DISTRIBUTED DICTATION/TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A dictation manager adapted to have a network connection to at least one client station and at least one dictation server, comprising:
- at least one network data port to receive audio signals from a client station, to transmit the received audio signals to a dictation server, to receive textual data from the dictation server where the textual data comprises data from the audio signal transformed into textual data by the dictation server;
a dictation server selector to select one of the at least one dictation servers from which the dictation manager transmits the received audio signal and receives the textual data;
at least one memory containing a user profile, an indication of whether the user profile has been uploaded to any of the at least one dictation server, and a buffer to cache the received audio signal;
wherein if the dictation server selector determines that the user profile has been uploaded, the dictation server selector selects as the one of the at least one dictation server a dictation server to which the user profile has already been uploaded;
wherein if the dictation server selector determines that the user profile has not been uploaded, the dictation server selector selects any one of the at least one dictation server and uploads the user profile; and
wherein the dictation manager stores the received audio signal in the buffer and transmits the audio signal from the buffer once the dictation server is selected by the dictation server selector.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A distributed dictation/transcription system is provided. The system provides a client station, dictation manager, and dictation server networked such that the dictation manager can select a dictation server to transcribe audio from the client station. The dictation manager selects one of a plurality of dictation servers based on conventional load balancing as well as on a determination of which of the dictation servers may already have a user profile uploaded. Moreover, while selecting a dictation server and/or uploading a profile, the user or client at the client station may begin dictating, which audio would be stored in a buffer of dictation manager until a dictation server was selected and/or available. The user would receive in real time or near real time a display of the textual data that may be corrected by the user. The corrective textual data may be transmitted back to the dictation manager to update the user profile.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A dictation manager adapted to have a network connection to at least one client station and at least one dictation server, comprising:
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at least one network data port to receive audio signals from a client station, to transmit the received audio signals to a dictation server, to receive textual data from the dictation server where the textual data comprises data from the audio signal transformed into textual data by the dictation server; a dictation server selector to select one of the at least one dictation servers from which the dictation manager transmits the received audio signal and receives the textual data; at least one memory containing a user profile, an indication of whether the user profile has been uploaded to any of the at least one dictation server, and a buffer to cache the received audio signal; wherein if the dictation server selector determines that the user profile has been uploaded, the dictation server selector selects as the one of the at least one dictation server a dictation server to which the user profile has already been uploaded; wherein if the dictation server selector determines that the user profile has not been uploaded, the dictation server selector selects any one of the at least one dictation server and uploads the user profile; and wherein the dictation manager stores the received audio signal in the buffer and transmits the audio signal from the buffer once the dictation server is selected by the dictation server selector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of distributed dictation and transcription performed using at least one processor associated with a dictation manager, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving an audio signal from a user operating a client station; identifying a user profile stored in a memory of the dictation manager associated with the user of the received audio signal; determining whether the identified user profile of the user has been previously provided to any of a plurality of servers coupled to the dictation manager; selecting the dictation server to be one of the any dictation servers if it is determined that the identified user profile has been previously provided to any of the plurality of servers; causing the audio signal to be converted into a textual data signal by transmitting the received audio signal to the selected dictation server and receiving from the selected dictation server transcription textual data; and transmitting transcription textual data to the client station. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system to provide a client station with a distributed dictation and transcription service comprising:
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at least one dictation manager adapted to have a network connection to at least one client station, the network connection comprising at least one of a data port to receive audio signals from the at least one client station, to transmit textual data to the at least one client station, and to receive textual data from the at least one client station; at least one dictation server comprising at least one transcription engine that is adapted to transform audio signals of dictated words to textual data signals; at least one network connection between the at least one dictation manager and the at least one dictation server adapted to transmit audio signals and textual data signals between the at least one dictation manager and the at least one dictation server; the at least one dictation manager comprising a processor with a means for selecting one of the at least one dictation servers to transform audio signals of dictated words to textual data signals; and a memory containing at least one user profile and information indicating which of the at least one dictation servers has been provided the at least one user profile and wherein the information is used by the means for selecting to assist in selecting the one of the at least one dictation servers. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification