Systems and methods for structured voice interaction facilitated by data channel

• US 8,467,506 B2
• Filed: 06/23/2009
• Issued: 06/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Cohen, Alexander J., Lord, Robert W., Jung, Edward K. Y., Rinaldo, Jr., John D., Levien, Royce A., Malamud, Mark A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gauthier, Gerald
• Application Number:
  US12/456,942
• Publication Number:
  US 20100061528A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,456 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 379/10.03, 379/88.04, 379/88.13, 379/88.14, 379/88.16, 379/88.17, 379/88.18, 379/204.01, 455/3.06, 455/414.1, 455/426.1, 701/482, 704/270, 704/270.1, 704/272, 704/277, 705/26.43, 705/40, 705/309, 709/204, 715/249
• US Class Current: 379/88.13
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals

Abstract

A voice channel connection and a data channel connection are established with a structured voice interaction system. Navigation information for and provided by the structured voice interaction system is received over the data channel connection. The data channel navigation information is coordinated with navigation information provided by the structured voice interaction system over the voice channel connection.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

establishing at least one connection with a structured voice interaction system;

receiving audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system including one or more options associated with at least one level of the structured voice interaction system; and

receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system comprises:

receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information synchronized with audibly outputable navigation information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing at least one connection with a structured voice interaction system comprises:

establishing at least one voice channel connection with a structured voice interaction system and at least one data channel connection with the structured voice interaction system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system comprises:

receiving, in response to one or more navigation commands, visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system comprises:

receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one sublevel of the at least one level of the structured voice interaction system.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing at least one of one or more spoken words, one or more touch tones, or one or more selections via the at least one connection.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing one or more visually outputable shortcuts to one or more options of the structured voice interaction system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing at least one connection with a structured voice interaction system comprises:

establishing at least one of a short message service connection, an enhanced message service connection, or a multimedia message service connection with a structured voice interaction system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system comprises:

receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more shortcuts for one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system comprises:

receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including at least one of text, one or more images, one or more icons, hypertext markup language information, or extensible markup language information.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system comprises:

receiving visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with the at least one level of the structured voice interaction system and one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

outputting the audibly outputable navigation information concurrently with the visually outputable navigation information.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

outputting history information.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

outputting geographic map information.

15. A system comprising:

circuitry configured to establish at least one connection with a calling device; and

circuitry configured to communicate to the calling device navigation information for a structured voice interaction system including at least (i) one or more voice prompts for at least one level of the structured voice interaction system and (ii) one or more visual options for at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with at least some of the one or more voice prompts.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the circuitry configured to communicate to the calling device navigation information for a structured voice interaction system including at least (i) one or more voice prompts for at least one level of the structured voice interaction system and (ii) one or more visual options for at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with at least some of the one or more voice prompts comprises:

circuitry configured to communicate to the calling device navigation information for a structured voice interaction system including at least (i) one or more voice prompts for at least one level of the structured voice interaction system and (ii) at least one of text, one or more images, one or more icons, hypertext markup language information, or extensible markup language information associated with one or more options for at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with at least some of the one or more voice prompts.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the circuitry configured to communicate to the calling device navigation information for a structured voice interaction system including at least (i) one or more voice prompts for at least one level of the structured voice interaction system and (ii) one or more visual options for at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with at least some of the one or more voice prompts comprises:

circuitry configured to communicate to the calling device, via at least one of a short message service connection, an enhanced message service connection, or a multimedia message service connection, navigation information for a structured voice interaction system including at least (i) one or more voice prompts for at least one level of the structured voice interaction system and (ii) one or more visual options for at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with at least some of the one or more voice prompts.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the circuitry configured to communicate to the calling device navigation information for a structured voice interaction system including at least (i) one or more voice prompts for at least one level of the structured voice interaction system and (ii) one or more visual options for at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with at least some of the one or more voice prompts comprises:

circuitry configured to communicate to the calling device, via at least one of a digital communication link, an analog communication link, a client-server communication link, a peer-to-peer communication link, and a mobile-base station communication link, navigation information for a structured voice interaction system including at least (i) one or more voice prompts for at least one level of the structured voice interaction system and (ii) one or more visual options for at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with at least some of the one or more voice prompts.

19. A system comprising:

circuitry configured to enable a telephone and a structured voice interaction system to exchange navigation information and one or more commands via at least one connection; and

circuitry configured to provide to the telephone at least (i) one or more voice prompts for at least one level of the structured voice interaction system (ii) one or more visual options for at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with at least some of the one or more voice prompts.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the circuitry configured to enable a telephone and a structured voice interaction system to exchange navigation information and one or more commands via at least one connection comprises:

circuitry configured to receive one or more spoken words, touch tones, or navigation indications from a telephone and to provide appropriate information in response.

21. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

circuitry configured to adapt one or more voice prompts and/or one or more visual options communicated to the telephone according to one or more navigation commands received from the telephone.

22. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

circuitry configured to recognize one or more navigation commands received as one or more spoken words.

23. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

circuitry configured to recognize one or more navigation commands as corresponding to one or more shortcuts of the structured voice interaction system.

24. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

circuitry configured to establish at least one connection between the telephone and the structured voice interaction system.

25. The system of claim 19, wherein the circuitry configured to provide to the telephone at least (i) one or more voice prompts for at least one level of the structured voice interaction system and (ii) one or more visual options for at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with at least some of the one or more voice prompts comprises:

circuitry configured to provide to the telephone, via at least one of a digital communication link, an analog communication link, a client-server communication link, a peer-to-peer communication link, and a mobile-base station communication link, at least (i) one or more voice prompts for at least one level of the structured voice interaction system and (ii) one or more visual options for at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with at least some of the one or more voice prompts.

26. A system comprising:

circuitry configured to establish at least one connection with a structured voice interaction system; and

circuitry configured to receive (i) audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system including one or more options associated with at least one level of the structured voice interaction system and (ii) visually outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system for concurrent output with the audibly outputable navigation information for the structured voice interaction system, the visually outputable navigation information including one or more options associated with at least one different level of the structured voice interaction system.