Enhanced wide area audio response network
First Claim
1. Method of providing video messaging services to callers from a wide area network system, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of locationally diverse audio peripherals connected to user telephone lines and a central controller connected through a network to each of the plurality of audio peripherals to control the operation of each of the plurality of audio peripherals;
receiving a call from a caller through a telephone line at an audio peripheral;
reproducing to the caller audio prompts from digital representations of the audio prompts stored in the audio peripheral in response to control signals received from the central controller;
receiving a caller audio message and a destination number from the caller in response to the reproduced audio prompts;
converting the caller audio message and the destination number into a digital representations of the caller audio message and the destination number;
storing the digital representations of the caller audio message and the destination number in the audio peripheral;
calling the destination number to access a message recipient;
reproducing to the message recipient the caller audio message from the digital representation of the caller audio message.
3 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and method to provide enhanced wide area audio response services through an enhanced wide area audio response network which includes a central controller and a plurality of audio peripherals distributed over a wide area, each audio peripheral being connected to telephone lines for receiving and originating telephone calls, converting received analog audio signals into digital representations, recording and storing digital representations, converting stored digital representations into analog audio signals, playing audio signals over connected telephone lines, and communicating with, including receiving commands from, the central controller over a Packet Switched Public Data Network (PSPDN), which controller is a highly reliable general purpose controller which offers utility grade service to each audio peripheral and utilizes Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS) tables for various applications, including voice messaging, audio text, remote information provider accessing, and testing to provide error notification.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. Method of providing video messaging services to callers from a wide area network system, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of locationally diverse audio peripherals connected to user telephone lines and a central controller connected through a network to each of the plurality of audio peripherals to control the operation of each of the plurality of audio peripherals; receiving a call from a caller through a telephone line at an audio peripheral; reproducing to the caller audio prompts from digital representations of the audio prompts stored in the audio peripheral in response to control signals received from the central controller; receiving a caller audio message and a destination number from the caller in response to the reproduced audio prompts; converting the caller audio message and the destination number into a digital representations of the caller audio message and the destination number; storing the digital representations of the caller audio message and the destination number in the audio peripheral; calling the destination number to access a message recipient; reproducing to the message recipient the caller audio message from the digital representation of the caller audio message. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. Method of providing college registration services to students, through a wide area network system, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of locationally diverse audio peripherals connected to user telephone lines and a central controller connected through a network to each of the plurality of audio peripherals to control the operation of each of the plurality of audio peripherals; receiving a (900) call from a caller through a telephone line at an audio peripheral; reproducing to the caller audio prompts from digital representations of the audio prompts stored in the audio peripheral in response to control signals received from the central controller; receiving registration information from the caller through indications corresponding to menu choices provided through the audio prompts; interfacing with a college registration computer to effect the desired registration function; communicating confirmation messages from digital representations of the confirmation messages to the caller; transferring billing information to a regional Bell operating company (RBOC); receiving payment from the RBOC; and transferring a corresponding payment to the college.
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4. An audio response system comprising:
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a plurality of audio peripheral means remotely distributed over a wide area for storing digital representations of analog audio signals, converting said digital representations of analog audio signals into reproduced analog audio signals, and communicating said reproduced analog audio signals to connected user telephone lines; central control means connected to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for communicating control commands to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, whereby operation of each of said plurality of audio peripheral means is controlled by said central control means; and network means connected between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for providing communication paths between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, said network means including transmission media and network signal conditioning means for conditioning signals for transmission on said transmission media, wherein each of said audio peripheral means includes, at least, peripheral processing means connected to said network means for interpreting control commands from said central control means, digital storage means connected to said processing means for retrievably storing said digital representations of analog audio signals and retrieving said digital representations of analog audio signals, telephone interface means connected to said processing means and said connected user telephone lines for conditioning signals between said processing means and said connected telephone lines, switching means through which said connected user telephone lines pass to said telephone interface means for establishing and breaking connections between each of said connected user telephone lines, and channel bank means through which said connected user telephone lines pass to said switching means for providing an interface between digital, multiplexed telephone lines, and analog, de-multiplexed lines. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. An audio response system comprising:
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a plurality of audio peripheral means remotely distributed over a wide area for storing digital representations of analog audio signals, converting said digital representations of analog audio signals into reproduced analog audio signals, and communicating said reproduced analog analog signals to connected user telephone lines; central control means connected to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for communicating control commands to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, whereby operation of each of said plurality of audio peripheral means is controlled by said central control means; and network means connected between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for providing communication paths between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, said network means including transmission media and network signal conditioning means for conditioning signals for transmission on said transmission media, wherein said central control means includes, at least, a plurality of buses, a plurality of processor subsystems connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel, a plurality of memory subsystems connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel, a plurality of input/output processors connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel, digital storage subsystem connected to said plurality of input/output processors, and communication means connected to said plurality of input/output processor and said network means for conditioning signals between said central control means and said network means. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. An enhanced wide area audio response network for providing a wide range of audio response services comprising:
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a plurality of audio peripheral means remotely distributed over a wide area for storing digital representations of analog audio signals, converting said digital representations of analog audio signals into reproduced analog audio signals, and communicating said reproduced analog audio signals to connected user telephone lines, said plurality of audio peripheral means including peripheral processing means connected to said network means for interpreting control commands from said central control means, digital storage means connected to said processing means for retrievably storing said digital representations of analog audio signals and retrieving said digital representations of analog audio signals, conversion means connected to said processing means for converting said digital representations of analog audio signals into said reproduced analog audio signals, telephone interface means connected to said processing means and said connected user telephone lines for conditioning signals between said processing means and said connected telephone lines, said telephone interface means including means for converting said digital representations of analog audio signals into reproduced analog audio signals, means for detecting predetermined frequencies on said connected user telephone lines, and means for supplying driving signals to said connected user telephone lines, switching means through which said connected user telephone lines pass to said telephone interface means for establishing and breaking connections between each of said connected user telephone lines, and channel bank means through which said connected user telephone lines pass to said switching means for providing an interface between digital, multiplexed telephone lines, and analog, de-multiplexed lines; central control means connected to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for communicating control commands to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, whereby operation of each of said plurality of audio peripheral means is controlled by said central control means, said central control means including a plurality of buses, a plurality of processor subsystems connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel, a plurality of memory subsystems connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel, a plurality of input/output processors connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel, digital storage subsystem connected to said plurality of input/output processors, communication means connected to said plurality of input/output processor and said network means for conditioning signals between said central control means and said network means, a local audio peripheral means connected directly to said communication means, said local audio peripheral means defining one of said plurality of audio peripheral means, monitoring means for interpretting error messages and for selectively sending notification commands to said local audio peripheral means to notify operator personnel through said audio peripheral means, wherein said notification commands include instructions to access a paging service and provide said paging service with notification information and commands to access a home telephone of said operator personnel, and logging means for recording all signals between said central control means and said plurality of audio peripheral means; network means connected between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for providing communication paths between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, said network means including transmission media and network signal conditioning means for conditioning signals for transmission on said transmission media; and information provider means remotely connected to said central control means for providing database information to said central control means in response to calls alarm condition;
received at said plurality of audio peripheral means.
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12. Method of providing audio response services to callers from a wide area audio response network system, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of audio peripherals remotely distributed over a wide area and connected to user telephone lines; connecting each of the plurality of audio peripherals through a network to a central controller which controls the operation of each of the plurality of audio peripherals; receiving user information at an audio peripheral through a user telephone line; transferring the user information from the audio peripheral through the network to the central controller; processing the transferred information at the central controller, including the steps of referencing a DNIS table to identify appropriate command files to execute and executing the corresponding command file based on the DNIS number received which determines which commands are transferred to the audio peripheral; transferring command signals from the central controller through the network to the audio peripheral; converting digital representations of analog audio signals stored at the audio peripheral into reproduced analog audio signals according to the transferred command signals; and supplying the reproduced analog audio signals to the user telephone line. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. Method of providing audio response services to callers from a wide area audio response network system, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of audio peripherals remotely distributed over a wide area and connected to user telephone lines; connecting each of the plurality of audio peripherals through a network to a central controller which controls the operation of each of the plurality of audio peripherals; receiving user information at an audio peripheral through a user telephone line; transferring the user information from the audio peripheral through the network to the central controller; transferring command signals from the central controller through the network to the audio peripheral; converting digital representations of analog audio signals stored at the audio peripheral into reproduced analog audio signals according to the transferred command signals; supplying the reproduced analog audio signals to the user telephone lines; generating an error signal at an audio peripheral which corresponds to a predefined alarm condition; transferring the error signal through the network to the central controller; evaluating the severity of the error signal; and
notifying support personnel to provide error identification information. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. Method of providing audio response services to callers from a wide area audio response network system, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of audio peripherals remotely distributed over a wide area and connected to user telephone lines; connecting each of the plurality of audio peripherals through a network to a central controller which controls the operation of each of the plurality of audio peripherals; receiving user information at an audio peripheral through a user telephone line; transferring the user information from the audio peripheral through the network to the central controller; processing the transferred information at the central controller; transferring command signals from the central controller through the network to the audio peripheral; converting digital representations of analog audio signals stored at the audio peripheral into reproduced analog audio signals according to the transferred command signals; supplying the reproduced analog audio signals to the user telephone line; routinely testing an audio peripheral by commanding an audio peripheral to perform the steps of dialing out on a first connected telephone liens a telephone number corresponding to a number which is normally answered by the audio peripheral, answering the call on a second connected telephone line, supplying a predetermined sequence of analog audio signals to the first connected telephone line, and transferring signals corresponding to the received analog audio signals to the central controller over the network; comparing the signals supplied over the first connected telephone line to the signals received over the second connected telephone line; generating an error identification signal; and repeating the above steps commanding, comparing, and generating until each connected telephone line has been tested.
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Specification