Method of initiating a hands-free conference call

• US 8,744,421 B2
• Filed: 11/18/2011
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Peirce, Kenneth L., Arun, Uma, Madhavan, Sethu K., Yi, Ki Hak
• Primary Examiner(s): Edouard, Patrick
• Assistant Examiner(s): WYCHE, MYRON
• Application Number:
  US13/299,864
• Publication Number:
  US 20130130665A1
• Time in Patent Office: 928 Days
• Field of Search: 367/198, 379/45, 379/202.01, 455/416, 455/466
• US Class Current: 455/416
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/271 controlled by voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/62 user interface aspects of conference calls
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/74 with voice recognition means voice activated dialling H04M1/271; voice recognition algorithms G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/563 User guidance or feature selection

Abstract

A method of operating a vehicle telematics unit includes storing a conference call access code; initiating a conference call from a vehicle based on verbal commands received from a vehicle occupant; receiving a request for the conference call access code from an automated telephone attendant (ATA) while initiating the conference call; determining that the ATA has requested the conference call access code using a speech recognition function at the vehicle; and sending the stored conference call access code to the ATA based on the determination of the speech recognition function.

Claims

1. A method of operating a vehicle telematics unit, comprising the steps of:

(a) storing a conference call access code obtained from a telematics service user;

(b) initiating a conference call from a vehicle based on verbal commands received from a vehicle occupant;

(c) receiving a request for the conference call access code from an automated telephone attendant (ATA) while initiating the conference call;

(d) determining that the ATA has requested the conference call access code using a speech recognition function at the vehicle; and

(e) sending the stored conference call access code to the ATA based on the determination of the speech recognition function.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the speech recognition function is programmed to recognize one or more voices used by the ATA.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the speech recognition function is programmed to recognize one or more commands generated by the ATA.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of directing the speech recognition function to alternately listen to the vehicle occupant or the ATA depending on which is speaking.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises:

listening for the vehicle occupant to say the conference call access code in the vehicle;

interpreting the spoken conference call access code using the speech recognition function at the vehicle; and

storing the interpreted conference call access code at the vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the conference call access code is stored as part of a conference call profile that includes a spoken nametag or at least one rule for interacting with the ATA.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiation of the conference call is determined based on the identity of a phone number dialed by the vehicle occupant.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the conference call access code is wirelessly sent from the vehicle to the ATA as dual tone multiple frequency (DTMF) tones or DTMF commands.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the conference call access code is verbally recited to the ATA by the speech recognition function.

10. A method of operating a vehicle telematics unit, comprising the steps of:

(a) obtaining a conference call access code from a telematics service user at the vehicle;

(b) storing the obtained conference call access code at the vehicle;

(c) automatically determining that an automated telephone attendant (ATA) is requesting a conference call access code using speech recognition at the vehicle;

(d) generating DTMF tones or DTMF-based commands based on the stored conference call access code; and

(e) wirelessly transmitting the DTMF tones or DTMF-based commands to the ATA to establish access to the conference call.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the speech recognition at the vehicle is programmed to recognize one or more voices used by the ATA.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the speech recognition at the vehicle is programmed to recognize one or more commands generated by the ATA.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the conference call access code is stored as part of a conference call profile that includes a spoken nametag or at least one rule for interacting with the ATA.

14. The method of claim 10, the conference call is initiated based on the identity of a phone number dialed by the telematics service user.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of determining the ATA is requesting a conference call by directing the speech recognition at the vehicle to alternately listen to the telematics service user or the ATA depending on which is speaking.

16. A method of operating a vehicle telematics unit, comprising the steps of:

(a) optimizing a speech recognition function at the vehicle to recognize a group of voices used by one or more automated telephone attendants (ATA);

(b) obtaining a conference call access code, a passcode, or both from a telematics service user for establishing a conference call at the vehicle;

(c) storing the conference call access code, the passcode, or both at the vehicle;

(d) automatically determining that an ATA is requesting a conference call access code using the optimized speech recognition function;

(e) generating DTMF tones or DTMF commands based on the stored conference call access code, passcode, or both in response to the determination in step (d); and

(f) wirelessly transmitting the DTMF tones or DTMF commands to the ATA to establish access to the conference call.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the speech recognition function is programmed to recognize one or more commands generated by the ATA.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of directing the speech recognition function to alternately listen to a caller or the ATA depending on which is speaking.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the conference call access code is stored as part of a conference call profile that includes a spoken nametag or at least one rule for interacting with the ATA.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the initiation of the conference call is determined based on the identity of a phone number dialed by the telematics service user.