Voice-interactive marketplace providing promotion and promotion tracking, loyalty reward and redemption, and other features

• US 6,934,684 B2
• Filed: 01/17/2003
• Issued: 08/23/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Xylon LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Dialsurf, Inc.
• Inventors: Alpdemir, Ahmet, James, Arthur
• Primary Examiner(s): ABEBE, DANIEL DEMELASH
• Application Number:
  US10/346,656
• Publication Number:
  US 20040006478A1
• Time in Patent Office: 949 Days
• Field of Search: 704/270, 704/275, 705/15, 379/88.03
• US Class Current: 704/265
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/12 Hotels or restaurants
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence

Abstract

The invention provides a system, method, and business model for an information system and service having business self-promotion, promotion and promotion tracking, loyalty or frequent participant rewards and redemption, audio coupon, ratings, and other features. A business or organization in which consumers call into a service using ordinary telephone, PC, PDA, or other information appliance, and make requests in plain speech for information on goods and/or services, and the service provides responses to the request in plain speech in real-time. Provides operating model for a telephone-based audio-interfaced goods and services information and referral service having merchant self-promotion features, including database provider storing merchant information; an interface for inputting merchant information into the database and for retrieving and editing the information; and an interface for inputting voice commands and data and for receiving merchant information and processed information from the database in response to the input voice commands and data.

Claims

1. An operating model for a telephone-based audio-interfaced goods and services information service, comprising:

an information database provider storing merchant information including a merchant identity information, at least one good or service associated with said merchant, at least one merchant audio voice coupon associated with the at least one good or service, and an end-consumer notification service data set;

an audio merchant interface including a first telephone for inputting said merchant information into said database;

a second telephone for inputting end-consumer spoken voice commands making a request for information and for receiving said merchant information in audio form stored in said database in response to said input spoken voice commands making said request for information, said inputting end-consumer spoken voice commands making a request for information occurring without a conversion of a text command into a spoken voice command and without the use of a computer; and

at least one speech server separate from said merchant interface and said end-consumer second telephone and operable to;

(i) receive said input spoken end-consumer voice commands in audio form and translate said received input spoken voice commands into a first symbolic command form using a speech-to-text conversion engine so that said symbolic command form may be used to search said information database and retrieve an information item in a second symbolic form therefrom, and (ii) convert said retrieved second symbolic form information item into speech using a text-to-speech conversion engine for communication to said end user in spoken form.

2. The operating model in claim 1, wherein said second telephone comprises a cellular wireless telephone and said consumer also inputs non-voice commands and data from a keypad on said telephone handset in addition to said spoken voice commands in association with said request for information.

3. A system comprising:

a speech server receiving a spoken voice telephone call from an external telephone including spoken voice input commands requesting information on a good or service from an end consumer without requiring said end consumer to provide any text or symbolic command representation;

a speech-to-text conversion engine converting said received spoken voice input commands from said external telephone separate from said speech-to-text conversion engine over a wired or wireless telephone line to generate output text-based or symbol-based commands and data;

a database storing a plurality of data items including a merchant identity information, at least one good or service associated with said merchant, at least one merchant promotional audio voice coupon associated with the at least one aood or service, and an end-consumer notification service data set;

p1 a database search engine searching the database for a particular data item in response to said generated output text-based command and data, said generated output-text-based commands and data being used to query said database to service said request for information by retrieving said particular data item;

a text-to-speech conversion engine generating a speech-based audio representation of said retrieved text-based particular data item identified in said database search; and

a server separate from said end-consumer telephone for communicating said speech-based audio representation of said particular data item to said end-consumer external telephone; and

means for communicatina and validating the promotional merchant audio coupon, said means for validating including means for inserting a spoken message to the merchant after the call has been connected to identify the caller as a valid service user and to validate the audio coupon.

4. The system in claim 3, further comprising a device selected from the group consisting of a personal computer, notebook computer, personal data assistant (PDA), information appliance, or combination thereof.

5. A system comprising:

a speech-to-text conversion engine converting speech-based audio input commands and data received from an external telephone separate from said speech-to-text conversion engine over a wired or wireless telephone line into output text-based commands and data;

a database storing a plurality of data items including a merchant identity infonnation and at least one good or service associated with said merchant;

a database search engine searching. the database for a particular data item in response to said output text-based command and data;

a text-to-speech conversion engine generating a speech-based audio representation of said text-based particular data item identified in said database search;

a server separate from said telephone for communicating said speech-based audio representation of said particular data item to said telephone; and

means for communicating and validating a promotional audio coupon, said means for validating including means for inserting a spoken message to the merchant after the call has been connected to identify the caller as a valid service user and to validate the audio coupon.

6. A business model for a business in which consumers call directly into a service using an ordinary telephone and make spoken requests in plain speech for information and referrals on goods or services available from merchants, the service receiving a spoken voice telephone call from an external telephone including spoken voice input commands requesting information on a good or service from an end consumer without requiring the end consumer to provide any text or symbolic command representation for the request, merchants access the service to create and edit merchant information in real-time including editing a merchant audio voice couoon, and the service provides responses to the spoken consumer request in plain speech in real-time over the same ordinary telephone and presents an audio voice coupon for a merchant good or service, the service using an automated speech driven query and response to reduce cost of operation as compared to non-automated speech driven query and response services.

7. The business model in claim 6, further including providing a facility for a business to communicate a self-promotion of the business to the requestor consumer, said facility including a process for the business to create, change and edit a promotional message for an audio coupon and communicate/publish this audio coupon promotion message to the consumer user either in real time upon their request or when the consumer user makes an information inquiry.

8. A method comprising:

receiving a speech utterance in the form of an electronic audio signal directly from an end user consumer from a telephone, the speech utterance including spoken voice input commands requesting information on a merchant good or service from the end user consumer without requiring the end user consumer to provide any text or symbolic command representation for the request;

converting the speech utterance to text and extracting commands and optional data from said converted text;

searching a database storing a plurality of data items including a merchant data items and at least one good or service data item associated with said merchant for a particular one of said plurality of said data items in response to said converted text-based command and data;

generating a speech-based audio representation of said particular data item identified in said database search for playback over a telephone;

serving said speech-based representation of said particular data item including said audio voice coupon to said telephone

providing an audio processed merchant good or service rating to an end user consumer requesting information with said speech utterance;

validating a promotional audio coupon or discount offering by a merchant; and

generating a referral to a merchanl having a oredetermined rating.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

providing an audio processed merchant good or service rating to an end user consumer requesting information with said speech utterance.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

validating a promotional audio coupon or discount offering by a merchant.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

generating a referral to a merchant having a predetermined rating.

12. The method in claim 8, wherein said received speech utterance comprises natural human speech, and said converting comprises natural language speech processing to extract said commands and data into a text or symbolic command and data form.

14. The method in claim 8, wherein the voice coupons are purchased by the merchant and delivered to consumers on a real-time basis.

15. The method in claim 8, wherein merchants can each create a plurality of coupon types including a lead coupon that is played when a user hears the merchant business address and phone number, and the user may optionally audibly browse the other merchant coupons.

16. The method in claim 8, wherein the system will generate a voice coupon reference number that can be used by the merchants and their customers to refer to the voice coupon during voice coupon redemption.

17. The method in claim 8, wherein merchants can target coupons to users in a certain geographical area, and wherein users will hear an audio voice coupon only if they call from a certain area.

13. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism, comprising a program module, the program module including instructions for:

receiving a speech utterance from a user from an audio-enabled communication device;

converting the speech utterance to text and extracting commands and optional data from said converted text;

searching a database storing a plurality of data items including a merchant data items and at least one good or service data item associated with said merchant for a particular one of said plurality of said data items in response to said converted text-based command and data;

generating a speech-based representation of said particular data item identified in said database search;

serving said speech-based representation of said particular data item to said audio-enabled communication device; and

at least one or any combination of;

(i) providing an audio processed merchant good or service rating to an end user consumer requesting information with said speech utterance;

(ii) validating a promotional audio coupon or discount offering by a merchant; and

(iii) generating a referral to a merchant having a predetermined rating.