Cellular telephone network support of audible information delivery to visually impaired subscribers
First Claim
1. A method for implementing a service feature for audibly delivering a textual message to a cellular telephone network subscriber, comprising the steps of:
- storing subscriber data in a network register, the subscriber data indicating whether the subscriber has activated a feature for supporting audible delivery of textual messages;
determining, in response to a receipt of the textual message, whether the subscriber has activated a service feature for audibly delivering textual messages by examining the stored subscriber data; and
if the service feature has been activated, performing the steps of;
transmitting the textual message and a parameter specifying audible delivery of the textual message as a data communication to a mobile station for the subscriber;
generating by the mobile station of an audible message corresponding to the textual message of the data communication; and
delivering the audible message to the subscriber through the mobile station.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Cellular telephone network textual messages are conventionally delivered to mobile stations for subscriber presentation on an included display. To accommodate a visually impaired subscriber, however, these textual messages are instead converted to an audible format and delivered to be heard by the subscriber instead of seen. In one embodiment, the textual messages are processed by a network connected audio device (like an announcement machine or a voice synthesizer) to generate an audible message which is then sent over a conventional voice/call connection to the mobile station. In another embodiment, the textual messages are delivered as data messages to the mobile station where a voice synthesizer generates the corresponding audible message for presentation to the subscriber. The textual messages delivered in either embodiment comprise, for example, short message service message, service provider information, charging rate information and location information.
314 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A method for implementing a service feature for audibly delivering a textual message to a cellular telephone network subscriber, comprising the steps of:
-
storing subscriber data in a network register, the subscriber data indicating whether the subscriber has activated a feature for supporting audible delivery of textual messages; determining, in response to a receipt of the textual message, whether the subscriber has activated a service feature for audibly delivering textual messages by examining the stored subscriber data; and if the service feature has been activated, performing the steps of; transmitting the textual message and a parameter specifying audible delivery of the textual message as a data communication to a mobile station for the subscriber; generating by the mobile station of an audible message corresponding to the textual message of the data communication; and delivering the audible message to the subscriber through the mobile station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A cellular telephone network, comprising:
-
a mobile station assigned to an addressee subscriber; a base station in radio frequency communication with the mobile station; a network register storing an indication that the addressee subscriber has activated a feature for supporting audible delivery of textual messages; and a mobile switching center connected to the base station and receiving an audible message corresponding to a textual message intended for delivery to the addressee subscriber, the mobile switching center determining that the addressee subscriber has activated the feature by examining the indication stored in the network register establishing a voice call connection with the mobile station through the base station to deliver the received audible message to the addressee subscriber. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification