Screen-less remote voice or tone-controlled computer program operations via telephone set
First Claim
1. A process for enabling a remote user to operate application programs in a personal computer from a remote telecommunications terminal having a tone keypad through a connecting communications network without benefit of any user interaction with a screen display for controlling said application programs, said personal computer comprising:
- a processor;
an internal memory;
a machine-readable medium;
one or more application programs contained in said memory;
a voice command system comprising;
a voice recognition unit;
a voice/text converter comprising;
software for converting voice commands to corresponding application program-specific commands and for converting coded text to voice; and
a controller connecting said personal computer and said voice command system to a network and comprising software for translating tone signals to application program-specific commands, said process comprising the steps of;
transmitting user-entered tone and voiced signals from said terminal to said controller, said tone and voiced signals corresponding to application-specific commands including commands to load a selected application program from said memory to said machine-readable medium;
receiving in said controller said tone and voiced signals and converting said signals in said converter to said corresponding application-specific commands;
said signals including commands to forward a file in said computer to selected destinations including a printer, a copier, a fax machine or an email address;
executing said commands in said processor under control of said controller to perform application program functions;
prompting said user with voiced queries contained in said voice command system to issue sequenced commands, and with voiced announcements of completed command executions; and
interrupting said sequenced commands from said voice command system with one or more unsequenced user-selected voice commands issued from said remote terminal to invoke new application program functions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Computer programs such as word processing, spreadsheet and electronic mail are run from a remote telecommunications terminal, without benefit of any user interaction with a screen display, by software associated with the computer that translates a combination of remotely-generated tone and voice signals to executable application program commands. The communication protocols use a conversant system'"'"'s query-response sequences to call up an application and to run selected portions of the program. Pre-recorded voiceprints of a particular user'"'"'s voice commands and utterances required to operate the software are stored at the computer; and compared during usage to the actual utterances. Insufficient matches result in suspension or termination of access.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A process for enabling a remote user to operate application programs in a personal computer from a remote telecommunications terminal having a tone keypad through a connecting communications network without benefit of any user interaction with a screen display for controlling said application programs, said personal computer comprising:
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a processor;
an internal memory;
a machine-readable medium;
one or more application programs contained in said memory;
a voice command system comprising;a voice recognition unit; a voice/text converter comprising;
software for converting voice commands to corresponding application program-specific commands and for converting coded text to voice; anda controller connecting said personal computer and said voice command system to a network and comprising software for translating tone signals to application program-specific commands, said process comprising the steps of; transmitting user-entered tone and voiced signals from said terminal to said controller, said tone and voiced signals corresponding to application-specific commands including commands to load a selected application program from said memory to said machine-readable medium; receiving in said controller said tone and voiced signals and converting said signals in said converter to said corresponding application-specific commands;
said signals including commands to forward a file in said computer to selected destinations including a printer, a copier, a fax machine or an email address;executing said commands in said processor under control of said controller to perform application program functions; prompting said user with voiced queries contained in said voice command system to issue sequenced commands, and with voiced announcements of completed command executions; and interrupting said sequenced commands from said voice command system with one or more unsequenced user-selected voice commands issued from said remote terminal to invoke new application program functions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 17, 18)
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8. A personal computer comprising a processor, an internal memory, a machine-readable medium, one or more
application programs contained in said internal memory for loading into said machine-readable medium, a modem for connecting said personal computer to an external network, and apparatus for enabling, through a combination of tone signals and voice commands, operation by a user of said one or more application programs from a remote telephone set connected to said network without benefit of any user interaction with a screen display for controlling said application programs, said apparatus comprising: a voice command system comprising; a memory containing application program-specific voiced prompts; and means for translating incoming voice signals to corresponding application program-specific commands; a voice/text converter comprising means for translating text files to voiced words; means for generating a first voiced prompt requesting said user to select an application program for opening; means for generating a sequence of further voiced prompts to said user enabling said user to respond to each said prompt in sequence by voice or by tone signal with selected commands to run said opened application program; and means for responding to any said application program-specific command made by said user out-of-sequence. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A non-volatile storage medium containing computer software encoded in a machine-readable format for enabling a user to remotely control from a telephone set over a telecommunications network application programs in a personal computer without benefit of any user interaction with a screen display for controlling said application programs, said personal computer comprising:
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a processor; application programs stored in an internal memory of said personal computer, a voice command system; and a controller connecting said personal computer to said network through a modem and having an access-limiting unit, said computer software comprising; a set of computer instructions executed in said voice command system for generating a first voiced prompt requesting said user to select an application program to be opened, and thereafter for generating a predetermined sequence of voiced prompts guiding said user to issue by voice or by tone signals a pre-set sequence of commands to run application program functions; a set of computer instructions for receiving said voiced and tone signals and for converting said signals to corresponding application program-specific commands; a set of computer instructions for transmitting said application program-specific commands to said processor to perform application program functions; a set of computer instructions for informing said user with voiced announcements of completed command executions; a set of computer instructions responsive to tone or voice commands to forward a file in said computer to pre-selected destinations; and a set of computer instructions executed in said voice command system for overriding execution of said pre-set sequence of commands, upon receipt from said user of one or more user-selected voice commands which invoke out-of-sequence application program functions. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification