System and method for volume control management in a personal telephony recorder

• US 7,065,198 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2002
• Issued: 06/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Winters, Scott Lee, Moore, Victor S., Paolini, Michael A., Brown, Michael Wayne, McIntyre, Joseph Herbert
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): SING, SIMON P
• Application Number:
  US10/279,674
• Publication Number:
  US 20040081293A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,336 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 379/202.01
• 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 3/42042 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 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15

Abstract

A system and method for recording a telephone conference and replaying a portion of the recording during the conference. Users participate by connecting through different types of networks using a device having a communication line connection. The recording can be in audio format, text format, or both. Thus, users can recall and replay textual information in addition to the recorded audio. Other information-such as time and user data-may also be recorded along with the audio and text. Users in the conference are identified to enable the association with them each user'"'"'s contribution to the conference. The user or the user'"'"'s device can assist by providing identification information. User identification may also be accomplished by associating each user'"'"'s contribution with the particular line the user is calling from. Caller ID information may also be used to identify the user. Voice analysis may also performed to accomplish user identification.

Claims

1. A method of managing telephone call participants, said method comprising:

initiating a telephone call between a plurality of participants;

receiving, during the telephone call, a plurality of voice inputs from the participants;

identifying, during the telephone call, the participant corresponding to each of the received voice inputs;

recording the voice inputs and the identifiers corresponding to the participants into a memory area, wherein the identifiers indicate the voice inputs received from each of the individual participants;

adjusting, during the telephone call, a volume level of a first voice input received from a first participant, wherein the adjusting is based on the identity of the first participant; and

transmitting, during the telephone call, the adjusted voice input to a second participant.

2. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the identifying further comprises:

determining a communication line to which a selected participant is connected; and

associating the communication line to the selected participant.

3. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the identifying further comprises:

capturing one or more voice signatures corresponding to the voice inputs received from one or more of the participants;

associating each captured voice signature with a different one of the participants;

subsequently receiving voice inputs from the participants;

comparing the subsequently received voice inputs with the captured voice signatures; and

selecting at least one of the participants based upon the comparison.

4. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

creating a transcript report after completion of the telephone call, the creating including;

retrieving, from the memory area, the participant identifiers and the voice data received from the identified participants in the same order in which the voice data was recorded;

converting the retrieved voice data to a textual form; and

displaying the participant corresponding to each participant identifier and the corresponding converted textual form of the voice data.

5. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving one or more fields of participant data from one or more of the participants, wherein at least one of the fields of participant data is selected from the group consisting of a participant'"'"'s name, a participant'"'"'s identifier, a participant'"'"'s role, a participant'"'"'s organization, a participant'"'"'s contact information, a participant'"'"'s email address, a participant'"'"'s phone number, a participant'"'"'s job title, a participant'"'"'s address, and a participant'"'"'s nickname.

6. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, during the telephone call, an incoming volume adjustment request from the second participant, the incoming volume adjustment request including an incoming volume adjustment value, and

wherein the adjusting is further based on the incoming volume adjustment value.

7. The method as described in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, during the telephone call, an outgoing volume adjustment request from the first participant, the outgoing volume adjustment request including an outgoing volume adjustment value, and

wherein the adjusting is further based on the outgoing volume adjustment value.

8. An information handling system comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory area accessible by the processors for storing telephone call data;

a transmitter for transmitting voice input received over a data network;

a receiver for receiving voice data from the data network; and

a call participant tool for managing telephone call participants, the call participant tool including;

means for initiating a telephone call between a plurality of participants through the data network;

means for receiving, during the telephone call, a plurality of voice inputs from the participants over the data network;

means for identifying, during the telephone call, the participant corresponding to each of the received voice inputs;

means for recording the voice inputs and the identifiers corresponding to the participants into the memory area, wherein the identifiers indicate the voice inputs received from each of the individual participants;

means for adjusting, during the telephone call, a volume level of a first voice input received from a first participant, wherein the adjusting is based on the identity of the first participant; and

means for transmitting, during the telephone call, the adjusted voice input to a second participant.

9. The information handling system as described in claim 8 wherein the means for identifying further comprises:

means for determining a communication line to which a selected participant is connected; and

means for associating the communication line to the selected participant.

10. The information handling system as described in claim 8 wherein the means for identifying further comprises:

means for capturing one or more voice signatures corresponding to the voice inputs received from one or more of the participants;

means for associating each captured voice signature with one a different one of the participants;

means for subsequently receiving voice inputs from the participants;

means for comparing the subsequently received voice inputs with the captured voice signatures; and

means for selecting at least one of the participants based upon the comparison.

11. The information handling system as described in claim 8 further comprising:

means for creating a transcript report after completion of the telephone call, the creating including;

p2 means for retrieving, from the memory area, the participant identifiers and the voice data received from the identified participants in the same order in which the voice data was recorded;

means for converting the retrieved voice data to a textual form; and

means for displaying the participant corresponding to each participant identifier and the corresponding converted textual form of the voice data.

12. The information handling system as described in claim 8 further comprising:

means for receiving one or more fields of participant data from one or more of the participants, wherein at least one of the fields of participant data is selected from the group consisting of a participant'"'"'s name, a participant'"'"'s identifier, a participant'"'"'s role, a participant'"'"'s organization, a participant'"'"'s contact information, a participant'"'"'s email address, a participant'"'"'s phone number, a participant'"'"'s job title, a participant'"'"'s address, and a participant'"'"'s nickname.

13. The information handling system as described in claim 8 further comprising:

means for receiving, during the telephone call, an incoming volume adjustment request from the second participant, the incoming volume adjustment request including an incoming volume adjustment value, and

wherein the adjusting is further based on the incoming volume adjustment value.

14. The information handling system as described in claim 8 further comprising:

means for receiving, during the telephone call, an outgoing volume adjustment request from the first participant, the outgoing volume adjustment request including an outgoing volume adjustment value, and

wherein the adjusting is further based on the outgoing volume adjustment value.

15. A computer program product stored on a computer operable media for managing telephone call participants, said computer program product comprising:

means for initiating a telephone call between a plurality of participants;

means for receiving, during the telephone call, a plurality of voice inputs from the participants;

means for identifying, during the telephone call, the participant corresponding to each of the received voice inputs;

means for recording the voice inputs and the identifiers corresponding to the participants into a memory area, wherein the identifiers indicate the voice inputs received from each of the individual participants;

means for adjusting, during the telephone call, a volume level of a first voice input received from a first participant, wherein the adjusting is based on the identity of the first participant; and

means for transmitting, during the telephone call, the adjusted voice input to a second participant.

16. The computer program product as described in claim 15 wherein the means for identifying further comprises:

means for determining a communication line to which a selected participant is connected; and

means for associating the communication line to the selected participant.

17. The computer program product as described in claim 15 wherein the means for identifying further comprises:

means for capturing one or more voice signatures corresponding to the voice inputs received from one or more of the participants;

means for associating each captured voice signature with a different one of the participants;

means for subsequently receiving voice inputs from the participants;

means for comparing the subsequently received voice inputs with the captured voice signatures; and

means for selecting at least one of the participants based upon the comparison.

18. The computer program product as described in claim 15 further comprising:

means for creating a transcript report after completion of the telephone call, the creating including;

means for retrieving, from the memory area, the participant identifiers and the voice data received from the identified participants in the same order in which the voice data was recorded;

means for converting the retrieved voice data to a textual form; and

means for displaying the participant corresponding to each participant identifier and the corresponding converted textual form of the voice data.

19. The computer program product as described in claim 15 further comprising:

means for receiving one or more fields of participant data from one or more of the participants, wherein at least one of the fields of participant data is selected from the group consisting of a participant'"'"'s name, a participant'"'"'s identifier, a participant'"'"'s role, a participant'"'"'s organization, a participant'"'"'s contact information, a participant'"'"'s email address, a participant'"'"'s phone number, a participant'"'"'s job title, a participant'"'"'s address, and a participant'"'"'s nickname.

20. The computer program product as described in claim 15 further comprising:

means for receiving, during the telephone call, an incoming volume adjustment request from the second participant, the incoming volume adjustment request including an incoming volume adjustment value, and

wherein the adjusting is further based on the incoming volume adjustment value.

21. The computer program product as described in claim 15 further comprising:

means for receiving, during the telephone call, an outgoing volume adjustment request from the first participant, the outgoing volume adjustment request including an outgoing volume adjustment value, and

wherein the adjusting is further based on the outgoing volume adjustment value.