Communications method and system

• US 20070129061A1
• Filed: 11/25/2004
• Published: 06/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Inventors: Ringland, Simon, Scahill, Francis
• Application Number:
  US10/581,290
• Publication Number:
  US 20070129061A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/10 Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-On-Call services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/45 for Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-to-Talk over cellular [PoC] services

Abstract

A communications method and system for use with push-to-talk (PTT) communications systems, where a speech recogniser is used to recognise utterance in a spoken message for transmission by a PTT communications service, and the recognized utterance are analysed to attempt to determine the intended recipient of the message. If the intended recipient can be unambiguously determined then a PTT call is set up to forward the message to the determined recipient. If a plurality of potential recipients are determined a selection list is displayed to the user to allow the user to select the intended recipient.

Claims

1. A communications method comprising the steps of:

receiving a voice message containing an utterance;

buffering the received message;

performing a speech recognition process on the received voice message to recognise the utterance contained therein;

determining, if possible, an intended receiver of the message in dependence on the recognised utterance; and

if an intended receiver was determined, transmitting the message to the determined intended receiver using a half-duplex communications service provided by a packet-switched network.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein when the determining step determines one or more possible intended receivers from the recognised utterance, the method further comprises the steps:

indicating the one or more possible intended receivers to a user; and

receiving a selection signal from the user indicating the one or more determined possible intended receivers to which the message should be transmitted.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the indicating step further comprises generating an audio speech prompt corresponding to the one or more possible intended receivers;

and outputting the generated audio speech prompt to the user.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein when the determining step determines a plurality of intended receivers, the message is transmitted to each of the determined receivers using a group call function of the half-duplex communications service.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the speech recognition process is performed only on a portion of the received voice message.

6. A method according to claim 1, and further comprising the steps of:

receiving an indication of the identity of a user who generated the message; and

selecting a user-dependent speech grammar for use by the speech recognition process in dependence on the identity of the user.

7. A method according to claim 1, and further comprising the steps of receiving a speech recognition activation signal from a user, wherein the speech recognition and determining steps are performed in dependence on the receipt of such a signal.

8. A method according to claim 1, and further comprising the steps of:

monitoring messages transported by the half-duplex communications service;

performing a speech recognition process on the monitored messages to determine the respective utterances contained therein; and

, if it is determined that a predetermined utterance is contained in any of the messages, signalling that the half-duplex communications service should cease transporting messages.

9. A computer program or suite of computer programs arranged such that when executed by a computer system it/they cause the computer program to perform the method of claim 1.

10. A computer readable storage medium storing a computer program or any one or more of a suite of computer programs according to claim 9.

11. A communications system comprising:

means for receiving a voice message containing an utterance;

storage means for buffering the received message;

a speech recogniser arranged in use to recognise the utterance contained within the received message;

receiver determination means arranged to determine, if possible, an intended receiver of the message in dependence on the recognised utterance; and

means for transmitting the message to a determined intended receiver using a half-duplex communications service provided by a packet-switched network, if the intended receiver was determined.

12. A system according to claim 11, and further comprising:

indicating means for indicating one or more possible determined intended receivers to a user; and

means for receiving a selection signal from the user indicating one or more of the possible determined intended receivers to which the message should be transmitted.

13. A system according to claim 12, wherein the indicating means further comprises audio prompt generating means for generating an audio speech prompt corresponding to the one or more of possible intended receivers;

and an output for outputting the generated audio speech prompt to the user.

14. A system according to claim 11, wherein when the receiver determination means determines a plurality of intended receivers, the means for transmitting is further arranged to transmit the message to each of the determined receivers using a group call function of the half-duplex communications service.

15. A system according to claim 11, wherein the speech recogniser operates only on a portion of the received voice message.

16. A system according to claim 11, and further comprising:

means for receiving an indication of the identity of a user who generated the message; and

grammar selection means for selecting a user-dependent speech grammar for use by the speech recognition process in dependence on the identity of the user.

17. A system according to claim 11, and further comprising the steps of means for receiving a speech recognition activation signal from a user, wherein the speech recogniser and receiver determination means are operable in dependence on the receipt of such a signal.

18. A system according to claim 11, and further comprising:

means for monitoring messages transported by the half-duplex communications service;

the speech recogniser being further arranged to perform a speech recognition process on the monitored messages to determine the respective utterances contained therein;

the system further comprising signalling means for signalling that the half-duplex communications service should cease transporting messages, if it is determined that a predetermined utterance is contained in any of the messages.