Patent US 4,247,910

A message storage system (104) deletes leading silence from messages to be stored therein. Voice messages are converted to digital signals and stored as data blocks in a digital memory (601). Voice signals are detected in messages to be stored and a voice present signal is generated during periods of time when voice signals are detected. The memory is set to a starting location after the storage of each group of four data blocks of a message until a voice present signal is generated, thereby deleting leading data blocks which do not contain voice signals.