Distributed system for call processing

• US 5,668,854 A
• Filed: 10/06/1995
• Issued: 09/16/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Pickering, John Brian, Hulse, Brian, Cook, Jonathan, Minakami, Michael Ken
• Primary Examiner(s): Zele, Krista M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): WEAVER, SCOTT LOUIS
• Application Number:
  US08/539,983
• Time in Patent Office: 711 Days
• Field of Search: 379/67, 379/88, 379/89, 379/90, 379/91, 379/201, 379/207, 379/216, 379/219, 379/225
• US Class Current: 379/88.18
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 Provisions for intelligent networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/54566 Intelligent peripherals, adjunct processors

Abstract

A first computer workstation 10 includes a voice response unit for interfacing to a telephone network. The first computer workstation is attached by a communications link 18 to a second computer workstation 20, which includes a server to perform a particular voice processing function, such as text to speech, voice recognition, FAX-back, and so on. For inbound applications the first computer workstation forwards the incoming signal over the communications link to the server on the second computer workstation for real-time processing, whilst for outbound applications, the reverse process occurs.

Claims

1. A distributed system connected to a telephone network for interactively processing a telephone call, comprising at least a first computer and a second computer connected together by a communications network, said distributed system having the ability to play out speech synthesized from text during the call,

the first computer including Interface means for attachment to the telephone network for receiving a telephone signal over said telephone network and for transmitting a telephone signal out over said telephone network;

means for forwarding a request over the communications network to the second computer, said request containing text to be synthesized; and

means for receiving a voice data response from the second computer, and for forwarding said voice data response to the interface means for transmission over the telephone network;

the second computer including server means for generating said voice data response by performing a speech synthesis function on the text in the request from the first computer, and means for transmitting the voice data response to the first computer.

3. The distributed system of claim 1, wherein the first and second computers are both nodes on a local area network (LAN), and said communications network is provided by the LAN.

4. The distributed system of claim 1, wherein the first computer further comprises means for broadcasting over the communications network a request, prior to receiving or processing said call, to initially access said server means.

5. The distributed system of claim 1, further comprising a resource controller for controlling access to the server means, said resource controller responding to a request to access said server means to indicate whether or not the server means is available to be accessed.

6. The distributed system of claim 5, wherein the resource controller is located on the second computer.

7. The distributed system of claim 1, wherein the distributed system further comprises a set of computers, said set of computers including the second computer, and each computer of said set being connected to the first computer by the communications network, the distributed system further including a resource controller located at a computer of the set of computers for maintaining a list of one or more available server means and the current usage thereof, and for responding to requests from the first computer for access to a desired server means by notifying the first computer whether or not the requested server means is available to be accessed.

8. The distributed system of claim 1, wherein the distributed system includes a third computer connected to said second computer by the communications network for processing a further telephone call, said third computer including interface means for attachment to the telephone network for receiving a telephone signal over said telephone network and for transmitting a telephone signal out over said telephone network;

means for forwarding a further request over the communications network to the second computer, said further request containing text to be synthesized; and

means for receiving a further voice data response from the second computer, and for forwarding said received further voice data response to the interface means of said third computer for transmission over the telephone network;

said server means on the second computer generating the further voice data response received by the third computer by performing a speech synthesis function on the text in the further request from the third computer, and transmitting the generated voice data response to the third computer.

9. The distributed system of claim 8, further comprising a resource controller for controlling access to the server means by said first and third computers.

2. A distributed system connected to a telephone network for interactively processing a telephone call, comprising at least a first computer and a second computer connected together by a communications network,

the first computer including interface means for attachment to the telephone network for receiving a telephone signal including a voice signal over said telephone network;

means for forwarding the telephone signal over the communications network to the second computer;

means for receiving voice data from the second computer; and

means for providing a voice response to said call in accordance with said voice data;

the second computer including server means for generating said voice data by performing a voice recognition function on the voice signal in the telephone signal received from the first computer, and means for transmitting the voice data to the first computer.

10. The distributed system of claim 2, wherein the distributed system includes a third computer connected to said second computer by the communications network for processing a further telephone call, said third computer including interface means for attachment to the telephone network for receiving a further telephone signal including a voice signal over said telephone network;

means for forwarding the further telephone signal over the communications network to the second computer;

means for receiving further voice data from the second computer; and

means for providing a voice response to said further telephone call in accordance with said further voice data;

said further voice data being generated by the server means at the second computer by performing a voice recognition function on the voice signal in the further telephone signal received from the third computer, and transmitted by the server means back to the third computer.

11. The distributed system of claim 10, further comprising a resource controller for controlling access to the server means by said first and third computers.

12. The distributed system of claim 2, wherein the first and second computers are both nodes on a local area network (LAN), and said communications network is provided by the LAN.

13. The distributed system of claim 2, wherein the first computer further comprises means for broadcasting over the communications network a request, prior to receiving or processing said call, to initially access said server means.

14. The distributed system of claim 2, further comprising a resource controller for controlling access to the server means, said resource controller responding to a request to access said server means to indicate whether or not the server means is available to be accessed.

15. The distributed system of claim 14, wherein the resource controller is located on the second computer.

16. The distributed system of claim 2, wherein the distributed system further comprises a set of computers, said set of computers including the second computer, and each computer of said set being connected to the first computer by the communications network, the distributed system further including a resource controller located at a computer of the set of computers for maintaining a list of one or more available server means and the current usage thereof, and for responding to requests from the first computer for access to a desired server means by notifying the first computer whether or not the requested server means is available to be accessed.

17. The distributed system of claim 9 or 11, wherein the resource controller is located on the second computer.

18. A distributed system connected to a telephone network for interactively processing first and second telephone calls, comprising at least a first computer, a second computer, and a third computer, connected together by a communications network, wherein said first computer handles said first telephone call, and said third computer handles said second telephone call, said system having the ability to play out speech synthesized from text during the first and second telephone calls,

the first computer including first interface means for attachment to the telephone network for receiving a telephone signal over said telephone network and for transmitting a telephone signal out over said telephone network;

means for forwarding a first request over the communications network to the second computer, said first request containing first text to be synthesized; and

means for receiving a first voice data response from the second computer, and for forwarding said first voice data response to the first interface means for transmission over the telephone network;

the third computer including second interface means for attachment to the telephone network for receiving a telephone signal over said telephone network and for transmitting a telephone signal out over said telephone network;

means for forwarding a second request over the communications network to the second computer, said second request containing second text to be synthesized; and

means for receiving a second voice data response from the second computer, and for forwarding said second voice data response to the second interface means for transmission over the telephone network;

the second computer including server means for generating said first voice data response by performing a speech synthesis function on the first text in the first request from the first computer, and for generating said second voice data response by performing a speech synthesis function on the second text in the second request from the third computer; and

means for transmitting the first voice data response and the second voice data response to the first computer and third computer respectively.

20. The distributed system of claim 18 or 19;

wherein the first, second, and third computers are nodes on a local area network (LAN), and said communications network is provided by the LAN.

21. The distributed system of claim 18 or 19, further comprising a resource controller for controlling access to the server means, said resource controller responding to a request to access said server means to indicate whether or not the server means is available to be accessed.

22. The distributed system of claim 21, wherein the resource controller is located on the second computer.

19. A distributed system connected to a telephone network for interactively processing first and second telephone calls, comprising at least a first computer, a second computer, and a third computer, connected together by a communications network, wherein said first computer handles said first telephone call and said third computer handles said second telephone call,

the first computer including first interface means for attachment to the telephone network for receiving a first telephone signal including a first voice signal over said telephone network;

means for forwarding the first telephone signal over the communications network to the second computer;

means for receiving first voice data from the second computer; and

means for providing a first voice response to said first telephone call in accordance with said first voice data;

the third computer including second interface means for attachment to the telephone network for receiving a second telephone signal including a second voice signal over said telephone network;

means for forwarding the second telephone signal over the communications network to the second computer;

means for receiving second voice data from the second computer; and

means for providing a second voice response to said second telephone call in accordance with said second voice data; and

the second computer including server means for generating said first voice data by performing a voice recognition function on the first voice signal in the telephone signal received from the first computer, and for generating said second voice data by performing a voice recognition function on the second voice signal in the telephone signal received from the third computer; and

means for transmitting the first voice data and the second voice data to the first computer and the third computer respectively.

23. A method of interactively processing a telephone call in a distributed system comprising at least a first computer and a second computer connected together by a communications network, whereby said first and second computers communicate by exchanging packets over said communications network, in which the first computer workstation is interfaced to a telephone network, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving at the first computer an incoming telephone signal from the telephone network;

forwarding the incoming telephone signal over the communications network to a server means at the second computer;

processing the incoming telephone signal at the server means by performing a voice recognition function on the incoming telephone signal and generating voice data representing the recognized telephone signal;

transmitting the voice data from the server means at the second computer to the first computer; and

providing a voice response from the first computer to said telephone call at the first computer in accordance with said voice data.

25. The method of claim 23 or 24, further comprising the step of a resource controller, located on a computer connected to said first computer by said communications network, maintaining a list of available server means and current usage thereof, wherein the first computer requests access to the server means from the resource controller, and the resource controller responds to the first computer workstation to indicate whether or not the requested server means is available.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the resource controller is located on the second computer.

27. The method of claim 25 further comprising an initial step of the first computer broadcasting a request to the resource controller, and the resource controller responding to the request by sending a message to the first computer identifying the address of the resource controller within the communications network.

28. The method of claim 23 or 24 wherein the second computer includes a resource controller for managing access by said first computer to resources provided by the server means.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the resource controller manages access to the server means by:

receiving a request from the first computer identifying a resource required by the first computer;

maintaining a table of available resources provided by the server means;

determining whether the requested resource can be satisfied, based on the available resources;

and if so, allocating the requested resource to the first computer, and responding accordingly to the first computer.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising the step of notifying the resource controller when communication between the first computer and the allocated resource has terminated.

31. The method of claim 23 or 24, wherein said telephone call is processed under the control of an application running on said first computer.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising the step of, responsive to the application requesting a resource external to said first computer for processing said telephone call, opening a channel between said first computer and the server means.

24. A method of interactively processing a telephone call in a distributed system comprising at least a first computer and a second computer connected together by a communications network, whereby the first and second computers communicate by exchanging packets over said communications network, in which the first computer is interfaced to a telephone network, said method comprising the steps of:

sending a data request containing text from the first computer over the communications network to a server means in the second computer;

generating a voice telephone signal at the server means comprising speech synthesized from the text contained in the data request and transmitting the voice telephone signal to the first computer;

receiving the transmitted voice telephone signal at the first computer;

and forwarding the received voice telephone signal from the first computer out over the telephone network.

33. A method of interactively processing first and second telephone calls in a distributed system comprising at least a first computer, a second computer, and a third computer, connected together by a communications network, wherein said first and third computers are interfaced to a telephone network and said first computer handles said first telephone call, and said third computer handles said second telephone call, said system having the ability to play out speech synthesized from text during the first and second telephone calls, said method comprising the steps of:

forwarding a first request over the communications network from the first computer to the second computer, said first request containing first text to be synthesized;

forwarding a second request over the communications network from the third computer to the second computer, said second request containing second text to be synthesized;

generating at server means in the second computer a first voice data response by performing a speech synthesis function on the first text in the first request from the first computer, and generating at the server means in the second computer a second voice data response by performing a speech synthesis function on the second text in the second request from the third computer;

transmitting the first voice data response and the second voice data response to the first computer and third computer respectively;

receiving the first voice data response from the second computer at the first computer, and forwarding said first voice data response out over the telephone network;

receiving the second voice data response from the second computer at the third computer, and forwarding said second voice data response out over the telephone network.

35. The method of claim 33 or 34 wherein the first, second, and third computers are nodes on a local area network (LAN), and said communications network is provided by the LAN.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a request to access said server means at a resource controller from said first or third computer;

determining by said resource controller whether the requested resource can be provided by said server means;

and responding by said resource controller in accordance with said determination to said first or third computer.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the resource controller is located on the second computer.

34. A method for interactively processing first and second telephone calls, comprising at least a first computer, a second computer, and a third computer, connected together by a communications network, wherein said first computer handles said first telephone call and said third computer handles said second telephone call,

the first computer including first interface means for attachment to the telephone network for receiving a first telephone signal including a first voice signal over said telephone network;

means for forwarding the first telephone signal over the communications network to the second computer;

means for receiving first voice data from the second computer; and

means for providing a first voice response to said first telephone call in accordance with said first voice data;

the third computer including second interface means for attachment to the telephone network for receiving a second telephone signal including a second voice signal over said telephone network;

means for forwarding the second telephone signal over the communications network to the second computer;

means for receiving second voice data from the second computer; and

means for providing a second voice response to said second telephone call in accordance with said second voice data; and

the second computer including server means for generating said first voice data by performing a voice recognition function on the first voice signal in the telephone signal received from the first computer, and for generating said second voice data by performing a voice recognition function on the second voice signal in the telephone signal received from the third computer; and

means for transmitting the first voice data and the second voice data to the first computer and the third computer respectively.