VIRTUAL AGENT COMMUNICATION FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICE

• US 20140047001A1
• Filed: 08/09/2013
• Published: 02/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Phillips, Michael Stuart, Nguyen, John, Leonard, Thomas Jay, Grannan, David
• Granted Patent: US 10,154,070 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for communicating between virtual agents associated with users of electronic devices connected via at least one network. A first user may instruct an associated first virtual agent to invoke a communication session with a second virtual agent associated with a second user. To invoke the communication session, the first virtual agent may send an outgoing communication to the second virtual agent and the outgoing communication may instruct the second virtual agent to perform at least one action on behalf of the first user. Virtual agents associated with different users may alternatively communicate with each other in the absence of user interaction to perform a collaborative action.

Claims

1. A method of communicating between virtual agents, wherein each of the virtual agents is associated with a user, the method comprising:

receiving input from a first user;

determining, by a first virtual agent associated with the first user, whether to invoke a communication session with a second virtual agent associated with a second user; and

sending an outgoing communication to the second virtual agent in response to determining to invoke the communication session.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the second virtual agent, a response to the outgoing communication.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the response to the outgoing communication received from the second virtual agent includes a request to coordinate a new appointment;

and wherein the method further comprises;

sending at least one additional outgoing message to the second virtual agent to coordinate the new appointment, wherein the at least one additional outgoing message is sent to the second virtual agent without input from the first user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the input from the first user includes speech input.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether to invoke a communication session comprises determining whether the input from the first user includes one or more trigger terms or relevant contextual data.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

aggregating user data for the first user, wherein the user data is aggregated from multiple information sources;

storing the aggregated user data; and

accessing by the first virtual agent, at least a portion of the stored aggregated user data.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein at least some content of the outgoing communication is determined based, at least in part, on the aggregated user data.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying the second user based, at least in part, on information in the input received from the first user;

determining whether the second user is associated with a virtual agent; and

sending the outgoing communication only if it is determined that the second user is associated with a virtual agent.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein identifying the second user comprises:

identifying the second user based, at least in part, on user data for the first user.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the user data includes a contact list associated with the first user.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a preferred mode of communication for the second user; and

sending the outgoing communication using the preferred mode of communication.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the outgoing communication includes a request for the second virtual agent to perform at least one action on behalf of the first user.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one action includes sending the response communication to the first virtual agent.

14. A computer-readable medium encoded with a plurality of instructions that, when executed by at least one computer, perform a method of communicating between virtual agents, wherein each of the virtual agents is associated with a user, the method comprising:

receiving input from a first user;

determining, by a first virtual agent associated with the first user, whether to invoke a communication session with a second virtual agent associated with a second user; and

sending an outgoing communication to the second virtual agent in response to determining to invoke the communication session, wherein the outgoing communication includes a request for the second virtual agent to perform at least one action on behalf of the first user.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein determining whether to invoke a communication session comprises determining whether the input from the first user includes one or more trigger terms or relevant contextual data.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

aggregating user data for the first user, wherein the user data is aggregated from multiple information sources;

storing the aggregated user data; and

accessing by the first virtual agent, at least a portion of the stored aggregated user data;

wherein at least some content of the outgoing communication is determined based, at least in part, on the aggregated user data.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

identifying the second user based, at least in part, on information in the input received from the first user;

determining whether the second user is associated with a virtual agent; and

sending the outgoing communication only if it is determined that the second user is associated with a virtual agent.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises:

determining a preferred mode of communication for the second user; and

sending the outgoing communication using the preferred mode of communication.

19. An electronic device, comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive input from a first user; and

a first virtual agent configured to;

determine whether to invoke a communication session with a second virtual agent associated with a second user; and

send an outgoing communication to the second virtual agent in response to determining to invoke the communication session, wherein the outgoing communication includes a request for the second virtual agent to perform at least one action on behalf of the first user.

20. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the communication interface comprises at least one speech interface configured to recognize speech input.