Method and system for the processing of voice data and for the recognition of a language

• US 7,406,413 B2
• Filed: 05/07/2003
• Issued: 07/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Sattler, Jurgen, Geppert, Nicolas Andre
• Primary Examiner(s): MCFADDEN, SUSAN IRIS
• Application Number:
  US10/430,403
• Publication Number:
  US 20040073424A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,910 Days
• Field of Search: 704/2, 704/235, 379/88.01
• US Class Current: 704/235
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/51 Centralised call answering arrangements requiring operator intervention , e.g. call or contact centers for telemarketing

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for processing voice data from a call between a first human party and a second or more human parties and/or an automated attendant system, or between a first human party and one or more second human parties, wherein the voice data is generated from the call. The language of the first party may be recognized automatically. Further, the voice data from the call may be analyzed either fully or in part by a voice recognition system and converted into text.

Claims

1. A method for processing voice data from a call between a first human party and a second or more human parties and/or an automated attendant system, or between a first human party and one or more second human parties, wherein the voice data is generated from the call, the method comprising:

analyzing the voice data using a frequency analysis to produce a first frequency spectrum comprising a specific volume attributed to a specific sonic frequency;

comparing the first frequency spectrum with frequency spectra of different languages to find a match;

recognizing the language of the first party automatically when the match is found;

analyzing the voice data either fully or in part with an automated voice recognition system and converting the voice data into text; and

forwarding the call automatically to a call center provided for the recognized language.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein recognizing the language of the first party is performed in the background during a call.

3. A method in accordance with claim 2, further comprising notifying the first party automatically with the help of language prompts during the forwarding of the call or when the call center is not available.

4. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising providing the text and a graphical representation of the results of the frequency analysis as output to a display device.

5. A method in accordance with claim 4, wherein providing the text and the results of the frequency analysis is executed online.

6. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising attributing particular words of the text to particular time segments of the frequency analysis.

7. A method in accordance with claim 6, further comprising storing at least one of the particular words and the attributed segments of the frequency analysis.

8. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising comparing a portion of the first, frequency spectrum related to a specific word within the voice data to with frequency spectra of the same word previously stored from another call, and determining the identity of a party based on the results of the comparison.

9. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising analyzing the obtained text automatically to recognize one or more key words and assigning the call a classification automatically based on the recognized key words.

10. A method in accordance with claim 9, further comprising storing the key words and the classification in one or more tables and attributing the key words to the classification.

11. A method in accordance with claim 9, wherein assigning a classification to the call comprises tailoring the classification to the purpose of the call.

12. A method in accordance with claim 9, wherein assigning a classification to the call comprises tailoring the classification to the mood of the first party.

13. A method in accordance with claim 9, further comprising providing the assigned classification of the call to at least one of the human parties of the call.

14. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the call is a phone call made by the first party to the second party.

15. A method in accordance with claim 14, further comprising accepting the phone call with an automated attendant system and forwarding the call with the automated attendant system to the second party.

16. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising automatically establishing, with an automated attendant system, a call connection to the first party.

17. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising recording a timeline of the call, assigning the obtained text to the timeline, and storing the obtained text with the timeline.

18. A method in accordance with claim 17, further comprising providing a graphical representation of the timeline and obtained text on a display device.

19. A method in accordance with claim 17, further comprising analyzing and presenting a graphical representation of the timeline and the obtained text online.

20. A method in accordance with claim 17, further comprising attributing particular words of the obtained text to particular segments of the timeline.

21. A method in accordance with claim 20, further comprising storing the particular words with the attributed segments.

22. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising attributing the obtained text to a respective party of the call.

23. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising attributing key words from a pre-established table to the obtained text.

24. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the automated attendant system comprises an automated interactive voice response system (IVRS).

25. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising providing the first party of the call with standard call structures.

26. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising providing at least one computer to be used for the automated attendant system or the voice recognition system.

27. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising performing voice recognition with a plurality of computers in parallel.

28. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising performing voice recognition using a multiple of processes on one computer in parallel.

29. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising performing voice recognition in a computer network system in parallel.

30. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising storing the voice data of a call in at least a largely unchanged state.

31. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein analyzing the voice data comprises performing voice recognition with information about the current call status being taken into account.

32. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein analyzing the voice data comprises performing voice recognition that is tailored individually to a request for analysis.

33. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein analyzing the voice data comprises performing voice recognition with at least one of dictation recognition, grammar recognition, single word recognition and keyword spotting.

34. A method in accordance with claim 33, wherein dictation recognition, grammar recognition, single word recognition and keyword spotting are used in parallel.

35. A method in accordance with claim 33, wherein voice recognition is performed repeatedly.

36. A method in accordance with claim 33, wherein voice recognition is performed with dynamic adjustment.

37. A method in accordance with claim 36, wherein the vocabulary for performing voice recognition is varied and/or adjusted.

38. A method in accordance with claim 36, further comprising classifying the voice data with keyword spotting as part of a first recognition step for the dynamic adjustment of the voice recognition.

39. A method in accordance with claim 38, further comprising reexamining the voice data as part of an additional recognition step by adding specific vocabulary.

40. A method in accordance with claim 39, further comprising iteratively performing additional recognition steps that are controlled by recognition probabilities.

41. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising providing a link between the voice recognition system and at least one of a database system and an expert system.

42. A method in accordance with claim 41, further comprising extracting additional information by using the link.

43. A method in accordance with claim 42, wherein the additional information is extracted from at least one of the database system and expert system in order to dynamically control the voice recognition.

44. A method in accordance with claim 43, further comprising providing at least one of the result of analyzing the voice data and the additional information in a graphical and/or orthographical representation.

45. A method in accordance with claim 44, wherein at least one of the result of analyzing the voice data and the additional information is provided with time delay.

46. A method in accordance with claim 44, wherein at least one of the result of analyzing the voice data and the additional information is provided to the second party nearly synchronously.

47. A method in accordance with claim 46, wherein at least one of the result of analyzing the voice data and the additional information is provided to the second party during the call.

48. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising enabling the second party to at least partially control the voice recognition.

49. A method in accordance with claim 48, wherein enabling the second party comprises permitting the second party to load user profiles to facilitate voice recognition.

50. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising providing additional information from at least one of a database system and expert system to facilitate voice recognition.

51. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising storing the result of analyzing the call as text.

52. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the method is used in a call center.

53. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising integrating the method as part of a total program of a computer program.

54. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising integrating the method to train agents of a call center.

55. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising training the voice recognition system on the voice of at least one of the first party and the second party, wherein the second party is an agent of a call center.

56. A method in accordance with claim 55, further comprising increasing the recognition rate of the voice recognition system by having the agent repeat single words spoken by the first party, so that the voice recognition system can analyze the voice data of a trained voice.

66. A computer program product with program code means that are stored on a computer-readable storage medium and suitable to execute a method in accordance with any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 21 and 22-56 when executed on a computer.

57. A system for processing voice data from a call between a first human party and a second or more human parties and/or an automated attendant system, or between a first human party and one or more second human parties, wherein the voice data is generated from the call, the system comprising:

means for analyzing the voice data using a frequency analysis to produce a first frequency spectrum comprising a specific volume attributed to a specific sonic frequency;

means for comparing the first frequency spectrum with frequency spectra of different languages to find a match;

means for recognizing the language of the first party automatically when the match is found;

a voice recognition system for analyzing the voice data either fully or in part to recognize and extract text from the voice data, the voice recognition system being linkable with one or more devices to record the voice data;

means for representing the recognized and extracted text, wherein the means for representing is connected directly or indirectly with the voice recognition system; and

means for forwarding the call automatically to a call center provided for the recognized language.

58. A system in accordance with claim 57, wherein the voice recognition system is connected with at least one automated attendant system.

59. A system in accordance with claim 58, wherein the voice recognition system is connected to a plurality of automated attendant systems.

60. A system in accordance with claim 58, wherein the at least one automated attendant system comprises a stationary or mobile phone.

61. A system in accordance with claim 58, wherein the at least one automated attendant system comprises an automated interactive voice response system (IVRS).

62. A system in accordance with claim 57, wherein the voice recognition system comprises one or a plurality of computers.

63. A system in accordance with claim 58, wherein the at least one automated attendant system comprises one or a plurality of computers.

64. A system in accordance with claim 62 or 63, wherein the plurality of computers are connected in the form of a network.

65. A system in accordance with claim 64, wherein the network comprises a client/server structure.