Who said that? teleconference speaker identification apparatus and method
First Claim
1. A teleconference apparatus, comprising:
- initialization means for initializing a call between a plurality of first participants located in a first station calling on a first line and at least one second participant located in a second station calling on a second line, the first station being remote from the second station; and
identification means for identifying a position of at least one of the plurality of first participants in the first station on the first line responsive to a request from the at least one second participant in the second station, where the at least one second participant initiates the request each time the at least one second participant requests identification of the position of the at least one of the plurality of first participants located in the first station after initializing the call and where the identification means does not continuously display a list of participants last to speak from the plurality of first participants and the at least one second participant and where the identification means does not continuously receive and is not continuously aware of the identity of the last participant to speak;
where the initialization means includes means for determining a position corresponding to each of the first and second participants in the first and second stations, respectively;
where the identification means determines the identity of the at least one of the plurality of first participants responsive to the request and by associating the at least one of the plurality of first participants with their position;
where the initialization means comprises table means for creating a table associating each of the first participants and the at least one second participant to their position in the first and second stations, respectively;
where the identification means uses the table to identify the at least one first participant; and
where the table is a random access memory.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to an apparatus and method for identifying teleconference participants. More particularly, the invention relates to a conference system that includes an initialization means for initializing a call between participants located in at least two remote stations and an identification means for identifying one of the participants in one remote station responsive to a request from another of the participants in another remote station. The initialization means comprises table means for creating a table associating each of the participants to a position in a particular remote station and including a recorded voice segment of each of the participants. The identification means uses the table to identify the participant last to speak by looking up the position of the last speaker on the table and playing back the recorded voice segment of the participant associated with that position.
254 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A teleconference apparatus, comprising:
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initialization means for initializing a call between a plurality of first participants located in a first station calling on a first line and at least one second participant located in a second station calling on a second line, the first station being remote from the second station; and identification means for identifying a position of at least one of the plurality of first participants in the first station on the first line responsive to a request from the at least one second participant in the second station, where the at least one second participant initiates the request each time the at least one second participant requests identification of the position of the at least one of the plurality of first participants located in the first station after initializing the call and where the identification means does not continuously display a list of participants last to speak from the plurality of first participants and the at least one second participant and where the identification means does not continuously receive and is not continuously aware of the identity of the last participant to speak; where the initialization means includes means for determining a position corresponding to each of the first and second participants in the first and second stations, respectively; where the identification means determines the identity of the at least one of the plurality of first participants responsive to the request and by associating the at least one of the plurality of first participants with their position; where the initialization means comprises table means for creating a table associating each of the first participants and the at least one second participant to their position in the first and second stations, respectively; where the identification means uses the table to identify the at least one first participant; and where the table is a random access memory.
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2. A teleconference apparatus comprising:
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initialization means for initializing a call between a plurality of first participants located in a first station calling on a first line and at least one second participant located in a second station calling on a second line, the first station being remote from the second station; and identification means for identifying a position of at least one of the plurality of first participants in the first station on the first line responsive to a request from the at least one second participant in the second station, where the at least one second participant initiates the request each time the at least one second participant requests identification of the position of the at least one of the plurality of first participants located in the first station after initializing the call and where the identification means does not continuously display a list of participants last to speak from the plurality of first participants and the at least one second participant and where the identification means does not continuously receive and is not continuously aware of the identity of the last participant to speak; where the initialization means includes means for determining a position corresponding to each of the first and second participants in the first and second stations, respectively; where the identification means determines the identity of the at least one of the plurality of first participants responsive to the request and by associating the at least one of the plurality of first participants with their position; where the initialization means comprises; means for receiving a station identification identifying the first and second stations; and recording means for recording a voice segment corresponding to each of first and second participants in each of the first and second stations. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A call conference apparatus comprising:
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an initialization module to initialize a call between a plurality of first participants in a first station calling on a first line and a plurality of second participants in a second station calling on a second line, the initialization module including a position identification module to associate a position with each of the first and second participants; and an identification module to identify a last speaking participant of the first participants on the first line responsive to a request from one of the second participants on the second line, the identification module identifying the last speaking participant by identifying the position of the last speaking participant, where the one of the second participants initiates the request each time the one of the second participants requests identification of the position of at least one of the first participants located in the first station after initializing the call and where the identification module does not continuously display a list of participants last to speak from the plurality of first participants and the plurality of second participants and where the identification module does not continuously receive and is not continuously aware of the identity of the last participant to speak; where the initialization module and the identification module are part of a server; where the initialization module is adapted to create a table associating each of the first and second participants to their associated position in the first and second stations, respectively; where the identification module is adapted to use the table to identify the last speaking participant; and where the table is a random access memory.
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9. A call conference apparatus comprising:
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an initialization module to initialize a call between a plurality of first participants in a first station calling on a first line and a plurality of second participants in a second station calling on a second line, the initialization module including a position identification module to associate a position with each of the first and second participants; and an identification module to identify a last speaking participant of the first participants on the first line responsive to a request from one of the second participants on the second line, the identification module identifying the last speaking participant by identifying the position of the last speaking participant, where the one of the second participants initiates the request each time the one of the second participants requests identification of the position of at least one of the first participants located in the first station after initializing the call and where the identification module does not continuously display a list of participants last to speak from the plurality of first participants and the plurality of second participants and where the identification module does not continuously receive and is not continuously aware of the identity of the last participant to speak; where the initialization module and the identification module are part of a server; where the initialization module receives a station identification identifying the first and second stations and determines the positions corresponding to each of the first and second participants; and where the initialization module is adapted to record a voice segment corresponding to each of the first and second participants. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A call conference apparatus, comprising:
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an initialization module to initialize a call between a plurality of first participants in a first station calling on a first line and a plurality of second participants in a second station calling on a second line, the initialization module including a position identification module to associate a position with each of the first and second participants; and an identification module to identify a last speaking participant of the first participants on the first line responsive to a request from one of the second participants on the second line, the identification module identifying the last speaking participant by identifying the position of the last speaking participant, where the one of the second participants initiates the request each time the one of the second participants requests identification of the position of the last speaking participant of the first participants located in the first station after initializing the call and where the identification module is configured to not continuously display a list of participants last to speak from the plurality of first participants and the plurality of second participants; where the identification module is configured to not continuously receive and not continuously be aware of the identity of the last participant to speak; where the initialization module and the identification module are part of a server; where the initialization module comprises a prompt module adapted to generate and sequentially transmit a station prompt to the first and second stations; and where the initialization and identification modules are adapted to operate responsive to the station prompt.
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14. A conference station, comprising:
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initialization means for initializing a conference call between conference participants located at the conference station calling on a first line and remote participants located in a remote station calling on a second line, the conference and remote station being geographically distant from each other, the initialization means including a position identification means to associate a position with each of the conference and remote participants; identification means for identifying each of the conference and remote participants calling on the first and second lines, respectively, by associating their corresponding position in their corresponding station responsive to a request from one of the conference or remote participants, where the conference or remote participants initiates the request each time the conference or remote participants requests identification of the position of any of the other conference or remote participants after initializing the conference call and where the identification means does not continuous display a list of participants last to speak from the conference participants and the remote participants and where the identification means does not continuously receive and is not continuously aware of the identity of the last participant to speak; and request means for requesting identification of the position associated with at least one of the remote participants to the identification means; where the identification means comprises; voice segment transmitting means for transmitting a voice segment associated with each of the conference and remote participants to a central server using the first and second lines, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method comprising:
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initializing a conference call between a plurality of first participants in a first station calling on a first line and at least one second participant in a second station calling on a second line, the first station being remote from the second station; determining a position associated with the first participants and the at least one second participant; receiving an identification request requesting identification of a participant last to speak at the first station from a participant at the second station, where the at least one second participant initiates the request each time the at least one second participant requests identification of the position of any of the first participants located in the first station after initializing the call; and identifying the participant last to speak responsive to the request by identifying its position, where the identifying does not continuously display a list of participants last to speak from the plurality of first participants and the at least one second participant and where the identifying does not continuously receive and is not continuously aware of the identity of the last participant to speak; where the initializing, receiving, and identifying occur at a central server operatively coupled to the first and second stations; and where initializing comprises; sequentially prompting each of the first and second stations for information relating to its corresponding first and at least one second participants using the first and second lines, respectively; and providing information relating to the first and at least one second participants responsive to the prompt. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An article comprising a machine-accessible medium having associated data that, when accessed, results in a machine:
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initializing a conference call between first participants at a first station calling on a first line and second participants at a second station calling on a second line, the first station being remote from the second station; determining a position associated with the first participants and the at least one second participant; receiving an identification request for a participant last to speak at the first station from a participant at the second station, where any of the second participants initiates the request each time the any second participant requests identification of the position of any of the first participants located in the first station after initializing the conference call; and identifying the participant last to speak responsive to the request by identifying its position, where the identifying does not include continuously displaying a list of participants last to speak from the first participants and the second participants and where the identifying does not include continuously receiving and continuously be aware of the identity of the last participant to speak; where the initializing, receiving, and identifying occur at a server operatively coupled to the first and second stations; sequentially prompting each of the participants at the first and second stations using the first and second lines, respectively; and recording a voice segment associated with each participant at the first and second stations responsive to the prompt. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification