Facsimile-to-speech system
First Claim
1. A method for providing a service for reading of written text, said method comprising the steps ofreceiving from a caller said written text via a facsimile machine over a telephone network, andscanning said text utilizing an optical character recognition technique to identify symbols of said written text, the identified symbols being read to said caller in a synthesized voice over said telephone network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Written material is read at low cost by a computer-based system which is designed to receive via a telephone line a facsimile of the written material submitted by a system user. Once the facsimile is received, the system performs an optical character recognition (OCR) process thereon. The text thus identified by the OCR process is converted to intelligent speech using a speech synthesizer. The synthesized speech is communicated back to the system user either over the already established telephone connection or in a subsequent call.
67 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for providing a service for reading of written text, said method comprising the steps of
receiving from a caller said written text via a facsimile machine over a telephone network, and scanning said text utilizing an optical character recognition technique to identify symbols of said written text, the identified symbols being read to said caller in a synthesized voice over said telephone network.
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13. A computer-based system for providing a service for reading of written text, said system comprising
first circuit means for receiving from a caller said written text via a facsimile machine over a telephone network, second circuit means responsive to the received written text facsimile for scanning said text utilizing an optical character recognition technique, and third circuit means for reading to said caller in a synthesized voice the content of the scanned written text over said telephone network.
Specification