WO1996025819A1

WO1996025819A1 - Method for transmitting and receiving alphanumeric data over a telephone network

Info

Publication number: WO1996025819A1
Application number: PCT/FR1996/000246
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bernard Zoghbi
Original assignee: Bernard Zoghbi
Priority date: 1995-02-15
Filing date: 1996-02-14
Publication date: 1996-08-22
Also published as: AU4835196A; FR2730593A1; FR2730593B1

Abstract

Method for transmitting and receiving alphanumeric data over a telephone network for use with computerised voice services, in the field of electronic voice communication. The invention comprises a combination of a housing with a keyboard containing alphabetical, digit and function keys, adapted for transmitting over the telephone network, for each key, a combination of standard frequencies in accordance with a matching table; a receiving means such as any computer equipped with a voice board; and a system located in the computer for converting said frequency combinations into computer data in accordance with the same matching table so as to identify the keys depressed by the user. The method provides users of telephone electronic voice services with the possibility of transmitting alphabetical characters and new function commands in addition to the 12 characters contained in a conventional telephone keyboard (0-9, * and #).

Description

PATENT INVENTION APPLICATION

TITLE

METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING ALPHANUMERIC DATA THROUGH THE TELEPHONE NETWORK

POSITIONING OF THE PRODUCT IN ITS MARKET

Today, there are IT services which everyone can access via the telephone network, which offer, free of charge or not, access to a whole range of spoken information.

This technology uses a telephone and a computer equipped with an electronic card capable, at the input, of receiving and interpreting the multi-frequency codes of the telephone, and, at the output, of transmitting sounds, and in particular the human voice , previously scanned and saved. Software ensures dialogue between the user and the voice card.

TECHNICAL PROBLEM Today, this dialog is limited, because the user only has twelve keys on the standard telephone keypad to communicate his requests. The architecture of the services is affected, and is therefore based on a tree structure of menus, where the different headings, or possible answers, are proposed, read by the service one after the other. P each of these items or options is assigned a number. When the user has made his choice, he indicates it to the server by dialing the corresponding number on his telephone keypad. It is then directed to another menu, with other sub-headings, which are again read one after the other, etc ... until it finally obtains the information sought at the last level.

No other method of dialogue between users and voice services has so far been proposed; nothing else is offered besides the simple telephone keypad. However, this way of proceeding harms the good understanding of the service (tedious effort of memorizing the numbers of headings), as well as its good use (frequent key error). It prohibits any freedom to build the service which would allow the user to define the purpose of his research, precisely and in natural language, upon connection.

Furthermore, it is not possible to consult databases, in voice service, since the interrogation can only be done by means of words.

PRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION

The aim of the present process is to remedy these drawbacks by giving users the ability to interact with voice services using an alphanumeric keyboard, economical, requiring no special installation, or the purchase of expensive peri-computer equipment.

At the same time, this process will allow all of the voice servers that adopt it to adapt their service to more flexible ergonomics and faster access to information.

It will also allow the consultation of voice databases.

STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION

The method according to the invention is essentially characterized in that it comprises in combination:

1 °) A device consisting of an alphanumeric keyboard transmitting for each key an original combination of musical frequencies.

The device consists of a box on the front side of which there are 64 keys (or more) each representing either a letter of any alphabet, or a number, or a special function. Each of these keys is connected to a microprocessor, which converts the electrical impulse received when actuated, into a series of combined sounds. These sounds are emitted according to frequency pairs recognized by the network.

Each key is assigned its own combination of sounds which are demodulated by the voice card and transmitted to the software in the form of bits. According to a pre-established concordance table, software associates each combination of sounds with a series of bytes representing the letter or number of the key struck. Some special keys are used either to issue orders to progress in the services, such as "read the next / previous information", "return to the Service menu", "order a product", etc. or to issue standard responses, such as "yes", "no", etc.

Each combination of sounds is unique, and consists of two sounds, associated with a third that serves as a separator.

Each key can control the immediate sending of the frequency combination. According to a preferred version of the method, the user first composes his message; the keystroke of each key is recorded in a temporary random access memory of the microprocessor; when the user has composed his message, he activates a particular key, which triggers the sending of frequencies on the network; the temporary memory can be rewritable for the next message. This method avoids typos by authorizing a re-reading and a correction, if the display screen has been adopted.

For the sake of standardization and security of public networks, it was chosen to transmit frequencies chosen from among the eight in the telephone band (300 - 3400 HZ).

However, the invention relates to any frequency transmitted provided that its transmission corresponds in its end to the object of the present invention.

The device is supplied with electrical energy by an integrated autonomous battery.

2 °) A telephone device comprising a link with the network, on the one hand and a mode of communication with the device referred to in 1 °, on the other hand.

According to a first characteristic, this mode of communication could be a loudspeaker incorporated in the housing, on which the telephone handset will be placed so that it is in contact with the receiver. The sounds will be emitted by the loudspeaker, which will broadcast the sounds generated by pressing the keys on the keyboard to the phone. The loudspeaker volume will be adjusted so that the sounds emitted can be correctly received and re-emitted as is by the telephone.

According to a second characteristic, the box is connected to the telephone by cable, or wirelessly by short-range transmitter (radio channel, infrared signals, etc.), the corresponding receiver being incorporated into the telephone, or connected to the latter in a fixed manner or removable.

According to a third characteristic, the box is installed in parallel with the telephone, thanks to a common socket on the network. It is then capable of transmitting the frequency combinations described in 1 ° itself. According to a fourth characteristic, the various organs of the device described in 1) are integrated inside a conventional telephone set, fixed or mobile, and are added to its own main functionalities (taking a line, dialing numbers, transmission and reception of sounds) or secondary (answering machine, calendar, "hands-free" etc.).

3 °) A computer equipped with an electronic voice card capable of receiving, demodulating at the input and modulating at the output the sounds received, in order to allow alternately to convert them into bits, or to convert the bits into sounds.

4 °) A software capable of interpreting, according to each particular application, the combinations of frequencies thus transformed into bits and of attributing to them the composed alphanumeric character. 5 °) Voice service management software

Obviously, there can be no question of interrogating, thanks to the device, a voice service which would not have implemented the entire process.

According to another characteristic, the device comprises a control screen making it possible to view the message formed when the keys of the keyboard are actuated.

According to other characteristics, the method implements:

- a keyboard made up of keys corresponding to characters other than Latin: Arabic, and / or Cyrillic, and / or Japanese, Chinese, etc.).

- an electronic memory integrated into the device, and in which a combination of individual frequencies is recorded. When connecting to the service, this combination is automatically transmitted according to the process which is the subject of the invention, and the software associates it with the identity of its holder, with its postal, telephone, bank details, etc. which have been previously stored in the computer memory.

- An electronic memory integrated into the device in which are recorded several telephone numbers which each correspond to that of a voice service implementing the present invention. According to this characteristic, the keyboard has several special keys corresponding to these stored numbers. It is then enough to press these keys so that the number is dialed automatically. The memories built into the device can be erased, and can be entered by the user using the keyboard, or by the voice service manager, remotely by sending digital instructions during a connection. Other features and advantages of the invention will appear in the description below.

The box has a keyboard on its front side, with 60 (for information) keys marked with alphabetical, numeric and special signs (*, #, "yes", "no", "previous message", "next message", " previous choice "," menu ", etc.). A key represents the space to be inserted between words.

Each key on the keyboard is connected to a random access memory via a microprocessor. The microprocessor is also connected to an interface, which allows it to transmit by the communication mode, described in 2 ° above, a particular combination of sounds, depending on the key hit by the user.

The complete course of a process operating session is described below:

The user dials the telephone number for the voice service from the keypad of the telephone device described in 2). It will be recalled that said telephone device can be implemented according to one of the characteristics already described ^. The telephone device operates the connection with the call reception device, consisting of a computer with an electronic voice card.

When the connection is established, the microprocessor of the box can consult its read-only memory and emit a series of pre-programmed pulses which are transmitted to the voice card of the microcomputer, then digitized and converted into bytes, so that the software can recognize and validate the transmitting device. When the validation is carried out, the software orders the sending of a voice message, via the voice card, which is received by means of the receiver of the telephone device.

At the prompt of the message, the user composes, using the keys on the keyboard, the series of words corresponding to the required information or to the request for information sought. When each key is pressed, an electrical pulse specific to each of them is generated which is transmitted to the RAM. According to a characteristic which should be retained for better use, the box has a small screen of several lines allowing the visualization of the message composed progressively. A key on the keyboard will cancel the keys activated by mistake. When the user validates his message by pressing the "send" key on the keyboard, the content of the random access memory he has just composed is transmitted to the microprocessor.

The microprocessor in the box converts each electrical pulse into a combination of sounds, which it emits over the network, according to the characteristic of the telephone device used.

Each combination of sounds is unique and consists of two sounds, associated with a third sound which, when received by the software is interpreted as a key separator. This avoids the drawbacks linked to the possible variation of the duration of emission of each sound, or of the time interval which separates them. We want to avoid false interpretations, linked for example to the reception of a combination of sounds composed of the second sound of the first letter and the first sound of the second letter.

Finally, to mark the end of the transmission of the message, a last agreed frequency is automatically transmitted when the "validation" key is pressed. It indicates to the voice service software, when it has received it, that it can begin its interpretation work.

According to a concordance table, this software converts the combinations of sounds received from the voice card into bits. He interprets each of them by assigning to him his alphabetical, numerical, or functional correspondence.

The software that manages the voice service thus directly receives the question, or the details it requests, made up of words and / or numbers. It searches for the answer in its own system, and continues the dialogue by ordering the transmission from the voice card.

The invention relates to voice telecommunications services, which it serves and supplements by providing them with a new dimension of dialogue and interactivity with their users. It involves a necessary industrial manufacture of the box and, although each service can recognize its own combinations of sounds, it would be desirable to be able to standardize them, so that each box can communicate with all the services.

Claims

1 A method of transmitting alphanumeric data over the telephone communication network and of their interpretation by computer services with voice applications, characterized in that it comprises in combination:

A - An autonomous device, connected to the telephone network, and forming a box provided with an electrical supply, and composed: a- of a keyboard with alphanumeric keys, and function keys, b- of a storage and d erasing of the sequence of pressing the keys, connected to the keyboard c- of a device for converting this sequence thus memorized into a combination of sounds, according to a pre-established concordance table, connected to said memory device d- d '' a device for emitting these sounds over the telephone network, connected to said conversion device

B - software installed in a computer equipped with a voice card, capable of receiving these sounds and translating them into binary computer data.

According to the same table of concordance cited above, this software organizes this data into groups assigned to alphabetic or numeric characters, or to predefined orders, and communicates them to the voice service control software.

2 Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing further comprises a device for viewing and correcting the composed message. 3 Method according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that on connection to the service, the transmission device is recognized by the 1 / B software by sending a specific identification sequence.

4 Method according to claims 1,2, and 3 characterized in that the device comprises a member for storing pre-programmed telephone numbers, recorded from the keyboard, or remotely. 5 Method according to claims 1, 2, 3, and 4, characterized in that the l / Ad function (emission of sounds on the telephone network) is provided by the telephone apparatus, on orders from the housing. These orders are communicated, either by cable connecting the box to the telephone set, or thanks to a transmitter of hertzian waves or infra-red integrated into the box, to which corresponds a receiver of these waves integrated into the telephone set. 6 Method according to claims 1,2, 3, and 4 characterized in that the device is integrated into conventional telephone, fixed or mobile.

7 Application to voice telephone services, and in particular to database operation services