Systems and methods for communication with foreign language speakers

• US 8,630,840 B1
• Filed: 09/11/2007
• Issued: 01/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Original Assignee: United Services Automobile Association
• Inventors: Smith, Dena Louise
• Primary Examiner(s): Godbold, Douglas C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Villena, Mark
• Application Number:
  US11/853,515
• Time in Patent Office: 2,317 Days
• Field of Search: 704/277, 704/270
• US Class Current: 704/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/58 Use of machine translation, e.g. for multi-lingual retrieval, for server-side translation for client devices or for real-time translation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression

Abstract

Instant messaging (IM) is provided and translated between parties that speak different languages, such as between a foreign language speaker and an entity. One or more converters may convert the foreign language speaker'"'"'s speech to IM text in the speaker'"'"'s language, which may then be translated into a language used by the entity. The foreign language speaker may provide IM text instead of speaking, and this IM text in the foreign language may be translated into IM text in a language used by the entity. The translated IM text or the speech converted from the translated IM text may then be provided as text, or may be converted to speech and provided as speech, to the entity, or a representative associated with the entity.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having-computer-readable instructions for providing two-way communication, the computer-readable instructions comprising instructions stored thereon that are executed by a processor to:

receive a notification that an incoming communication is from a foreign language line and of a first language of the incoming communication, wherein the notification is not based on previously stored user information and wherein the notification is in the form of one or more of a displayed window, message, or other indicator on a computer or over a telephone;

receive a selection at a second telecommunications device indicating whether to proceed communicating with a first telecommunications device based on the notification;

receive speech in the first language from the first telecommunications device;

receive personal information from the first telecommunications device, wherein the personal information includes user account information comprising marital status, age, and address;

request authentication information for the incoming communication, wherein the authentication is based on the received personal information and personal information previously received and stored;

convert, by a financial services company, the speech in a first language to an instant messaging (IM) message in a second language without generating an IM message in the first language;

provide the converted IM message to a second telecommunications device, wherein the converted IM message comprises a timestamp; and

provide the received personal information to the second telecommunications device, wherein the received personal information is used to confirm an identity of a foreign language speaker and to personalize data pertaining to the user that is presented to the second telecommunications device.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first telecommunications device is associated with the foreign language speaker and the second telecommunications device is associated with an entity, and further comprising instructions that establish a connection between the first telecommunications device and the second telecommunications device.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the instructions that establish the connection between the first telecommunications device and the second telecommunications device comprise instructions that:

receive a phone call initiated by the first telecommunications device;

provide an indication to the entity that the phone call is from the foreign language speaker; and

respond to the indication.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the instructions that respond to the indication comprise instructions that select a button, an icon, or a link displayed on a display device and generate an answer IM message.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that:

generate speech in the second language using the second telecommunications device;

translate the speech from the second language to the first language resulting in a translated IM message; and

send the translated IM message to the first telecommunications device.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions to convert the speech include instructions to translate the language using an instant message protocol of the group consisting of:

Windows Messaging, ICQ, and Internet Relay Chat.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions for providing communication, the computer-readable instructions comprising instructions stored thereon that are executed by a processor to:

establish a connection between a first telecommunications device and a second telecommunications device;

generate a notification at the second telecommunications device that incoming communication is from a foreign language line and indicate a first language of the incoming communication, wherein the notification is not based on previously stored user information and wherein the notification is in the form of one or more of a displayed window, message, or other indicator on a computer or over a telephone;

request a selection at the second telecommunications device indicating whether to proceed communicating with the first telecommunications device based on the notification;

receive personal information from the first telecommunications device, wherein the personal information includes user account information comprising marital status, age, and address;

process authentication information received from the first telecommunications device, wherein the authentication information includes the user account information;

generate an instant messaging (IM) message in a first language at a first device, wherein the IM message comprises a timestamp;

strip the IM message text from the instant message using a text remover;

convert the stripped information from the IM message to speech in a second language without generating an IM message in a second language;

deliver the IM message that has been converted to speech to a second device; and

deliver the personal information to the second device, wherein the personal information is used to confirm an identity of a foreign language speaker.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, further comprising instructions that provide the speech to the second telecommunications device.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the second telecommunications device is associated with a financial services company.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions that establish the connection between the first telecommunications device and the second telecommunications device comprise instructions that:

receive a phone call initiated by the first telecommunications device;

provide an indication to the second telecommunications device that the phone call is from the foreign language speaker; and

answer the phone call responsive to the indication.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions that answer the phone call comprise instructions that:

receive speech in the second language from a user associated with the second telecommunications device;

convert the speech to an answer IM message in the first language; and

send the answer IM message in the first language to the first telecommunications device.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions, the computer readable instructions comprising instructions stored thereon that are executed by a processor to:

receive a notification that incoming communication is from a foreign language line and of a first language of the incoming communication, wherein the notification is not based on previously stored user information and wherein the notification is in the form of one or more of a displayed window, message, or other indicator on a computer or over a telephone;

request a selection at a second telecommunications device indicating whether to proceed communicating with a first telecommunications device based on the notification;

request authentication information for the incoming communication, wherein the authentication information includes the user account information comprising marital status, age, and address;

authenticate the received user account information provided before proceeding, wherein the authentication is based on the received user account information and user account information previously received and stored;

receive speech in a first language from the first telecommunications device;

convert the speech to an instant messaging (IM) message in a second language without generating an IM message in the first language;

strip the IM message in the second language text from the instant message using a text remover;

convert the stripped text from the IM message in the second language to speech;

deliver the IM message that has been converted to speech to a second device using a plurality of computer automated operations, wherein the delivered IM message comprises a timestamp;

receive personal information from the first telecommunications device wherein the personal information includes one or more of the following;

marital status, age, address; and

deliver the personal information to the second device, wherein personal information is used to confirm an identity of a first person.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions that convert the speech to the IM message in the second language and convert the IM message in a second language to speech using the computer automated operations permit the first person and a second person to communicate without a human translator.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions that convert the speech comprise instructions that convert speech received in the first language to the IM message in the first language without generating the IM message in the second language and convert the IM message in the first language to speech in the second language.