KR100491638B1 - Phone/electronic mail service system and method using data center - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a telephone-e-mail service system and a method using a data center that can receive a received e-mail through a regular telephone or a mobile phone by using voice recognition, voice authentication, and voice synthesis in a data center. The system and method of the present invention perform a voice synthesis function for converting text data into voice data in a data center (IDC) providing a server and / or a communication line to an individual, enterprise or Internet service provider (ISP). Including a voice synthesis module, characterized in that to provide a service for verifying the received e-mail to an external telephone to the user of the service provided by the individual, enterprise or Internet service provider. Therefore, it is possible to receive a telephone-e-mail service inexpensively and stably. In addition, mail server users who do not have a phone-e-mail solution installed can use the phone-e-mail service, and voice recognition, voice authentication, and voice synthesis functions have been added to the conventional DTMF method to provide users with convenient voice service. It is available.

Description

Phone-electronic mail service system and method using data center

The present invention relates to a telephone-e-mail service system using a data center and a method thereof, and more particularly, to receive a received e-mail through a general telephone or a mobile phone using voice recognition, voice authentication, and voice synthesis in a data center. A telephone-e-mail service system using a data center and a method thereof are provided.

As the use of the Internet increases, so does the use of e-mail. E-mail is widely used as a web mail (web mail) method that provides a service to send and receive e-mail in a web browser together with the method using a conventional mail client program (client program used to send and receive mail). By using this web mail method, a user can send and receive mail even if a computer anywhere in the world can use the web service. However, there are cases when a computer cannot be used. In this case, it would be more convenient if you could check your e-mail using your mobile phone. Therefore, in recent years, a service for checking an e-mail using a mobile phone has been provided.

However, in order to provide such a service, a voice synthesis function for converting text data into voice data and a voice recognition function for recognizing voice input through a telephone should be provided. In order to provide such a voice service, an expensive voice module must be provided, so that the user bears such a cost.

Conventional service providers also provide a limited range of services to reduce costs. That is, it does not provide a function for notifying that a new mail has arrived or does not provide a voice recognition and voice authentication method using voice over a telephone. In this case, the physically handicapped have a disadvantage in that it is difficult to receive an e-mail receiving service using a telephone. In addition, the voice mail solution must be present in the own mail server to send and receive voice mail using a telephone, so very few have a disadvantage of using the telephone e-mail service.

On the other hand, if a voice e-mail gateway system is to be established, the service provider should design the telephone-e-mail gateway service system in consideration of the number of simultaneous accesses to the Internet and the telephone at the same time. Many factors must be taken into account to provide reliable services. In addition, security risks to protect the system from outside intruders should be minimized. In addition, as the network environment of a company changes rapidly from the intranet structure to the Internet environment, a system suitable for the Internet environment should be constructed. In particular, dial-up, which consumes not much network bandwidth and resources per line, requires a large amount of Internet bandwidth, which requires high costs and a lot of network equipment.

In addition, a conventional telephone-e-mail solution must include a telephone-e-mail solution in a mail server to receive a telephone-e-mail service using a text to speech (TTS) function. Therefore, in order for a company to use a telephone-e-mail service, an expensive network equipment and voice synthesis, a voice recognition solution, and a maintenance cost for using a lot of network bandwidth are required. In addition, there is a disadvantage in that additional network equipment has to be paid as the number of users and usage increases.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention, in order to solve the above disadvantages, by using voice recognition, voice authentication, voice synthesis in the data center, to receive the received e-mail through a regular phone or mobile phone To provide a telephone-e-mail service system using a data center.

Another technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to solve the above disadvantages, by using voice recognition, voice authentication, voice synthesis in the data center, so that the received e-mail can be heard through a regular phone or a mobile phone To provide a telephone-e-mail service method using a data center.

The present invention provides a voice synthesis function for converting text data into voice data in a data center (IDC) providing a server and / or a communication line to an individual, enterprise or Internet service provider (ISP) in order to achieve the above technical problem. Including a voice synthesis module for performing a call, using a data center, characterized in that to provide a user for the service provided by the individual, enterprise or Internet service provider to check the received e-mail with an external telephone- Provide an e-mail service system.

The present invention provides a voice synthesis for converting text data into voice data in a data center (IDC) providing a server and / or a communication line to an individual, enterprise or Internet service provider (ISP) in order to achieve the above technical problem. Including a voice synthesis module for performing a function, a telephone using a data center, characterized in that to provide a service for verifying the received e-mail with an external telephone to the user of the service provided by the individual, enterprise or Internet service provider Provides an email service method

Preferably, the voice recognition module included in the data center is used to perform a voice recognition function for converting a voice spoken on a telephone into text data.

More preferably, a function of selecting one of the plurality of received e-mails, deleting the selected e-mail, or reading the selected e-mail according to the voice of the user is performed.

Preferably, by using a voice authentication module included in the data center, it is characterized in that to perform a voice authentication function for authenticating the identity of the user by recognizing the voice of the user input through the telephone.

Preferably, the new mail notification module included in the data center is used to perform a new mail notification function for notifying that a new e-mail has arrived.

Preferably, the telephone is characterized in that it comprises a regular wired or wireless telephone or a mobile phone.

Preferably, an e-mail is received from a mail server in the data center and / or a mail server outside the data center by using a mail receiving module included in the data center.

More preferably, using a protocol module included in the data center, a protocol is set using personal information of a user, and the mail receiving module uses the set protocol to send a mail server or the data inside the data center. Receive e-mail from a mail server outside the center.

The present invention is characterized by using a data center to check e-mail via telephone. In the Internet, the term data center is used to refer to a company that provides centralized web hosting and related data services, and is often referred to as an internet data center (IDC). Typically, these data centers provide servers and / or telecommunications lines to individuals, enterprises or Internet service providers (ISPs), and computer servers or one or more Internet service providers (IPS) for corporate servers or related equipment. ISP) provides services such as access.

Table 1 compares the present invention and a conventional patent or patent application, and there is no technology using a data center characterized by the present invention.

Registration number or application number Mail function Speech synthesis Voice recognition Web access Dial-up Notification function Send phone mail Data center use 10-019457 O O X X O O X X 10-0247026 O O O X O X X X 10-0250491 O O X X O O X X Special Issue 1997-038046 O O X X O X X X 10-1998-0016133 (Ex) O O O X O X X X 10-1998-0033331 (Ex) O O X X O O X X 10-1999-0032769 (Ex) O O O X O X O X 10-1999-0051485 (Ex) O O O X O X O X 10-2000-0003444 (Ex) O O O O O O O X 10-2000-0003616 (Ex) O O O O O X O X 10-2000-0013618 (Ex) O O X O O X X X 10-2000-0015224 (Ex) O O O X O O O X 10-2001-7001328 (Ex) O O O O O X X X

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a telephone-e-mail service system and method using a data center according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, when it is determined that detailed descriptions of related well-known technologies or configurations may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted. In addition, terms to be described below are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, which may vary according to the intention or custom of a user or an operator. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a telephone-e-mail service system using a data center according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a telephone-e-mail service system using a data center according to the present invention includes a data center 10, users 20, 30, and 40 and an external company 50. The user includes a computer user or web client 20, a general wired or wireless telephone user 30, or a mobile phone user 40. The external company 50 is a company that provides a mail server other than the mail server in the data center.

The data center 10 includes a mail server 12, a web server 14, a database server 16, an SMS server 18 and a dial-up server 100. The dial-up server 100 includes a dial-up board 110, a dial-up processing module 120, a voice authentication module 122, a voice synthesis module 124, a voice recognition module 126, a protocol module 130, The mail receiving module 140 and the mail notification module 150 are included.

On the other hand, the computer user 20 connects to the web server 14 in the data center 10 via the Internet or TCP / IP 25, and the general telephone user 30 and the mobile phone user 40 connect to the public switched telephone network ( It connects to the telephone access board 110 in the data center 10 via a public switched telephone network (PSTN).

The functions and operations of servers and modules in the data center will now be described with reference to FIGS.

2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a system for setting mail retrieval and user information via the Internet.

2, the data center 10 includes a mail server 12, a web server 14, a database server 16, and a dial-up server 100, and the dial-up server 100 includes a protocol module ( 130 and the mail receiving module 140. Here, the web server 14 provides an interface for allowing a user to set user information through a network. The database server 16 may store user information input through a web server. The protocol module 130 sets a communication method for connecting to another type of mail server 52 provided by an external company 50 on a network. The mail receiving module 140 receives a mail by accessing a user mail server using a corresponding protocol.

Now, an operation of setting user information will be described. If the user information is not stored in the data center, the computer user 20 accesses the web server 14 using the Internet, and then the user's personal information, mail server location (IP), user account information and name of the mail server. Address book information including e-mail address, mobile communication terminal (for example, mobile phone) number for notification function, communication type or protocol type, user's unique number (number), password number ( Number) or a voice for voice authentication used to access the dial-up server 100 by telephone. At this time, the user's voice input for voice authentication is converted into voice data created by extracting the characteristic (voice) of the unique voice owned by the individual, and stored in the database server 16. Can not. The user may access the access server over the telephone and select one of the DTMF method for inputting a unique password number, which is a method for authenticating the user, or a voice authentication method for authenticating with a user voice, for user authentication. Here, the DTMF method for user authentication is a conventional general method of inputting a password. The dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) is a signal generated when a button of a general telephone is pressed and sent to a telephone station. The web server stores the personal information entered by the user in a database (210), and when reconnected next time, the user authenticates the user based on the personal information, checks the user's mail, and uses a mail service using a telephone. Even when receiving the mail service based on the personal information stored in the database (16).

If the user information has already been entered and stored in the data center, the user can confirm the mail reception from the user's mail server after connecting to the web server 14. At this time, when the user mail server location uses the mail server 12 in the data center, mail data can be transmitted and received 212 from the mail server 12 in the data center.

If the user's mail server location is another type of mail server 52 outside the data center, the web server 14 uses the protocol module 130 based on the user information transmitted from the database 16 to the user's mail server. After setting the protocol (214), the protocol module 130 receives the mail after authenticating the user from the corresponding mail server 52 on the Internet using the mail receiving module 140 (216).

3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a system in which a user uses a mail service through a general telephone or a mobile phone.

The dial-up server 100 in the data center 10 controls a user who uses a telephone and a mobile phone through a public switched telephone network (PSTN). The dial-up server 100 includes a dial-up processing module 120, a voice authentication module 122, a voice synthesis module 124, a voice recognition module 126, and a dial-up board 110. Here, the telephone connection processing module 120 controls voice authentication, voice synthesis, and voice recognition of a user connected by telephone. The voice authentication module 122 authenticates the user connected by phone, the voice synthesis module 124 converts the received text mail into voice, and the voice recognition module 126 recognizes the voice commanded by the user by phone. Character data. Dial-up board 110 processes the telephone connection when the telephone connection on the PSTN.

The users 30 and 40 using the telephone e-mail service using the telephone receive the mail from the user mail server based on their own information set by the user. When the user connects by telephone, the dial-up board 110 of the access server 100 receives the user's signal and transmits the signal to the dial-up processing module 120 (320). The dial-up processing module that controls the user session performs basic user authentication with the user. In addition, the phone connection processing module 120 controls the phone access board 110 to communicate with the user (320), the user can specify the following service-related actions using DTMF or voice commands. This behavior is described below with reference to FIGS. 5A-5C.

When the user authenticates the user on the telephone, the dial-up processing module 120 authenticates using voice authentication or DTMF serial number based on the user data set by the user. When authenticating through the voice authentication, the phone connection processing module transmits the voice data presented by the user to the voice authentication module 122 (322), and the voice authentication module receiving the voice data transmits the voice data and the database (16). Authenticate by comparing the user's voice data with). The voice authentication module transmits the authentication result to the phone connection processing module, and the phone connection processing module receiving the processing result from the voice authentication module performs a predetermined step according to the result.

When the user wants to listen to the received e-mail through the telephone, the dial-up processing module first sets a communication method using the protocol module 130 based on the user's data, and the mail receiving module 140 sets the set protocol. After the user authenticates with the mail server, the mail of the user is received (316, 318). Received mail from the mail server is sent back to the dial-up processing module (314, 312), the dial-up processing module is to be converted to speech to the speech synthesis module 124 to sound the received mail to the user The character data is transmitted (324). The voice synthesis module 124 transmits the converted voice data back to the dial-up processing module 324, and the dial-up processing module tells the voice data to the user. However, if the received e-mail is a voice mail, the dial-up processing module converts the voice mail into a format suitable for the telephone line bandwidth and then informs the user.

When the user uses the mail confirmation service using the voice command, the dial-up processing module transmits the user voice data input through the telephone line to the voice recognition module 126 (326), and the voice recognition module 126 receives the received voice data. Converts the data into text data and transmits the text data back to the dial-up processing module (326). The dial-up processing module executes the command based on the text data.

The protocol module 130 is a module for setting up a user to communicate with a server receiving mail. The protocol module 130 is a protocol for receiving an email from a remote server, a post office protocol (POP) or an IMAP (internet message). access protocol).

When the protocol module 130 is set to a custom protocol stored in the database 16, the mail receiving module 140 uses a user account and password stored in the database by using the set protocol to use a mail server or an external company in the data center. Authenticate with the mail server (316, 318). Then, the received mail is imported and the obtained mail is transmitted to the dial-up processing module (314, 312).

4 is a diagram showing the configuration of a system for performing a new mail notification function, and performs a mail notification function for notifying users immediately whether mail has been received by mail servers of users registered in the database 16. As shown in FIG.

The short message service (SMS) server 18 notifies the cellular phone user 40 of the receipt of a mail when a new e-mail arrives. The mail notification module 150 in the dial-up server 100 obtains a user list and information stored in the database 16 resident in the server memory at predetermined time intervals (414) to confirm whether mail has been received from the user mail server. The mail notification module 150 sets the protocol by transmitting the protocol information set by the user to the protocol module 130 (412), and the mail receiving module 140 uses the designated protocol for the mail server 12 in the data center or the like. After receiving the user authentication from the external company's mail server 52, the received mail is retrieved (418 and 420). If there is a received mail, the mail receiving module transmits the mail-related content received by the mail notification module, for example, the number of received mails, the title, the content, and the mail receiving time of each mail (416, 412). The mail notification module which has received the received mail information transmits the mobile phone number information of the corresponding user stored in the database 16 and the received mail related contents, such as the number of mails, the title, the contents and the time, to the SMS server 18. 410. The SMS server 18 transmits a short message informing the user that the mail has been received based on the data received from the mail notification module.

5A and 5C are diagrams illustrating a mail service method using a telephone.

First, referring to FIG. 5A, a general wired or wireless telephone user 30 (FIG. 1) or a mobile phone user 40 (FIG. 1) makes a call to access a data center 10 (FIG. 1) to use a telephone-e-mail service. do. Dial-up server 100 in the data center (FIG. 1) outputs a voice for guidance to the user (S102). The user inputs a unique number for user authentication according to the guidance (S104). Then, the user receives the user authentication using the DTMF method using the numeric buttons of the phone or the voice authentication method using the user's own voice to input his password (S106). If the user authentication is incorrect, the dial-up server outputs a reconfirmation guidance voice to the user (S108), and the process moves to step S106. If the user authentication is correct, the dial-up server outputs a voice message for receiving mail status guidance to the user (S110). Depending on the voice prompt for the dial-up server, the user can use the voice to select one of 'listen', 'send' or 'end' or use the number buttons to select one, two or zero. (S112). If the user says 'end' using voice or enters 0 using the numeric buttons, the dial-up server outputs a voice prompting the user to terminate (S114), and disconnects the telephone-e-mail service. do.

According to the usage guidance voice of step S112, when the user says 'send' using the voice or enters the number 2 using the numeric buttons, the process proceeds to step S202 of FIG. 5B. That is, the dial-up server outputs a mail for voice mail guidance to the user (S202). The user inputs a mail recipient name by voice, and the dial-up server acquires recipient information from an address book previously stored in a database by using the input recipient name (S204). Then, the user records the contents of the mail to be transmitted (S206). The user can then use voice to enter 'OK', 'Rerecord', 'Send' or 'Exit' or use the number buttons to select 1, 2, 3 or 0 And input (S208). If the user selects 'OK' or No. 1, the dial-up server notifies the user of the recorded voicemail (S210), and proceeds to step S208. If the user selects 'Re-record' or No. 2, the process proceeds to step S206 to re-record the content of the mail to be sent. If the user selects 'Send' or No. 3, the user sends a mail (S212) and proceeds to step S112 of FIG. 5A. If the user selects 'end' or 0, the dial-up server outputs a voice prompting the user to finish (S214) and releases the telephone-e-mail service connection.

On the other hand, according to the usage guidance voice of step S112 of FIG. 5A, when the user says 'listen' using the voice or inputs the number 1 using the numeric buttons, the process proceeds to step S302 of FIG. 5C. That is, the dial-up server outputs a mail listening guide voice to the user (S302). Then, the dial-up server tells the user of the mail title of the received mail by using the TTS module (S304). The user can then use the voice to enter one of 'Reply', 'Next', 'Back', 'Delete', 'Read' or 'Exit' or use the number buttons 1, 2, 3, Select one of 4, 5 or 0 to input (S306). If the user selects 'Next' or No. 2, the user moves to the next mail of the mail heard in step S304 (S308), and proceeds to step S304. If the user selects 'back' or number 3, the user moves to the previous mail of the mail heard in step S304 (S310), and proceeds to step S304. If the user selects 'read' or 5, the contents of the mail corresponding to the mail subject heard in step S304 are heard using the TTS module (S312), and the flow proceeds to step S306. If the user selects 'Delete' or No. 4, the mail corresponding to the mail subject heard in step S304 is deleted (S314), and the flow proceeds to step S306. If the user selects 'reply' or '1', the process proceeds to step S206 of FIG. 5B to send a mail. If the user selects 'end' or 0, the dial-up server outputs a voice prompting for the end to the user (S316), and releases the telephone-e-mail service connection.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains may make various changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. It will be appreciated that modifications or variations may be made. Accordingly, modifications to future embodiments of the present invention will not depart from the technology of the present invention.

As described above, by using the telephone-e-mail service system and the method using the data center according to the present invention, it is possible to receive the telephone-e-mail service inexpensively and stably. In addition, mail server users who do not have a phone-e-mail solution installed can use the phone-e-mail service, and voice recognition, voice authentication, and voice synthesis functions have been added to the conventional DTMF method to provide users with convenient voice service. It is available.

By placing a telephone-e-mail gateway service system in a data center (IDC), it is possible to reduce various risks that occur in the past and to build a lower cost and more stable service system. IDC is responsible for the operation and management of server equipment and communication equipment, which is too expensive to operate. It is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, security, and a complete communication network, making it more stable, reducing the risk of accidents, and increasing system efficiency. Inexpensive Internet environment can be provided.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a telephone-e-mail service system using a data center according to the present invention.

2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a system for setting mail retrieval and user information via the Internet.

3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a system using a mail service via telephone.

4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a system for performing a new mail notification function.

5A and 5C are diagrams illustrating a method of using a mail service through a telephone.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10 ... data center (IDC), 12 ... mail servers in the data center,

14 Web server, 16 Database server,

18 ... SMS server, 20 ... Web client,

30 ... regular phone users, 40 ... mobile phone users,

50 ... 3rd party outside the data center, 52 ... 3rd party mail server,

100 ... Dial-Up Server, 122 ... Voice Authentication Module,

124 speech synthesis module, 126 speech recognition module,

130 ... protocol module, 140 ... mail receiving module,

150 ... mail notification module.

Claims (16)

A voice synthesis module, which performs a voice synthesis function for converting text data into voice data, is provided to a data center (IDC) that provides a server and / or a communication line to an individual, an enterprise, or an Internet service provider (ISP). Provide a service for checking e-mail to an external telephone to a user of a service provided by the individual, enterprise or Internet service provider; The data center is the user and further includes a speech recognition module for performing speech recognition to convert the voice talking on the phone as character data, according to the user's voice select one of the plurality of e-mail that the received or selected e A telephone-e-mail service system using a data center, characterized in that it performs a function of deleting a mail or reading a selected e-mail . delete delete The telephone-e-mail using the data center according to claim 1, wherein the data center further comprises a voice authentication module that performs a voice authentication function for recognizing a user by recognizing a voice of a user input through a telephone. Service system. 2. The telephone-e-mail service system of claim 1, wherein the data center further includes a new mail notification module that performs a new mail notification function for notifying that a new e-mail has arrived. 2. The telephone-e-mail service system of claim 1, wherein the telephone comprises a general wired or wireless telephone or a mobile phone. 2. The telephone-based data center of claim 1, wherein the data center further comprises a mail receiving module for receiving an e-mail from a mail server inside the data center and / or a mail server outside the data center. Email service system. The data center of claim 7, wherein the data center further comprises a protocol module configured to set a protocol using user's personal information, and wherein the mail receiving module uses the set protocol to transmit a mail server or the data center inside the data center. Telephone-e-mail service system using a data center, characterized in that for receiving e-mail from an external mail server. A voice synthesis module, which performs a voice synthesis function for converting text data into voice data, is provided to a data center (IDC) that provides a server and / or a communication line to an individual, an enterprise, or an Internet service provider (ISP). Providing a service for confirming e-mail to an external telephone to a user of a service provided by the personal, corporate or Internet service provider; And A voice recognition module included in the data center allows a user to  A voice recognition step of converting the spoken voice into text data; The voice recognition step includes performing a function of selecting one of the plurality of received e-mails, deleting a selected e-mail, or reading a selected e-mail according to the voice of the user. Phone-e-mail service method using. delete delete 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising a voice authentication step of authenticating a user by recognizing a voice of a user input through a phone using a voice authentication module included in the data center. -Email service method. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising a new mail notification step for notifying that a new e-mail has arrived by using a new mail notification module included in the data center. . 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the telephone comprises a regular wired or wireless telephone or a mobile phone. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising receiving an e-mail from a mail server in the data center and / or a mail server outside the data center by using a mail receiving module included in the data center. Telephone-email service method using a data center. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of receiving an email Using a protocol module included in the data center, a protocol is set using personal information of a user, and the mail receiving module uses a mail server inside the data center or a mail server outside the data center using the set protocol. Receiving an email from the telephone-e-mail service method using a data center.