Voice responsive remote-controllable system

• US 5,479,490 A
• Filed: 06/20/1994
• Issued: 12/26/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakashima, Tomoyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Hofsass, Jeffery A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hunter, Daniel S.
• Application Number:
  US08/262,361
• Time in Patent Office: 554 Days
• Field of Search: 379/67, 379/74, 379/77, 379/88, 379/89, 379/410, 379/80
• US Class Current: 379/74
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/652 Means for playing back the recorded messages by remote control over a telephone line H04M1/658 takes precedence

Abstract

There is disclosed a system which can be subjected to remote control by an input voice command, which comprises: a voice detection circuit for detecting inputting of a voice signal; a voice command introduction circuit for introducing an inputted voice command after the detection by the voice detection circuit; a speech recognition circuit for making a comparison between the voice command introduced by the voice command introduction circuit and a voice command registered in advance to thereby recognize the introduced voice command; and a control circuit for executing, in dependency upon a recognition result from the speech recognition circuit, a command determined in advance in correspondence with the registered voice command, wherein after input of the voice signal is detected, introduction of the inputted voice command is initiated, whereby execution of the command determined in advance is carried out in dependency upon the recognition result of the introduced voice command.

Claims

1. A terminal answering telephone system at least including acquisition means responsive to an incoming call transmitted through a communication line for acquiring said communication line, transmission means responsive to said incoming call for transmitting an outgoing message through said communication line after being acquired by said acquisition means, record means for recording a message of a caller for a predetermined time interval when the system is in a recording mode, and playback means for reproducing said message of said caller recorded by said record means, said system comprising:

certification means for certifying an establishment of a remote control mode, after performing a talking requirement requiring input of an identification (ID) code by a voice through said communication line connected to said caller when said recording mode is changed to a remote control mode and after said acquisition means acquires said communication line, and after checking agreement between said ID code by the voice and a reference ID code previously stored;

voice command introduction means for introducing a voice command from said caller through said communication line, after performing a talking requirement requiring input of said voice command, and after said certification means certifies said establishment of said remote control mode;

command recognition means for recognizing an introduced voice command by comparing said introduced voice command with a restored voice command; and

control means for executing a predetermined command corresponding to said restored voice command in accordance with a recognition result of said command recognition means, wherein a change from said recording mode to said remote control mode is performed by said control means responsive to continuity of a voiced sound of a word for a predetermined time interval, which is inputted from said caller through said communication line while said transmission means transmits said outgoing message, thereby stopping transmission of said outgoing message from said transmission means when a change of modes is detected; and

wherein

said transmission means stops said transmission of said outgoing message having several bundles of meanings such that said transmission is stopped at any pauses of said several bundles of meanings when a detector detects said continuity of the voiced sound of said word for said predetermined time interval.

2. The terminal answering telephone system according to claim 1, wherein

after said transmission means stops said transmission of said outgoing message, when said caller does not say said ID code even though said certification means demands an initial input of said ID code by said caller by said talking requirement of said ID code, said transmission restarts to transmit again said outgoing message at any of said pauses of meanings of said outgoing message.