Voicemail filtering and transcription

• US 20080198981A1
• Filed: 02/21/2007
• Published: 08/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arlington Technologies, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: FitzGerald, Cary W., Skakkebaek, Jens Ulrik
• Granted Patent: US 8,160,212 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.13
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/18 Comparators
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/303 Marking
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4536 Voicemail combined with text-based messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53333 Message receiving aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/537 Arrangements for indicating the presence of a recorded message , whereby the presence information might include a preview or summary of the message

Abstract

Systems and methods for voicemail filtering and transcription are described herein. According to various embodiments, an integrated communication system performs filtering and transcription of voicemail messages (“voicemails”) and forwards the voicemails via email to a user'"'"'s email-capable device. Filtering includes generating a priority flag based on a word search of the voicemail. The integrated communication system further performs a rough transcription of the voicemail, either automatically or on demand as specified by the user. According to embodiments, the rough transcription is entered as text in an email that is sent to the user. In an embodiment, a user may request a refined transcription of the voicemail by pressing a button on the user'"'"'s device. In an embodiment, the rough transcription is replaced by the refined transcription in the original email and the original is marked “unread” in the user'"'"'s email inbox on the user'"'"'s device.

Claims

1. An integrated messaging method, comprising:

receiving audio data via a first network, wherein the audio data comprises a message of a first type sent to a user;

filtering the audio data, wherein the audio data is in a first format, comprising searching for predetermined words in the audio data; and

generating a message of a second type, wherein the message of the second type includes audio data in a second format.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transforming the audio data to the second format.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising transforming the audio data to the first format.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the message of the second type via a second network.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the message of the second type to the user via a second network.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a priority flag based on results of the filtering; and

including the priority flag in the message of the second type.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving comprises determining whether the audio data is to be filtered based on a user preference that was previously set.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined words are comprised in a word list.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the word list comprises a predetermined set of words and words added by the user.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein filtering further comprises accessing data regarding the user from a plurality of sources within an enterprise, comprising a User List, a Global Address List, Public Folders, and Personal Contact Folders.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the message of the second type to one or more recipients other than the user, based on a user preference that was previously set.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the message of the first type is a voicemail message, and wherein the message of the second type is an email message.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first format is an electronic audio format, comprising a WAV format.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the second format is text.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the message of the second type further includes the audio data in the first format.

16. The method of claim 3, wherein transforming the audio data comprises generating a rough transcription based on the predetermined words, wherein the rough transcription facilitates the user determining an appropriate response to the message of the first type.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving a request from the user to provide the user a refined transcription of the message of the first type.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising, in response to the request, sending a message of a third type to a transcriber, wherein the message of the third type includes the request and the audio data in the first format.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the message of the third type is an electronic message, and wherein the transcriber listens to the audio data in the first format and type the refined transcription into the electronic message.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving the electronic message with the refined transcription from the transcriber; and

editing the message of the second type to include the refined transcription.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising, sending the message of the second type to the user via the second network.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

resetting a status of the message of the second type to be “

unread”

.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising sending a predetermined notification to the user with the message of the second type, wherein the predetermined notification notifies the user that the message of the second type now includes the refined transcription.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the notification comprises one or more of a priority flag, and an audible alert.

25. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

in response to the request, placing the audio file in the first format on a file server; and

sending a notification to a transcriber, wherein the notification includes the request and directions to the file server.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising presenting a web page to the transcriber, wherein the web page includes a user interface that enables the transcriber to listen to the audio data and type the refined transcription onto the web page.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the user interface further enables the transcriber to send the refined transcription to the file server.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

retrieving the refined transcription from the file server; and

editing the message of the second type to include the refined transcription.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

retrieving the transcription from the file server; and

editing the message of the second type to include the refined transcription in place of the rough transcription.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

resetting a status of the message of the second type to be “

unread”

.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising sending a predetermined notification to the user with the message of the second type, wherein the predetermined notification notifies the user that the message of the second type now includes the refined transcription.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the notification comprises one or more of a priority flag, and an audible alert.

33. The method of claim 10, wherein the message of the first type is a voicemail message, and the message of the second type is an email message, the method further comprising accessing voicemail privacy policies related to the user and applying the policies to the message of the second type.