Telephonic communications – Audio message storage – retrieval – or synthesis – Voice activation or recognition
Reexamination Certificate
1998-01-16
2001-12-04
Weaver, Scott L. (Department: 2742)
Telephonic communications
Audio message storage, retrieval, or synthesis
Voice activation or recognition
C379S088130, C379S088220
Reexamination Certificate
active
06327343
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system and methods for providing automatic call and data transfer processing and, more particularly, to a system and methods for providing automatic call and data transfer processing according to a pre-programmed procedure based on the identity of a caller or author, the subject matter and content of a call or message and/or the time of day of such call or message.
Generally, in the past, call processing has been manually performed either by a business owner, a secretary or a local central phone service. There are certain conventional devices which partially perform some call processing functions. For example, conventional answering machines and voice-mail services record incoming telephone messages which are then played back by the user of such devices or services. In addition, desktop-telephone software or local PBXs (private branch exchange) provide telephone network switching capabilities. These conventional answering machines, voice-mail services and switching systems, however, are not capable of automatically performing distinct processing procedures that are responsive to the identity of the caller or evaluating the content or subject matter of the call or message and then handling such call or message accordingly. Instead, the user must first answer his or her telephone calls manually, or retrieve such calls from an answering machine or voice-mail, and then decide how to proceed on a call-by-call basis. The present invention eliminates or mitigates such burdensome manual processing.
Moreover, although protected by Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) keying, answering machines and voice-mail services are unable to identify or verify the caller when being remotely accessed or re-programmed by a caller with a valid personal identification number (PIN) which is inputted by DTMF keys. Further, conventional teleconference centers also rely on DTMF PINs for accessibility but are unable to verify and tag the identity of the speaker during a teleconference. Such answering machines, voice-mail and teleconference centers may therefore be breached by unauthorized persons with access to an otherwise valid PIN.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system and methods for automatic call and data transfer processing in accordance with a pre-determined manner based on the identity of the caller or author, the subject matter of the call or message and/or the time of day.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a call processing system which can first transcribe messages received by telephone, facsimile and email, as well as other data electronically received by the system, then tag the identity of the caller (or participants to a teleconference) or the author of such e-mail or facsimile messages, and then index such calls, conversations and messages according to their origin and subject matter, whereby an authorized user can then access the system, either locally or remotely, to playback such telephone conversations or messages or retrieve such e-mail or facsimile messages in the form of synthesized speech.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a system that is responsive (i.e., accessible and programmable) to voice activated commands by an authorized user, wherein the system can identify and verify the user before allowing the user to access calls or messages or program the system.
In one aspect of the present invention, a programmable automatic call and message processing system comprises: server means for receiving an incoming call; speaker recognition means, operatively coupled to the server means, for identifying the caller; speech recognition means, operatively coupled to the server means, for determining subject matter and content of the call; switching means, responsive to the speaker recognition means and speech recognition means, for processing the call in accordance with the identity of the caller and/or the subject matter of the call; and programming means, operatively coupled to the server means, speaker recognition means, speech recognition means and the switching means for programming the system to perform the processing.
The system is preferably programmed by the user so as to process incoming telephone calls in a predetermined manner based on the identity of the caller. Such processing includes, but is not limited to, switching the call to another system, forwarding the call to another telecommunication terminal, directing the call to an answering machine to be recorded, placing the call on hold, or disconnecting the call.
In another aspect of the present invention, the system may be pre-programmed to process an incoming telephone call, facsimile or e-mail message according to their content, subject matter, or according to the time of the day they are received. Still further, the system may preferably be programmed to process an incoming telephone call, facsimile or e-mail message according to a combination of such factors, i.e., the identity of the caller, the subject matter and content of the call and the time of day. In addition, e-mail messages (and other messages created by application specific software such as LOTUS NOTES) may be processed in accordance with mood stamps, i.e., informational fields provided by certain mailing programs such as LOTUS NOTES which allow the sender to indicate the nature of the message such as the confidentiality or urgency of the message. For future e-mail or data exchange techniques, such information can be included in a header of the email or facsimile. Further, the system may be programmed to prompt the caller to explicitly advise the system of the nature of the message. Still further, the system may be configured to retrieve and process data from other telecommunication devices such as voice mail systems or answering machines.
In still a further aspect of the present invention, the call processing system of the present invention is capable of tagging the identity of a caller or the participants to a teleconference, while transcribing the message or conversations of such callers and participants. Consequently, the system can automatically manage telephone messages and conversations, as well as voice mail, e-mail and facsimile messages, by storing such calls and messages according to their subject matter or the identity of the caller or author, or both. Specifically, the present invention can, in combination with such identification and transcription, automatically index or prioritize the received telephone calls and e-mail and facsimile messages according to their origin and/or subject matter which allows an authorized user to retrieve specific messages, e.g., those messages that originated from a specific source or those which deal with similar or specific subject matter.
In another aspect of the present invention, the system includes text-to-speech capabilities which allows the system to prompt (i.e., query) the user or caller in the form of synthesized speech, to provide answers to questions or requests by the user or caller in synthesized speech and to playback e-mail and facsimile messages in synthesized speech. The system also includes playback capabilities so as to playback recorded telephone messages and other recorded audio data.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
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Epstein Mark Edward
Kanevsky Dimitri
Maes Stephan Herman
F. Chau & Associates LLP
International Business Machines - Corporation
Weaver Scott L.
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