Methods and apparatus for activating telephone services in response to speech
First Claim
1. A method of providing a telephone service in response to speech of a caller, the method comprising the steps of:
- identifying the caller;
accessing a database including speaker dependent speech recognition templates for a plurality of names;
performing a speaker dependent speech recognition operation on the speech using the speaker dependent speech recognition templates to detect a presence of one of the plurality of names in the speech;
performing speech recognition on the speech in order to detect a presence of an explicit command in the speech; and
upon detecting the presence of one of the plurality of names and failing to detect the presence of an explicit command in the speech, dialing a telephone number corresponding to the one of the plurality of names whose presence was detected.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for activating telephone services in response to speech are described. A directory including names is maintained for each customer. A speaker dependent speech template and a telephone number for each name, is maintained as part of each customer'"'"'s directory. Speaker independent speech templates are used for recognizing commands. The present invention has the advantage of permitting a customer to place a call by speaking a person'"'"'s name which serves as a destination identifier without having to speak an additional command or steering word to place the call. This is achieved by treating the receipt of a spoken name in the absence of a command as an implicit command to place a call. Explicit speaker independent commands are used to invoke features or services other than call placement. Speaker independent and speaker dependent speech recognition are performed on a customer'"'"'s speech in parallel. An arbiter is used to decide which function or service should be performed when an apparent conflict arises as a result of both the speaker dependent and speaker independent speech recognition step outputs. Stochastic grammars, word spotting and/or out-of-vocabulary rejection are used as part of the speech recognition process to provide a user friendly interface which permits the use of spontaneous speech. Voice verification is performed on a selective basis where security is of concern.
338 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of providing a telephone service in response to speech of a caller, the method comprising the steps of:
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identifying the caller; accessing a database including speaker dependent speech recognition templates for a plurality of names; performing a speaker dependent speech recognition operation on the speech using the speaker dependent speech recognition templates to detect a presence of one of the plurality of names in the speech; performing speech recognition on the speech in order to detect a presence of an explicit command in the speech; and upon detecting the presence of one of the plurality of names and failing to detect the presence of an explicit command in the speech, dialing a telephone number corresponding to the one of the plurality of names whose presence was detected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of responding to speech from a caller, the method comprising the steps of:
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performing a speaker dependent speech recognition operation on the speech to detect a presence of a name in the speech; performing a speaker independent speech recognition operation on the speech in order to detect a presence of an explicit command in the speech, the speaker dependent and speaker independent speech recognition operations being performed in parallel; upon detecting the presence of a name and failing to detect the presence of an explicit command in the speech; dialing a telephone number corresponding to the name whose presence is detected; and upon detecting the presence of a name and the presence of an explicit command, performing an arbitration step to determine whether to respond to the detected command or to dial the telephone number corresponding to the name whose presence is detected if the explicit command whose presence was detected is of a first type which does not require a name to be performed. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A device for responding to a caller'"'"'s speech, comprising:
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means for performing speaker dependent speech recognition on the speech to detect the presence of a name in the speech; means for performing speaker independent speech recognition on the speech to detect the presence of an explicit command in the speech, the means for performing speaker dependent and speaker independent speech recognition being coupled in parallel; and means for dialing a telephone number corresponding to the name whose presence is detected, upon detecting the presence of a name and failing to detect the presence of an explicit command in the speech, coupled to the means for performing speaker independent and speaker dependent speech recognition. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of providing a telephone service in response to speech from a caller, the method comprising the steps of:
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identifying the caller; accessing a database including speaker dependent speech recognition templates of names; performing speaker dependent speech recognition on the speech using the speaker dependent speech recognition templates to detect a name in the speech and a first time interval in which the name was spoken; performing speech recognition on the speech in order to detect an explicit command in the speech and a second time interval in which the explicit command was spoken; and upon detecting the name and the explicit command determining if the explicit command is of a type which requires a name to be performed and determining if there is a significant overlap between the first and second time intervals; if it is determined that the command is of the type which requires a name to be performed and if the first and second time intervals significantly overlap, performing an arbitration step to determine whether to respond to the detected command or to dial a telephone number in response to the detected name. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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Specification