Wireless verbal announcing method and system

• US 20040219906A1
• Filed: 05/02/2003
• Published: 11/04/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Benco, David S., Sheen, Baoling S., Voight, Kenneth J., True, Sandra L., Overend, Kevin J.
• Application Number:
  US10/428,299
• Publication Number:
  US 20040219906A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/415
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/02 Calling substations, e.g. by ringing selective calling H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/487 Arrangements for providing information services, e.g. recorded voice services or time announcements

Abstract

A method and system in a telecommunications network for verbally announcing an incoming call has in one embodiment the steps of: receiving from a telecommunications network indication of a call with caller-ID information at a mobile phone; determining at the telecommunications network, for a given caller, if unique audio information has been stored for the caller-ID information; using text-to-speech translated external database lookup information for the name and number that is associated with the caller-ID information, if no unique audio information has been stored for the caller-ID information; transmitting, from the telecommunications network to the mobile phone, the audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information; and playing the audio information at the mobile phone. The system implements the method.

Claims

1. A method in a telecommunications network for verbally announcing a caller identity on a telephone, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving from a telecommunications network indication of a call with caller-ID information;

querying at least one external database having telephone number to name information;

translating the telephone number to name information to audio information;

transmitting, from the telecommunications network to the mobile phone, the audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information; and

playing the audio information at the mobile phone.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

selecting one of turning on and turning off a capability of the mobile phone to utilize audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the steps of:

determining if unique audio information has been stored for the caller-ID information;

using the unique audio information for the audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information if unique audio information has been stored for the caller-ID information; and

using text-to-speech translated external database lookup information for the audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information, if no unique audio information has been stored for the caller-ID information.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

transmitting, from the mobile phone to the telecommunications network, at least one unique audio information that is respectively associated with at least one caller-ID information; and

storing at least one unique audio information that is respectively associated with at least one caller-ID information at the telecommunications network.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the steps of:

storing at least one unique audio information that is respectively associated with at least one caller-ID information in a first database at the telecommunications network; and

retrieving caller name information from a caller number lookup in an external database; and

translating to speech the caller name information.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising the step of:

selecting one of turning on and turning off a capability of the mobile phone to utilize audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information.

7. A method in a telecommunications network for verbally announcing a caller identity on a mobile phone, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving from a telecommunications network indication of a call with caller-ID information;

determining at the telecommunications network, for a given caller, if unique audio information has been stored for the caller-ID information;

using text-to-speech translated external database lookup information for the audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information if unique audio information has not been stored for the caller-ID information;

using generic audio information for the audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information, if no unique audio information has been stored for the caller-ID information;

transmitting, from the telecommunications network to the mobile phone, the audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information; and

playing the audio information at the mobile phone.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the steps of:

transmitting, from the mobile phone to the telecommunications network, at least one unique audio information that is respectively associated with at least one caller-ID information; and

storing the at least one unique audio information that is respectively associated with at least one caller-ID information at the telecommunications network.

9. The method of claim 7 further comprising the steps of:

storing the at least one unique audio information that is respectively associated with at least one caller-ID information in a first database at the telecommunications network; and

retrieving caller name information from a caller number lookup in an external database; and

translating to speech the caller name information.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of:

selecting, at the mobile phone, one of turning on and turning off a capability of the mobile phone to utilize audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information is determined by input from the mobile phone.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein operation of the mobile phone is a hands-free operation.

13. The method of claim 7 wherein the telecommunications system also rings the mobile phone when the audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information is transmitted to the mobile phone.

14. A system in a telecommunications network for verbally announcing a caller identity on a mobile phone, said system comprising:

a determination module at telecommunications network, that for a given call, selects one of at least two sources of audio information, and outputs a selected audio information for the caller-ID information; and

an audio module in the mobile phone that plays the selected audio information at the mobile phone.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein

a first database operatively connected to the telecommunications network and having at least one unique audio information that is respectively associated with at least one caller-ID information, the first database being external to the telecommunications network;

and

a second database at the telecommunications network having at least one telephone number to name mapping for translation from text to speech that is respectively associated with at least one further caller-ID information.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the mobile phone further comprises an activation module that activates and deactivates a capability of the mobile phone to utilize audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information.

17. The system of claim 14 wherein the audio information that is associated with the caller-ID information is determined by input from the mobile phone.

18. The system of claim 14 wherein operation of the mobile phone is a hands-free operation.