Method and apparatus for automation of directory assistance using speech recognition
First Claim
1. Directory assistance apparatus for a telephone system comprising:
- a voice processing unit having at least one lexicon of lexemes potentially recognizable by the unit and data predetermined for each of said lexemes, means for issuing messages to a caller making a directory assistance call to prompt the caller to utter one of said lexemes;
means for detecting an identifier for the call source from whence a directory assistance call was received;
means responsive to the identifier detected, and to said data, for computing a probability index for each lexeme representing the likelihood of that particular one of said lexemes being that uttered by the caller; and
speech recognition means for recognizing, on the basis of the acoustics of the caller'"'"'s utterance and the probability indexes, a lexeme corresponding to that uttered by the caller.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a telecommunications system, automatic directory assistance uses a voice processing unit comprising a lexicon of lexemes and data representing a predetermined relationship between each lexeme and calling numbers in a locality served by the automated directory assistance apparatus. The voice processing unit issues messages to a caller making a directory assistance call to prompt the caller to utter a required one of said lexemes. The unit detects the calling number originating a directory assistance call and, responsive to the calling number and the relationship data computes a probability index representing the likelihood of a lexeme being the subject of the directory assistance call. The unit employs a speech recognizer to recognize, on the basis of the acoustics of the caller'"'"'s utterance and the probability index, a lexeme corresponding to that uttered by the caller.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. Directory assistance apparatus for a telephone system comprising:
- a voice processing unit having at least one lexicon of lexemes potentially recognizable by the unit and data predetermined for each of said lexemes, means for issuing messages to a caller making a directory assistance call to prompt the caller to utter one of said lexemes;
means for detecting an identifier for the call source from whence a directory assistance call was received;
means responsive to the identifier detected, and to said data, for computing a probability index for each lexeme representing the likelihood of that particular one of said lexemes being that uttered by the caller; and
speech recognition means for recognizing, on the basis of the acoustics of the caller'"'"'s utterance and the probability indexes, a lexeme corresponding to that uttered by the caller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- a voice processing unit having at least one lexicon of lexemes potentially recognizable by the unit and data predetermined for each of said lexemes, means for issuing messages to a caller making a directory assistance call to prompt the caller to utter one of said lexemes;
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9. Directory assistance apparatus for a telephone system, including a voice processing unit having a lexicon of lexemes potentially recognizable by the unit, said lexemes including lexemes corresponding to localities in a predetermined area served by the directory assistance apparatus and lexemes corresponding to localities not in the predetermined area, the unit including:
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means for issuing to a directory assistance caller a message inviting the caller to utter the name of a locality; means for recognizing one of said lexemes from the utterance; means for determining whether or not the recognized lexeme is one of said lexemes corresponding to localities not in the predetermined area served by the directory assistance apparatus; and means for playing a message to the caller inviting the caller to direct the directory assistance request to a directory assistance apparatus for an alternative area including the locality corresponding to the recognized lexeme in the event that the recognized lexeme is not in the predetermined area.
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10. A method of at least partially automating directory assistance in a telephone system in which directory assistance apparatus comprises a voice processing unit having a lexicon of lexemes potentially recognizable by the unit and data predetermined for each lexeme, the method comprising the steps of:
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issuing messages to a caller making a directory assistance call to prompt the caller to utter one of said lexemes; detecting an identifier for a call source from whence the directory assistance call was received; computing, in response to the identifier and said data, a probability index for each lexeme representing the likelihood that the lexeme will be that uttered by the caller, and employing speech recognition means to recognize, on the basis of the acoustics of the caller'"'"'s utterance and the probability index, a lexeme corresponding to that uttered by the caller. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of at least partially automating directory assistance in a telephone system having directory assistance apparatus serving a predetermined area and comprising a voice processing unit having a lexicon of lexemes potentially recognizable by the unit, said lexemes including lexemes corresponding to localities in a predetermined area served by the directory assistance apparatus and lexemes corresponding to localities not in the predetermined area, the method including the steps of:
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using the voice processing unit to issue to a directory assistance caller a message inviting the caller to utter a name of a locality; recognizing;
one of said lexemes in the utterance;determining whether or not the recognized lexeme is one of said lexemes corresponding to localities not in said predetermined area served by the apparatus; and
[,]playing a message to the caller inviting the caller to direct the directory assistance request to a different directory assistance area in the event the recognized lexeme is not in the predetermined area.
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19. Directory assistance apparatus, for a telephone system, comprising:
- a voice processing unit having at least one lexicon of lexemes potentially recognizable by the unit and data grouping the lexemes into predetermined subsets, each subset comprising lexemes preselected to give greater recognition accuracy for calls from a particular source;
means for issuing messages to a caller making a directory assistance call to prompt the caller to utter one of said lexemes;
means for detecting an identifier for the call source from whence the directory assistance call was received;
means responsive to the detected identifier for selecting one of said predetermined subsets; and
speech recognition means limited to the selected subset for recognizing, on the basis of the acoustics of the caller'"'"'s utterance, a lexeme from said subset corresponding to that uttered by the caller.
- a voice processing unit having at least one lexicon of lexemes potentially recognizable by the unit and data grouping the lexemes into predetermined subsets, each subset comprising lexemes preselected to give greater recognition accuracy for calls from a particular source;
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20. A method of at least partially automating directory assistance in a telephone system in which directory assistance apparatus comprises a voice processing unit having a lexicon of lexemes potentially recognizable by the unit, and data grouping the lexemes into predetermined subsets, each subset preselected as giving greater recognition accuracy for calls from a particular source, the method comprising the steps of:
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issuing messages to a caller making a directory as a distance call to prompt the caller to utter one or more utterances; detecting an identifier for a call source from whence the directory assistance call was received; selecting on the basis of the identifier one of said predetermined subsets; and employing speech recognition means to recognize, from the selected subset and on the basis of the acoustics of the caller'"'"'s utterance, a lexeme corresponding to that uttered by the caller.
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Specification