Telecom web browsers, and methods for defining a telecom web browser

• US 8,867,711 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2008
• Issued: 10/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Agarwal, Sheetal K., Chakraborty, Dipanjan, Kumar, Arun, Nanavati, Amit Anil, Rajput, Nitendra
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US12/051,148
• Publication Number:
  US 20090238348A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,407 Days
• Field of Search: 379/93.01, 379/90.01, 379/88.01, 379/88.02, 379/88.04, 379/88.17, 379/88.18, 379/88.19, 704/27.1, 704/270, 704/275
• US Class Current: 379/93.01
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/40 using speech recognition speech recognition per se G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/56 Arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities video conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/58 Arrangements for transferring received calls from one subscriber to another; Arrangements affording interim conversations between either the calling or the called party and a third party substation line holding circuits H04M1/80

Abstract

A method of defining a voice browser for browsing a plurality of voice sites, at least some of the voice sites having different telephone numbers, the voice sites being configured to be accessed by telephone, is provided including storing information relating to voice sites visited by a voice user; and providing forward and back functions, comprising transferring a user from one voice site to another, in response to commands by the user. Computer program code and systems are also provided.

Claims

1. A system that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received electrical signals back into sound, said system comprising:

a web browser configured to access and browse a plurality of voice sites, at least some of said voice sites having different identifiers, said web browser comprising;

a network adaptor;

a voice browser; and

conferencing equipment that transfers said voice browser from one voice site to another.

2. The system in accordance with claim 1, said system further comprising at least one of a telephone, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant or a touchtone phone.

3. The system in accordance with claim 1, said conferencing equipment further comprising:

circuitry configured to store information relating to voice sites visited by a voice user.

4. The system in accordance with claim 3, said circuitry being further configured to provide navigation functionality on said voice browser by transferring said user from a first one of said voice sites to another one of said voice sites, in response to voice commands by said user.

5. The system in accordance with claim 4, said navigation functionality further comprising at least one of a forward, back or refresh function.

6. The system in accordance with claim 1, said browser further comprising a command interpreter configured to recognize and respond to voice commands from a user and wherein, using said voice browser, said user is able to browse multiple voice sites.

7. The system in accordance with claim 6, further comprising an interactive voice response (IVR) engine coupled to said browser configured to recognize and respond to said voice commands from said user.

8. The system in accordance with claim 6, said system being further configured to couple a user'"'"'s system that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received electrical signals back into sound to a voice site using said conferencing equipment to establish a three party conference call.

9. A browser configured for browsing a plurality of voice sites, at least one of said voice sites having different identifiers, said voice site being configured to be accessed by a device capable of converting sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received electrical signals back into sound, said browser comprising:

a network adaptor;

a voice browser; and

conferencing equipment,

said browser being configured to store information relating to voice sites visited by a user and provide a forward and back function for transferring said user from a first one of said voice sites to a second one of said voice sites in response to a voice command.

10. The browser in accordance with claim 9, said browser being further configured to recognize and respond to a voice command from said user.

11. The browser in accordance to claim 9, said browser being further configured to allow said user to browse multiple voice sites.

12. The browser in accordance to claim 9, said browser being further configured to couple said device to a voice site using said conferencing equipment to establish a third party conference call.

13. The browser in accordance with claim 9, said browser being coupled to a device configured to convert sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received electrical signals back into sound.

14. The browser in accordance with claim 13, further comprising computer code stored on said device as an application.

15. The browser in accordance with claim 13, further comprising computer code embedded into a hardware element of said device.

16. The browser in accordance with claim 9, said browser being configured to provide navigation across voice sites that have different identifiers.

17. The browser in accordance with claim 9, said browser being configured to disambiguate voice commands intended for said browser as opposed to voice commands intended for a voice site.

18. The browser in accordance with claim 9, said browser being configured to transfer said user from said first voice site to said other voice site by storing call and context information from said first voice site in said browser and using said browser to initiate a call to said other voice site.

19. The browser in accordance with claim 12, said browser being configured to browse more than one voice site simultaneously, wherein said browser is configured to selectively put a voice site on hold and to switch across active voice site connections.

20. A computer readable medium bearing computer program code which, when loaded in an apparatus having an ability to make telephone calls and having a speech recognition device, causes said apparatus to:

interpret input by a voice user to understand whether said input is a browser command or is for interaction with a voice site;

store information relating to voice sites visited by said voice user; and

provide forward and back functions, comprising transferring said voice user from a first one of said voice sites to another one of said voice sites, by establishing a conference call between said first one of said voice sites to said other one of said voice sites, in response to commands by said voice user.