FORM-2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003


PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
(See section 10; rule 13)
SYSTEM FOR VOICE MESSAGING
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LTD.
an Indian Company of Nirmal Building, 9th floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021,
Maharashtra, India

THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION DESCRIBES THE INVENTION


FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of communication.
Particularly, the present invention relates to the field of social networking.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART
Today, people's desire to socially network and stay updated with the latest information is hindered by geography and transportation constraints. Consequently, social events are the only moments when people interact personally, face to face.
To bridge the social gap, communication devices evolved from simple telephonic devices to voice and video communication tools which are now extensively used and are easily available. Of these communication devices, mobile phones are the easiest and the simplest means for staying connected.
However, these means of staying connected face the constraints of geography and time zones. Current generation technologies like video conferencing and voice conferencing cannot really bridge this gap since they require people to coordinate their time zones and assume the availability of sophisticated equipment, which tends to be user unfriendly. Moreover, rural people are reluctant and not comfortable to use text messages as a medium to communicate.
Social networking is another very popular and widely used means of communication by users all over the world today, for staying connected. But most of it is restricted to the internet. Current networking applications are

not suitable for rural masses since applications are typically in English and are mostly text based.
For getting the latest information, rural masses cannot rely on news media as they do not cater to delivering news that is more relevant to them. They deliver news that occurs at the national or international level.
Other constraints faced by rural masses include:
• poor healthcare infrastructure requiring them to take appointments in far-away cities for medical help of any kind. Instant healthcare advice is available on the internet and newspapers. But these are not easily accessible at remote places;
• quality education is only available in bigger and advanced cities. Also, internet is widely used for knowledge-sharing and educational purposes. Rural people do not have access to the internet and hence cannot acquire quality education. Internet or newspapers can be used only by people who are literate; and
• farmers in remote places do not know the standard mandi price or the weather conditions in their area or other areas of the country. Sometimes, this leads to economic losses to the farmers.
Due to the above drawbacks, there is felt a need for a system which will enable people, especially those, who are staying in rural areas to be abreast with the latest information and also provide a platform to interact with people across the world irrespective of the time zone and language barriers.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a user friendly system which will enable users to socially network.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system which will enable users to get the latest information.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a system which will provide a platform for users to share information.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a system which will enable users to interact in the language of user's choice.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Mobile phones are used by the urban community as well as the rural population alike. It has been seen that rural telephony market is growing at an astonishing speed. According to a TRAI (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India) report, the rural telephony market in India is growing at a rate of 40% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) for next 3 yrs.
The present invention envisages a system which will enable users to interact with each other and share information through the medium of voice using a mobile phone.
Typically, the mobile phone will be embedded with a custom application which will facilitate the rural masses to share their views by way of speaking in their native language.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, rural people, who have no access to the internet can socially, interact with each other through a mobile network and a mobile device.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, features such as exchange of information using voice clips will enable the illiterate masses to socially network. In addition, users can form channels on the application corresponding to the topic of discussion which is of interest to users. These channels can be joined by any user for participating in various discussions. The present invention, thus, provides a simple and convenient way for rural people to communicate with each other with the help of a mobile phone.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, the voice messaging system is voice and PIM2R (Packet Intercative Multimedia Response)-based to provide voice and text prompts in the users native language.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the voice messaging system supports communication through the mediums of video, image and text. Hence, users can post messages using any of the above mediums on the application to convey their ideas, announcements, questions or general views.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, users can listen to or view messages posted by him/her on the communities or channels and also the ones posted by other members who have subscribed to the service. Since, the application supports voice messages; users who do not know how to read or write can also communicate using the service.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, the application embedded on the mobile phone can be used to propagate news pertinent to the people staying in a village and/or any events or incidents that

occur at places geographically closer to the village (district or taluka news, or news from other villages nearby) by means of posting messages or in the form of a voice clip. Alternatively, a team of moderators can be formed who will decide on whether particular news can be broadcasted on a particular channel for the people from other villages to read. Thus, users can be ensured that the information is reliable.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, if, a primary health care centre in a village needs urgent medical guidance from experts in bigger hospitals, then the medical assistance channel can be used by the primary health care centre worker to connect to experts in the hospital for viewing and analyzing the information and provide advice using voice messages. Thus, villagers can send information of an afflicted person to experts for quick advice on what can be done on an immediate basis to help the ailing get some relief.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, educational queries of rural people can be addressed by scholars from elite educational institutes. Also, access to information related to admission, fees, and course-structures of quality courses that are taught at far-off universities can be provided using the channels provided by the present invention.
The application embedded on the mobile phone can also be used by farmers to know the mandi prices, weather conditions. Farmers can log in to the system and get to know the details from their friends or channel discussions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
The invention will now be described in relation to the accompanying
drawing in which,
Figure 1 illustrates an overview of the voice messaging system.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to the drawing, there is disclosed a system for voice messaging which enables users to interact with one and other using mobile phones. The accompanying drawing does not limit the scope and ambit of the invention and is provided purely by way of example and illustration.
Referring to Figure 1, the voice messaging system comprises a custom application which is embedded on the mobile phone and a web based application server.
The following embodiments for the system of this invention, and their functions, as shown in the drawings are described below:
Mobile Phone:
The mobile phone, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention consists of a custom application. The application enables users to select a language of their choice, create communities and channels, broadcast news and necessary information to all users, or users staying in a particular village. In addition, the application enables users to contact a particular user and leave a voice and/or video clip for him/her. The application being PIM2R based enables illiterate users to hear the voice prompts in their native language and retrieve/replay messages and/or information from the channels and communities.

The application on the mobile phone communicates with an application server by means of GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) or CDMA (Carrier Data Multiple Access) data channels.
Application Server:
The application server, in accordance with the present invention is a web based server which controls the operations of the voice messaging system envisaged by the present invention. •
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, for using the services provided by the voice messaging system users need to register themselves to the application server. The application server requires user to register their mobile number, user name, language preference, location and a password.
On registration, users can log on to the application server and avail the service including retrieval of the voice messages, creation of communities/channels, creating profiles and the like.
Database:
The database co-operates with the application server and stores the user credentials and preferences. The database forms the working memory of the system; it stores the voice and text information, which can also be retrieved at a later date.
Apart, from the mobile phone, the services provided by the present invention can also be accessed by users via the internet using a desktop computer.

Users accessing the system via internet need to authenticate themselves by providing their registered mobile number and password to use the services.
The technical advancements of the present invention include:
• providing a user friendly system which will enable users to socially interact with one another;
• providing a system which will enable users to get the latest information;
• providing a system which will provide a platform for users to share information;
• providing a system which will enable users to network in the language of user's choice;
• providing a system which will enable farmers to be connected with sources of expertise and/or information and increase the potential to raise their income;
• providing a system which will enable users to increase communication and facilitate information sharing on best practices like new products and techniques which can improve overall farming efficiency and increase productivity, quality and profits;
• providing a system which will enable users to handle medical emergencies in a better way; and
• providing a system which will enable users to collect data from the interactions and use it for profiling the rural masses.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the particular features of this invention, it will be appreciated that various modifications can be made, and that many changes can be made in the preferred

embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other modifications in the nature of the invention or the preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.