Interactive synthesized speech quotation system for brokers
First Claim
1. A system for use by a broker at a broker'"'"'s workstation in his or her office to assist in quoting the prices of tradable instruments such as securities or commodities to customers, said prices available from a data link to an exchange where the tradable instruments are traded, said system comprising:
- an outside telephone line servicing said office;
desk telephone handset means at said workstation;
quote retrieval means connected to said data link for obtaining prices of tradable instruments traded on said exchange;
telephone interface means connected to said telephone line for answering calls on said telephone line and for converting incoming signals on said telephone line to digital codes, said incoming signals inputted on the remote end of said telephone line;
signal generating means connected to said telephone line through said telephone interface means for generating communication signals on said telephone line;
indicator means located at said workstation and perceivable by said broker at said workstation for conveying information to said broker while said broker is at said workstation;
control means connected to receive said digital codes from said telephone interface means and for controlling said signal generating means, said indicator means and said quote retrieval means, whereby a caller can convey requests and information to said control means using said incoming signals, said control means including;
(i) price quoting means responsive to a particular sequence of said digital codes representing a request for a quote of the price of particular tradable instrument traded on said exchange for obtaining the price of said particular tradable instrument from said quote retrieval means and for causing said signal generating means to quote the requested tradable instrument price using said communication signals over said telephone line;
(ii) caller identifying means for obtaining the identification of a caller on said telephone line, said identification obtained from a sequence of said digital codes, and for causing an identification of said caller to be indicated by said indicator means so that it is perceivable by said broker while the caller is on said telephone line obtaining a quote of a price; and
(iii) switching means operable by said broker from said broker'"'"'s workstation for selectively connecting said telephone line to said desk telephone handset means whereby a broker can interrupt a call from a caller and speak with the caller in person.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus for use by a broker including a memory for holding a number of market prices each corresponding to a security or a commodity. A speech synthesizer provides that prices may be quoted to customers in a synthesized human voice. A telephone interface connects outside calls to a DTMF transceiver which is in turn connected to a programmed microprocessor unit so that a caller may key in instructions or information. Instructions for price quotations result in the price for the selected security or commodity being reported to the caller in a synthesized human voice. The apparatus is also capable of monitoring price triggers and reporting violations of price triggers by calling a predetermined telephone number and reporting the violation in a synthesized human voice. Also, price requests are logged and the unit is responsive to an instruction keyed in by a broker through his telephone to report the contents of the log over the telephone in a synthesized human voice.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A system for use by a broker at a broker'"'"'s workstation in his or her office to assist in quoting the prices of tradable instruments such as securities or commodities to customers, said prices available from a data link to an exchange where the tradable instruments are traded, said system comprising:
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an outside telephone line servicing said office; desk telephone handset means at said workstation; quote retrieval means connected to said data link for obtaining prices of tradable instruments traded on said exchange; telephone interface means connected to said telephone line for answering calls on said telephone line and for converting incoming signals on said telephone line to digital codes, said incoming signals inputted on the remote end of said telephone line; signal generating means connected to said telephone line through said telephone interface means for generating communication signals on said telephone line; indicator means located at said workstation and perceivable by said broker at said workstation for conveying information to said broker while said broker is at said workstation; control means connected to receive said digital codes from said telephone interface means and for controlling said signal generating means, said indicator means and said quote retrieval means, whereby a caller can convey requests and information to said control means using said incoming signals, said control means including; (i) price quoting means responsive to a particular sequence of said digital codes representing a request for a quote of the price of particular tradable instrument traded on said exchange for obtaining the price of said particular tradable instrument from said quote retrieval means and for causing said signal generating means to quote the requested tradable instrument price using said communication signals over said telephone line; (ii) caller identifying means for obtaining the identification of a caller on said telephone line, said identification obtained from a sequence of said digital codes, and for causing an identification of said caller to be indicated by said indicator means so that it is perceivable by said broker while the caller is on said telephone line obtaining a quote of a price; and (iii) switching means operable by said broker from said broker'"'"'s workstation for selectively connecting said telephone line to said desk telephone handset means whereby a broker can interrupt a call from a caller and speak with the caller in person. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for disseminating price quotations for tradable instruments such as securities or commodities to customers of a brokerage house which receives said price quotations over a data link to an exchange where said tradable instruments are traded, said brokerage house including at least one outside telephone line and a plurality of broker workstations each including at least one desk for a broker and a desk telephone, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) automatically answering a call on said outside telephone line and establishing a connection with a caller'"'"'s telephone; (b) automatically requesting the caller to signal a caller identification code; (c) automatically detecting said caller identification code signal to determine the caller'"'"'s identification; (d) automatically requesting the caller to signal a request for a quote of a price for one of said tradable instruments; (e) automatically detecting said price quote request signal to determine the tradable instrument for which the quote is requested; (f) automatically obtaining the requested price quote from said price quotations received over said data link; (g) automatically quoting the requested price to the caller with communication signals carried on said outside telephone line connected to said caller'"'"'s telephone; (h) automatically indicating to said broker at said workstation during the course of said connection the identification of said caller as determined in step (c); and (i) establishing communication between said broker and said caller during the course of said connection in response to the automatic identification of said caller to said broker. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system for use by an individual at the individual'"'"'s workstation in his or her office to assist in providing information to persons calling said office, said information available from a data link to a remote database, said system comprising:
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an outside telephone line servicing said office; desk telephone handset means at said workstation; information retrieval means connected to said data link for obtaining information from said database; telephone interface means connected to said telephone line for answering calls on said telephone line and for converting incoming signals carried on said telephone line to digital codes, said incoming signals inputted on the remote end of said telephone line; signal generating means connected to said telephone line through said telephone interface means for generating communication signals on said telephone line; indicator means located at said workstation and perceivable by said individual at said workstation for conveying information to said individual while said individual is at said workstation; control means connected to said signal generation means, said indicator means, said quote retrieval means and said telephone interface means to receive said digital codes, said control means including; (i) information communication means responsive to a particular sequence of said digital codes representing a request for information from said database for obtaining the information from said information retrieval means and for causing said signal generating means to communicate the requested information using said communication signals over said telephone line; (ii) caller identifying means for obtaining the identification of a caller on said telephone line, said identification obtained from a sequence of said digital codes, and for causing an identification of said caller to be indicated by said indicator means so that it is perceivable by said individual while the caller is on said telephone line obtaining said information; and (iii) switching means operable by said individual from said individual'"'"'s workstation for selectively connecting said telephone line to said desk telephone handset means whereby an individual can interrupt a call from a caller and speak with the caller in person. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for disseminating information from a location which receives said information over a data link to a remote database, said location including at least one outside telephone line and at least one workstation including at least one desk for an individual to work at, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) automatically answering a call on said outside telephone line and establishing a connection with the caller'"'"'s telephone; (b) automatically requesting the caller to signal an identification code; (c) automatically detecting said caller identification code signal to determine the caller'"'"'s identification; (d) automatically requesting the caller to signal a request for information from said database; (e) automatically detecting said information request signal to determine the information requested; (f) automatically obtaining the requested information from said information received over said data link; (g) automatically communicating the requested information to the caller with communication signals carried on said outside telephone line connected to said caller'"'"'s telephone; (h) automatically indicating to said individual at said workstation sometime during the course of said connection the identification of said caller as determined in step (c); and (i) establishing communication between said individual and said caller during the course of said connection in response to the automatic identification of said caller to said individual. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A system for use by a broker at a broker'"'"'s workstation in his or her office to assist in quoting the prices of tradable instruments such as securities or commodities to customers, said prices available from a data link to an exchange where the tradable instruments are traded, said system comprising:
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as outside telephone line servicing said broker'"'"'s workstation; database means located in said office for storing prices of tradable instruments, said database means including means for connecting it to said data link for obtaining the prices of tradable instruments traded on said exchange; quote retrieval terminal means located at said workstation and connected to said database means and manually operable by said broker for obtaining prices of tradable instruments from said database means whereby said broker can obtain quotes of said prices of said tradable instruments; quote retrieval terminal emulation means located at said workstation, said emulation means including; (a) telephone interface means connected to said telephone line for answering calls on said telephone line and for converting incoming signals carried on said telephone line to digital codes, said incoming signals inputted on the remote end of said telephone line; (b) signal generating means connected to said telephone line through said telephone interface means for generating communication signals on said telephone line; and (c) control means connected to said control database, said signal generating means, and said telephone interface means to receive said digital codes, said control means including price quoting means responsive to a particular sequence of said digital codes representing a request by a caller for a quote of the price of a particular tradable instrument for obtaining the price of said particular tradable instrument from said central database means and for causing said signal generating means to quote the requested tradable instrument price using said communication signals over said telephone line. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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Specification