Telephone calls, data and other multimedia information is routed through a hybrid network which includes transfer of information across the internet. A media order entry captures complete user profile information for a user. This profile information is utilized by the system throughout the media experience for routing, billing, monitoring, reporting and other media control functions. Users can manage more aspects of a network than previously possible, and control network activities from a central site. The hybrid network also contains logic for responding to requests for quality of service and reserving the resources to provide the requested services.

System and method for providing requested quality of service in a hybrid network

A system and method provides universal access to voice-based documents containing information formatted using MIME and HTML standards using customized extensions for voice information access and navigation. These voice documents are linked using HTML hyper-links that are accessible to subscribers using voice commands, touch-tone inputs and other selection means. These voice documents and components in them are addressable using HTML anchors embedding HTML universal resource locators (URLs) rendering them universally accessible over the Internet. This collection of connected documents forms a voice web. The voice web includes subscriber-specific documents including speech training files for speaker dependent speech recognition, voice print files for authenticating the identity of a user and personal preference and attribute files for customizing other aspects of the system in accordance with a specific subscriber.

System and method for providing and using universally accessible voice and speech data files

A computer-based virtual assistant includes a virtual assistant application running on a computer capable of receiving human voice communications from a user of a remote user interface and transmitting a vocalization to the remote user interface, the virtual assistant application enabling the user to access email and voicemail messages of the user, the virtual assistant application selecting a responsive action to a verbal query or instruction received from the remote user interface and transmitting a vocalization characterizing the selected responsive action to the remote user interface, and the virtual assistant waiting a predetermined period of time, and if no canceling indication is received from the remote user interface, proceeding to perform the selected responsive action, and if a canceling indication is received from the remote user interface halting the selected responsive action and transmitting a new vocalization to the remote user interface. Also a method of using the virtual assistant.

Personal Virtual Assistant

A one number, multi-application, intelligent call processing system provides service benefits to a caller, a servicing location and/or a vanity number advertiser during a call, parallel to the call and/or post call in an integrated common architecture. The system utilizes VRU technology in conjunction with the national telecommunications network connected via Computer Telephone Integration (CTI) to a virtual telephone number database containing a nationwide master list of telephone numbers with attribute data items associated by Spatial Key linkage to each telephone number. The process of the invention is initiated by a caller dialing a selected telephone number to request information and/or services. Based on the number dialed, a caller or network provided ten-digit telephone number and VRU prompted for and received caller input, the system retrieves the application requested data from the virtual telephone number database and provides it to the network.

One number, intelligent call processing system

A method and apparatus for securing access to a service or facility employing automatic speech recognition, text-independent speaker identification, natural language understanding techniques and additional dynamic and static features. The method includes the steps of receiving and decoding speech containing indicia of the speaker such as a name, address or customer number; accessing a database containing information on candidate speakers; questioning the speaker based on the information; receiving, decoding and verifying an answer to the question; obtaining a voice sample of the speaker and verifying the voice sample against a model; generating a score based on the answer and the voice sample; and granting access if the score is equal to or greater than a threshold. Alternatively, the method includes the steps of receiving and decoding speech containing indicia of the speaker; generating a sub-list of speaker candidates having indicia substantially matching the speaker; activating databases containing information about the speaker candidates in the sub-list; performing voice classification analysis; eliminating speaker candidates based on the voice classification analysis; questioning the speaker regarding the information; eliminating speaker candidates based on the answer; and iteratively repeating prior steps until one speaker candidate (in which case the speaker is granted access), or no speaker candidate remains (in which case the speaker is not granted access).

Apparatus and methods for speaker verification/identification/classification employing non-acoustic and/or acoustic models and databases

The computer document audio access and conversion system allows a user to access information originally formatted for audio/visual interfacing on a computer network via a simple telephone. Of course, files formatted specifically for audio interfacing can also be accessed by the system. A user can call a designated telephone number and request a file via dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signalling or through voice commands. The system analyzes the request and accesses a predetermined document. The document may be in a standard document file format, such as hyper-text mark-up language (HTML) which is used on the World Wide Web. The document is analyzed by the system, and depending on the different types of formats used in the document, information is translated from an audio/visual format to an audio format and played to the user via the telephone interface. The document may contain links to other documents which can be invoked to access such other documents. In addition, the system can have a native command capability which allows the system to act independently of the accessed document contents to replay a document or carry out functions similar to those available in conventional web browsers.

Computer network audio access and conversion system

In a switching system for connecting a call between a calling station and a called station, a system and method of voice recognition using a concentrated or distributed multiplicity of voice recognition and other resources with a facility for selecting an initial resource on the calling station going off-hook by accessing a demographic database using common channel signaling and selecting a prompt to be delivered to the caller from a multiplicity of preselected prompts and reacting to a response by the caller with further addressing of database information to continue to select from said multiplicity of resources the most appropriate resource or resources in reaction to caller utterances. According to another feature the selection of resources is aided by optical means at the calling station delivering information regarding characteristics of the caller including lip movement to permit lip reading.

Intelligent recognition of speech signals using caller demographics

A method and system is disclosed for accessing a remote personalized secretarial platform that permits a wide variety of functions with high flexibility, while being easily usable by an individual telephone subscriber. The platform can be accessed whenever the subscriber telephone is off-hook through a voice recognition monitor that monitors the subscriber line and is responsive to a preselected utterance to generate an access signal. Placed at the telephone switch facility, a monitor module is speech responsive individually to a plurality of lines that are off hook to generate signals that effect switch functions including bridging to the platform and modifying a subscriber switch feature profile.

Laird Wise

Papers

Computer network audio access and conversion system

Intelligent recognition of speech signals using caller demographics

Network accessed personal secretary