Automated third party verification system

• US 7,457,754 B1
• Filed: 03/28/2007
• Issued: 11/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: West Corporation
• Inventors: McIntosh, Jonathan P.
• Primary Examiner(s): MCFADDEN, SUSAN IRIS
• Application Number:
  US11/692,493
• Time in Patent Office: 608 Days
• Field of Search: 704/273
• US Class Current: 704/273
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/16 Payments settled via telecommunication systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/305 using wired telephone networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40145 Biometric identity checks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/409 Device specific authentication in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/38 with central registration
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/00 Speaker identification or verification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/06 Decision making techniques; Pattern matching strategies
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/22 Interactive procedures; Man-machine interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/018 Audio watermarking, i.e. embedding inaudible data in the audio signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4936 Speech interaction details speech recognition per se G10L15/00

Abstract

A third party verification system, method, and computer readable medium comprising a voice response unit in communication with at least a first party, said voice response unit configured to automatically elicit information in the form of a vocal response from the at least first party providing evidence of consent granted by the at least first party to enter into at least one transaction with at least a second party, and a voice print server in communication with said voice response unit, said voice print server configured to receive and store said information to provide a record for third party verification that the at least first party consented to enter into the at least one transaction with the at least one second party.

Claims

1. A third party verification system, comprising:

a voice response unit in communication with at least a first party, said voice response unit configured to automatically elicit information in the form of a vocal response from the at least first party providing evidence of consent granted by the at least first party to enter into at least one transaction with at least a second party; and

a voice print server in communication with said voice response unit, said voice print server configured to receive and store said information to provide a record for third party verification that the at least first party consented to enter into the at least one transaction with the at least one second party.

2. The third party verification system of claim 1 comprising an Internet server configured to facilitate download of said information from said voice print server by a party at a remote location.

3. The third party verification system of claim 1, wherein said voice print server is configured to catalog said information to provide said record for said third party verification.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one portion of said information comprises digitized voice recording of said individual.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said information comprises consent to change long distance telephone service providers.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said voice print server includes an array of data storage devices.

7. The system of claim 1, further including speech recognition capability in said voice response unit.

8. The system of claim 1, further including at least one speech pattern verification system included in or in communication with said at least one voice response unit, said speech pattern verification system configured to analyze the speech patterns of said information.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said at least one speech pattern verification system comprises software running on said at least one voice response unit.

10. A computer system supporting third party verification, the computer system comprising:

a voice response unit communicably coupled to at least a first party over a public switched telephone network, said voice response unit configured to automatically elicit information record responses from the at least first party to questions as audio files providing a record of consent given by the at least first party to enter into at least one transaction with at least a second party; and

a data storage device communicably coupled to said voice response unit, said data storage device configured to permanently store data files that correspond to the responses and that provide a record for third party verification that the at least first party consented to enter into the at least one transaction with the at least second party.

11. The computer system of claim 10 comprising a server configured to selectively retrieve said data files from said data storage device and upload said data file via a computer network.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein said computer network comprises at least one of:

the Internet;

a local area network; and

a wide area network.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein said data file comprises video information.

14. The system of claim 10, further comprising an interface for connecting said data file when said data file is an audio file to a telephone call.

15. A computer readable medium comprising instructions for:

recording a vocal response spoken by at least a first party in response to questions automatically presented by an automated unit, the vocal response providing evidence of consent given by the at least first party to enter into at least one specific transaction with at least a specific second party;

storing and cataloging data representing said vocal response by the at least first party, said means for electronically storing and cataloging in communication with said means for recording to receive said data representing said vocal response to provide a record constituting third party verification that the at least first party consented to enter into the at least one specific transaction with the at least specific second party;

identifying said data representing said electronically stored response;

retrieving said data representing said electronically stored response, said means for retrieving in communication with said means for identifying; and

presenting said retrieved electronically stored response in audible form to a listener upon demand.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein said storing and cataloging comprises a hard disk drive working in conjunction with a data base software program.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein said presenting comprises at least one of:

a digital to analog converter, an amplifier, a speaker, and a hard disk drive working in conjunction with a data base software program.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein said recording comprises a voice response unit.

19. A method for verifying consent given by at least a first party to enter into at least one transaction with at least a second party, the method comprising:

interacting by the at least first party with a first unit;

automatically eliciting information by the first unit;

capturing a voice record of the at least first party expressing consent to enter into the at least one transaction with the at least second party;

receiving the voice record by a second unit; and

storing the voice record by the second unit to provide third party verification of consent expressed by the at least first party to enter into the at least one transaction with the at least second party.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the first unit and the second unit are at least one of:

a same unit; and

a different unit.