Network speech-to-text conversion and store

• US 20050013419A1
• Filed: 07/15/2003
• Published: 01/20/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia of America Corporation (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Pelaez, Mariana Benitez, Verma, Charu
• Granted Patent: US 7,136,462 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.140
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5307 for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

A telecommunications system (100) includes network access devices (104) that couple user devices (102) to a telecommunications network (106). The user devices (102) include at least voice and preferably text display and text generation capability. A voicemail server (114) is coupled to the telecommunications network. The voicemail server (114) is also coupled to an application server (116). Selectively, speech traveling through the telecommunications network (100) from user devices (102) is converted into text, stored, and forwarded to a user device as a text message. The text message is for example a facsimile transmission, an e-mail, or a SMS message. The selectivity is based on a stored attribute, current status of the user device, attributes of the sending device and the like. Text can even be converted into speech as an option. Or, stored speech associated with a text message can be retrieved based on the text message.

Claims

1. A method for providing a text message to a user in a communications system, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing communications with the communications system from a user device;

selectively coupling to a speech-to-text server that converts speech to text;

the speech-to-text server converting speech from the user device to a text message; and

the speech-to-text server storing the text message.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of sending the text message to a user device.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising the step of retrieving the text message.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of retrieving further includes the options to save, delete, forward, or convert to speech.

6. A telecommunications network that provides speech-to-text processing, the telecommunications network comprising:

a network access device coupled to the telecommunications network;

a voicemail system coupled to the telecommunications network to store audio messages; and

an application processor coupled to the voicemail system to receive voicemail messages and convert the voicemail messages to text.

7. The network of claim 6 wherein the text is sent to a destination over a packet-based network.

8. The network of claim 7 wherein the text is sent as one of a facsimile transmission, an email, and a Web page posting.

9. A method for receiving text messages in a telecommunications network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an incoming call;

determining whether to receive voice or a text message in response to the incoming call;

receiving a voice message from a user device coupled to the telecommunications network;

converting the voice message to a text message corresponding to the voice message; and

sending the text message to a user device.

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

after determining whether to receive voice or text in response to the incoming call, sending an indication to a user device that a text message is desired in response to the incoming call;

receiving a direct text message from the user device in response to the indication; and

sending the direct text message to a user device;

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the direct text message is sent to the user device based upon a user device profile.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein sending the direct text message includes sending one of an email, a facsimile, and an electronic message.