SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IN-TRANSIT SMS LANGUAGE TRANSLATION

• US 20070287484A1
• Filed: 08/20/2007
• Published: 12/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sybase 365 Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Original Assignee: Sybase 365 Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Smith, Mark, Chava, Venkatesh, Dudley, William
• Granted Patent: US 7,660,594 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 35/00 Antineoplastic agents
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/184 Messaging devices, e.g. message centre

Abstract

A system and method for facilitating electronic communication between people who speak different languages. An SMS message including content in a first language is received at a network node. It is then determined whether the content in a first language is received at a network node. It is then determined whether the content of the SMS message is to be translated to a second language before being sent to a recipient. This determination can be based on an embedded code or on the fact that a bounded session has been previously established. The content is then translated from the first language to the second language, and the SMS message is thereafter sent to the recipient directly from the network node at which the translating step was performed.

Claims

1. A method for translating an SMS message from a first language to a second language, comprising:

receiving an SMS message in a first language at a network node;

scanning the message at the network node for a code embedded in the SMS message, wherein the embedded code identifies, at least in part, the second language into which the SMS message is to be translated;

translating content of the SMS message from the first language to the second language in accordance with the embedded code resulting in translated content; and

sending the SMS message to a recipient without sending the SMS message back to an originator,

wherein the SMS message includes the translated content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the embedded code is a short code.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the embedded code is preceded by a non-numerical character.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the embedded code is located in a content portion of the SMS message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the embedded code is located in an addressing location of the SMS message.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the embedded code is positioned adjacent a telephone number.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the embedded code identifies both the first and second languages.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of translating is performed at an intermediary service provider that is different in a corporate sense from a telecommunication service provider that provides SMS messaging service.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising re-translating the translated content to the first language and sending the thus re-translated content to an originator of the SMS message.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising scanning for the embedded code.

11. A method for facilitating electronic communication between people who speak different languages, comprising:

receiving an SMS message including content in a first language;

determining whether the content of the SMS message is to be translated to a second language before being sent to a recipient;

translating at least a portion of the content from the first language to the second language; and

sending the SMS message with the content translated from the first language to the second language to the recipient directly from a network node at which the step of translating was performed.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of determining comprises scanning the SMS message for an embedded code.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the embedded code is preceded by a non-numerical character.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the embedded code is located in a content portion of the SMS message.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the embedded code is located in an addressing location of the SMS message.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the embedded code is positioned adjacent a telephone number.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the embedded code identifies both the first and second languages.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of translating is performed at an intermediary that is different in a corporate sense from a telecommunication service provider that provides SMS messaging service.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising re-translating the translated content to the first language and sending the thus re-translated content to an originator of the SMS message.

20. A method for translating an SMS message from a first language to a second language, comprising:

receiving at a network node a request to open an SMS message content translation session;

receiving an SMS message in a first language at the network node;

translating the content of the SMS message from the first language to the second language; and

sending the SMS message with the content translated from the first language to the second language to a recipient directly from the network node at which the step of translating was performed.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising canceling the translation session.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the translation session is indefinite.

23. A method for translating an SMS message from a first language to a second language, comprising:

receiving an SMS message having content in a first language at a user selectable short message service center (SMSC), said user selectable SMSC being operable to translate the content from the first language to a second language;

translating the content from the first language to the second language; and

sending the SMS message with the content translated from the first language to the second language to a recipient directly from the user selectable SMSC.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the user-selectable SMSC is operable to also translate content from the first language to languages other than the second language.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the user selectable SMSC is dedicated to translating content from the first language to the second language only.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising offering multiple user selectable SMSCs to subscribers, each one of said multiple user selectable SMSCs respectively being operable to translate between different pairs of languages.

27. A method for translating content of an electronic message from a first language to a second language, comprising:

receiving an electronic message in a first language at a network node;

scanning the electronic message at the network node for a code embedded in the electronic message, wherein the embedded code identifies, at least in part, the second language into which the electronic message is to be translated;

translating content of the electronic message from the first language to the second language in accordance with the embedded code resulting in translated content; and

sending the electronic message to a recipient without sending the electronic message back to an originator,

wherein the electronic message includes the translated content.