COMPUTER, INTERNET AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BASED NETWORK

• US 20080123623A2
• Filed: 06/25/2004
• Published: 05/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/1997
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Parus Interactive Holdings
• Original Assignee: Parus Interactive Holdings
• Inventors: KURGANOV, Alex
• Application Number:
  US10/877,366
• Publication Number:
  US 20040258054A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/20 of structured data, e.g. relational data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/30 of unstructured textual data document management systems G06F16/93
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/00 Speech recognition G10L17/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/22 Interactive procedures; Man-machine interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/00 Speech or voice signal processing techniques to produce another audible or non-audible signal, e.g. visual or tactile, in order to modify its quality or its intelligibility G10L19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 25/48 specially adapted for particular use
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4555 Directories for electronic mail or instant messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4557 Directories for hybrid networks, e.g. including telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4509 Unified messaging with single point of access to voicemail and other mail or messaging systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42153 by subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/436 : Arrangements for screening incoming calls , i.e. evaluating the characteristics of a call before deciding whether to answer it based on the calling party profile H04M3/42059; based on location H04M3/42348; based on presence H04M3/42365; diversion H04M3/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 : Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/515 : Night service systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53 : Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages , i.e. mailbox systems
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0003 : Interconnection between telephone networks and data networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/0033 : Notification or handling of incoming calls by a computer
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/12 : for working between exchanges having different types of switching equipment, e.g. power-driven and step by step or decimal and non-decimal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A method and apparatus for a computer and telecommunication network which can receive, send and manage information from or to a subscriber of the network, based on the subscriber'"'"'s configuration. The network is made up of at least one cluster containing voice servers which allow for telephony, speech recognition, text-to-speech and conferencing functions, and is accessible by the subscriber through standard telephone connections or through internet connections. The network also utilizes a database and file server allowing the subscriber to maintain and manage certain contact lists and administrative information. A web server is also connected to the cluster, thereby allowing access to all functions through internet connections.

Claims

1. A system for sending and receiving communications to and from a plurality of users via different modes of communication and for managing communications by a plurality of system users, said system comprising:

a telephone interface configured to allow any of said plurality of system users to send and receive telephone communications;

an Internet or internet interface configured to allow any of said plurality of system users to send and receive Internet or internet communications;

a first plurality of predetermined rules for each of said system users for managing incoming telephone communications received via said telephone interface;

a second plurality of predetermined rules for each of said system users for managing incoming Internet or internet communications received via said internet interface;

a first plurality of computer instructions for implementing said first plurality of predetermined rules;

a second plurality of computer instructions for implementing said second plurality of predetermined rules;

a third plurality of computer instructions for implementing user telephone instructions received from any of said plurality of system users via said telephone interface or said Internet or internet interface for establishing or revising said user'"'"'s first plurality of predetermined rules or for real-time managing of an incoming telephone communication by said user;

a fourth plurality of Internet or internet instructions received from any of said plurality of system users for establishing or revising said second plurality of predetermined rules;

a speaker-independent speech recognition device configured to receive natural voice user instructions from any of said plurality of system users, said speech recognition device using phoneme comparisons to convert said natural voice user instructions into said third plurality of instructions or into said fourth plurality of instructions; and

a computer for implementing said first plurality of predetermined rules, said second plurality of predetermined rules, said third plurality of computer instructions and said fourth plurality of computer instructions.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a third plurality of predetermined rules to manage outbound telephone communications and a fourth plurality of predetermined rules to manage outbound Internet or internet communications.

3. The system of claim 2 further comprising additional stored or real-time telephone instructions to manage outbound telephone communications.

4. The system of claim 2 further comprising additional stored or real-time internet instructions to manage outbound Internet or internet communications.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein said telephone communications are selected from the group consisting of telephone calls, conference calls, facsimile messages, voice mail messages, and text-to-speech messages.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein said Internet or internet communications are selected from the group consisting of telephone calls, conference calls, facsimile messages, text messages, data communications, and voice messages.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein said first plurality of predetermined rules include rules for transferring telephone communications, following me, setting message notifications, and changing personal greetings.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein said natural voice commands are selected from the group consisting of:

“

transfer my calls,”

“

transfer calls,”

“

transfer my calls to my office,”

“

transfer my calls to my home,”

“

transfer my calls to my mobile,”

“

transfer my calls to my cell phone,”

“

transfer my calls to my cellular phone,”

“

transfer my calls to my voice mail,”

“

transfer my calls to my current number,”

“

transfer my calls,”

“

transfer calls,”

“

transfer calls to my office,”

“

transfer calls to my home,”

“

transfer calls to my mobile,”

“

transfer calls to my cell phone,”

“

transfer calls to my cellular phone,”

“

transfer calls to my voice mail,”

“

transfer calls to my current number,”

“

follow me,”

“

set message notification,”

“

notify me by email,”

“

notify me by pager number,”

“

notify me by pager,”

“

notify me by voice thru email,”

“

notify by email,”

“

notify by pager number,”

“

notify by pager,”

“

notify by voice thru email,”

“

turn notification off,”

“

cancel,”

“

re-record the greeting,”

re-record this greeting, “

re-record greeting,”

“

change my personal greeting,”

“

change my greeting,”

“

change personal greeting,” and

“

change greeting.”

9. The system of claim 1 wherein each one of said plurality of system users can be contacted by calling a single system telephone number.

10. The system of claim 9 further comprising an audible prompt generator such that a caller contacting one of said plurality of system users receives at least one audible prompt requesting at least one natural voice command being descriptive of a desired voice-enabled function.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein said natural voice command is selected from the group consisting of:

“

what are my options,”

“

transfer to the operator,”

“

transfer to operator,”

“

sales and marketing,”

“

technical support,”

“

dial an extension,”

“

dial extension,”

“

reach an extension,”

“

reach extension,”

“

(first and last name),”

“

find him,”

“

find her,”

“

find them,”

“

leave a message,”

“

re-record the message,”

“

re-record message, “

re-record this message,”

“

leave message,”

“

send the message,”

“

send this message,”

“

send message,”

“

reach my party,”

“

reach him,”

“

reach her,” and

“

cancel.”

12. The system of claim 1 wherein each one of said plurality of system users is assigned a unique telephone number.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein a caller can directly contact each one of said users by dialing said unique user'"'"'s telephone number.

14. The system of claim 12 further comprising an audible prompt generator configured to generate an audible prompt such that a caller for one of said plurality of system users via said user unique telephone number receives at least one audible prompt requesting at least one natural voice command being descriptive of a desired voice-enabled function.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein said natural voice command is selected from the group consisting of:

“

what are my options,”

“

transfer to the operator,”

“

transfer to operator,”

“

(first and last name),”

“

find him,”

“

find her,”

“

find them,”

“

leave a message,”

“

re-record the message,”

“

re-record message, “

re-record this message,”

“

leave message,”

“

send the message,”

“

send this message,”

“

send message,”

“

reach my party,”

“

reach him,”

“

reach her,” and

“

cancel.”

16. The system of claim 1 wherein each one of said plurality of users can be contacted by calling a single system telephone number or a unique telephone number assigned to each user.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein said speech recognition device comprises a Purespeech speech recognition engine.

18. The system of claim 1 wherein said telephone interface comprises a telephony device operatively connected to said speech recognition device.

19. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a third plurality of predetermined rules for managing outbound communications;

stored instructions for managing outbound communications in accordance with said third set of predetermined rules; and

real-time outbound instructions for managing outbound communications.

25. A system of claim 1 wherein said Internet interface is configured to receive communications from the Internet.

26. The system of claim 1 wherein said internet interface is configured to receive communications from an internet.

22. A method of sending, receiving, and managing communications transmitted through a computer-based telephony system accessible by a plurality of users, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a telephony device;

providing a speaker-independent speech recognition device operatively connected to said telephony device, said speech recognition device configured to receive natural voice commands from said plurality of system users;

providing a first plurality of predetermined rules for managing incoming telephone communications received via a telephone interface configured to allow any of said plurality of system users to send and receive telephone communications;

providing a second plurality of predetermined rules for managing incoming Internet or internet communications received via an Internet or internet interface configured to allow any of said plurality of system users to send and receive internet communications;

receiving at least one natural voice command to establish or change at least one predetermined rule from said first and second plurality of predetermined rules to manage at least one incoming telephone, Internet or internet communication;

analyzing said at least one natural voice command by comparing phonemes of said at least one natural voice command with phonemes for each predetermined rule in said first and second plurality of predetermined rules; and

changing or establishing said at least one predetermined rule to manage at least one incoming telephone, Internet or internet communication.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising the step of providing a third plurality of predetermined rules for managing outbound communications.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein said natural voice command establishes or changes at least one of the third plurality of predetermined rules for managing outbound communications.

27. A method for receiving, sending and managing information between a computer and telecommunications network and a subscriber communication device of a subscriber comprising the steps of:

accessing at least one voice server via a first telephone communication or via a first internet connection, said voice server containing telephony and speaker-independent speech command recognition and execution functions, such that said subscriber can access said voice server via a first telephone connection or via a first internet connection;

manipulating and managing data and/or at least one contact list via said voice server said data and at least one contact list stored in a database operatively connected to said voice server; and

receiving a first message from a second telephone connection or receiving a second message from a second internet connection and transmitting said first message or said second message to said subscriber communication device or transmitting to said subscriber communication device a notification about said first message or said second message via said first telephone connection or said first internet connection, based on commands from said subscriber to said network.

20. The system of claim 31 further comprising a telephony device configured to receive instructions from each of said plurality of users to establish or change said stored or real-time telephone instructions for managing incoming communications or to establish or change said stored or real-time outbound instructions for managing outgoing communications, using DTMF signals.

21. The system of claim 31 further comprising an internet device configured to

receive instructions from each of said plurality of users to establish or change said stored or real-time Internet or internet instructions for managing incoming communications or to establish or change said stored or real-time outbound instructions for managing outgoing communications, using DTMF signals.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein said voice server receives said second message from an Internet connection.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein said message comprises telephone calls, e-mail, faxes, conference calls, or voicemail.

30. The method of claim 27 wherein manipulating and managing said data and said contact lists comprises creating and modifying at least one contact list.

31. The method of claim 27 wherein manipulating and managing said data and said contact lists comprises utilizing said contact list to place telephone calls, send e-mail, voicemail and faxes, and create or modify conference calls.

32. A method for receiving, sending and managing information between a computer and telecommunications network and a subscriber communication device of a subscriber comprising the steps of:

accessing at least one voice server via a first telephone connection or via a first internet connection, said voice server containing telephony and speaker-independent speech command recognition and execution functions, such that said subscriber can access said voice server via a first telephone communication or via a first internet connection;

manipulating and managing data and/or at least one contact list via said voice server, said data and at least one contact list stored in a database operatively connected to said voice server;

receiving a first message from said subscriber via said first telephone connection;

receiving a second message from said subscriber via said first internet connection; and

transmitting said first message or said second message via a second telephone connection or a second internet connection, based on commands received by said network from said subscriber.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein said voice server receives said second message from an Internet connection.

34. The method of claim 32 wherein said message comprises telephone calls, e-mail, faxes, conference calls, or voicemail.

35. The method of claim 32 wherein manipulating and managing said data and said contact lists comprises creating and modifying at least one contact lists.

36. The method of claim 32 wherein manipulating and managing said data and said contact lists comprises utilizing said contact list to place telephone calls, send e-mail, voice mail and faxes, and create or modify conference calls.

37. A voice-enable system for managing communications transmitted through a network, said system capable of eliciting a response from a user, said response comprising at least one natural voice command, said system comprising:

a computer;

at least one set of stored commands operatively associated with said computer, each said set including a plurality of stored commands each of said commands in said set corresponding to a single voice-enabled function for managing communications, each said command in said set being an alternative intuitive description of said single voice-enabled function;

a voice server operatively connected to said computer and to said network, said voice server configured to compare said natural voice commands to said plurality of stored commands;

a speaker-independent speech recognition device operatively connected to said voice server, said device configured to elicit at least one natural voice command from said user, said voice server being configured to compare said natural voice command to said plurality of stored commands to select said single voice-enabled function, and said computer being configured to execute said selected voice-enabled function corresponding to said natural voice command.

38. The system of claim 37 wherein said speaker-independent speech recognition device is configured to prompt said user with a prompt.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein said prompt is selected from the group consisting of:

“

What now?”

, “

What are my options?”

, “

What would you like to do?”

, and “

What would you like me to do?”

40. The system of claim 37 wherein said voice-enabled functions are selected from the group consisting of:

opening a network communication, creating a network communication, modifying a network communication, playing a network communication, reading a network communication, sending a network communication, forwarding a network communication, saving a network communication, deleting a network communication, screening a network communication, converting a fax communication into an e-mail, storing a network communication for future retrieval, storing a network communication for transmittal, creating a fax message from a computer-generated communication, and retrieving a communication.

41. The system of claim 40 wherein said network communication is selected from the group consisting of:

a telephone call, a conference call, a facsimile message, a voicemail message, an e-mail message, and a message containing data.

42. The system of claim 37 wherein the speech recognition device is operatively connected to an internet.

43. The system of claim 37 wherein the speech recognition device is operatively connected to the Internet.

44. The system of claim 37 wherein the speech recognition device is operatively connected to a telephony device.

45. The system of claim 37 wherein said speech recognition device is operatively connected to a file server.

46. The system of claim 37 wherein said speech recognition device is operatively connected to a database server.

47. The system of claim 37 wherein said speech recognition device is operatively connected to a web server.