Voice-controlled communications system and method having an access device

• US 8,121,649 B2
• Filed: 02/22/2007
• Issued: 02/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vocera Communications, Inc. (Stryker Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Vocera Communications, Inc. (Stryker Corporation)
• Inventors: Shostak, Robert E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vuong, Quochien B
• Application Number:
  US11/710,323
• Publication Number:
  US 20080140415A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,825 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.2, 455/344, 455/347, 455/410, 455/456.1, 455/556.1, 455/563, 455/564, 455/569.1, 455/575.6
• US Class Current: 455/563
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/00 Speaker identification or verification techniques

Abstract

A communication system has a control computer, one or more concentrators and one or more computing device communicates wirelessly with the one or more concentrators is provided. The computing device is an access device to the communications system that permits the user to interact with the communication system in order to, using voice commands, initiate telephone calls and conferences, receive telephone calls, receive pages and be located within a particular environment.

Claims

1. A voice controlled communications system, comprising:

a control computer;

an access device having a speaker, a microphone and a processing unit that operates as an access device to the control computer wherein the access device communicates with the control computer;

the control computer having an authentication unit and a user profile database having, for each user, a user profile having a plurality of pieces of information associated with each user wherein the user profile is associated with the access device when the access device is authenticated by the authentication unit and the user profile of the system is not assigned to any access device at all times; and

wherein the control computer further comprises a voice recognition system that receives voice commands from a user using the microphone when the user profile is associated with the access device and wherein the access device is assigned to a particular user when the user first issues any command using the access device to the voice recognition system.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the control computer further comprises a user profile database having user profile data for each user of the system, wherein the user profile data for a particular user are downloaded to the access device that has been authenticated for the particular user.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the user profile data and messages for a particular user are deleted from the access device authenticated for the particular user when the access device returns to the unauthenticated state.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the user profile database further comprises an alternative name field for each user containing alternative spoken names of the particular user wherein the voice recognition system recognizes the alternative spoken names of the user.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the user database further comprises a group calling field containing a group name wherein the group further comprises one or more people and wherein the control computer further comprises a group calling command that causes the people in the group to be called by the control computer.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the user database further comprises a call screening field that contains information about which calls to a particular user are allowed so that calls to the access device authenticated for the particular user are prioritized.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the call screening field further comprises a block all calls field which specifies that all calls to the particular user will be blocked.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the call screening field further comprises a VIP field containing one or more persons that can override the block all calls.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the call screening field further comprises an allow all calls field which specifies that all calls to the particular user are being allowed to be answered at the access device authenticated for the user.

10. The system of claim 2, wherein the user profile database further comprises a forwarding portion that contains information for the routing of a call to a particular access device authenticated for the particular user when the user is not accepting calls to the access device.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the forwarding portion further comprises a work phone field that specifies a work phone to which a call to the particular user may be routed.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the forwarding portion further comprises a home phone field that specifies a home phone to which a call to the particular user may be routed.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the forwarding portion further comprises a cellular phone field that specifies a cellular phone to which a call to the particular user may be routed.

14. The system of claim 2, wherein the user database further comprises a genie configuration field that contains a particular personality of the voice recognition system chosen by a particular user wherein each user may choose a different genie personality.

15. The system of claim 2, wherein the user database further comprises a call receiving portion that contains information about the call receiving options chosen by the particular user.

16. The system of claim 2 further comprising one or more concentrators each having a coverage area and wherein the user database further comprises a network boundary alert field that specifies that the access device authenticated for the particular user will alert the user when the user leaves the coverage areas of the concentrators.

17. The system of claim 2, wherein the voice recognition system further comprises a learn name command wherein a user spells the name of the person whose name is to be learned by the voice recognition system.

18. The system of claim 2, wherein the control computer further comprises means for mapping an extension number to a user of the access device wherein the mapping means further comprises means for mapping the extension number to a particular user and means for mapping the particular user to an access device based on the user profile in the database.

19. The system of claim 2 further comprising one or more concentrators each having a coverage area and wherein the control computer further comprises a begin tour command wherein a user walks around the system so that the voice recognition system announces each concentrator as the user enter the range of the concentrator and wherein the user names each concentrator when it is announced.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the control computer further comprises a browser application which permits a user to interact with the control computer and change a user profile database containing user profile information, the browser application further comprising means for assigning an access device to a particular user by changing a badge identification field in the user database so that a particular access device is assigned to a particular user.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the access device further comprises a phone, a cellular phone, a mobile phone, a Smart phone, a Blackberry-type device with a communication capability, a Palm operating system based device with a communication capability or a Windows CE-based device with a communication capability.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the access device further comprises a badge application executed by a processing unit of the access device, the badge application further comprises a plurality of lines of computer code or a plurality of lines of microcode.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the badge application further comprises an automatic answer feature in which a call to the badge application is capable of being answered without any action by a user of the badge application.

24. The system of claim 1 further comprising a call manager that is configured to permit the control computer to route a call to a phone device that is outside of the communications system.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the access device further comprises one or more buttons that implement a call button and a do not disturb button.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the access device further comprises one or more soft buttons and wherein the one or more buttons are implemented on the one or more soft buttons of the access device.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the access device further comprises a user interface having the one or more buttons.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the user interface is a set of WAP pages downloaded from the control computer.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the access device further comprises a keyboard with one or more keys that each generate a DTMF tone and wherein the one or more buttons are implemented using the DTMF tones generated by the one or more keys.

30. The system of claim 1, wherein the access device further comprises a badge application downloaded from the control computer when the access device is associated with the user.

31. The system of claim 1 further comprising one or more concentrators connected to the control computer by a network, each concentrator having a connectivity area wherein the access device connects to a concentrator when the access device is in the connectivity area.

32. The system of claim 1 further comprising one or more concentrators connected to the control computer by a network, each concentrator having a coverage area wherein the access device connects to a concentrator when the access device is in the coverage area.