Identifying an unidentified person using an ambiguity-resolution criterion

• US 6,526,126 B1
• Filed: 03/02/2001
• Issued: 02/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Zarbana Digital Fund LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Distributed Software Development, Inc., Sanford J. Morganstein
• Inventors: Morganstein, Sanford J., Zaks, Sergey
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoosain, Allan
• Application Number:
  US09/799,977
• Time in Patent Office: 725 Days
• Field of Search: 379/69, 379/88.01, 379/88.02, 379/88.03, 379/88.04, 379/88.17, 379/88.18, 379/88.19, 379/88.2, 379/88.21, 379/91.01, 379/93.03, 379/127.01, 379/127.02, 379/142.05, 379/189, 379/201.11
• US Class Current: 379/88.02
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/22 Interactive procedures; Man-machine interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/41 using speaker recognition speaker recognition per se G10L17/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/22 Automatic class or number identification arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2281 Call monitoring, e.g. for law enforcement purposes; Call tracing; Detection or prevention of malicious calls
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/229 Wire identification arrangements; Number assignment determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/382 using authorisation codes or passwords
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/385 using speech signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/387 using subscriber identification cards
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42059 Making use of the calling party identifier
• 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 3/53358 Message preview
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53366 Message disposing or creating aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13003 Constructional details of switching devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/1305 Software aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13091 CLI, identification of calling line
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13093 Personal computer, PC
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13095 PIN / Access code, authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13103 : Memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13141 : Hunting for free outlet, circuit or channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13175 : Graphical user interface [GUI], WWW interface, visual indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13204 : Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13271 : Forced release
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13282 : Call forward, follow-me, call diversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2213/13353 : Routing table, map memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/72 : Finding out and indicating number of calling subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/74 : Identification of subscriber calling from a party-line

Abstract

A system (8, 60, 500) for identifying an unidentified person (14, 510) includes a database (42) that contains utterance data (162) and an ambiguity-resolution criterion (114, 119, 121) corresponding to a known person. A processing system (10, 11, 502) is coupled to the database (42) and receives utterance information and an ambiguity-resolution identifier corresponding to the unidentified person (14, 510). The processing system (10, 11, 502) compares the utterance information with the utterance data (162) to identify the unidentified person (14, 510) as at least one known person. If the processing system (10, 11, 502) ambiguously identifies the unidentified person (14, 510) as more than one known person, the processing system (10, 11, 502) compares the ambiguity-resolution identifier with the ambiguity-resolution criterion (114, 119, 121) to identify the unidentified person (14, 510) as a particular known person. In response to identifying the person (14, 510), the processing system (10, 11, 502) may automatically retrieve stored information (104, 132, 162) corresponding to the known customer.

Claims

1. Software for automatically and unambiguously identifying a currently unidentified caller as a particular known person, the software embodied in a computer-readable medium and when executed by a computer operable to:

access both stored digital representations of speech and stored ambiguity-resolution criteria identified with a plurality of known persons, the digital representations of speech for the known persons being independent of account codes for the known persons, the ambiguity-resolution criteria for the known persons being independent of the digital representations of speech for the known persons, the digital representations of speech and stored ambiguity-resolution criteria having been stored in previous sessions;

access, in a current session prior to identification of the currently unidentified person, both a digital representation of speech for the caller and an ambiguity-resolution identifier for the caller, the digital representation of speech for the caller being independent of an account code for the caller, the ambiguity-resolution identifier for the caller being independent of the digital representation of speech for the caller, the digital representations of speech and stored ambiguity-resolution criteria having been received in the current session;

perform a first automatic comparison of the digital representation of speech for the still currently unidentified caller with at least some of the stored digital representations of speech for the known persons;

identify the caller as at least one of the known persons; and

if the caller is ambiguously identified as more than one of the known persons as a result of the first automatic comparison, perform a second automatic comparison of the ambiguity-resolution identifier for the caller that was received in the current session prior to identification of the caller with at least one selected ambiguity-resolution criterion for a known person that was stored in a previous session to unambiguously identify the caller as a particular one of the known persons, the second automatic comparison being performed independent of human interaction between the first and second automatic comparisons;

the ambiguity-resolution criterion for the selected known person comprising a store identifier.

2. The software of claim 1, wherein the store identifier is determined at a point of sale.

3. The software of claim 1, further operable to automatically retrieve stored information corresponding to the particular known person in response to unambiguously identifying the caller as the particular known person.

4. Software for automatically and unambiguously identifying a currently unidentified caller as a particular known person, the software embodied in a computer-readable medium and when executed by a computer operable to:

access both stored digital representations of speech and stored ambiguity-resolution criteria identified with a plurality of known persons, the digital representations of speech for the known persons being independent of account codes for the known persons, the ambiguity-resolution criteria for the known persons being independent of the digital representations of speech for the known persons, the digital representations of speech and stored ambiguity-resolution criteria having been stored in previous sessions;

access, in a current session prior to identification of the currently unidentified person, both a digital representation of speech for the caller and an ambiguity-resolution identifier for the caller, the digital representation of speech for the caller being independent of an account code for the caller, the ambiguity-resolution identifier for the caller being independent of the digital representation of speech for the caller, the digital representations of speech and stored ambiguity-resolution criteria having been received in the current session;

perform a first automatic comparison of the digital representation of speech for the still currently unidentified caller with at least some of the stored digital representations of speech for the known persons;

identify the caller as at least one of the known persons; and

if the caller is ambiguously identified as more than one of the known persons as a result of the first automatic comparison, perform a second automatic comparison of the ambiguity-resolution identifier for the caller that was received in the current session prior to identification of the caller with at least one selected ambiguity-resolution criterion for a known person that was stored in a previous session to unambiguously identify the caller as a particular one of the known persons, the second automatic comparison being performed independent of human interaction between the first and second automatic comparisons;

the ambiguity-resolution criterion for the selected known person comprising historical purchasing information.

5. The software of claim 4, further operable to automatically retrieve stored information corresponding to the particular known person in response to unambiguously identifying the caller as the particular known person.

6. A system for authenticating a caller before providing the caller with access to one or more secured resources, comprising:

identification data stored during system enrollment of a plurality of known persons;

verification data stored during system enrollment of the plurality of known persons; and

a processing system operable to;

in a current call initiated by a currently unidentified caller and prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, receive voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller based on one or more words spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call, the received voice-based information comprising voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller and voice-based verification information for the currently unidentified caller;

automatically compare the received voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, with the stored identification data for a plurality of known persons, which was stored during enrollment of these known persons, to uniquely identify the now identified caller as a particular one of these known persons;

automatically compare the received voice-based verification information for the now identified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the now identified caller, with the stored verification data for at least the particular one of the known persons, which was stored during enrollment of the particular one of the known persons, to verify the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons; and

authenticate the now identified caller for access to the one or more secured resources in response to the verification of the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;

the received voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller comprising a digital representation of a telephone number spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processing system is further operable to automatically retrieve stored account or order information for the particular one of the known persons in response to authenticating the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the processing system is further operable to route the current call to a destination in response to authenticating the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons.

9. A method for authenticating a caller before providing the caller with access to one or more secured resources, comprising:

in a current call initiated by a currently unidentified caller and prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, receiving voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller based on one or more words spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call, the received voice-based information comprising voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller and voice-based verification information for the currently unidentified caller;

accessing identification data stored during system enrollment of a plurality of known persons;

automatically comparing the received voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, with the stored identification data for a plurality of known persons, which was stored during enrollment of these known persons, to uniquely identify the now identified caller as a particular one of these known persons;

accessing verification data stored during system enrollment of the plurality of known persons;

automatically comparing the received voice-based verification information for the now identified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the now identified caller, with the stored verification data for at least the particular one of the known persons, which was stored during enrollment of the particular one of the known persons, to verify the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons; and

authenticating the now identified caller for access to the one or more secured resources in response to the verification of the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;

the received voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller comprising a digital representation of a telephone number spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising automatically retrieving stored account or order information for the particular one of the known persons in response to authenticating the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising routing the current call to a destination in response to authenticating the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons.

12. Software for authenticating a caller before providing the caller with access to one or more secured resources, the software being embodied in computer-readable media and when executed operable to:

in a current call initiated by a currently unidentified caller and prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, receive voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller based on one or more words spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call, the received voice-based information comprising voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller and voice-based verification information for the currently unidentified caller;

access identification data stored during system enrollment of a plurality of known persons;

automatically compare the received voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, with the stored identification data for a plurality of known persons, which was stored during enrollment of these known persons, to uniquely identify the now identified caller as a particular one of these known persons;

access verification data stored during system enrollment of the plurality of known persons;

automatically compare the received voice-based verification information for the now identified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the now identified caller, with the stored verification data for at least the particular one of the known persons, which was stored during enrollment of the particular one of the known persons, to verify the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons; and

authenticate the now identified caller for access to the one or more secured resources in response to the verification of the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;

the received voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller comprising a digital representation of a telephone number spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call.

13. The software of claim 12, further operable to automatically retrieve stored account or order information for the particular one of the known persons in response to authenticating the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons.

14. The software of claim 12, further operable to route the current call to a destination in response to authenticating the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons.

15. A system for authenticating a caller before providing the caller with access to on e or more secured resources, comprising:

means for storing identification data and verification data during system enrollment of a plurality of known persons;

means for, in a current call initiated by a currently unidentified caller and prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, receiving voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller based on one or more words spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call, the received voice-based information comprising voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller and voice-based verification information for the currently unidentified caller;

means for automatically comparing the received voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, with the stored identification data for a plurality of known persons, which was stored during enrollment of these known persons, to uniquely identify the now identified caller as a particular one of these known persons;

means for automatically comparing the received voice-based verification information for the now identified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the now identified caller, with the stored verification data for at least the particular one of the known per sons, which was stored during enrollment of the particular one of the known persons, to verify the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons; and

means for authenticating the now identified caller for access to the one or more secured resources in response to the verification of the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;

the received voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller comprising a digital representation of a telephone number spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call.