Playing of audio via voice calls initiated from visual navigation
First Claim
1. A method of interfacing to a user, the method comprising:
- using a data connection to receive a plurality of descriptions of audio contents;
receiving from the user a selection of a first description from among the plurality of descriptions;
automatically placing a voice call to play a first audio content described by the first description in response to the selection; and
returning to using the data connection to receive the descriptions of audio content in response to completion of the voice call.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Descriptions of audio contents available for playback via voice calls are displayed visually on a screen of a telephone handset (such as a cellular phone supporting Internet access, or a personal digital assistant supporting voice telephony). On selection of an audio content, the handset places a voice call to a computer that plays the audio content to the user (during the voice call). A data connection is used to retrieve description(s) for visual display, but this data connection is not used for retrieval of a file containing the audio content. Instead, a voice call is placed in the normal telephony manner, and the audio content is played by the computer that receives the voice call. The just-described method and system eliminates a prior art need for the user to navigate through a set of voice prompts to identify an audio content to be played, e.g. as required by an interactive voice response system. Instead, the user merely uses a display of the handset and the related input mechanism (such as touch screen or keypad) to navigate e.g. through a list of hits from a search engine, or through a number of categories and subcategories to identify an audio content. The combination of a conventional visual interface for navigation and a conventional audio interface for serving audio contents provides the benefits of both: the ease of navigation provided by web pages, and the quality of audio playback provided by the telephone handset.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method of interfacing to a user, the method comprising:
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using a data connection to receive a plurality of descriptions of audio contents; receiving from the user a selection of a first description from among the plurality of descriptions; automatically placing a voice call to play a first audio content described by the first description in response to the selection; and returning to using the data connection to receive the descriptions of audio content in response to completion of the voice call. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method of interfacing to a user, the method comprising:
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using a data connection to receive a description of an audio content; receiving from the user a command to play the audio content; automatically placing a voice call to play the audio content in response to the command; and returning to using the data connection to receive at least one of the group of;
the description of the audio content and a description of another audio content, in response to completion of the voice call. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. The method of claim 29 wherein:
the information being provided includes an identifier of an audio content currently described to the user.
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30. A method of interfacing to a user, the method comprising:
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using a data connection to receive a number of descriptions of audio content; displaying the descriptions to the user; receiving from the user a command to play one of the audio contents described by the descriptions; placing a voice call in response to the command; playing said audio content to the user during the voice call; and returning to using the data connection to receive the descriptions of audio content in response to completion of the voice call. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification