FR2668870A1 - Remote secretarial office device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a remote secretarial office device which comprises: voice recording means (8) linked to a telephone network (RTC) in order to record a dictation sent by a sender; a voice reproduction means (24, 27, 30) arranged to reproduce the dictation to an operator; a word processing computer (26) controlled by the operator in order to produce a file of digital data or print file; a messaging computer (1) linked to a transmission network and arranged so as to record the said print file and transmit it to the said addressee over a line of the said transmission network; and a computer (14) controlling a printer (15), configured so as to communicate with the said messaging computer (1) for the purpose of recording the said print file and printing the corresponding text.

Description

 The invention relates to a remote secretary device making it possible to remotely produce a text printed from a received dictation, then to transmit this text to a recipient.

 The problem which the invention aims to solve is to propose such a device, which allows "instantaneous" creation and transmission of a text, that is to say within a time period corresponding substantially to the typing and re-reading time by an operator. Another problem which the invention aims to solve is to be able to receive the dictation from any point of the territory, at any time, and to be able to transmit the text to any place in the territory, not defined at the advance, but chosen by the recipient.

 These problems are solved according to the invention by the fact that the remote secretary device comprises: a voice recording means connected to a telephone network and arranged to record a dictation transmitted in analog form by a sender from any telephone line said network, and recipient identification data; voice reproduction means connected to an output of said voice recording means and arranged to restore the dictation to an operator; a word processor computer controlled by the operator to produce a digital data file of a text corresponding to said dictation or print file; a messaging computer comprising an input connected to an output of the word processor and an output connected to a transmission network capable of transmitting digital data, said messaging computer being arranged to record said print file and transmit it to said recipient on a line of said transmission network; and a computer controlling a printer, connected to said line of the transmission network and arranged to communicate with said messaging computer in order to save said print file and print the corresponding text.

Other details and advantages of the invention will appear during the following description of a preferred but non-limiting embodiment, with reference to the appended drawings in which
Figure 1 is a block diagram of the device according to the invention
Figure 2 is a detailed diagram of a preferred embodiment.

 The remote secretary device shown in FIG. 1 comprises a message center 1 including at least one computer adapted to this function. In a manner known per se, the computer is arranged to receive messages transmitted by a large number of senders, each message specifying the corresponding recipient (s), store in memory the messages not transmitted directly and transmit the messages to the recipients, either automatically, either at the request of these.

This message center 1 is connected, by a digital network with medium or low bit rate RNM, to several access points to the network 3, distributed in a plurality of geographic areas 4 to 6 of a territory. Several processing centers 2, 7, distributed over the territory, are connected to said access points 3 by the switched telephone network
RTC.

Each treatment center 2, 7 is designed to
- receive, from a plurality of voice servers 8 distributed in said geographical areas 4 to 6, text dictations transmitted in digital form over a digital high bit rate network RNH, and store them by means of computers
- restore, to operators, said texts in audible form, these producing, on computer files, the corresponding texts by means of word processing calculators; and
- transmit, on the switched telephone network and then on the digital medium-speed network RNN, the content of these computer files to message center 1, by means of computers.

 Each voice server 8 comprises at least one computer and is connected on the one hand to the public switched telephone network PSTN to receive text dictations in audible form and store them in digital form in computer files, and on the other hand to the digital network broadband RNH to transmit the content of these files to a processing center 2, 7 which is assigned, temporarily or permanently, to the addressee, unless otherwise provided. Preferably, the recipient is the author of the dictation.

 A large number of customers, wishing to have access to the services offered by the telesecretary device, can request a communication with the voice server 8 of the geographical area in which they are at a given time, by means of subscriber or public stations. 11.

Each client can call this voice server and dictate a text by means of his telephone handset 12 or, in the case of a long text, previously dictate this text on a tape recorder 13 and transmit it over the telephone network via a telephone contactor.

 This text, recorded by the neighboring voice server 8, will be transmitted immediately or deferred - according to the request of the sender - to the corresponding processing center 7 then, in a printable form, to the message center 1. The recipient of the text receives the latter, the file of which passes over the RNM medium-speed digital network to a local access point 3 then on the PSTN switched telephone network to a subscriber station 11: this subscriber station is either the personal subscriber station of the recipient, in particular if the latter has chosen an automatic text reception procedure, i.e. any subscriber station in the territory from which the recipient called the message center. 14, connected to subscriber station 11, controls a printer 15 for printing text on paper.

 Thus, it appears that any customer can have access to the telesecretariat service from any point in the territory, not defined in advance. He can also receive printed texts at any point in the territory and at a time that suits him.

 The telesecretariat service is "instant response" in the sense that the delay between the moment when the client has communicated his text to a voice server and that when he receives a print data file of this text is reduced to the time typing text on a keyboard of a word processor and proofreading by the operator, the data transmission times on digital networks and PSTN switched telephone network being negligible.

 Provided that a specific geographical area, in which a voice server is located, has local means of connection to the digital high-speed network RNH, it can be seen that advantageously the length of the voice data path on the switched telephone network is limited at least. The speed of transmission of voice data on the telephone network is indeed low compared to that of digital data on digital networks and moreover the invoicing for the use of the telephone network is a function both of the duration of use and distance: it is therefore important to limit the latter.

 Advantageously, the processing centers 2 do not need to be located in the immediate vicinity of the voice servers 8, but can be located anywhere in the territory, in particular in rural areas, or even in overseas territories or abroad.

 As a variant, the voice server 8 can be installed at the customer's premises and connected to the high-speed digital network RNH by a dedicated line. Access by a large number of people from a company to this server can be achieved using '' a private telephone network of the company.

 The same applies to the recipient with regard to the connection of his subscriber station 11 to the digital medium-speed network RNM.

Preferably, the digital medium speed network
RNM is a packet data transmission network such as the French TRANSPAC network (registered trademark).

 As a variant, each processing center can be connected to the message center by a dedicated line of the RNM medium-speed digital network, or connected to said access point to this network by another digital network.

 In Figure 2 is shown the diagram of a preferred embodiment of the telesecretary device, in which the elements corresponding to those of Figure 1 have the same references.

Each voice server 8 of the telesecretariat device is an IBM-PC / PS 286 computer under MS-DOS or compatible with it and is equipped with several electronic interface cards 20 by which it is connected to several lines of the PSTN telephone network, each card being arranged to manage telephone events and perform analog / digital conversion of speech signals at a bit rate of 32 or 24 Kbits / s. It also includes a disc 21 of sufficient capacity for the storage, before routing to the processing center (s) 2, of the digital dictations (one minute of dictation = 240 or 180
K. bytes according to coding), and an interface card 22 with the digital network with integration of French services or NUMERIS network (registered trademark).

An application machine 23, consisting of an IBM-PC / PS 386 computer under UNIX or compatible with it, is connected to the voice server 8 according to a "
Programming of Voice Applications "(IPAV) as defined by the National Center for Telecommunications Studies (CNET).

The voice server 8 includes software ensuring the processing of IPAV commands. An additional command has been added to the IPAV to initiate the call and the transfer of digitized speech files, from disk 21, over the NUMERIS network. This command has the following parameters
- NUMERIS number of the recipient processing center 2
- number of the file to be transferred
- information to be added at the head of the file, namely the identification of the author of the text and the urgency of the work to be carried out.

 Like any IPAV command, the transfer command returns an acknowledgment of receipt and an execution report to the application machine 23.

 The voice server 8 software simultaneously manages 1 to n telephone lines as well as the interface with the NUMERIS network for file transfer which takes place in the background.

 The application machine 23 comprises three specific software, namely software for administering the dialogue with the user, software for managing the users' file, and software for managing the transfers.

The user dialogue administration software, within the framework of the CNET's IPAV directives, makes it possible to describe and administer the dialogue with the user on the telephone
- Home,
- identification,
- collection of dictation,
- work emergency.

 The dialog is fully configured and can evolve according to the needs identified during the operation of the system. This software produces a file allowing to keep track of the progress of each telephone call.

The user file management software allows the creation and maintenance of a file of users of the remote secretary device which is used:
- in the caller identification phase,
- to transmit the dictation to the "usual" processing center 2 of the user.

 An administrator of the telesecretariat system can change the center in the event of saturation or temporary unavailability of a center.

 This file is maintained from a local or remote terminal (keyboard - screen).

 The transfer management software permanently consults the history file of the calls processed by the application machine 23.

 Depending on the emergency, it immediately or delayed triggers the transfer to the processing center 2 designated according to the author of the dictation.

 The transfer is controlled by sending to the voice server 8 the appropriate command, as described above.

Upon receipt of the execution report
- in the event of a successful transfer, the destination, date and time of the transfer are recorded. A command to erase the speech file is sent to the voice server 8
- in case of failure, the destination, the date, the time and the cause of the failure are recorded. The program continues to consult the log file of the application machine 23. The maximum number of attempts and the minimum time interval to be observed between two attempts are parameters of this program.

 In each processing center 2, speech rendering servers 2t are supplied as the speech files arrive on a dictation reception server 25 connected to the NUMERIS network.

 Each rendering server supplies one to six word processing stations 26.

 Each word processor 26 has a dictation "scroll" control pedal 27 (connected to a COM1 communication port of the word processor) and a headset 30 connected to the channel assigned to it on the speech rendering server 24 to which it is attached.

 The dictation reception server is an IBM-PC / PS computer under DOS or compatible with it, having an interface card 31 with the NUMERIS network and a connection card 32 to a local area network RL in the center of treatment 2.

I1 has a disc 33 which serves
- buffer between the reception of files from the NUMERIS network on two speed channels 64
Kbits / s and their transfer, via the local area network, to the rendering servers 24
- support for a file for routing speech files according to the identification of their author
- support for a file monitoring the progress of works.

Each speech rendering server is an IBM-PC / PS computer under DOS or compatible with it, equipped
- a connection card 36 to the local area network RL
- from one to six speech reproduction cards 34, with cord for connecting to the operator's headset 30
- a large capacity disk 35, capable of storing at least six hours of speech, ie 90 million bytes.

Each word processor is a computer equipped
- a connection card 37 to the local area network RL
- an asynchronous communication card 38 (COM1) to which the control pedal 27 with four positions (stop, run, jump forward, reverse jump), of the dictation machine pedal type, is connected.

The functions of the software used by each processing center 2 are now analyzed. The dictation reception server 25 includes a program operating in the background and continuously running to receive the files transmitted over the NUMERIS network. In normal operation, an internal routing program
- scans for incoming files,
- consult the routing instruction file,
- transfers the files received to the speech reproduction servers 24,
frees up space on disk 33 of the dictation reception server,
- displays a report on a screen of the dictation reception server.

This program can be temporarily interrupted to
- launch a maintenance program for the dictation routing instructions file according to their authors,
- launch a program to consult the work progress control file.

 During these interruptions, the capacity available on disk 33 is sufficient to receive files from the NUMERIS network (sent by voice servers 8).

 The software of each of the speech reproduction servers 24 controls one to six speech reproduction cards under the control of one to six command files supplied, via the local area network RL, by the attached word processing stations 26.

Orders are
- opening the speech file chosen by the operator,
- launch of speech synthesis in headphones
- stopping speech synthesis,
- advancement or retreat within the file, the movements being carried out with a geometric progression.

 The word processing stations 26 operate under the control of a word processing software marketed under the name: WORD.

The operator has control for
- start the transfer of a speech file which is not found on the speech rendering server 24 to which it is attached,
- open a dictation and send a report to the server for receiving dictations 25,
- close a dictation and send a report to this server.

 As soon as a dictation is opened, the operator performs word processing.

 The monitoring of the progress of the speech restitution is carried out with the pedal 27 whose position is continuously analyzed by a resident program, through the communication port of the computer. This program transmits the corresponding commands to the speech rendering server 24.

 All commands from the word processing station 26 to the speech rendering server 24 pass through the local area network RL.

Each processing center 2 includes a text transmission server 41 which is a computer connected to the local area network RL by a connection card 42, and to the public packet data transmission network TRANSPAC (registered trademark) through an interface card 43 and, in this example, of the public switched telephone network PSTN. The text transmission server 41 is arranged to transmit the texts to a message center 1 constituted in this example by the public center designated commercially by "ATLAS 400" belonging to the message system
EDI from France Telecom, and accessible through the TRANSPAC network. The interface card 43 is therefore designed to allow connection to the "ATLAS 400" message center, via the TRANSPAC network.

The texts transmitted by the text transmission server 41 are taken care of by the message center 1 which
- deliver them directly to the recipient if the recipient is permanently connected to them,
- Otherwise, temporarily stores them on a disk 44 while waiting for the recipient's call.

 They are stored as binary computer files, which are of no significance to the message center.

 The client receives the texts to be printed on the equipment 14, 15 made available by the provider of the telesecretariat service. This is assembled and programmed so as to reduce handling to a minimum to allow fully automatic printing. The computer 14 is equipped with an interface card 45 arranged to allow a connection to the message center "ATLAS 400" via the switched telephone network PSTN and the TRANSPAC network.

Alternatively, the access of the text transmission server 41 and of the recipient's computer 14 to the network
TRANSPAC could be done by another digital data transmission network or a dedicated line
TRANSPAC.

 Details of the process for printing texts at the customer's premises are given below. Functionally, the tool installed at the customer's site must provide an automatic service, with the minimum of human intervention, and the possibility for the technicians of the service provider of the telesecretariat service to resolve incidents remotely (remote maintenance).

The computer 14, installed at the clivent site, includes software, built around the "gateway" MESTRA 440 from SOPRINCO, which allows
- The regular connection of the customer's subscriber line 11 to message center 1 via the PSTN telephone network, with a frequency and identifications to be configured in the management functions
- transfer and storage on disk, at the client of the files found in the message center
- at the end of the consultation, if documents are to be printed, the software orders the transfer to the printing function, and if no document has been found, it orders the standby for the next connection.

As a document is to be printed, printing is done in one of the following two modes, chosen in the management functions
1 - Automatic printing, according to which all the texts ready to be printed are immediately printed.

 2 - Printing on demand, according to which the list of texts to be printed (and, if requested, that of those who have been recently) is displayed by order of seniority.

 The operator chooses the texts to be printed and can, if he wishes, view and modify them before printing.

Printing requires interpretation of codes controlling the printer
- paper reserve tray 1 or 2,
- Both sides,
- Portrait / Landscape (i.e. presentation in French / Italian).

 These codes are entered in the text by the operator or are provided in the forms.

 At the end of printing, the transfer to the connection function takes place.

Several management functions are provided such as the purification (the texts printed before ... are destroyed), the identifications in the message center The or identifications to consult (Company / Person) are introduced to be managed by the function of connection and remote maintenance: this consists in placing the call of the remote secretary provider on hold via the PSTN switched telephone network to
- consultation of the various files,
- updating software, files, tables,
- the launch of various procedures (statistics, diagnostics, etc.).

 With regard to security, the equipment must not be able to be used by the customer for other operations. In particular, access to the software of the telesecretariat provider must be strictly prohibited, and the attempts must cause a diagnostic blocking of the system.

 The computer 14 is arranged to allow the connection of the telesecretary device as a whole to a local network of the customer, for the purpose of transferring the texts to another computer of this network.

 The printing function has the following implications for centers.

 As far as the texts are concerned, given the size of the clients' logos, we cannot envisage transferring them for each text. They therefore reside with the client and are called by interpretation of a code inserted in the texts.

 The number of copies to print, which can change from one text to another in the same document, is also indicated by the operator and interpreted during printing.

Regarding the identification of documents, the name of the document specifies - the client} as branches - the directory service} - the date of receipt by} in the name
the telesecretariat provider} - the sequence nO} MS DOS - the type of software package (WORD, LOTUS ...) in the add-in (. DOS,. WKI ...).

 According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, each voice server 8 includes a processing center 2 arranged in the immediate vicinity. In this case, the NUMERIS network is not used, the dictation reception server 25 of the processing center 2 being connected directly to the voice server 8.

Claims (7)

 1.- Telesecretary device, characterized in that it comprises  - a voice recording means (8) connected to a telephone network (PSTN) and arranged to record a dictation transmitted in analog form by a sender from any telephone line (11) of said network, and data recipient identification  - a voice rendering means (24, 27, 30) connected to an output of said voice recording means and arranged to restore the dictation to an operator  - a word processor (26) controlled by the operator to produce a digital data file of a text corresponding to said dictation or print file  - a messaging computer (1) comprising an input connected to an output of the text processing computer (26) and an output connected to a transmission network capable of transmitting digital data, said messaging computer being arranged to store said file printing and transmitting it to said recipient on a line of said transmission network; and  - a computer (14) controlling a printer (15), connected to said line of the transmission network and arranged to communicate with said messaging computer (1) in order to record said print file and print the corresponding text.  2.- Device according to claim 1, wherein said voice recording means (8) is arranged to record the dictation in the form of a digital data file or speech file, said voice rendering means (24, 27 , 30) being remote from and connected to said voice recording means (8) by a digital data transmission network (RNH).  3.- Device according to claim 2, which comprises several voice recording means (8) and several voice reproduction means (24, 27, 30) distant from each other, several word processing computers (26) being assigned respectively to said voice rendering means, each of the voice recording means being connected to any one of the voice rendering means by said digital data transmission network (RNH) and being arranged to select, from among several recorded speech files, a determined speech file and for transmitting it to a determined speech reproduction means.  4.- Device according to claim 3, which comprises a single messaging computer (1) whose input is connected to a transmission network (RNM) capable of transmitting digital data, and several means of transmitting print files (41) respectively connected to an output of said word processing computers (26) and arranged to transmit print files to said messaging computer (1) on said transmission network (RNM).  5.- Device according to claim 4, wherein the transmission network (RNM) giving access to the messaging computer (1) is a packet data transmission network.  6.- Device according to claim 4 or claim 5, which comprises several treatment centers (2) each including  - means for receiving and storing speech files (25) having an input connected to the digital data transmission network (RNH)  - a means of vocal reproduction (24, 27, 30)  - a word processor (26)  - a means of transmitting print files (41) having an output connected to the transmission network (RNM) giving access to the messaging computer (1); and  - a local data transmission network (RL) to connect these different means together, the voice restitution means being arranged to take, on demand, from the reception and storage means, speech files and restore them in the form of dictated to an operator.  7.- Device according to claim 6, wherein each processing center (2) comprises several voice rendering means (24, 27, 30), each of them being arranged to simultaneously render 1 to n dictations, the processing center comprising, for each voice rendering means, 1 to n word processing computers (26)