Voice-controlled communications system and method using a badge application

• US 8,626,246 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2011
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• 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:
  US13/115,969
• Publication Number:
  US 20110244843A1
• Time in Patent Office: 958 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: H04M 1/6041 Portable telephones adapted for handsfree use
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6058 involving the use of a headset accessory device connected to the portable telephone
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/74 with voice recognition means voice activated dialling H04M1/271; voice recognition algorithms G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A communication system has a control computer, one or more concentrators and one or more access device each having a badge application that communicates wirelessly with the one or more concentrators. The access device with the badge application provides the user with a communications device that permits the user to 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 executes a badge application that communicates with the control computer using voice commands; and

wherein the control computer further comprises a voice recognition system that receives voice commands from a user using the microphone and badge application and wherein the badge application is assigned to a particular user when the user first issues any command from the badge application 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 badge application that has been assigned to the particular user.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the user profile data and messages for a particular user are deleted from the badge application assigned to the particular user when the badge application returns to the unassigned state.

4. 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.

5. 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 badge application assigned to the particular user are prioritized.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the call screening field further comprises one of a block all calls field which specifies that all calls to the particular user will be blocked, an allow all calls field which specifies that all calls to the particular user are being allowed to be answered at the badge application assigned to the user and a VIP field containing one or more persons that can override the block all calls.

7. 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 assigned to the particular user when the user is not accepting calls to the access device.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the forwarding portion further comprises one of a work phone field that specifies a work phone to which a call to the particular user may be routed, a home phone field that specifies a home phone to which a call to the particular user may be routed and a cellular phone field that specifies a cellular phone to which a call to the particular user may be routed.

9. 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.

10. The system of claim 2 further comprising one or more concentrators connected to the control computer wherein the access device communicates with a particular concentrator when the access device is within a coverage area of the particular concentrator and wherein the user database further comprises a network boundary alert field that specifies that the access device assigned to the particular user will alert the user when the user leaves the coverage areas of the concentrators.

11. 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.

12. 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 a badge application to a particular user by changing a badge identification field in the user database so that a particular badge application is assigned to a particular user.

13. 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 built-in communications capabilities, a Palm operating system based device with a communications capability, a Windows CE-based device with a communications capability.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the badge application further comprises a plurality of lines of computer code or a plurality of lines of microcode.

15. The system of claim 1, 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.

16. 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.

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

18. The system of claim 17, 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.

19. The system of claim 1, 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.

20. The system of claim 1 further comprising one or more wireless concentrators connected to the control computer by a network, each concentrator having a connectivity area.