Automated dual-party-relay telephone system
First Claim
1. A telecommunications system having a plurality of attendant terminals comprisingat least one text-to-speech synthesizer unit operative for translating text received via an associated second port into speech for delivery to an associated first port,means, responsive to receipt at one of said attendant terminals a request identifying a called telephone station, for establishing a first telephone connection to said called telephone station in accordance with an instruction entered into said one attendant terminal, said request being entered via a second telephone connection extending to a data terminal operated by a sound impaired person,means, responsive to said instruction, for extending said first connection to said first port of said one text-to-speech synthesizer and for extending said second telephone connection associated with said data terminal to said second port of said text-to-speech synthesizer, andmeans, contained in said synthesizer and responsive to receipt of a predetermined key word via said second connection, for causing said first connection to be connected to an available one of said attendant terminals so that an attendant associated with said one terminal may convert speech signals received via said first connection into text for delivery to said second connection via said second port of said one text-to-speech synthesizer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A facility is provided for automating dual party relay service so that the cost of such a service may be reduced. The desired result is achieved by automating particular features of dual party relay service to appreciably decrease the amount of time that a service attendant is involved in a dual party relay call. Such automation is obtained by employing text-to-speech processing, and, on a limited basis, automatic speech recognition.
162 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A telecommunications system having a plurality of attendant terminals comprising
at least one text-to-speech synthesizer unit operative for translating text received via an associated second port into speech for delivery to an associated first port, means, responsive to receipt at one of said attendant terminals a request identifying a called telephone station, for establishing a first telephone connection to said called telephone station in accordance with an instruction entered into said one attendant terminal, said request being entered via a second telephone connection extending to a data terminal operated by a sound impaired person, means, responsive to said instruction, for extending said first connection to said first port of said one text-to-speech synthesizer and for extending said second telephone connection associated with said data terminal to said second port of said text-to-speech synthesizer, and means, contained in said synthesizer and responsive to receipt of a predetermined key word via said second connection, for causing said first connection to be connected to an available one of said attendant terminals so that an attendant associated with said one terminal may convert speech signals received via said first connection into text for delivery to said second connection via said second port of said one text-to-speech synthesizer.
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10. A telecommunications system having a plurality of attendant terminals comprising
at least one text-to-speech synthesizer, means, responsive to receipt of a request and associated text at one of said attendant terminals, in which said request identifies at least a telephone station and an enhanced communications service, for storing in a memory via a path including a local data network said request and associated text, said request and said text being received from a data terminal connected to a communications path extending to said one attendant terminal, said data terminal being operated by a sound impaired person, and means thereafter operative for establishing another communications path to said enhanced service and supplying the identification of said telephone station to said enhanced service via said other communications path, and wherein said means for establishing includes means for passing said stored text through said text-to-speech synthesizer and for supplying the resulting speech signals to said enhanced service via said other communications path.
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14. A dual party relay communications system comprising
a plurality of attendant terminals, at least one text-to-speech synthesizer unit operative for translating text received via an associated second port into speech for delivery to an associated first port, means, responsive to receipt of a telephone call associated with a first communications path established by a data terminal operated by a sound impaired person, for establishing a second communications path to a telephone station and for respectively extending to said first and second ports said second and first communications paths so that text received from said data terminal may be translated into speech for delivery to said second communications path, said second communications path being established in accordance with a request received from said data terminal, and means, responsive to receiving text indicative of a predetermined key word from said data terminal, for causing said second communications path to be transferred to an available one of said attendant terminals so that an attendant associated with said available terminal may translate speech received via said second communications path into text for delivery to said data terminal via said first communications path.
Specification