Systems and methods for structured voice interaction facilitated by data channel

• US 20100061528A1
• Filed: 06/23/2009
• Published: 03/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Cohen, Alexander J., Rinaldo, John D. JR., Lord, Robert W., Jung, Edward K.Y., Levien, Royce A., Malamud, Mark A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,467,506 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.40
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals

Abstract

A voice channel connection and a data channel connection are established with a structured voice interaction system. Navigation information for and provided by the structured voice interaction system is received over the data channel connection. The data channel navigation information is coordinated with navigation information provided by the structured voice interaction system over the voice channel connection.

Claims

1. A first method comprising:

performing at least one of a reception of or a transmission of one or more instructions

in relation to a second method that includes at least;

establishing a voice channel connection with a structured voice interaction system;

establishing a data channel connection with the structured voice interaction system; and

receiving over the data channel connection navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the data channel connection navigation information provided by the structured voice interaction system, the data channel connection navigation information coordinated with navigation information provided by the structured voice interaction system over the voice channel connection, the data channel connection navigation information including at least one level of the structured voice interaction system other than or in addition to a level of the navigation information simultaneously provided by the structured voice interaction system over the voice channel connection.

2. The first method of claim 1, wherein the second method that includes at least receiving over the data channel connection . . . navigation information coordinated with navigation information provided by the structured voice interaction system over the voice channel connection comprises:

the data channel connection navigation information synchronized with navigation information provided by the structured voice interaction system over the voice channel connection.

3. The first method of claim 1, wherein the second method that includes at least . . . establishing a data channel connection with the structured voice interaction system comprises:

upon establishing the voice channel connection, automatically establishing a data channel connection with the structured voice interaction system.

4. The first method of claim 1, wherein the second method that includes at least . . . receiving over the data channel connection navigation information for the structured voice interaction system comprises:

receiving navigation information for at least a level of the structured voice interaction system that results from providing one or more navigation commands to the structured voice interaction system.

5. The first method of claim 4, wherein the second method that includes at least . . . receiving navigation information for at least a level of the structured voice interaction system that results from providing one or more navigation commands to the structured voice interaction system comprises:

receiving navigation information for the level of the structured voice interaction system that results from providing the one or more navigation commands, and for one or more sublevels of the level.

6. The first method of claim 4, wherein the second method that includes at least . . . providing one or more navigation commands to the structured voice interaction system comprises:

providing at least one of one or more spoken words via the voice channel connection, one or more touch tones via the voice channel connection, or one or more selections communicated via the data channel connection.

7. The first method of claim 6, wherein the second method that includes at least . . . providing at least one of one or more spoken words via the voice channel connection, one or more touch tones via the voice channel connection, or one or more selections communicated via the data channel connection comprises:

providing shortcuts to selections one or more levels removed from a current level of the structured voice interaction system.

8. The first method of claim 1, wherein the second method that includes at least . . . establishing a data channel connection with the structured voice interaction system comprises:

establishing at least one of a short message service connection, an enhanced message service connection, or a multimedia message service connection.

9. The first method of claim 1, wherein the second method that includes at least . . . receiving over the data channel connection navigation information for the structured voice interaction system comprises:

receiving over the data channel connection navigation information representing shortcuts of the structured voice interaction system.

10. The first method of claim 1, wherein the second method that includes at least . . . receiving over the data channel connection navigation information for the structured voice interaction system comprises:

receiving at least one of text, one or more images, one or more icons, hypertext markup language information, or extensible markup language information.

11. The first method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user authorization for the performing of the at least one of the reception or the transmission of the one or more instructions in relation to the second method.

12. The first method of claim 1, wherein the performing at least one of a reception of or a transmission of one or more instructions in relation to a second method comprises:

receiving the one or more instructions; and

replacing a portion of a representation of the second method in response to the one or more instructions.

13. The first method of claim 1, wherein the performing at least one of a reception of or a transmission of one or more instructions in relation to a second method comprises:

receiving the one or more instructions; and

patching a representation of the second method in response to the one or more instructions.

14. The first method of claim 1, wherein the performing at least one of a reception of or a transmission of one or more instructions in relation to a second method comprises:

receiving the one or more instructions; and

forming a representation of the second method in response to the one or more instructions.

15. The first method of claim 1, wherein the performing at least one of a reception of or a transmission of one or more instructions in relation to a second method comprises:

transmitting at least one indicator representative of the second method.

16. The first method of claim 1, wherein the performing at least one of a reception of or a transmission of one or more instructions in relation to a second method comprises:

transmitting at least one instruction representative of a patch generated in response to a representation of the second method.

17. The wherein the performing at least one of a reception of or a transmission of one or more instructions in relation to a second method comprises:

transmitting at least one instruction representative of an upgrade generated in response to a representation of the second method.

18. A method of making a structured voice interaction system comprising:

operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system, wherein operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system includes but is not limited to;

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to communicate one or more voice prompts to a caller via a voice channel connection;

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to communicate navigation information for the structured voice interaction system to the caller via a data channel connection;

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system

with logic to coordinate the one or more voice prompts communicated to the caller via the voice channel connection with the navigation information communicated via the data channel connection; and

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system

with logic to provide to the caller the one or more voice prompts for a present level of the structured voice interaction system via the voice channel connection and to simultaneously provide navigation information for at least one sublevel of the present level of the structured voice interaction system via the data channel connection.

19. The method of making a structured voice interaction system of claim 18, wherein operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system comprises:

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to provide to the caller over the data channel connection related information for which there is no corresponding related information available over the voice channel connection, the data channel connection related information being related to the navigation information for the structured voice interaction system.

20. The method of making a structured voice interaction system of claim 18, wherein operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system comprises:

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with

logic to establish the voice channel connection with the caller; and

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with

logic to automatically establish the data channel connection with the caller upon establishing the voice channel connection with the caller.

21. The method of making a structured voice interaction system of claim 18, wherein operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to communicate navigation information for the structured voice interaction system to the caller via a data channel connection comprises:

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to communicate at least one of text, one or more images, one or more icons, hypertext markup language information, or extensible markup language information to the caller via the data channel connection.

22. The method of making a structured voice interaction system of claim 18, wherein operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to communicate navigation information for the structured voice interaction system to the caller via a data channel connection comprises:

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to communicate navigation information to the caller via at least one of a short message service connection, an enhanced message service connection, or a multimedia message service connection.

23. The method of making a structured voice interaction system of claim 18, wherein operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system comprises:

communicating with at least one part of a structured voice interaction system via a signal bearing medium.

24. The method of making a structured voice interaction system of claim 23, wherein communicating with at least one part of a structured voice interaction system via a signal bearing medium comprises:

transmitting onto a signal bearing medium.

25. The method of making a structured voice interaction system of claim 23, wherein communicating with at least one part of a structured voice interaction system via a signal bearing medium comprises:

receiving from a signal bearing medium.

26. The method of making a structured voice interaction system of claim 23, wherein communicating with at least one part of a structured voice interaction system via a signal bearing medium comprises:

communicating via at least one of a digital communication link, an analog communication link, a client-server communication link, a peer-to-peer communication link, and a mobile-base station communication link.

27. A method of making a system comprising:

operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system, wherein operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system includes but is not limited to;

operably coupling at least one part of the system with a structured voice interaction system;

operably coupling at least one part of the system with a telephone;

operably coupling at least one part of the system with logic to enable the telephone and the structured voice interaction system to exchange navigation information and commands via a data channel connection between the telephone and the structured voice interaction system, the navigation information coordinated with one or more voice prompts and navigation commands exchanged via a voice channel connection; and

operably coupling at least one part of the system with logic to provide to the telephone a voice prompt for a present level of the structured voice interaction system via the voice channel connection and to simultaneously provide navigation information for at least one sublevel of the present level of the structured voice interaction system via the data channel connection.

28. The method of making a system of claim 27, wherein operably coupling at least one part of the system with logic to enable the telephone and the structured voice interaction system to exchange navigation information and commands via a data channel connection between the telephone and the structured voice interaction system, the navigation information coordinated with one or more voice prompts and navigation commands exchanged via a voice channel connection comprises:

operably coupling at least one part of the system with logic to receive and process at least one of spoken words or touch tones via the voice channel connection, or navigation indications via the data channel connection, and to provide appropriate voice prompts and navigation information in response.

29. The method of making a system of claim 27, wherein operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system comprises:

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to adapt the one or more voice prompts communicated to the telephone via the voice channel connection and the navigation information communicated to the telephone via the data channel connection according to one or more navigation commands received from the telephone via either or both of the voice and data channels.

30. The method of making a system of claim 27, wherein operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system comprises:

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with

logic to recognize navigation commands received via the voice channel connection as spoken words corresponding to the navigation information.

31. The method of making a system of claim 27, wherein operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system comprises:

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to recognize navigation commands received via the voice or data channel as one or more of spoken words, tones, data channel commands, or a combination thereof corresponding to shortcuts of the structured voice interaction system.

32. The method of making a system of claim 27, wherein operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system comprises:

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to establish the voice channel connection between the telephone and the structured voice interaction system; and

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to automatically establish the data channel connection between the telephone and the structured voice interaction system upon establishing the voice channel connection.

33. The method of making a system of claim 27, wherein operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system comprises:

operably coupling at least one part of the structured voice interaction system with logic to provide to the telephone over the data channel connection related information for which there is no corresponding related information available over the voice channel connection, the data channel connection related information being related to the navigation information for the structured voice interaction system.

34. The method of making a system of claim 27, wherein operably coupling at least two parts of a structured voice interaction system comprises:

communicating with at least one part of a structured voice interaction system via a signal bearing medium.

35. The method of making a system of claim 34, wherein communicating with at least one part of a structured voice interaction system via a signal bearing medium comprises:

transmitting onto a signal bearing medium.

36. The method of making a system of claim 34, wherein communicating with at least one part of a structured voice interaction system via a signal bearing medium comprises:

receiving from a signal bearing medium.

37. The method of making a system of claim 34, wherein communicating with at least one part of a structured voice interaction system via a signal bearing medium comprises:

communicating via at least one of a digital communication link, an analog communication link, a client-server communication link, a peer-to-peer communication link, and a mobile-base station communication link.

38. A system, comprising:

an article of manufacture including but not limited to a signal bearing medium configured by one or more instructions related to;

establishing a voice channel connection with a structured voice interaction system;

establishing a data channel connection with the structured voice interaction system; and

receiving over the data channel connection navigation information for the structured

voice interaction system, the data channel connection navigation information provided by the structured voice interaction system, the data channel connection navigation information coordinated with navigation information provided by the structured voice interaction system over the voice channel connection, the data channel connection navigation information including at least one level of the structured voice interaction system other than or in addition to a level of the navigation information simultaneously provided by the structured voice interaction system over the voice channel connection.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein said article of manufacture including but not limited to a signal bearing medium comprises:

a recordable medium.

40. The system of claim 38, wherein said article of manufacture including but not limited to a signal bearing medium comprises:

a transmission medium.