Voice Rendering Of E-mail With Tags For Improved User Experience

• US 20120245937A1
• Filed: 04/03/2012
• Published: 09/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Thenthiruperai, Balaji S., Roche, Elizabeth, Landers, Brian, Kates, Jesse
• Granted Patent: US 8,705,705 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails

Abstract

Tags, such as XML tags, are inserted into email to separate email content from signature blocks, privacy notices and confidentiality notices, and to separate original email messages from replies and replies from further replies. The tags are detected by a system that renders email as speech, such as voice command platform or network-based virtual assistant or message center. The system can render an original email message in one voice mode and the reply in a different voice mode. The tags can be inserted to identify a voice memo in which a user responds to a particular portion of an email message.

Claims

1. A method of allowing a recipient of an email message from a source to respond to said email message via voice, the method comprising:

rendering said email message to said recipient as speech;

as said email is being rendered as speech, receiving a signal from said recipient indicating the recipient intends to respond to said email message by inserting a voice memo at a particular location in said email message;

receiving and storing said voice memo from said recipient; and

rendering said voice memo as speech to said source.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said signal comprises a Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tone.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said signal comprises a voice command.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said voice memo is stored with a hyperlink that points to a storage location containing said voice memo.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising rendering said voice memo as speech to said recipient and prompting said recipient to indicate whether to change said voice memo.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising prompting said recipient to indicate whether to continue with the rendering of said email as speech after receiving said voice memo.