Voice and text session converter

• US 8,060,565 B1
• Filed: 01/31/2007
• Issued: 11/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arlington Technologies, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Swartz, Douglas W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pappas; Peter-Anthony
• Assistant Examiner(s): DONABED, NINOS J
• Application Number:
  US11/669,778
• Time in Patent Office: 1,749 Days
• Field of Search: 709204-207
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/00 Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/39 using speech synthesis speech synthesis per se G10L13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion

Abstract

In one embodiment, a communication system is provided that includes:

(a) an input operable to receive incoming instant messages;

(b) a text-to-speech converter 220 operable to convert a text message in an incoming instant message into a voiced equivalent thereof;

(c) a speech-to-text converter 232 operable to convert a voice signal into a text equivalent thereof;

(d) a message completion agent 428 operable to convert the text equivalent into an outgoing instant message; and

(e) an output operable to send the outgoing instant message to a selected recipient.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing a communication session between first and second communication devices of first and second parties, respectively;

receiving, from the first party and by an input of the first communication device, a speech signal;

converting, by a processor executable speech-to-text converter, the speech signal into an equivalent textual string, the textual string comprising a selected plurality of words;

selecting, by a processor executable textual formatting and packetizing module, one of a first and second acronym library based on a determined identity of an intended instant message recipient as the second party, wherein the second party is associated with the first acronym library and another different party is associated with the second acronym library, wherein the first and second acronym libraries are different, and wherein the first and second acronym libraries contain differing sets of acronyms;

converting, by the processor executable textual formatting and packetizing module and using the selected first acronym library, the selected plurality of words into an equivalent acronym to form a revised message text;

generating, by the processor executable textual formatting and packetizing module, a first instant message to the second party, the first instant message including the revised message text;

sending, by the first communication device and as part of the communication session, the first instant message to the second party;

receiving, by the first communication device, from the second party, and as part of the communication session, a second instant message;

determining that the second party is the sender of the second instant message;

depacketizing, by the processor executable textual formatting and packetizing module, the second instant message to provide received message text, the received message text comprising at least one received message text acronym;

selecting, by the processor executable textual formatting and packetizing module, the first acronym library based on the determination that the second party is the sender of the second instant message;

converting, by the processor executable textual formatting and packetizing module and using the selected first acronym library, the at least one received message text acronym into an equivalent full text expression to form a revised received message text;

converting by the processor executable textual formatting and packetizing module, the revised received message text into an equivalent voiced version thereof for presentation to the first party; and

audibly presenting the equivalent voiced version to the first party,

wherein the generating step comprises the substep;

mapping an electronic address of the second party against an instant message protocol table to determine which instant messaging protocol is to be used in the first instant message, wherein a plurality of potential instant message recipients correspond to a plurality of different instant messaging protocols.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the equivalent acronym and selected plurality of words are at least one of the following pairings:

“

B4N”

for “

bye for now”

, “

BBS”

for “

be back soon”

, “

BTW”

for “

by the way”

, “

CID”

for “

consider it done”

, “

DQMOT”

for “

do not quote me on this”

, “

EOM”

for “

end of message”

, “

F2F”

for “

face-to-face”

, “

HAK”

for “

hugs and kisses”

, “

IM”

for “

instant message”

, “

JIC”

for “

just in case”

, “

OTP”

for “

on the phone”

, “

P911”

for “

parent emergency”

, “

TTFN”

for “

ta ta for now”

, and “

U2”

for “

you too” and

further comprising;

receiving, by the first communication device, presence and availability information for the second party, the presence and availability information indicating that the second party is currently present and available at the second communication device, wherein presence and availability information includes at least one of registration information, information about accessibility of the second communication device, a recency of use of the second communication device by the second party, a recency of authentication by the second party to a network component, a geographic location of the second communication device, one of a type of media, format language, session, and communications capabilities of the second communication device, a contact preference of the second party, a contact mode of the second communication device, a profile of the second party, a rule about which communication device is to be contacted for specific types of scenarios, a contact time preference, an impermissible contact type, and a subject about which the second party does or does not wish to be contacted; and

sending, by the first communication device, a request to establish a multi-media communication session between the first and second parties, wherein the first and second instant messages are exchanged between the first and second parties as part of the communication session.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, in the audibly presenting step, the second party is associated with a first voice selected by the first party, wherein another party is associated with a second voice selected by the first party, and wherein the first and second voices are different and further comprising:

selecting the first voice based on the determined identity of the instant message sender as the second party, the first voice being used to audibly present the equivalent voiced version to the first party.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing step comprises:

determining whether or not a response has been received from the second party within a selected time; and

applying the following rules;

when the second party responds negatively or fails to respond, not establishing the communication session; and

when the second party responds affirmatively, establishing the communication session.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a first set of voice characteristics is associated with the second party, wherein a different second set of voice characteristics is associated with another party, wherein the first and second sets of voice characteristics are selected by the first party from among a plurality of sets of voice characteristics and assigned by the first party to the second and another parties, the plurality of sets of voice characteristics including the first and second sets of voice characteristics, and wherein the equivalent voiced version is audibly presented using the first set of voice characteristics.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

audibly playing, by the first communication device, a presence status of the second party.

7. A non-transitory tangible computer readable medium comprising processor executable instructions operable to perform the steps of claim 1.

8. A system, comprising:

a first communication device comprising a processor operable to;

establish a communication session with a second communication device of a second party;

receive, from a first party and by an input of the first communication device, a speech signal;

convert, by a speech-to-text converter, the speech signal into an equivalent textual string, the textual string comprising a selected plurality of words;

select, by a textual formatting and packetizing module, one of a first and second acronym library based on a determined identity of an intended instant message recipient as the second party, wherein the second party is associated with the first acronym library and another different party is associated with the second acronym library, wherein the first and second acronym libraries are different, and wherein the first and second libraries contain differing sets of acronyms;

convert, by the textual formatting and packetizing module and using the selected first acronym library, the selected plurality of words into an equivalent acronym to form a revised message text;

generate, by the textual formatting and packetizing module, a first instant message to the second party, the first instant message including the revised message text;

send, as part of the communication session, the first instant message to the second party;

receive, from the second party and as part of the communication session, a second instant message;

determine that the second party is the sender of the second instant message;

depacketize, by the textual formatting and packetizing module, the second instant message to provide received message text, the received message text comprising at least one received message text acronym;

select, by the textual formatting and packetizing module, the first acronym library based on the determination that the second party is the sender of the second instant message;

convert, by the textual formatting and packetizing module and using the selected first acronym library, the at least one received message text acronym into an equivalent full text expression to form a revised received message text;

convert by the textual formatting and packetizing module, the revised received message text into an equivalent voiced version thereof for presentation to the first party; and

audibly present the equivalent voiced version to the first party

wherein the generating operation comprises the sub-operation;

mapping an electronic address of the second party against an instant message protocol table to determine which instant messaging protocol is to be used in the first instant message, wherein a plurality of potential instant message recipients correspond to a plurality of different instant messaging protocols.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the equivalent acronym and selected plurality of words are at least one of the following pairings:

“

B4N”

for “

bye for now”

, “

BBS”

for “

be back soon”

, “

BTW”

for “

by the way”

, “

CID”

for “

consider it done”

, “

DQMOT”

for “

do not quote me on this”

, “

EOM”

for “

end of message”

, “

F2F”

for “

face-to-face”

, “

HAK”

for “

hugs and kisses”

, “

IM”

for “

instant message”

, “

JIC”

for “

just in case”

, “

OTP”

for “

on the phone”

, “

P911”

for “

parent emergency”

, “

TTFN”

for “

ta ta for now”

, and “

U2”

for “

you too”

; and

further comprising the operations;

receive presence and availability information for the second party, the presence and availability information indicating that the second party is currently present and available at the second communication device, wherein presence and availability information includes at least one of registration information, information about accessibility of the second communication device, a recency of use of the second communication device by the second party, a recency of authentication by the second party to a network component, a geographic location of the second communication device, one of a type of media, format language, session, and communications capabilities of the second communication device, a contact preference of the second party, a contact mode of the second communication device, a profile of the second party, a rule about which communication device is to be contacted for specific types of scenarios, a contact time preference, an impermissible contact type, and a subject about which the second party does or does not wish to be contacted; and

send a request to establish a multi-media communication session between the first and second parties, wherein the first and second instant messages are exchanged between the first and second parties as part of the communication session.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein, in the audibly presenting operation, the second party is associated with a first voice selected by the first party, wherein another party is associated with a second voice selected by the first party, and wherein the first and second voices are different and further comprising the operation:

select the first voice based on the determined identity of the instant message sender as the second party, the first voice being used to audibly present the equivalent voiced version to the first party.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the establishing operation comprises the sub-operations:

determine whether or not a response has been received from the second party within a selected time; and

apply the following rules;

when the second party responds negatively or fails to respond, not establish the communication session; and

when the second party responds affirmatively, establish the communication session.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein a first set of voice characteristics is associated with the second party, wherein a different second set of voice characteristics is associated with another party, wherein the first and second sets of voice characteristics are selected by the first party from among a plurality of sets of voice characteristics and assigned by the first party to the second and another parties, the plurality of sets of voice characteristics including the first and second sets of voice characteristics, and wherein the equivalent voiced version is audibly presented using the first set of voice characteristics.

13. The system of claim 8, further comprising the operation:

audibly play a presence status of the second party.