JPH077538A - Menu - driven telephone service interface - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain an interface between a user and communication system which enables the user to easily receive telephone classification services and other services even when the user does not remember any special instruction. CONSTITUTION: When a user operates, a universal switch 33, a voice menu is generated from a voice menu generator 320. When the user generates a voice instruction upon hearing the menu, a voice discriminating selector 310 is operated and generates a code for actuating a classification sequence generator 340 through a bus 350 and a desired touch tone instruction is generated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system such as a telephone, a telephone categorizing service, additional functions embodied in a telephone exchange, and an interface between a telephone and a telephone exchange. "Voice telephone dial system"
No. 5,165,095, entitled "Voice and Data Communications Network Architecture", and U.S. Patent Application No. 07 / 505,855, entitled "Architecture of Voice and Data Communications Networks." .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG.
Consists of a handset 120 and a push button 110 for sending and receiving telephone calls. A telephone categorization service has been introduced that extends the functions of telephones and related telephone services beyond the simple sending and receiving of telephone calls, thereby expanding the normal telephone service and providing various telephone functions. It was Examples of such features include automatic dialing, call re-sending, identification ring tones, speed dials, recalls, multi-party calls,
Call pick-up, transfer call, redial of the last call. By the way, in order to receive these telephone communication services, it is necessary to first send a touch tone command including a series of tones (DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency)) unique to each service. That is, when the push button 110 is pressed, a touch tone command is generated and sent to a telephone exchange such as a private branch exchange, Centrex or key system.
In addition, the touchtone command sequence is combined with a "flash hook", such as by pressing a hangup switch on the telephone to initiate telephone classification services.

[0003] The drawbacks of providing a telephone categorization service by such a method are that the subscribers are categorized by telephone categorization because the push buttons or the "flash hook" to be performed are different in what order. It is difficult to remember the service order. If there are no such drawbacks, the subscribers or users will use the telephone categorization service more frequently, and the revenue of the telephone company will increase further. The same problem as in the telephone type service also occurs in "high-performance voice services" such as voice mail. To receive this service, users need to learn various ways to use the call interface.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION AND MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS The object of the present invention is that it is easy to use and requires no or little special DTMF or flash hook instruction sequences to be remembered. , To provide an interface that allows you to receive telephone classification services and other services. Another object of the present invention is to provide an interface that enables a provider of classification services to further increase sales and profit. The present invention employs a voice menu system and a voice recognizer to generate a touchtone command sequence and a "flash hook" sequence to provide telephone classification services. These and other features of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detailed description of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, a substrate 200 for providing a menu is provided with an area 220 for receiving a handset (not shown). The menu board 200 has a menu selector 210, such as a button, for executing a desired telephone classification service by generating an operation command. Figure 3
Each memory selector 210, as shown in
Are each connected to a function generator, such as an automatic dial generator 230, for generating a separate predetermined function, where the menu
The command sent from the selector 210 is converted into a predetermined touchtone command sequence. For example, the automatic dial generator 230 causes the switch to generate a touchtone command sequence for automatic dial telephone classification services. It should be noted that the menu selector 210 may be provided with a display indicating what the unique telephone type service generated from the memory selector 210 is. An operation for allowing the user to easily select a specific telephone type service will be described. For example, to invoke the call resend function, the user presses the menu selector 210 as shown in FIG. Then, the menu selector 210
Is the call retransmit function generator 23 as shown in FIG.
2 is activated to generate the corresponding touchtone command sequence, which invokes the call resend function.

Another way to generate a telephone classification service from the menu board is to generate the desired touchtone control sequence by voice signal. This method has all the advantages as a menu board, and also has the advantage that it can be easily used without requiring a special substrate 200. As shown in FIG. 4, the user's voice command is issued to the handset of the handset 120, which is sent to a recognition selector 310 that includes a voice recognition circuit 312, an acceptable categorization function circuit 314, and a switch 316. . Further, the recognition selector 310 is connected to the classification sequence generator 340. The categorized sequence generator 340 includes a plurality of generators interconnected to generate a specific touchtone command sequence as described above. For example, the automatic dial generator 352 generates a touchtone command sequence corresponding to the automatic dial. Generators 352, 3 of the classification sequence generator 340
54, 356, 358, 362, 364, 366, 36
All 8 are interconnected via a bus 350.
Further, if the user does not know the voice command corresponding to the desired telephone classification service, the voice menu is played to the user and a predetermined voice command is issued to the user. The handset of the handset 120 is connected to the voice menu generator 320 shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 from which the voice menu is generated so that the user can obtain the desired voice command. As the voice menu, it is possible to preliminarily record voice by digitizing. The voice menu generator 320 is connected to the universal switch 330, which in turn is connected to the telephone. The universal switch 330 is activated by the voice menu generator 320 and the user. When the universal switch 330 is activated, the voice recognition selector 310 waits for a voice command to be issued. It should be noted that this function can be implemented by using a Multiserve Media Server manufactured by Texas Instruments Incorporated.

The operation of this aspect of the invention is performed as shown in FIG. First, the user picks up the handset 120 from the telephone 100. If the user knows the desired voice command, the user issues the desired voice command. Then, this voice command is recognized by the voice recognition selector 310 shown in FIG. This voice command is converted into a predetermined code by the voice recognition circuit 312. The predetermined code is sent to the acceptability classification function circuit 314, where it is determined whether the predetermined code corresponds to an acceptable touchtone command sequence. If the predetermined code corresponds to any of the acceptable touchtone command sequences, switch 316 is activated to cause the predetermined code to generate a categorization sequence via bus 340. To the container 340. With this predetermined code, the generator in the categorized sequence generator 340, eg the automatic dial generator 3
52 is actuated to generate a predetermined touchtone command sequence, eg, an automatic dial touchtone command sequence. However, if the user does not know the voice command to generate the appropriate touchtone command sequence, the user or the timer activates the universal switch 330, which in turn activates the voice menu generator 320. Since the user is presented with what kind of voice command is possible, if the user issues a voice command in accordance with the voice command, the voice recognition selector 3 as described above can be used.
A touchtone command sequence is generated by 10 and the classification sequence generator 340 to provide the desired telephone classification services to the user. In this way
The touchtone command sequence required to receive a particular identification service can be very easily generated without requiring any prior knowledge of what voice commands are required. Therefore, the user can quickly and efficiently obtain the predetermined touchtone command signal.

Further, the operation of the voice menu generator is shown in FIG. As shown in step 504,
If you don't need to generate a voice command menu,
For example, if the user knows the correct voice command, then in step 506 the voice recognition selector is activated by the user's voice command. If the user fails to generate the correct voice command in step 504, the user activates universal switch 300 in step 510. The switch 300 then activates the voice menu generator 320 to generate a voice command menu from the voice menu generator, as shown in step 512. In this way, the user can obtain a sample voice command from the handset 120. When the user selects any one of the sample voice commands and issues some voice command, the voice recognition selector 31 shown in FIG.
0 is activated. Next, in step 508, the user determines whether he needs additional phone categorization services. If further service is needed, the voice recognition selector 310 is activated by the voice command of the user. If the user does not need additional telephone categorization services, then control passes to step 50 as shown.
Return to 2.

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail above, various modifications, substitutions, and alterations are not limited thereto, and deviate from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined in the claims. It is possible without. The following items are disclosed in relation to the above description. 1. In an interface between a user and a communication system, the interface includes: an input circuit for inputting a command for controlling a plurality of predetermined functions in the communication system; A switching circuit for switching modes of the communication system in response to the command to activate at least one. 2. The interface according to item 1 above, characterized in that the communication system is a telephone system. 3. The interface according to item 1 above, characterized in that said command is a voice command.

4. The interface according to item 2 above, wherein the predetermined function is a telephone type function. 5. The interface according to the above item 3, wherein the switching circuit includes a voice recognition selector for recognizing the voice command. 6. The interface according to item 5 above, wherein the voice recognition selector is adapted to recognize a predetermined set of voice commands. 7. The above-mentioned predetermined set of voice commands are compatible with a plurality of telephone type services,
The interface according to item 6 above. 8. The voice recognition selector according to claim 5, wherein the voice recognition selector is configured to recognize the voice command after a predetermined desired voice command menu is sent. interface. 9. In a method of using an interface between a user and a communication system, the method comprising: inputting a command to control a plurality of predetermined functions in the communication system; Switching a mode of the communication system in response to the command to activate one.

10. The interface according to claim 9 wherein the input step includes the step of inputting the command for controlling the predetermined function of the telephone system. The method to use. 11. The method of using the interface of paragraph 9 above, wherein the inputting step includes the step of inputting a voice command. 12. The method of using the interface of paragraph 9 above, wherein the switching step includes activating a plurality of telephone classification features. 13. The method of using the interface of paragraph 9 above, wherein the switching step includes the step of switching the voice recognition selector in response to the command. 14. The method of using the interface of paragraph 13 above, wherein the voice recognition selector step comprises the step of recognizing a predetermined set of voice commands. 15. The method of using the interface of paragraph 14 wherein the recognizing step includes the step of associating the predetermined set of voice commands with a plurality of telephone categorization services.

16. The method of using the interface of paragraph 11, wherein the step of inputting includes the step of waiting a predetermined amount of time before the voice command is input. 17. When the user operates the universal switch 830, the voice menu is generated from the voice menu generator 320. When the user listens to this menu and utters a voice command, the voice recognition selector is activated, and then the voice recognition selector 310 causes the classification sequence generator 340.
A code is generated via bus 350 to activate the desired touchtone command.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a telephone.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a menu for selecting a telephone type service.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a generator for a menu for selecting telephone classification services.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another example of an interface including a voice menu circuit and a voice recognition circuit for providing a classification service.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a sequence for generating or operating a classification service.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an audio menu generator.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a voice recognition selector.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An interface between a user and a communication system, the interface comprising: an input circuit for inputting a command to control a plurality of predetermined functions in the communication system; A switching circuit for switching modes of the communication system in response to the command to operate at least one of the functions described above. 2. A method of using an interface between a user and a communication system, the method comprising the steps of: inputting instructions to control a plurality of predetermined functions in the communication system; Switching the mode of the communication system in response to the command to activate one of the functions;
A method characterized by being composed of and.