GB2309106A - Text communication systems - Google Patents

Abstract

In a communication system allowing text messages to be entered on the keypad of a telephone 13, for example for onward transmission by a transmitter 11 to a selected receiver 12 for display on the receiver, a telephony server 10 provides confirmation of correct message entry by speaking back individual words (either in full word form, or spelt letter by letter) and then the complete message to the caller who has entered the message. The text message can be entered on a standard numerical keypad arranged as a rectangular matrix of keys. Letters from an alphabet list can be scanned through by activating 'up' (2) and 'down' (8) keys. The letters can then be selected (for a word or name to be spelt letter by letter) or alternatively words beginning with the particular letter can be scanned through by activating 'left' (4) and 'right' (6) keys. When the desired letter or word is spoken back, that part of the message can be validated by activation of an 'enter' key. A 'hold' key (5) can be used to hold a key word whereby activation of the scanning keys will provide grammatically related forms of the word.

Description

TEXT COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS This invention relates to communication systems which can be used to send text messages such as alphanumeric messages from a telephone terminal to a desired destination.

Known communication systems include selective call or paging systems which generally use automatic means for sending tone or numeric messages to a receiver and manual means to send alphanumeric messages to an alphanumeric receiver. However, some systems exist which allow letter input from an ordinary MF (multi-frequency) telephone using a predefined alphanumeric code.

As speech recognition capability improves, there exists the possibility of automatic input of pager messages, but given the large potential vocabulary and large variation found between native speakers this approach is not yet considered fully practicable.

In one known paging system, automated services exist for numeric and alphanumeric pagers that work as follows. If a subscriber wishes a numeric pager user to telephone them, they dial a telephone number consisting of a predefined prefix followed by the number of the required pager. Upon answer they then press the star key twice. As the system captures the caller's calling line identity, their telephone number is then transmitted to the numeric pager. This is a very fast and effective means of transmitting the caller's telephone number, but does not allow specific numeric or alphanumeric messages to be sent.

For subscribers with alphanumeric pagers. it is possible to enter a message using two keystrokes for each letter; however, this system suffers from a number of disadvantages as the caller receives no feedback on the message input. This lack of feedback and flexibility therefore make the service difficult for widespread use.

In the United Kingdom, British Telecom operates a paging bureau which allows alphanumeric messages to be sent to any alphanumeric pager. This service provides for the caller to speak the required message to a bureau operator, who then enters the message via a keyboard for transmission to the requested pager. The need to route all alphanumeric messages through a bureau operator leads to relatively high operating costs which are then reflected in the pager user's service charges.

Traditionally, pagers have been available on a subscription basis with calls to the service priced relatively cheaply. However, a number of new service offerings are now available and one of these, known as "Caller Party Pays" paging, allows a pager user to buy a pager with one-off payment, with the service revenue being gained from the calling party initiating message transmission, calls being made to premium rate numbers from which the paging operator receives a share of the call revenue. This approach has allowed numeric pagers to be available on a non-subscription basis and generally numeric messages can be input from any telephone using either MF signalling or speech recognition of the digits, i.e. speech recognition using a limited vocabulary in order to achieve good recognition performance.

Current systems do not encourage widespread use of Caller Party Pays paging for alphanumeric pagers since the provision of bureau operators in such a system would result in the costs of the calls being too high for widespread use, except in countries where appropriatelyskilled labour costs are low. Even then, efficient labour utilisation is difficult to achieve since busy times requiring larger numbers of operators may be difficult to predict. This problem could to some extent be addressed by the use of recorded call systems in which the operators subsequently process recorded calls, but this would involve both increased system costs and delays in the onward transmission of messages.

It has also been proposed, for example for use in teletext systems, to use two-digit numerical codes, each representing an individual letter, for input of text messages on a letter-by-letter basis. However, this is a slow and cumbersome method of composing messages of any significant length, and also requires the user to have access to a table showing correspondence between letters and codes.

According to the invention there is provided a text communication system comprising means for decoding messages entered by the use of telephone dialling means having keys for number entry. a plurality of text assembling functions being associated with at least some of the number keys, the message decoding means comprising a telephony server operable to read back words and letters entered by the telephone dialling means, wherein activation of a first key allows scanning through an alphabet list for selection of a letter, activation of a second key allows scanning through a list of words beginning with the selected letter, and activation of a third key validates a wanted word or letter for assembling the message, the telephony server being operable to read back scanned letters and words upon activation of the first and second keys, and to read back the complete message upon completion of input, the system including means for communicating the complete message.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the text message can be entered on a standard numerical keypad arranged as a rectangular matrix of keys. Letters from the alphabet list can be scanned through by using keys on the keypad acting as 'up' and 'down' keys. The letters can then be selected (for a word or name to be spelt letter by letter) or alternatively words beginning with the particular letter can be scanned through by activating 'left' and 'right' keys. When the desired letter or word is spoken back by the system, that part of the message can be validated by activation of an 'enter' key. A 'hold' key can be used to hold a 'key' word whereby activation of the scanning keys will provide grammatically related forms, or cognate forms, of the word. The functions associated with each of the keys are arranged to correspond physically with the 'up', 'down', 'left' and 'right' functions so that, once a user understands the concept of the service flow, the user will not need any reference literature in order to use the service.

The system is also suitable for languages other than English; it is particularly suitable for the German language in which, for example, "the" can be expressed in sixteen different German grammatical forms.

The concept underlying the telephony server system is that of a word matrix; in a typical simplified example, there are twenty six letters and typically five words associated with each letter. If the various words starting with the same letter are ranked in priority (of use) order, expanding the vocabulary list should make little difference to the ease of use of the system for simple messages, since there is a high probability that the required word in each case will be the first to be spoken back by the system, or at least it will occur soon after the first word. Also, the fact that, in the preferred embodiment, the complete message is read back to the caller prior to onward transmission provides a further opportunity for any errors in the message to be identified before transmission.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, throughout which like parts are referred to by like references, and in which: Figure 1 shows an automated text entry messaging system according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 shows the layout of a standard telephone keypad; Figure 3 shows the keypad layout of Figure 2, but also including functions associated with the number keys; and Figure 4 shows a letter/word matrix which can be used in the system of Figure 1 in association with the telephone keypad of Figure 2.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, the preferred automated messaging system comprises a telephony server 10 connected to a messaging transmission system, such as a paging transmission system 11 which can transmit to a multiplicity of pagers including a specific pager 12. The telephony server 10 is accessed from a telephone 13 via a telephone network 14.

The telephony server 10 may, for example, be a Telsis Hi-Call, particular features of which are described in International Patent Application Publication No. WO 92/22165. In that publication, the telephony server is referred to as a voice services equipment (VSE).

Other terms include voice response system (VRS) or interactive voice response (IVR) equipment.

Associated with the telephony server 10, and optionally forming part of the telephone server 10, are a vocabulary and letter list store 15 and a corresponding speech output means 16. The vocabulary and letter list store 15 includes a list of text words and letters to be recognised by the system, and also a translation table for translating series of number key inputs from a telephone into text words or letters. The speech output means 16 has the ability to provide voiceprocessed speech output of the words and letters in the store 15, as well as of individual numbers.

The operation of the telephony server 10, the vocabulary and letter list store 15 and the speech output means 16 will now be described in the context of automating message entry and transmission to pagers.

A caller wishing to send a message to the pager 12 would dial from the telephone 13 a telephone number that can be one or more predefined numbers or a telephone number related in some way to the pager number.

In the event that the pager number does not form some part or part thereof of the telephone number dialled, then either a predefined pager will be selected based on some other information, which may be the caller's telephone number or other data, or at some time during the interaction between the caller and the telephony server the pager number will be entered.

The telephony server 10 will answer the call routed via the telephone network 14 and interact with the caller in order to accept in a manner acceptable for widespread use the input of text messages for onward transmission via the paging transmission system 11 to the pager 12.

As described above, the telephony server 10 is associated with the vocabulary and letter list store 15 which includes a stored list of text words and letters, namely a vocabulary and letter list, and also means for correlating information input by the caller with the words as well as individual letters or numbers, by means of which the equipment is able to decode messages entered by the use of a telephone dialling means, such as a telephone keypad, and to read back the entered messages by the speech output means 16 for confirmation of correct entry.

Figure 2 shows the layout of a standard keypad of a telephone, which is in common use in the UK and other countries. The keypad is arranged as a rectangular matrix of keys there being three columns with four rows each of dialling keys. The numbers 1 to 9 occupy the top three rows, with 'star' (*), zero (0) and 'hash (#) occupying the bottom row.

The manner in which text messages can be entered on the telephone keypad and recognised interactively by the system will be explained in the context of Figure 3, which shows the telephone keypad of Figure 2 but additionally shows certain functions associated with the number keys. The basic principle behind the system is that, in order to select a particular word, the 'up' (2) and 'down' (8) keys are used to select the first letter of the word; the 'right' (6) key is used to scan across words beginning with the same letter, and the 'left' (4) key can be used to scan back to words already previously scanned.

A simplified list of letters and words is shown in Figure 4, this list including twenty six letters and (typically) five words associated with each letter. After the letter 'Z', there is an entry for 'space' and following this are punctuation mark entries, in the areas corresponding to the word entries of initial letters. It will be apparent that it is not necessary for there to be five words associated with each letter; any larger or smaller number of words can be accommodated depending on system and usability constraints.

It is possible, by use of the keys. either to select words or cognate forms thereof (to be explained later) or to select letters for spelling if the required word is not present in the vocabulary list.

The manner in which the control keys provide appropriate commands to the system will now be explained. At the start of the service, once the user has dialled in as discussed above, the telephony server 10 will generally start with a spoken introduction and offer to provide further instruction, if required. As mentioned above, the keys numbered 2, 6, 8 and 4 are associated with movements in the appropriate directions in the letter/word matrix in the vocabulary/letter list, such that 2 is for 'up', 6 is for 'right', 8 is for 'down' and 4 is for 'left'. These functions are relatively easy to remember since they relate to the positions of the keys on the standard telephone keypad as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The 'one' and 'zero' keys are used to answer 'yes' or 'no' in response to any system queries, and the 'one' key has the additional purpose of allowing an immediate jump to the letter A, at appropriate points in the service, namely a 'home' function. The star key is used to select number entry and the hash key is used to enter a letter or word once selected by the user. The 5 key provides a 'hold' function allowing a top down menu structure to access words; these can be related to the basic word in the list, such as grammatical variations or derivatives of the basic word; these can be referred to as "cognate forms". The 3, 7 and 9 keys may be left unallocated, or may be reserved for other special purposes. If other commands are required, such as delete and message entry, these can be associated either with unallocated keys or with key combinations.

Some examples of message composition will now be given, with reference to the keypad of Figures 2 and 3, and the letter/word matrix of Figure 4.

(i) "Call Home" Following the system introduction, the system will prompt that it is ready and then say 'A'. Since the first word of this message begins with 'C', it is necessary by manipulation of the 'down' key (8) to move down the alphabet. After the first key depression, the system will say 'B' and after the next key depression, it will say 'C'.

It is now possible to use the 'right' key (6) to move along the row of words beginning with 'C' until "call" is found, in the present case this being the first word to be found (Figure 4). In each case, the speech output means 16 says the word back to the user; if the spoken word is not that desired, further depression of the 'right' key (6) will move on to the next word. If a word has been inadvertently missed, the 'left' key (4) is used to scan back across the row. Once the correct word, in this case "call", has been found, it can be selected for entry in the message by pressing the hash key. If the 'down' key (8) is pressed now, in the preferred implementation the system will return to the letter column, and say 'D', this being the next letter in the alphabet. Further repeated depression will scan through the letters until 'H' is reached, whereupon the words beginning with 'H' can be moved through by repeated depression of the 'right' key (6) until the word "home" is reached and spoken by the system. Once hash has been pressed, "home" will be entered into the message. It will be seen that the system is easy to use because at all times the caller can hear the current word as a prompt and can then select the word by using the hash key. When all selected or spelt words have been input, so that the message is finished, further depression of the hash key will complete the message input, whereupon the complete message is spoken back and, following message confirmation, the message is communicated to the required system.

(ii) "Jeff has arrived" It is first necessary to spell "Jeff" using letter input; this is achieved simply by scanning down or up the letters column using the down key (8) or the up key (2); once the system has spoken the letter, the hash key is depressed for letter entry. Then the word "has" is entered, by finding 'H' and then scanning across the words beginning with 'H'. However, when attempting to enter "arrived", the user finds that, although "arrive" is available in the list, "arrived" is not. Therefore, having found the "key" word, the user depresses the hold key (5) to hold position, and then uses the direction keys 2, 4, 6 and 8 to find "arrived". By this means, all cognate or grammatically related forms that are considered appropriate for inclusion can be accessed using this sub-menu mode. This mode of operation is particularly useful for languages having a large number of related word forms, such as German, where if the system mode is held on a key word, it will be possible to access the related grammatical forms easily.

If the message should include one or more numbers, depression of the star key followed by the required number key will result in the respective number being spoken back by the system. The number will then be included in the message. If punctuation is to be included in the message, the letters column is scanned until 'space' is reached after 'Z'. 'Space' is spoken back to the user, and repeated depression of right (6) or left (4) keys will result in the respective punctuation marks being spoken back to the user, and included in the message upon entry by the hash key.

It will be seen that the system as described allows easy input of standard messages using words in the vocabulary list. and in a slightly more cumbersome manner, allows words or names to be spelt. The system is implemented by a telephony server with means for detecting telephone signals such as MF tones from a telephone or other suitable input means, such means having an associated function or functions, the server responding with appropriate instructions or letters or words, as appropriate, so that a user can construct messages from common words or spell uncommon words, with the capability of using a hold function to access cognate forms of words in order to speed up and simplify system use.

As discussed above, the telephone network 14 is a public network but it will be apparent that communication between the telephones and the telephony server 10 could in appropriate circumstances be provided by a PABX system instead or as well.

Although the invention has been described in the context of a paging system whereby entered messages are communicated for display on selected pagers, it will be apparent that a similar technique can be used in any system requiring text messages or commands to be entered by telephone, such as for onward transmission to a required party.

Examples of other such systems include electronic mail systems, teletext systems, SMS (short message service) telephone systems which provide displays on mobile telephones for the communication of text information, computer access systems, classified advertisement entry systems, and fax entry systems.

The telephone dialling means as described above is in the form of a layout of keys on a keypad, such as one using MF dialling. However, any other form of dialling may be used, even pulse dialling although this would involve some reduction in user convenience and speed of use.

A further alternative would be a screen-based processing system in which a representation of the keypad is displayed on the screen, and individual keys may be activated by the use of a mouse, cursor keys or other input entry devices.

Claims (14)

1. A text communication system comprising means for decoding messages entered by the use of telephone dialling means having keys for number entry, a plurality of text assembling functions being associated with at least some of the number keys, the message decoding means comprising a telephony server operable to read back words and letters entered by the telephone dialling means, wherein activation of a first key allows scanning through an alphabet list for selection of a letter, activation of a second key allows scanning through a list of words beginning with the selected letter, and activation of a third key validates a wanted word or letter for assembling the message, the telephony server being operable to read back scanned letters and words upon activation of the first and second keys, and to read back the complete message upon completion of input. the system including means for communicating the complete message.

2. A system according to claim 1, including means for storing a vocabulary list of text words and letters to be scanned by activation of the first and second keys.

3. A system according to claim 2, including speech output means having a store of speech words and letters corresponding to the vocabulary list in the text word store, for reading back words and letters to the caller.

4. A system according to claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the message decoding means is operable, in response to activation of a further key, to hold a selected key word whereby further key activation results in related forms of the key word being spoken back to the user for selection of a desired related form.

5. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the message decoding means can be set into a number receiving mode upon respective input from the telephone dialling means, such that the resulting message can include numbers.

6. A system according to claim 5, wherein the respective input from the telephone dialling means is activation of a specific key.

7. A system according to claim 6, wherein the specific key is the star key.

8. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the message decoding means is operable to receive signals from a telephone dialling means having a rectangular matrix keypad, whereby scanning of the letters and words can be achieved by activation of respective keys in a form analogous to movements within a letter/word matrix.

9. A system according to claim 8, wherein the alphabet list can be scanned through by use of keys having 'down' and 'up' functions, the 'down' key being located physically below the 'up' key.

10. A system according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein words starting with a particular letter can be scanned through by use of keys having 'left' and 'right' functions, the 'left' key being located physically to the left of the 'right' key.

11. A system according to claim 9 and claim 10, wherein the arrangement of 'down', 'up', 'left' and 'right' keys is as shown in Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.

12. A system according to any one of claims 8 to 11 as dependent on claim 4, wherein the further key providing the hold function is located in between the 'down', 'up', 'left' and 'right' keys.

13. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the key for word or letter validation is the hash key.

14. A text communication system substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.