System and method for gathering, personalized rendering, and secure telephonic transmission of audio data

• US 6,529,586 B1
• Filed: 08/31/2000
• Issued: 03/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle Cable, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Elvins, T. Todd, Shinn, Philip, Fassett, Robert T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gauthier, Gerald
• Application Number:
  US09/653,472
• Time in Patent Office: 915 Days
• Field of Search: 379/88.17, 379/88.13, 379/93.01, 379/93.25, 379/93.24, 707/5, 707/513
• US Class Current: 379/88.13
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/401 wherein the services involve a main real-time session and one or more additional parallel real-time or time sensitive sessions, e.g. white board sharing or spawning of a subconference
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

An audio information delivery system collects electronic data via Internet or other conveyance, and responsive to customer inquiries, selectively retrieves data from local stores in areas of interest to the inquiring customers, formats the data, and transmits the data in audio form to the customers via their telephones. Initially, an information delivery agency makes advance arrangements with remotely located content providers to repeatedly obtain information of prescribed character. Agency computers continually gather digitally stored audio and text information from the predefined content providers and assemble the gathered information into a universal database. Separately, the agency enrolls a number of individual customers, which includes obtaining each customer'"'"'s preferences regarding information content and playback order. Responsive to a telephone call from a registered customer, agency'"'"'s computers retrieve the caller'"'"'s pre-stored preferences and proceed to identify information in the universal database that pertains to the caller'"'"'s subject matter preferences. After preparing vocalizations of the text information, agency computer equipment audibly presents the audio information and vocalizations to the caller in predetermined order via the caller'"'"'s telephone connection. This is achieved, for example, by using an intermediate telephone network such as a wireless carrier network.

Claims

1. A method for delivering audio information to telephone callers, comprising operations of:

upon the occurrence of pre-specified downloading events, continually downloading digital representations of audio and text information concerning predefined topics from content providers into a universal database, said downloading being conducted according to individual customer preferences;

receiving callers'"'"' telephone calls over respective telephone connections;

performing the following operations responsive to the receipt of each telephone call;

determining whether the caller has completed a predefined enrollment process;

only if the caller has completed the enrollment process, performing playback operations comprising;

retrieving pre-stored preferences specific to the caller, said preferences including content preferences;

identifying information in the universal database that pertains to the caller'"'"'s pre-stored content preferences;

preparing vocalizations of text information present in the identified information;

audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller in predetermined order via the caller'"'"'s telephone connection.

2. The method of claim 1, the gathering of information from the content providers being conducted via conveyances including at least one of the following:

Internet, satellite connection, telephone, dedicated communication lines, postal delivery.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing the predefined enrollment process for one or more persons, comprising the following operations for each person:

communicating with the person to obtain preferences specific to the person, where said preferences include;

a predetermined playback order for future audible presentation of information to the person; and

content preferences within the predefined topics; and

storing the obtained preferences.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the communicating operation is performed by the person utilizing a personal computer.

5. The method of claim 1, the operation of audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller comprising:

transmitting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller independent of the Internet.

6. The method of claim 1, the operation of audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller comprising:

transmitting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller via voice telephone call.

7. The method of claim 1, the operation of determining whether the caller has completed the predefined enrollment process including performing a log-in process comprising:

attempting to identify a telephone number from which the caller originated the telephone connection; and

responsive to identifying a telephone number from which the caller originated the telephone connection, accessing pre-stored log-in profile data to determine whether the identified telephone number corresponds to an enrolled customer.

8. The method of claim 7, the log-in process further comprising:

aborting the playback operations unless the identified telephone number corresponds to an enrolled customer.

9. The method of claim 8, the log-in process further including operations of:

if the identified telephone number does not correspond to an enrolled customer, requiring the caller to manually submit a telephone number, and determining whether the manually submitted telephone number corresponds to an enrolled customer.

10. The method of claim 7, the log-in process further comprising:

if the identified telephone number corresponds to an existing customer, consulting the log-in profile data to determine security preferences for the caller;

if the caller'"'"'s security preferences do not specify expedited log-in, requiring the caller to enter a predefined personal identification code as a condition to starting the playback operations; and

if the customer'"'"'s security preferences specify expedited log-in, commencing the playback operations without requiring further action by the caller.

11. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

during the operation of audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations, detecting caller interrupt activity including at least one of the following;

telephone touchpad key entry, voice command utterance;

responsive to detection of interrupt activity,

if the caller interrupt activity has a first predetermined content, changing the order of the audible presentation;

if the caller interrupt activity has a second predetermined content different from the first predetermined content, aborting the audible presentation and audibly presenting a menu-of options to the caller.

12. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

designating multiple predetermined touchpad key patterns each pattern including multiple keys;

during the operation of audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations, detecting caller entry of a telephone touchpad key; and

responsive to detection of the telephone touchpad key entry, taking different actions depending upon which predetermined touchpad key pattern contains the entered telephone touchpad key.

13. The method of claim 12, each predetermined touchpad key pattern comprising a column of touchpad keys.

14. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

during the operation of audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations, detecting entry of a telephone touchpad key by the caller, the telephone touchpad keys residing in three columns;

responsive to detection of the telephone touchpad key entry,

if the entered telephone touchpad key resides within a first one of the touchpad key columns, changing the predetermined order of the audibly presenting audio information and vocalizations to the caller;

if the entered telephone touchpad key resides within a second one of the touchpad key columns, pausing the audible presentation of audio information and vocalizations until the caller performs a predetermined action; and

if the entered telephone touchpad key resides within a third one of the touchpad key columns, changing a state of whether the call processing system responds to voice commands uttered by the caller to alter characteristics of the playback operations.

15. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

responsive to completing the operation of audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller, initiating a new performance of the presenting operation.

16. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

responsive to completing the operation of audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller, initiating a new performance of the playback operations.

17. The method of claim 1, the operations further comprising:

responsive to completing the operation of audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller, audibly presenting a menu of options to the caller.

18. A method for delivering audio information to telephone callers, comprising operations of:

upon the occurrence of pre-specified downloading events, continually downloading digital representations of audio and text information concerning multiple predefined topics from different content providers into a universal database, said downloading being conducted according to individual customer preferences;

a computerized call processing system receiving callers'"'"' telephone calls over respective telephone connections;

responsive to receipt of each telephone call, the call processing system performing the following operations responsive to the receipt of each telephone call;

determining whether the caller has completed a predefined enrollment process;

only if the caller has completed the enrollment process, performing playback operations comprising;

retrieving pre-stored preferences specific to the caller, said preferences including subject matter preferences;

identifying information in the universal database that pertains to the caller'"'"'s pre-stored subject matter preferences;

preparing vocalizations of text information present in the identified information;

audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller in predetermined order via the caller'"'"'s telephone connection.

19. A method of delivering audio information to telephone callers, comprising operations of:

a computerized call processing system receiving callers'"'"' telephone calls over respective telephone connections;

upon the occurrence of pre-specified downloading events, continually downloading digital representations of audio and text information concerning multiple predefined topics from different content providers into a universal database, said downloading being conducted according to individual customer preferences;

responsive to receipt of each telephone call, the call processing system performing the following operations during each telephone call;

determining whether the caller has completed a predefined enrollment process;

only if the caller has completed the enrollment process, performing playback operations comprising;

retrieving pre-stored preferences specific to the calling customer, said preferences including some subject matter preferences;

preparing vocalizations of text information present in the caller service database;

audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller in predetermined order via the caller'"'"'s telephone connection.

20. A method rendering audio information delivery services, comprising the following operations performed by an information delivery agency:

making arrangements for remotely located content providers to supply information of prescribed character;

upon the occurrence of pre-specified downloading events, continually downloading digital representations of audio and text information concerning multiple predefined topics from different content providers into a universal database, said downloading being conducted according to individual customer preferences;

individually enrolling a number of customers, the enrollment operation including obtaining preferences of each customer;

responsive to receiving a telephone call from a previously enrolled customer over a telephone connection,

retrieving pre-stored preferences specific to the customer, said preferences including content preferences;

identifying information of the universal database that pertains to the customer'"'"'s pre-stored content preferences;

preparing vocalizations of text information present in the identified information;

audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations to the customer in predetermined order via the customer'"'"'s telephone connection.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein:

the operations further include, prior to retrieving the customer'"'"'s pre-stored preferences, determining whether the customer has completed the enrollment operation;

the operation of retrieving the customer'"'"'s pre-stored preferences being performed only if the customer has completed the enrollment operation.

22. The method of claim 20, where the operation of making arrangements for remotely located content providers to repeatedly supply information of prescribed character comprises:

subscribing to one or more news services.

23. A signal-bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform a method for delivering audio information to telephone callers, said method comprising operations of:

upon the occurrence of pre-specified downloading events, continually downloading digital representations of audio and text information concerning predefined topics from content providers into a universal database, said downloading being conducted according to individual customer preferences;

detecting receipt of callers'"'"' telephone calls, and performing the following operations during each telephone call;

determining whether the caller has completed a predefined enrollment process;

only if the caller has completed the enrollment process, performing playback operations comprising;

retrieving pre-stored preferences specific to the caller, said preferences including subject matter preferences;

identifying information in the universal database that pertains to the caller'"'"'s pre-stored subject matter preferences;

preparing vocalizations of text information present in the identified information; and

audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller in predetermined order via the caller'"'"'s telephone connection.

24. A logic circuit of multiple interconnected electrically conductive elements configured to perform operations to deliver audio information to telephone callers, the operations comprising:

upon the occurrence of pre-specified downloading events, continually downloading digital representations of audio and text information concerning predefined topics from content providers into a universal database, said downloading being conducted according to individual customer preferences;

detecting receipt of callers'"'"' telephone calls, and performing the following operations during each telephone call;

determining whether the caller has completed a predefined enrollment process;

only if the caller has completed the enrollment process, performing playback operations comprising;

retrieving pre-stored preferences specific to the caller, said preferences including subject matter preferences;

identifying information in the universal database that pertains to the caller'"'"'s pre-stored subject matter preferences;

preparing vocalizations of text information present in the identified information; and

audibly presenting the audio information and vocalizations to the caller in predetermined order via the caller'"'"'s telephone connection.

25. An apparatus for delivering audio information to telephone callers, comprising:

a digital data storage;

a telephony server configured to receive callers'"'"' telephone calls over telephone connections and engage in communications with the callers'"'"' via the respective connections;

a content processor coupled to the storage, and programmed to upon occurrence of pre-specified downloading events, continually download digital representations of audio and text information concerning predefined topics from a predefined list of remotely located content providers and placing the downloaded representations in the digital data storage, where the downloading operation is conducted according to individual customer preferences;

an account server coupled to the storage, and programmed to perform a predefined enrollment process including receiving and storing log-in profile data and customer preferences;

a session server coupled to the storage and the telephony server, and programmed to respond to receipt of callers'"'"' telephone calls by performing the following operations during each received call;

determining whether the caller has completed the enrollment process;

only if the caller has completed the enrollment process, performing playback operations comprising;

retrieving pre-stored preferences specific to the caller, said preferences including some content preferences;

identifying information of the universal database that pertains to the caller'"'"'s pre-stored content preferences;

preparing vocalizations of at least some of the identified information that comprises text; and

transmitting the audio information and vocalizations in predetermined order to the telephony server for audible presentation to the user via the caller'"'"'s telephone connection.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, the storage comprising:

a first storage containing digital representations of audio sounds; and

a second storage containing digital representations of textual information and pointers to the digital representations of audio sounds.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, the telephony server being programmed to transmit the audio information and vocalizations to the caller'"'"'s telephone independent of the Internet.

28. The apparatus of claim 25, the telephony server being programmed to exchange information with the caller via an intermediate telephone network independent of the Internet.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, the intermediate telephone network comprising a wireless telephone network.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, the intermediate telephone network comprising one or more public switched telephone network.

31. A system for delivering audio information to telephone callers, comprising:

a digital data storage;

a telephony server configured to receive callers'"'"' telephone calls over telephone connections and engage in communications with the callers via the respective connections;

a content processor coupled to the storage, and programmed to upon the occurrence of pre-specified downloading events, continually download digital representations of audio and text information concerning caller-selected topics from a predefined list of remotely located content providers into a universal database, where the downloading operation is conducted according to individual customer preferences;

an account server coupled to the storage, and programmed to perform a predefined enrollment process including receiving and storing log-in profile data and customer preferences;

a session server coupled to the storage and the telephony server, and programmed to respond to receipt of callers'"'"' telephone calls by performing the following operations during each received call;

determining whether the caller has completed the enrollment process;

only if the caller has completed the enrollment process, performing playback operations comprising;

retrieving pre-stored preferences specific to the caller, said preferences including some content preferences;

directing the content processor to construct a caller service database including digital representations of audio and text information particular to the pre-stored preferences of the caller;

preparing vocalizations of at least some of the text information from the caller service database; and

transmitting the audio information from the caller service database and the prepared vocalizations in predetermined order to the telephony server for audible presentation to the user via the caller'"'"'s telephone connection.

32. A system for delivering audio information to telephone callers, comprising:

storage means for storing digital data;

telephony server means for receiving callers'"'"' telephone calls over telephone connections and engaging in communications with the callers via the respective connections;

a content processing means coupled to the storage means, wherein upon the occurrence of pre-specified downloading events, continually downloading digital representations of audio and text information concerning predefined topics from a predefined list of remotely located content providers and pre-assembling the downloaded information into the storage means, the downloading being conducted according to individual customer preferences;

account server means, coupled to the storage means, for performing a predefined enrollment process including receiving and storing log-in profile data and customer preferences;

session server means, coupled to the storage means and the telephony server means, for responding to receipt of customers'"'"' telephone calls by;

determining whether the caller has completed the enrollment process;

only if the caller has completed the enrollment process, performing playback operations comprising;

retrieving pre-stored preferences specific to the caller, said preferences including some content preferences;

identifying information of the universal database that pertains to the caller'"'"'s pre-stored content preferences;

preparing vocalizations of at least some of the identified information that comprises text; and

transmitting the audio information and vocalizations in predetermined order to the telephony server means for audible presentation to the user via the caller'"'"'s telephone connection.

33. A computer-driven system for delivering audio information to telephone callers comprising:

storage means for storing digital data;

telephony server means for receiving callers'"'"' telephone calls over telephone connections and engaging in communications with the callers'"'"' via the respective connections;

content processing means coupled to the storage means, wherein upon the occurrence of pre-specified downloading events, continually downloading digital representations of audio and text information concerning caller-specified topics from a predefined list of remotely located content providers and pre-assembling the downloaded information into the storage means, the downloading being conducted according to individual customer preferences;

account server means, coupled to the storage means, for performing a predefined enrollment process including receiving and storing log-in profile data and customer preferences;

session server means, coupled to the storage means and the telephony server means, for responding to receipt of callers'"'"' telephone calls by;

determining whether the caller has completed the enrollment process;

only if the caller has completed the enrollment process, performing playback operations comprising;

retrieving pre-stored preferences specific to the caller, said preferences including some content preferences;

directing the content processing means to assemble a caller service database including digital representations of audio and text information particular to the pre-stored preferences of this caller utilizing the retrieved pre-stored preferences;

preparing vocalizations of at least some of the text information in the caller service database; and

transmitting the audio information from the caller service database and the prepared vocalizations in predetermined order to the telephony server means for audible presentation to the user via the caller'"'"'s telephone connection.

34. A method of rendering personalized audio content to telephone callers, comprising operations of:

upon the occurrence of pre-specified downloading events, continually downloading information content concerning predefined topics from content suppliers into a universal database, said downloading being conducted according to individual customer preferences;

operating an Internet web server to receive customer content preferences specifying, for each customer, one or more desired topics from a predefined list of topics and, within each topic, one or more desired segments from predefined lists of segments;

responsive to receiving an incoming call from a telephone caller, performing the following operations during the call;

determining whether the caller has previously submitted any customer content preferences;

if the caller has previously submitted customer content preferences, retrieving the caller'"'"'s content preferences including the specified topics and segments, selecting content from the universal database in accordance with retrieved content preferences, and commencing a process of automatically audibly presenting the selected content in predetermined order to the caller'"'"'s telephone.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

during the call, varying one or more characteristics of said presenting operation according to audible output of the customer'"'"'s telephone.