Telephonic communications – Audio message storage – retrieval – or synthesis – Voice activation or recognition
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-11
2001-12-04
Smith, Creighton (Department: 2642)
Telephonic communications
Audio message storage, retrieval, or synthesis
Voice activation or recognition
C379S088200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06327347
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and system for indicating authentication of the identity of a calling party based on an intrinsic property of the calling party. More particularly, it relates to providing calling party identification in addition to, or instead of, calling line identification, and routing calls based on such information and/or accessing caller information for display or other purposes.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of calling line identification information to identify a calling party has found wide use in public switched telephony. However, calling line identification only provides a called party with the identity of the telephone line on which the call is initiated and the name of the registered subscriber of such line. As a household or business will often have only a single telephone line, or fewer telephone lines than people, multiple users of the same telephone line are not uniquely identified to the parties they call. Hence, calling line identification information is incomplete and unreliable with respect to identification of a specific calling party.
Identifying a specific calling party is commonly done after a telephone call is established. The called party or automated equipment on the called party's line, as in the case of a bank, may request the calling party to identify himself through the use of a personal identification number or functionally equivalent construct. The called party may then respond appropriately based on the identity indicated by the calling party. This however, requires that the calling party remember a unique identification number. Experience has shown that such numbers are easily forgotten or may be shared with other parties, such as spouses, for example. Consequently, the use of passwords to uniquely identify a calling party is not completely reliable and is vulnerable to misuse.
What would be desirable therefore is an efficient, conclusive and economical way of providing a called party with calling party information, such as calling party identity, unique to the person actually making the call and based upon nontransferable characteristics of the calling party.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses the above need by providing a method and system for indicating authentication of the identity of a calling party based on an intrinsic property of the calling party. Representations of intrinsic properties of potential calling parties are gathered and stored as reference representations for use in comparisons with later acquired representations. When a later acquired representation matches an earlier acquired representation, authentication of the calling party is deemed to have occurred. Speedier authentication may be provided by using calling line identification information in conjunction with representation matches. When authentication occurs, a signal is produced to indicate same and such signal may be used in uniquely identifying the calling party or in routing the call, for example.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of indicating authentication of the identity of a calling party. The method involves detecting an intrinsic property of the calling party, authenticating the identity of the calling party based on the intrinsic property and providing a signal to the called party in response to authentication of the calling party's identity. Such intrinsic properties may include but are not limited to voice profile, image, fingerprints, and DNA.
The system and method of calling party authentication can be performed at a central location such as a telephone company central office. In this way, a telephone service provider can maintain one large database of intrinsic properties to which service subscribers have access. Such a database is more comprehensive and therefore more effective than a database any single subscriber could practically create by itself. Furthermore, by providing a common speaker recognition service, common to a plurality of subscribers, the high cost of providing such services can be distributed among a plurality of users. Effectively, the central office acts as an intermediary placed between the calling party and the called party. In this way, the intermediary performs the authentication and sends an authentication signal to the called party before a communication link between the calling party and the called party is established.
Preferably, the authentication signal includes calling party information. This information may be used by the called party to automatically route the call within the called party's system or to provide improved customer service. Such improved customer service may include automatically generating and filling in a customer database record.
The authentication signal may also be used to implement a password-free security system. In the absence of an authenticated identity, the intermediary may refuse to complete the call or the called party could refuse to accept the call. Additionally, in the event of a valid authentication signal and unique calling party identity, the called party's equipment might permit access but only to the extent permitted for that particular person.
The apparatus may include an automatic call direction system located inside a central office or in a PBX system, for example, for directing a call in response to authentication of the calling party or in response to the authentication signal.
The apparatus may also include an automatic system for retrieving a customer database file and for displaying the contents of such file for the called party to view.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
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Book Title: Telecommunications Primer: Signals, Building Blocks and Networks by E. Bryan Carne. Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR, New Jersey, USA. Copyright 1995. Chapter 9, p. 275.
Nortel Networks Limited
Smith Creighton
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