System and method for queuing and bookmarking tekephony conversations

• US 20040203621A1
• Filed: 10/23/2002
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Winters, Scott Lee, Moore, Victor S., Paolini, Michael A., Brown, Michael Wayne, McIntyre, Joseph Herbert
• Application Number:
  US10/279,417
• Publication Number:
  US 20040203621A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/412.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15

Abstract

A system and method for querying and bookmarking telephony conversations is provided. The users issue commands to insert bookmarks into the audio recording, the textual recording, or both, either during the live conference or during later playback. A user can issue these commands by voice or by sending data (for example, text) through the user'"'"'s device. The commands may also be issued by software running on the user'"'"'s device. The user can add, modify, and delete bookmarks and can provide a descriptive title for bookmarks. Bookmarks can be used to indicate important words or phrases, to mark changes in the subject of the conversation, etc. Bookmarks can be used by users to assist in the retrieval of information as well as by information processing software used to retrieve portions of stored conversations.

Claims

1. A method of bookmarking portions of a telephone call, said method comprising:

storing voice data for a plurality of telephone call participants in a memory area;

receiving a bookmark request corresponding to a location within the voice data stored in the memory area;

storing a bookmark in response to the request, the bookmark including the location;

receiving a retrieval request, the retrieval request including the bookmark;

locating the voice data in the memory area starting at the bookmarked location; and

retrieving the voice data starting at the bookmarked location.

2. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a second bookmark request corresponding to a second location with the voice data stored in the memory area, wherein the retrieving further comprises retrieving the voice data between the bookmark location and the second bookmark location.

3. The method as described in claim 1, wherein the bookmark includes a bookmark identifier and a memory area address corresponding to the bookmark location, the method further comprising:

storing the bookmark identifier and the memory area address in a bookmark memory area.

4. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the bookmark request is received during the telephone call, the method further comprising:

identifying the address of the voice data currently being stored in the memory area; and

setting the location to the address.

5. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

playing the voice data to one of the participants in response to a play request, the playing performed after the telephone call has concluded;

receiving the bookmark request during the playing;

identifying the address of the voice data currently being played; and

setting the location to the address.

6. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the bookmark request is selected from the group consisting of a keypress event, a voice request, a participant drop event, and a participant join event.

7. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

identifying the participant from whom the bookmark request was received;

storing a participant identifier corresponding to the participant with the bookmark, wherein the receiving the retrieval request includes;

identifying the participant from whom the retrieval request was received;

locating one or more stored bookmarks corresponding to the participant from whom the retrieval request was received; and

receiving a bookmark selection based upon the one or more located stored bookmarks.

8. An information handling system comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory area accessible by the processors for storing telephone call data;

a transmitter for transmitting voice input received over a data network;

a receiver for receiving voice data from the data network; and

a bookmarking tool for bookmarking portions of a telephone, the bookmarking tool including;

means for storing voice data for a plurality of telephone call participants in the memory area;

means for receiving a bookmark request corresponding to a location within the voice data stored in the memory area;

means for storing, in the memory area, a bookmark in response to the request, the bookmark including the location;

means for receiving a retrieval request, the retrieval request including the bookmark;

means for locating the voice data in the memory area starting at the bookmarked location; and

means for retrieving the voice data starting at the bookmarked location.

9. The information handling system as described in claim 8 further comprising:

means for receiving a second bookmark request corresponding to a second location with the voice data stored in the memory area, wherein the means for retrieving further comprises means for retrieving the voice data between the bookmark location and the second bookmark location.

10. The information handling system as described in claim 8, wherein the bookmark includes a bookmark identifier and a memory area address corresponding to the bookmark location, the information handling system further comprising:

means for storing the bookmark identifier and the memory area address in a bookmark memory area.

11. The information handling system as described in claim 8 wherein the bookmark request is received during the telephone call, the information handling system further comprising:

means for identifying the address of the voice data currently being stored in the memory area; and

means for setting the location to the address.

12. The information handling system as described in claim 8 further comprising:

means for playing the voice data to one of the participants in response to a play request, the means for playing performed after the telephone call has concluded;

means for receiving the bookmark request during the playing;

means for identifying the address of the voice data currently being played; and

means for setting the location to the address.

13. The information handling system as described in claim 8 wherein the bookmark request is selected from the group consisting of a keypress event, a voice request, a participant drop event, and a participant join event.

14. The information handling system as described in claim 8 further comprising:

means for identifying the participant from whom the bookmark request was received;

means for storing a participant identifier corresponding to the participant with the bookmark, wherein the receiving the retrieval request includes;

means for identifying the participant from whom the retrieval request was received;

means for locating one or more stored bookmarks corresponding to the participant from whom the retrieval request was received; and

means for receiving a bookmark selection based upon the one or more located stored bookmarks.

15. A computer program product stored on a computer operable media for bookmarking portions of a telephone call, said computer program product comprising:

means for storing voice data for a plurality of telephone call participants in a memory area;

means for receiving a bookmark request corresponding to a location within the voice data stored in the memory area;

means for storing a bookmark in response to the request, the bookmark including the location;

means for receiving a retrieval request, the retrieval request including the bookmark;

means for locating the voice data in the memory area starting at the bookmarked location; and

means for retrieving the voice data starting at the bookmarked location.

16. The computer program product as described in claim 15 further comprising:

means for receiving a second bookmark request corresponding to a second location with the voice data stored in the memory area, wherein the means for retrieving further comprises means for retrieving the voice data between the bookmark location and the second bookmark location.

17. The computer program product as described in claim 15, wherein the bookmark includes a bookmark identifier and a memory area address corresponding to the bookmark location, the computer program product further comprising:

means for storing the bookmark identifier and the memory area address in a bookmark memory area.

18. The computer program product as described in claim 15 wherein the bookmark request is received during the telephone call, the computer program product further comprising:

means for identifying the address of the voice data currently being stored in the memory area; and

means for setting the location to the address.

19. The computer program product as described in claim 15 further comprising:

means for playing the voice data to one of the participants in response to a play request, the means for playing performed after the telephone call has concluded;

means for receiving the bookmark request during the playing;

means for identifying the address of the voice data currently being played; and

means for setting the location to the address.

20. The computer program product as described in claim 15 wherein the bookmark request is selected from the group consisting of a keypress event, a voice request, a participant drop event, and a participant join event.

21. The computer program product as described in claim 15 further comprising:

means for identifying the participant from whom the bookmark request was received;

means for storing a participant identifier corresponding to the participant with the bookmark, wherein the receiving the retrieval request includes;

means for identifying the participant from whom the retrieval request was received;

means for locating one or more stored bookmarks corresponding to the participant from whom the retrieval request was received; and

means for receiving a bookmark selection based upon the one or more located stored bookmarks.