Method for Accessing Data Via Voice

• US 20090052635A1
• Filed: 10/30/2008
• Published: 02/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Chris Haven, Jesse Ambrose, Joseph Harb, Richard Gorman, Shannon Jones
• Original Assignee: Chris Haven, Jesse Ambrose, Joseph Harb, Richard Gorman, Shannon Jones
• Inventors: Ambrose, Jesse, Gorman, Richard, Jones, Shannon, Haven, Chris, Harb, Joseph
• Granted Patent: US 8,185,394 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.20
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/332 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4936 Speech interaction details speech recognition per se G10L15/00

Abstract

A method for providing access to data via a voice interface. In one embodiment, the system includes a voice recognition unit and a speech processing server that work together to enable users to interact with the system using voice commands guided by navigation context sensitive voice prompts, and provide user-requested data in a verbalized format back to the users. Digitized voice waveform data are processed to determine the voice commands of the user. The system also uses a “grammar” that enables users to retrieve data using intuitive natural language speech queries. In response to such a query, a corresponding data query is generated by the system to retrieve one or more data sets corresponding to the query. The user is then enabled to browse the data that are returned through voice command navigation, wherein the system “reads” the data back to the user using text-to-speech (TTS) conversion and system prompts.

Claims

1-27. -27. (canceled)

28. A method for accessing an enterprise data system via telephone using a voice access system, comprising:

defining a set of grammars comprising a language and syntax in which data are stored as phonetic representations of the data;

retrieving selected data from the enterprise data system;

pre-compiling at least a portion of the selected data into predefined forms corresponding to the set of grammars;

storing the pre-compiled data in a local database that is apart from the enterprise data system;

receiving a request for a query, wherein the request comprises a spoken language query;

converting the spoken language query into a data request;

if pre-compiled data corresponding to the data request is stored in a local database, retrieving data corresponding to the query from the local database;

if pre-compiled data corresponding to the data request is not stored in the local database, retrieving data corresponding to the query from the enterprise data system; and

providing feedback data corresponding to data that are retrieved in a verbal format.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein header data that are used to identify objects are stored in the local database while detail data corresponding to the objects are stored in the enterprise database.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

defining a set of objects for which data from the enterprise database are to be pre-compiled;

defining a schedule identifying when data corresponding to the set of objects are to be pre-compiled; and

pre-compiling data corresponding to those objects based on the schedule.

31. A method comprising:

enabling a user to establish a telephone connection to a voice access system;

authenticating the user with the voice access system using a login process in which the user is identified by a unique user identifier;

determining enterprise log-in data that enables the user to access an enterprise data system, based on the unique user identifier for the voice access system;

automatically logging the user into the enterprise data system using the enterprise data system log-in data;

enabling the user to request to call a person or entity using a spoken command;

determining a telephone number for the person or entity through query of the enterprise data system in response to the spoken command; and

transferring the initial telephone connection to a new connection that connects the user with the person or entity via the telephone number for the person or entity.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising reconnecting the user to the voice access system after the call to the person or entity has been completed.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the user is reconnected to the voice access system such that the user is returned to a navigation context that the user had prior to transfer of the initial telephone connection to the new connection.

34. The method of claim 31, wherein the enterprise data system logically comprises a server that is accessed via a client-side component provided by the voice access system such that and the voice access system appears to the enterprise data system as a typical client in a client-server environment.

35. A system comprising:

a grammar definition circuitry configured for defining a set of grammars comprising a language and syntax in which data are stored as phonetic representations of the data;

a first retrieval circuit configured to retrieve selected data from the enterprise data system;

a pre-compilation circuit configured to pre-compile at least a portion of the selected data into predefined forms corresponding to the set of grammars;

a memory configured to store the pre-compiled data in a local database that is apart from the enterprise data system;

a receiver module configured to receive a request for a query, wherein the request comprises a spoken language query;

a conversion circuit configured to convert the spoken language query into a data request;

a second retrieval circuit configured to;

if pre-compiled data corresponding to the data request is stored in a local database, retrieve data corresponding to the query from the local database; and

if pre-compiled data corresponding to the data request is not stored in the local database, retrieve data corresponding to the query from the enterprise data system; and

a responder circuit configured to provide data corresponding to the retrieved data in a verbal format.

36. A computer readable medium comprising instructions executable on a processor, wherein the instructions are operable to implement each of:

defining a set of grammars comprising a language and syntax in which data are stored as phonetic representations of the data;

retrieving selected data from an enterprise data system;

pre-compiling at least a portion of the selected data into predefined forms corresponding to the set of grammars;

storing the pre-compiled data in a local database that is apart from the enterprise data system;

receiving a request for a query, wherein the request comprises a spoken language query;

converting the spoken language query into a data request;

if pre-compiled data corresponding to the data request is stored in a local database, retrieving data corresponding to the query from the local database; and

if pre-compiled data corresponding to the data request is not stored in the local database, retrieving data corresponding to the query from the enterprise data system; and

providing feedback data corresponding to data that are retrieved in a verbal format.