communication platform such as Media Servers 120. This allows the operator to leverage performance and storage benefits of locally stored media files, reduce resources on the CDMS 150 and also to control the type of files deployed on the servers in the communications platform 100. Furthermore, the application message 300 can be sent to the CDMS 150 via SMTP or using a protocol such as, but not limited to, peer-to-peer or other peer-to-peer protocols such as, but not limited to, Glenayre PtP protocol. The application message 300 is deposited in the CDMS 150 as a MIME structure. Email messages with attachments are sent over the Internet using Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and MIME. SMTP is limited to 7-bit ASCII text with a maximum line length of 1000 characters that results in the inability to send attachments. MIME addresses these limitations by specifying message header fields and allowing different related objects such as attachments to be included in the message body in the form of a MIME multipart. For example, if the message body contains multiple independent objects of possibly different data types, the message body is divided into parts by boundaries. To indicate that the message body comprises a multipart structure of independent attachments, a Content-Type message header field is set. Thus, multiple files can be stored in a message. Storage of Application Message In one embodiment, the application message 300 comprising the VoiceXML/ECMAScript documents 302, JSP's 304, prompts 306, and data files 308 is stored as a message with binary contents in a subscriber's mailbox 152. The application message 154 has a flag associated with it. The flag can be used to mark a stored message as an application message. The flag allows for more expediency in detecting the message type. In one embodiment, the communication platform 100 provides a web-based GUI that operators can use to deposit an application message and its artifacts. The application message may be deposited in subscribers' mailboxes. The GUI provides a wizard to simplify this process of depositing application messages by allowing operators to select subscribers, groups of subscribers, and classes of service. The GUI enables the upload of scripts including VXML scripts, audio and video prompts and any other application artifacts to a defined group of mailboxes. The GUI also enables operators to reference artifacts of the application such as scripts and prompts that have been deployed directly to the components of the communication platform 100 such as Media Servers 120. This allows the operator to leverage performance and storage benefits of locally stored media files, reduce resources on the message store and control the type of files deployed on the servers in the network. The application message (which many include VoiceXML application artifacts) may then be deposited and stored in the message store as a MIME structure. A message notification can be provided as a result of the application message deposit. Retrieval of Application Message When a subscriber selects to access an application message 154 stored in the subscriber's mailbox, the back end 144, which may include a messaging system such as OpenUMS, identifies the selected message as an application message. The application message may then be retrieved as a binary object (BLOB) from the CDMS 150. Once the BLOB is retrieved, the application message is then MIME decoded and the artifacts of the application which include the application's documents and supporting resources are temporarily deployed on the Application Server 140. In some embodiments, a VoiceXML document from an application message can also reference supporting media files on remote hosts as defined in the VoiceXML specification. The back end 144 then presents the artifacts/files that comprise the application message to the front end 142. The front end 142 typically includes a TUI application, which then renders the application message into an application that is normally embodied in a VXML page. The VoiceXML page(s) of the application message can then be validated. For example, the front end 142 may include a validation engine (not shown), and the validation engine may be used to ensure the application is a valid VoiceXML application, which does not comprise code that could pose security risks or impose excessive resource consumption demands, intentionally or unintentionally, on the server it is running on. The validation engine could provide a knowledge base with an XML rule-based format to detect such anomalies. If the application message documents are valid, then they can be modified by the TUI application or a supporting component in order to ensure secure and seamless application integration with the application currently being executed. For example, the new VoiceXML documents can be modified to reference the existing root document of the application currently being executed and session variables could be updated. The J2EE container then executes the new document and then returns the newly created VoiceXML page to the Media Server so that it can be executed. For the Media Server, this is simply another VoiceXML document returned by the Application Server to support the current subscriber's session. After the application executes, post-application routines are invoked (email confirmations can be sent or data collection routines), and the TUI returns the next TUI VoiceXML page to the Media Server. Once the session is completed, the application artifacts associated with the application message are cleaned up. Operator-Control In one embodiment, the operator of the communication platform 100 may create an application by deploying a deployment descriptor that describes the application resources that are deployed on communication platform servers such as the Media Server and Application Server. Typically, a signed document, which may be signed by a protocol such as, but not limited to, PKI, is deposited in the CDMS. The signed document describes the locations of supporting application documents as well as some personalized files. The signed document and any files are still stored as a BLOB and retrieved by the OpenUMS and MIME decoded. In this case, the TUI includes a validation engine that ensures that the PKI signed document is valid before accessing the message. In addition, the application message might have a pointer to a VoiceXML document, which may already be deployed on a server of the communication platform 100 and which may be validated by the validation engine. When the VoiceXML document is already deployed on a server, MIME decoding the content of the application message may not be required. The subscribers may continue to receive a message in their mailbox and access that message resulting in a personalized application being executed. Among others, advantages of this design approach include: Allowing the operator to control the deployment of application messages. Only application messages with signed descriptors can be executed. Thus issues concerning security (spam, virus control) and resource usage (denial of service attacks) of the communication platform are mitigated. Improving system performance because it is possible that a large number of files and supporting application documents do not need to be MIME decoded and deployed in real-time and consume system resources. Further, the Media Servers do not need to access prompts deployed on separate servers. Preventing subscribers and users in general from creating applications that can hinder other deployed operator services such as unvalidated VoiceXML scripts that perform poorly or erroneously. Creating rich and personalized and customized video menus to a priori rather than on-demand. Rather than incur the performance overhead and limitations of creating video menus dynamically when the subscriber logs in, a richer interface can be created before hand by the operator and deposited in a subscriber's mailbox. This is in contrast to incurring the performance overhead and technology limitations of creating dynamic video menus on the fly. Architectural Use Cases Presented hereinbelow are non-limiting examples illustrating various uses and functions of illustrative embodiments of the invention. Case 1: Operator creates application message An application message may include an application that is a customer service survey based on a call made by the subscriber to the operator's customer service department. The voice application asks the subscriber to use DTMF keys to rate satisfaction with the subscriber's recent customer service experience. The operator creates the VoiceXML document and prompts and sends it to the subscriber's mailbox. In some embodiments, a GUI client may be used to send the documents and prompt files as MIME-encoded attachments to the subscriber's mailbox. Alternatively, the prompts could be deployed to the Media Servers and referenced by the VoiceXML document. Upon receipt of the message, the CDMS delivers a message waiting notification to the subscriber. Case 2: Subscriber creates application message A susbcriber creates an application message for another subscriber. The message represents an application for �knock knock jokes�. The speech-enabled voice application tells the other subscriber the �knock knock� jokes. The operator creates the VoiceXML document and prompts and sends it to the subscriber's mailbox. An SMTP-compliant email client could be used to send the documents and prompt files as MIME-encoded attachments to the subscriber's mailbox. Alternatively, the prompts could be deployed to the Media Servers and referenced by the VoiceXML document. Upon receipt of the message, the CDMS delivers a message waiting notification to the subscriber. Case 3: Subscriber accesses application message Based on a message waiting notification to the subscriber, the subscriber calls in to retrieve his/her messages, the subscriber is authenticated and then a message summary/menu menu page is returned to the Media Server to be played to the subscriber. There will be, at least, the one new message. When the subscriber selects to listen to the message, a request is made to the Application Server for the next VoiceXML page to be interpreted by the Media Server. The voice mail/video mail application requests the message contents from OpenUMS. OpenUMS will recognize that this is an application message and retrieve a BLOB from the message store and then decode the binary object into attachments. The attachments (VoiceXML documents, prompts) are then temporarily deployed on the Application Server and their references are returned as attachments of the message. The voice mail/video mail application modifies the VoiceXML document to ensure that it functions appropriately�to ensure that it references the current root document, referencing the location of the prompts and adds a reference to return to the access of the next message. The application then returns the resulting VoiceXML document as the VoiceXML page to be executed next. The Media Server executes the returned VoiceXML page. The Media Server references any prompts stored on the Application Server in a directory. The subscriber presses one of the DTMF keys and listens to a closing prompt. The selected key press is captured and counters are incremented. The captured data is sent to a URL referenced in the document. The Media Server then makes the request for the next VoiceMXL page from the Application Server to listen to the next message. Case 4: Video Application Message A subscriber is an avid movie watcher. The subscriber has subscribed to a new movie preview service. With this, the subscriber receives a message in the subscriber's mailbox. When the subscriber accesses the message with a videophone, the subscriber is given a chance to view trailers from newly released movies. The subscriber is given the option to purchase these movies on DVD and have them shipped to the subscriber's home address. Referring to In step 504, the message, which may be for a single subscriber or for multiple subscribers of the communication platform, is stored in the mailbox of the subscriber (or in the mailboxes of the subscribers.) In step 506, the communication platform receives a request for the message. It should be remembered that the communication platform may be configured to, in response to receiving a message for a subscriber, alert the subscriber that a message has been received. The subscriber may access the communication platform whenever he or she so desires or may access the communication platform in response to having received the alert. Upon accessing the communication platform, the subscriber sends a request for the received message. It should be remembered that the application message appears to the subscriber as a typical message. In step 508, the communication platform processes the message, or a portion of the message, to generate an application. Processing of the message may include validating the message, decoding the message, MIME decoding the message, determining whether the application is valid, generating a first application and then modifying the application. In step 510, the application is executed and content is then provided to the subscriber. It should be remembered that the content may be in the form of audio content and/or may also be in the form of video content and/or may be in the form of audio/video content. It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly, any �preferred� or �exemplary� embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations, merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the invention. It should also be appreciated that any particular embodiment may include only some of the various aspects of the present invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims. Referenced by
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