System And Method For Limiting Voicemail Transcription

• US 20080260114A1
• Filed: 04/11/2008
• Published: 10/23/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Ditech Networks, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Siminoff, James
• Granted Patent: US 8,416,927 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.14
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 17/00 Prepayment of wireline communication systems, wireless communication systems or telephone systems using a coded card to authorise calls from a telephone set H04M1/675
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/4536 Voicemail combined with text-based messaging
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5322 for recording text messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53333 Message receiving aspects

Abstract

Methods and systems for limiting voicemail transcription. The methods include answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of the voicemail transcription service, outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message, recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call, and transcribing the audio of the forwarded call into text. The step of transcribing may be limited according to one or more of the following criteria: the duration of the recording, the number of characters transcribed, the number of text messages generated and filled from transcribed text, the caller ID of the call, the time the call is received, and the duration of the transcription. The systems include a call handler and a transcriber. At least one of the methods may be embodied by a software product including instructions for executing the steps of the method.

Claims

1. A method for limiting voicemail transcription within a voicemail transcription service, comprising the steps of:

answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of the voicemail transcription service;

outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

measuring a duration of the recording;

transcribing the audio into text; and

terminating the step of recording and the step of transcribing upon the occurrence of either the forwarded call ending or the duration of the recording reaching a maximum record time for the forwarded call.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating one or more text messages including the text; and

sending the one or more text messages to the subscriber.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an email message including the text; and

sending the email message to one or more subscriber designated email addresses.

4. The method of claim 3, the step of generating the email message further comprising attaching the voicemail message to the email message.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying the subscriber of what portion of a total maximum record time available to the subscriber for recording all voicemail messages within a predetermined time period remains at the end of the forwarded call.

6. A system for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

a call handler for answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber and for recording audio of the call as a voicemail message;

a call timer for timing the recording of audio, the call timer stopping performing the recording once the recording duration reaches a maximum recording time limit; and

a transcriber for transcribing the audio into text.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising a text message generator for generating one or more text messages that include the text and for sending the one or more text messages to a telephone number supplied by the subscriber.

8. The system of claim 6, further comprising an email generator for generating at least one email message that contains the text and for sending the email message to at least one designated email address.

9. A software product comprising instructions, stored on computer-readable media, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, perform steps for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

instructions for answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of a voicemail transcription service;

instructions for outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

instructions for recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

instructions for measuring a duration of the recording;

instructions for transcribing the audio into text; and

instructions for terminating performing the recording and performing the transcribing upon the occurrence of either the forwarded call ending or the duration of the recording reaching a maximum record time for the forwarded call.

10. A method for limiting voicemail transcription within a voicemail transcription service, comprising the steps of:

answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of the voicemail transcription service;

outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

transcribing the audio into text;

counting the number of characters transcribed into the text; and

terminating the step of transcribing upon the occurrence of either the number of counted characters reaching a maximum character count or the forwarded call ending.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

generating one or more text messages containing the text; and

sending the one or more text messages to the subscriber.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

generating an email message that includes the text; and

sending the email message to one or more subscriber designated email addresses.

13. The method of claim 12, the step of generating the email message further comprising attaching the voicemail message to the email message.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising terminating the step of recording upon the occurrence of either the number of counted characters reaching the maximum character count or the forwarded call ending.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising notifying the subscriber of what portion of a total maximum number of transcription characters available to the subscriber within a predetermined time period remain upon termination of the step of transcribing.

16. A system for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

a call handler for answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber and for recording audio of the call as a voicemail message;

a transcriber for transcribing the audio into text; and

a character counter for counting the number of characters transcribed for the forwarded call,

the transcriber stopping transcription of the audio into text when the number of transcribed characters reaches a maximum character count.

17. The system of claim 16, the transcriber sending a signal to the call handler when the character counter indicates that the maximum character count has been reached, the call handler stopping recording of the audio and terminating the forwarded call.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising a text message generator for generating and filling text messages with the text and sending the text messages to the subscriber.

19. The system of claim 16, further comprising an email generator for sending the text to the subscriber in the form of an email message.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the email message includes a copy of the recorded voicemail message as an attachment.

21. A software product comprising instructions, stored on computer-readable media, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, perform steps for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

instructions for answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of a voicemail transcription service;

instructions for outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

instructions for recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

instructions for transcribing the audio into text;

instructions for counting the number of characters transcribed into the text; and

instructions for terminating performing the transcribing upon the occurrence of either the number of counted characters reaching a maximum character count or the forwarded call ending.

22. A method for limiting voicemail transcription within a voicemail transcription service, comprising the steps of:

answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of the voicemail transcription service;

outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

transcribing the audio into text;

generating and filling at least one text message with the text;

counting a number of filled text messages;

terminating the step of generating and filling text messages upon the occurrence of either the number of filled text messages reaching a maximum text message count or the forwarded call ending; and

sending the text messages to the subscriber.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

generating an email message that includes the text; and

sending the email message to one or more subscriber designated email addresses.

24. The method of claim 23, the step of generating the email message further comprising attaching the voicemail message to the email message.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising notifying the subscriber of what portion of a total maximum number of text messages that may be filled by transcription text within a predetermined time period remain upon the termination of the step of generating and filling text messages.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising terminating the step of transcribing upon the occurrence of either the number of filled text messages reaching the maximum text message count or the forwarded call ending.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising terminating the step of recording upon the occurrence of either the number of filled text messages reaching the maximum text message count or the forwarded call ending.

28. A system for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

a call handler for answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber and for recording audio of the call as a voicemail message;

a transcriber for transcribing the audio into text;

a text message generator for generating and filling text messages with the text; and

a text message counter for counting the number of generated and filled text messages, the text message counter causing the text message generator to stop generating and filling text messages when the text message counter indicates that a maximum number of text messages have been filled.

29. The system of claim 28, the text message generator sending a signal to the transcriber to stop transcribing the audio into text when the text message counter indicates that a maximum number of text messages have been filled.

30. The system of claim 28, the text message generator sending a signal to the call handler to stop recording the audio and terminate the forwarded call when the text message counter indicates that the maximum number of text messages have been filled.

31. A software product comprising instructions, stored on computer-readable media, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, perform steps for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

instructions for answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of a voicemail transcription service;

instructions for outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

instructions for recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

instructions for transcribing the audio into text;

instructions for generating and filling at least one text message with the text;

instructions for counting a number of filled text messages;

instructions for terminating performing the generating and filling text messages upon the occurrence of either the number of filled text messages reaching a maximum text message count or the forwarded call ending; and

instructions for sending the text messages to the subscriber.

32. A method for limiting voicemail transcription within a voicemail transcription service, comprising the steps of:

answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of the voicemail transcription service;

outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

determining if the caller ID of the call is matched within a transcribe number list, the transcribe number list including at least one complete or partially complete phone number for which voicemail messages are to be transcribed;

transcribing the audio into text, if the caller ID is matched;

terminating the step of recording when the call ends; and

terminating the step of transcribing when the call ends, if the caller ID is matched.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

generating one or more text messages containing the text, if the caller ID is matched; and

sending the one or more text messages to the subscriber, if the caller ID is matched.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

generating an email message that includes the text, if the caller ID is matched; and

sending the email message to one or more subscriber designated email addresses, if the caller ID is matched.

35. The method of claim 34, the step of generating the email message further comprising attaching the voicemail message to the email message.

36. A system for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

a call handler for;

answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber,

recording audio of the call as a voicemail message, and

comparing a caller ID of the call to a transcribe number list, the transcribe number list including at least one complete or partially complete phone number for which voicemail messages are to be transcribed; and

a transcriber for transcribing the audio of the call into text;

the call handler causing the transcriber to transcribe the audio of the call into text solely if the caller ID of the call matches an entry in the transcribe number list.

37. The system of claim 36, further comprising a text message generator for generating one or more text messages that include the text and for sending the one or more text messages to a telephone number supplied by the subscriber.

38. The system of claim 36, further comprising an email generator for generating at least one email message that contains the transcribed text and for sending the email message to at least one designated email address.

39. A software product comprising instructions, stored on computer-readable media, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, perform steps for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

instructions for answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of a voicemail transcription service;

instructions for outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

instructions for recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

instructions for determining if the caller ID of the call is matched within a transcribe number list, the transcribe number list including at least one complete or partially complete phone number for which voicemail messages are to be transcribed;

instructions for transcribing the audio into text, if the caller ID is matched;

instructions for terminating performing the recording when the call ends; and

instructions for terminating performing the transcribing when the call ends, if the caller ID is matched.

40. A method for limiting voicemail transcription within a voicemail transcription service, comprising the steps of:

answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of the voicemail transcription service;

outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

determining if the time that the call is received by the voicemail transcription service is within one or more subscriber-defined transcribe times, the transcribe times specifying at least one time period where the subscriber wishes for voicemail messages to be transcribed;

transcribing the audio of the forwarded call into text, if the time that the call is received is within the transcribe times;

terminating the step of recording when the call ends; and

terminating the step of transcribing when the call ends, if the time that the call is received is within the transcribe times.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

generating one or more text messages containing the text, if the time that the call is received is within the transcribe times; and

sending the one or more text messages the subscriber, if the time that the call is received is within the transcribe times.

42. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

creating an email message that includes the text, if the time that the call is received is within the transcribe times; and

sending the email message to one or more subscriber designated email addresses, if the time that the call is received is within the transcribe times.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the email message includes a copy of the recorded voicemail message as an attachment.

44. A system for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

a call handler for;

answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber,

recording audio of the call as a voicemail message, and comparing the time at which the voicemail transcription service received the forwarded call to a transcribe time list, the transcribe time list including at least time period where the subscriber wishes for voicemail messages to be transcribed; and

a transcriber for transcribing the audio of the call into text,

the call handler causing the transcriber to transcribe the voicemail message into text solely if the time at which the voicemail transcription service received the call matches an entry in the transcribe time list.

45. The system of claim 44, further comprising a text message generator for generating one or more text messages that include the text and for sending the one or more text messages to a telephone number supplied by the subscriber.

46. The system of claim 44, further comprising an email generator for generating at least one email message that contains the text and for sending the email message to at least one designated email address.

47. A software product comprising instructions, stored on computer-readable media, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, perform steps for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

instructions for answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of a voicemail transcription service;

instructions for outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

instructions for recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

instructions for determining if the time that the call is received by the voicemail transcription service is within one or more subscriber-defined transcribe times, the transcribe times specifying at least one time period where the subscriber wishes for voicemail messages to be transcribed;

instructions for transcribing the audio of the forwarded call into text, if the time that the call is received is within the transcribe times;

instructions for terminating performing the recording when the call ends; and

instructions for terminating performing the transcribing when the call ends, if the time that the call is received is within the transcribe times.

48. A method for limiting voicemail transcription within a voicemail transcription service, comprising the steps of:

answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of the voicemail transcription service;

outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

transcribing the audio into text;

measuring a duration of the transcription;

terminating the step of transcribing upon the occurrence of either the forwarded call ending or the duration of the transcription reaching a maximum transcribe time for the forwarded call; and

terminating the step of recording upon ending of the forwarded call.

49. The method of claim 48, further comprising:

generating one or more text messages including the text; and

sending the one or more text messages to the subscriber.

50. The method of claim 48, further comprising:

generating an email message including the text; and

sending the email message to one or more subscriber designated email addresses.

51. The method of claim 50, the step of creating the email message further comprising attaching the voicemail message to the email message.

52. The method of claim 48, further comprising notifying the subscriber of what portion of a total maximum transcription time available to the subscriber for transcribing all voicemail messages in a predetermined time period remains upon termination of the step of transcribing the audio.

53. A system for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

a call handler for answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber and for recording audio of the call as a voicemail message;

a transcriber for transcribing the audio into text; and

a timer for measuring the transcription duration, the timer causing the transcriber to stop transcribing the audio once the transcription duration reaches a maximum transcribe time limit.

54. The system of claim 53, further comprising a text message generator for generating one or more text messages that include the text and for sending the one or more text messages to a telephone number supplied by the subscriber.

55. The system of claim 53, further comprising an email generator for generating at least one email message that contain the text and for sending the email message to at least one designated email address.

56. A software product comprising instructions, stored on computer-readable media, wherein the instructions, when executed by a computer, perform steps for limiting voicemail transcription, comprising:

instructions for answering a forwarded call from a caller to a subscriber of a voicemail transcription service;

instructions for outputting an audio message to the caller prompting for the caller to leave a voicemail message;

instructions for recording the voicemail message from audio of the forwarded call;

instructions for transcribing the audio into text;

instructions for measuring a duration of the transcription;

instructions for terminating performing the transcribing upon the occurrence of either the forwarded call ending or the duration of the transcription reaching a maximum transcribe time for the forwarded call; and

instructions for terminating performing the recording upon ending of the forwarded call.