WO2010018951A2

WO2010018951A2 - Method, system and server for providing voice and non-voice ars service using a voice transmission system

Info

Publication number: WO2010018951A2
Application number: PCT/KR2009/004433
Authority: WO
Inventors: 김경수; 홍순곤; 김웅재
Original assignee: 주식회사 슈니드
Priority date: 2008-08-12
Filing date: 2009-08-10
Publication date: 2010-02-18
Also published as: KR20100020245A; WO2010018951A3; KR100979498B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system for providing an ARS service using a mobile communication terminal, including the steps of enabling an ARS server to add headers for determining the format to be voice or non-voice data for the ARS service and mixing the header and data to create mixed ARS data of voice data standards, and of enabling a mobile communication terminal to read headers from the mixed ARS data provided by the ARS server, and to output data into voice data or non-voice data divided from each other.

Description

Voice, non-voice ARS service method, system and server using voice transmission method

The present invention relates to a voice and non-voice automatic response system (ARS) service method and system using a voice transmission scheme. In particular, the present invention relates to an ARS service method and system capable of transmitting a file and a text message while maintaining a voice call state by mixing and transmitting voice, file, and text data through a voice transmission method in a mobile communication network.

The ARS (Automatic Response System) service is a service that records the contents of a response in a computer storage device and then decodes a query requested through a telephone, and selects a response of the query and automatically responds by voice. The ARS service uses a voice communication method and allows a user who listens to a service menu to obtain a desired response through a process of searching for a submenu and pressing a button.

Currently, ARS service using mobile communication is provided in an ARS service system including an ARS server, an ARS terminal, and a mobile communication terminal in a mobile communication network. For the ARS service, the prerecorded response must be stored in the ARS server to which the main telephone number is assigned. When the user calls the representative number of the ARS server and the user's mobile communication terminal and the ARS server are connected, the response corresponding to the service menu is first provided to the mobile communication terminal by voice.

In the conventional ARS service system, information is delivered and processed in units of service menus provided by the ARS server. Therefore, the user listens to the service menu provided by voice, and for more details, the user presses the number corresponding to the desired information. The ARS server receiving a number from the user provides the submenu corresponding to the user again, and the user repeats the process of listening to the information provided by the submenu by voice.

In the conventional ARS service system, if the information selected by the user is not the desired response content, there is a disadvantage in that voice listening must be started again from the beginning of the entire ARS service or from the beginning of the previous step. In order to obtain the necessary information according to the voice guidance of the ARS service, a user needs to listen to the service menu of various stages and press a button for each stage to respond.

In addition, since the information of the ARS service is provided only by voice, the user should listen carefully to the contents of the voice, remember the necessary information, and write down the contents on a notepad, and if the memory cannot be remembered for the first time There is a problem that must be heard again.

In addition, the user only receives the necessary information by voice, and in order to visually check the information, the information is output through the display screen only after entering a contracted number into the mobile communication terminal. When listening to the ear and pressing a number, the mobile communication terminal needs to be removed from the ear to look at the display screen. Therefore, there is a problem that the user has to move troublesomely while receiving the ARS service.

In addition, if the signal strength of the mobile communication terminal is weak while receiving the ARS service, the call may be disconnected, and since the ARS service is provided only by voice, it is difficult for the user to properly listen to the ARS response in a noisy place.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an ARS service method and system that enables a user to grasp the ARS service menu at a glance and obtain the necessary information visually and easily by transmitting an ARS response in various forms such as voice, text, and file. do.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for transmitting the information in the text data of less data than the voice, to reduce the effort for the user to remember the contents of the ARS response, such as writing down the ARS response of the voice by hand To provide.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to use the voice data standard of the mobile communication system as it is, without changing the configuration of the ARS system, ARS service method to maintain the call connection state even while transmitting the ARS service by text and To provide a system.

In order to solve the above problems, according to an embodiment of the present invention, in the ARS service method using a mobile communication terminal, the voice data specification by adding a header for distinguishing the form to the voice and non-voice data required for the service, respectively Generating ARS mixed data of the ARS mixed data, and transmitting the ARS mixed data to the mobile communication terminal so that the mobile communication terminal reads the header of the ARS mixed data and separates them into voice or non-voice data. It provides an ARS service method.

In order to solve the above problems, another aspect of the present invention, in the ARS service system using a mobile communication terminal, by adding a header for distinguishing the form to the voice and non-voice data required for the service, respectively, and mixing them to the ARS of the voice data standard An ARS server for generating mixed data, an ARS terminal for transmitting and receiving the ARS mixed data, receiving a user response thereto, receiving the ARS mixed data, reading the headers, and separating and outputting the header into voice or non-voice data, respectively, The present invention provides an ARS system including a mobile communication terminal for receiving and transmitting a user response thereto.

In order to solve the above problems, another aspect of the present invention, in the ARS server used for the ARS service using a mobile terminal, by inserting a header for distinguishing the form in the voice and non-voice data required for the ARS service, respectively, An ARS server for generating ARS mixed data of a voice data standard is provided.

According to the present invention, by displaying the ARS service that was previously provided only by voice on the screen of the mobile communication terminal as text, the user can easily obtain the necessary information visually, and transmit the same information with text data having a smaller amount of data than voice. Therefore, the ARS service speed is fast, the system load is reduced, and the user can receive ARS service at a lower cost.

In addition, since the text data provided by the ARS service can be stored in the terminal, the user does not need to write down the contents on a memo pad separately, and the user does not need to move the terminal to the ear even when entering and responding to a number. Is given.

In addition, since the voice data standard used in the existing mobile communication system is used as it is, even if the ARS response is transmitted as a text while the phone call is connected, the connection state of the phone call is maintained as it is, and the SMS (Short Messagge Service) or a separate It can be implemented without the need for equipment.

1 is a schematic diagram of an ARS service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 3 illustrate a process of mixing and separating data for reply and query in the ARS server shown in FIG. 1.

4 and 5 illustrate a process of processing the response and query data in the ARS terminal shown in FIG.

6 and 7 illustrate a process in which the response and query data are separated and mixed, respectively, in the mobile communication terminal illustrated in FIG. 1.

8 is a flowchart illustrating an ARS service method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and illustrates a flowchart when an ARS server performs ARS application processing.

9 is a flowchart illustrating an ARS service method according to a modified embodiment of the present invention, and illustrates a flowchart when an ARS terminal performs ARS application processing.

10 illustrates a role of an operation agent of each component for performing the ARS service of the present invention.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The ARS service system of the present invention includes an ARS server 110, an ARS database, an ARS terminal 120, and a mobile communication terminal 130 interworking with the mobile communication network 150.

The ARS server 110 inserts headers into texts and files, which are voice and non-voice data, and mixes them, converts them into ARS mixed data in the form of voice data, and converts ARS mixed data transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 130 into voice and Separate into non-voice data. The ARS database 112 stores the ARS mixed data converted by the ARS server 110.

The ARS terminal 120 is connected to the ARS server 110 and the information communication network 140 and is responsible for transmitting and receiving real-time voice and non-voice data using the voice transmission method between the ARS server 110 and the mobile communication terminal 130. The information communication network 140 can be implemented in various ways, such as USB, Bluetooth, RS-232C.

The mobile communication terminal 130 separates the ARS mixed data received from the ARS terminal 120 into a voice, a text, and a file to provide the user with the original voice, text, and file. In addition, the mobile terminal 130 generates the ARS mixed data in the form of voice data by mixing the voice, text and files input by the user.

2 and 3 respectively show a process of mixing and separating voice and non-voice data in the ARS server 110 shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, as described above, the ARS server 110 compresses a response voice required for the ARS service in advance using a voice compression technique such as an enhanced variable rate coder (EVRC) before the ARS service starts. It is mixed with non-voice data and stored in the ARS database 112 as ARS mixed data.

To this end, the header insertion unit 218 of the ARS server 110 inserts a header according to the form of voice or non-voice data into each voice and non-voice data. For example, a voice header 212 is inserted into voice data, a text header 214 is inserted into text data, and a file header 216 is inserted into file data.

Although no specific value is specified in the header, generally repeated values are used. For example, the same number of repetitions may be used for voice, such as 0x55 and 0x55, 0x56 and 0x56 for characters, and 0x57 and 0x57 for files. If a number that is not well used by the ARS server 110 is used continuously as a header, it can be probabilistically performed as a header without causing an error in the data communication process. Since the header cannot be easily changed due to the compatibility of the ARS service from the time when the ARS service is started, it is necessary to carefully and clearly decide which value to use as a header before starting the ARS service.

The mixer 220 of the ARS server 110 converts each data into which the header is inserted into a voice data standard used in the mobile communication system. For example, in the CDMA system, a voice data transmission method is performed in which a data amount that can be transmitted in 20 ms is one frame, and the voice data is transmitted in units of one. The maximum size of one frame is 172 bits. Except for the system bit, a maximum of 168 bits (21 bytes) is available. This area is about 10 characters long and 21 characters long. In order to transmit the voice, text, or file data with the header inserted by the voice transmission method instead of the data transmission method, 168 bits in which the actual voice data is loaded among 172 bits, which is a unit of voice transmission performed every 20 ms, are used as a processing unit. In other words, in the mixer 220, all data subject to ARS service must be encoded in a size of 168 bits (21 bytes) or smaller including the header so as to conform to the voice data standard.

Each data in which the header is inserted by the header insertion unit 218 is generated as the response ARS mixed data and stored in the ARS database 112. The ARS mixed data stored in the ARS database 112 is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal 130 through the ARS terminal 120. Since the ARS mixed data has a voice data format, the mobile communication network 150 recognizes it as voice data and processes it. The ARS mixed data encoded in the form of voice data is received at the mobile communication terminal 130 through the communication network 150, separated into voice, text, and file data at the mobile communication terminal 130, and the header is removed. , Character and file data types may be generated.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 3, when the ARS mixed data for querying the voice data standard is received from the ARS terminal 120, the header of the ARS mixed data is read by the separator 230 and separated by voice, text, and file data types. do. The header is removed (242, 244, 246) by the header removing unit (248) from each of the separated voice, text, and file data. The header is processed by the ARS application (250) and generated by the ARS server (110) in advance. The appropriate response to the query is output from the ARS mixed data for the response to the ARS terminal 120. The ARS application processing process may be performed in the ARS terminal 120 instead of the ARS server 110. In this case, the transmission / reception target of the data will be the mobile communication terminal 130 instead of the ARS terminal 120.

In the process of transmitting the ARS mixed data, error correction is preferably performed. Since the voice data transmission section does not have error control by itself like the Internet, some information may be missing when trying to transmit a large amount of data. Therefore, when transmitting important or large amount of information, it is desirable to perform error control according to the service type.

4 and 5 illustrate a process in which the response and query data are respectively encoded and decoded by the ARS terminal 120 shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 4, as described above, when the response ARS mixed data is transmitted from the ARS server 110 to the mobile communication terminal 130, the ARS mixed data is first displayed in an internal memory (not shown) of the ARS terminal 120. Not stored). Since the voice encoder 310 in the ARS terminal 120 is enabled by default, it is disabled, and the received ARS mixed data for the response is directly transmitted to the mobile communication network 150. ) To the mobile communication terminal 130.

After the ARS mixed data transmission is completed, the voice encoder 310 of the ARS terminal 120 may be activated to transmit voice data. In this case, the ARS terminal 120 may be switched to a general call mode to transmit voice between the ARS server 110 and the mobile communication terminal 130. Meanwhile, during ARS mixed data transmission, the ARS service provider may forcibly cancel transmission of the ARS mixed data and operate the ARS terminal in a normal call mode. In this case, the ARS terminal 120 prioritizes the data received before the start of the ARS service from the ARS server 110, the data received by the ARS server 110, and the data input to the voice encoder 310. May be set to process.

Referring to FIG. 5, when the ARS mixed data for query is transmitted from the mobile communication terminal 130 to the ARS server 110, the mobile communication terminal 130 has voice and non-voice data in the form of ARS mixed data of the voice data standard. In this case, the ARS terminal 120 disables the voice decoder 320 that is enabled by default, and ARS mixed data received from the mobile communication terminal 130 is used as it is. Transfer to server 110. To this end, both the mixer 220 and the separator 230 should be built in the mobile communication terminal 130. If only the separator 230 is embedded in the mobile communication terminal 130, the user response may include, for example, a synthesized tone corresponding to each button through a dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) scheme of an existing ARS service. Since it is input to the ARS terminal 120, the ARS server 110 should be added to the module for DTMF reception processing.

6 and 7 illustrate a process in which the response and query data are separated and mixed, respectively, in the mobile communication terminal 130 shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 6, the mobile communication terminal 130 receives the ARS mixed data for response of the voice data standard from the ARS terminal 120 through the mobile communication network 150. The received response ARS mixed data is read out by a header reader 430 of the mobile communication terminal 130 and separated into voice, text, and file in voice and non-voice form. Headers are removed (442, 444, 446) from speech, text, and file separated by rejection 448, respectively. The voice whose header is removed is activated by the voice decoder 416 as shown in the basic setting of the mobile terminal 130 to restore the decoded voice to a PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) form. Characters and files whose headers are removed are deactivated (414) by the voice decoder 416, and the characters are transmitted to the display unit 424 such as the LCD of the mobile communication terminal 130, and the files are transmitted to the mobile communication device. Output to the file system 426 of the terminal 130. In this case, the character or file uses an index technique when the amount of data is large. The index refers to a method of displaying large data into smaller frames and combining the connected character or file frames into one device. Large messages or files that span multiple frames are merged into one, where characters are output to the display 424 and files to the file system 426. Since the received data can be stored in the internal memory or the external memory of the mobile communication terminal 130, the user can reuse it whenever and wherever needed. Accordingly, the user of the mobile communication terminal 130 may check the information of the initial service menu and the sub menu output to the speaker 422, the display unit 424, or the file system 426 by hearing or visually.

Referring to FIG. 7, after an auditory or visual confirmation, a user may input user data or a service termination request as a response to desired information through the mobile communication terminal 130. As the input means, a microphone 432, a keypad 434, a file system 436, or the like may be used. The header inserting unit 458 of the mobile communication terminal 130 adds a header (452, 454, 456) to the user response of voice, text, or file according to its data type, and the mixer 420 of the mobile communication terminal 130. ) Encodes the user response with the header added to the ARS mixed data for query in the form of voice data. The ARS mixed data is transmitted to the ARS terminal 120 through the mobile communication network 150. If the mixer 130 does not have a built-in mixer, the user response may be transmitted to the ARS terminal 120 as a voice signal corresponding to the synthesized tone of each button, for example, through a DTMF scheme of a typical ARS service. .

8 is a flowchart illustrating an ARS service method performed in an ARS service system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, as described above, the ARS server 110 compresses the response voice required for the ARS service before using the ARS service by using voice compression technology, and then mixes the non-voice data with the ARS database as ARS mixed data. It is stored at (112).

The user first dials the ARS representative number in order to use the ARS service. If the incoming call is successful, the mobile communication terminal 130 is connected to the call with the ARS terminal 120, and a state in which voice data can be transmitted / received in a voice communication method (step 520).

The ARS terminal 120 detecting the call connection requests the initial service menu from the ARS server 110 (step 522), and the ARS server 110 stores the initial service stored in the ARS database 112 in the form of ARS mixed data. The menu is transmitted to the ARS terminal 120 (step 524), and the ARS mixed data of the initial service menu is transmitted back to the mobile communication terminal 130 (step 526).

The mobile communication terminal 130 separates the ARS mixed data received from the ARS server 110 into voice, text, or file data, respectively, and removes a header to output an initial service menu of voice, text, or file data (step 538). ).

When a user enters user data in response to a user response to this initial service menu (step 541), the user data is inserted into a header, encoded as ARS mixed data for querying, and transmitted to the ARS terminal 120 (530), and ARS It is sent from the terminal 120 back to the ARS server 110 (step 532).

In ARS server 110, the ARS mixed data for query is decoded and processed by the ARS application (step 533). Thereafter, in response to the received user data, the ARS mixed data for response such as a submenu is transmitted to the ARS terminal 120 again (step 534), which is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal 130 again (step 536). . At this time, the ARS terminal 120 requests data from the ARS server 110 every 20 ms, and transmits the ARS mixed data for response of the sub-menu which has been entered first in chronological order to the mobile communication terminal 130.

Thereafter, the mobile communication terminal 130 separates the response ARS mixed data of the submenu into voice, text, and file data, respectively, and removes the header to generate the submenu (step 538). When the user inputs new user data in response to the sub menu, the process from step 541 described above is repeated.

On the other hand, if the user requests the service termination in response to the submenu from the ARS server 110 (step 542), the service end is transmitted to the ARS terminal 120 (step 544), which is again the ARS server 110 (Step 546), the call connection between the ARS terminal 120 and the mobile communication terminal 130 is terminated (step 550).

9 is a flowchart illustrating an ARS service method according to a modified embodiment of the present invention, and illustrates a flowchart when the ARS terminal 120 processes an ARS application. In FIG. 9, since the same reference numerals as those of FIG. 8 perform the same operation, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

When the ARS terminal 122 processes the ARS application, the ARS mixed data and the ARS application generated by the ARS server 110 must be transmitted to the ARS terminal 120 and stored in the internal memory before the ARS service starts. (Step 610). This is because the ARS server 110 may not be able to process a lot of data at once through too many connected ARS terminals through the information communication network 140 connecting the ARS server and the ARS terminals. For example, if 100 ARS terminals are connected to one ARS server, when 100 service requests are received, data cannot be transmitted to 100 terminals at once through USB, which is limited in maximum speed. For example, data required for the EFS (Embedded File System) or TFS4 (Transactional File System 4) file system, etc. are sent to the ARS terminal in advance and stored in the internal memory of the ARS, and when the ARS service request is entered, the data stored in the internal memory is first referred to. By designing the system to transmit the data, it is possible to efficiently cope with such a situation.

In this case, the initial ARS mixed data and the initial service menu transmission (step 626) that occur after the transmission of the ARS application, the user data transmission (step 630), the ARS application processing 633, and the ARS mixed data transmission (step 636). ) Is made only between the ARS terminal 120 and the mobile communication terminal 130, the ARS server 110 is no longer referenced in any other step except the service end transmission (step 546).

The terminal manufacturer 710 has to develop and mount voice and non-voice ARS software to implement a module of a mixer and a separator.

The general user 720 calls the ARS service representative number and inputs a user query in response to the information transmitted from the ARS server 110.

The operator 730 of the mobile communication network calls the mobile communication terminal 130 out of the plurality of ARS terminals 120 of the voice and non-voice ARS service provider 740 when the general user 720 calls the representative number. It should be connected to the waiting ARS terminal.

The provider 740 of the ARS service should construct an entire system for encoding and decoding ARS mixed data and processing an ARS application, and develop and mount an ARS application. As described above, the mobile communication network operator 730 does not need to modify the existing system.

On the other hand, the terminal manufacturer 710 and the service provider 740 of the ARS service is preferable to build an application platform (process platform) that processes the basic query response to manage the version. For example, when implementing a train reservation ARS system, it is necessary to answer questions about the user who requested the service and information on the reservation details. However, the variety of services that can be provided and the number of cases requiring a response are so large that it is impossible to meet all the requirements of the response. However, if the question and answer should be handled specially due to the characteristics of the service, the application should be manufactured separately. Applications can generally be implemented in the form of a virtual machine (BREW, WIPI, MAP, etc.).

According to the present invention, since the received non-voice data can be stored in a nonvolatile memory, it can be applied to various services such as automatic phone number backup, automatic phone number storage, picture transmission during a call, traffic information, and stock information. .

The ARS service of the present invention is fast and simple to reduce the load and communication cost of the system and anyone can easily exchange services, so personal ARS service is also possible. In the ARS service system to which the ARS service personnel must be put, the present invention not only saves cost and time, but also provides accurate and reusable ARS information by transmitting non-voice data by voice transmission. In addition, ARS service providers can send files such as picture files, phone books, etc., along with voice or text messages to users. Can provide.

Modules, functional blocks or means of the present embodiment may be implemented in a variety of known elements, such as electronic circuits, integrated circuits, ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), each may be implemented separately, or two or more may be integrated into one Can be.

Although the embodiments have been described for the understanding of the present invention as described above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, but variously without departing from the scope of the present invention. May be modified, changed and replaced. For example, the technique of the present invention may be applied to a picture, an image, etc., which may be displayed by a display such as an LCD instead of a character. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention cover all modifications and variations that fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

In the ARS service method,

Adding headers for form identification to voice and non-voice data required for the ARS service in the ARS server,

Generating ARS mixed data of a voice data standard by mixing voice and non-voice data added with the header in an ARS server, and

Transmitting, by the mobile communication terminal, the ARS mixed data to the mobile communication terminal so that the header of the ARS mixed data transmitted through the mobile communication network is read from the ARS server and separated and output into voice or non-voice data, respectively. Including ARS service method.
The method of claim 1,

ARS service method for performing error correction when transmitting the ARS mixed data to the mobile terminal.
The method of claim 1,

And transmitting, at the mobile communication terminal, a user response to the ARS mixed data from the ARS server to the ARS server as ARS mixed data of the voice data standard.
The method of claim 3, wherein

The ARS mixed data is converted to conform to the voice data standard of the mobile communication network.
The method of claim 3, wherein

Transmitting and storing ARS application and ARS mixed data of the user response to an ARS terminal;

And processing, by the ARS terminal, ARS mixed data of the user response to the ARS application.
The method of claim 3, wherein

And processing, by the ARS server, the user response to an ARS application and transmitting ARS mixed data to an ARS terminal as a response.
The method of claim 1,

The non-voice data ARS service method comprising a text or a file.
The method of claim 1,

When the ARS mixed data is transmitted to the mobile communication terminal, ARS service method for transmitting the ARS mixed data using an index technique to combine the same type of data connected to the mobile communication terminal into one output.
The method of claim 4, wherein

Wherein the ARS mixed data uses at least a portion of a voice data frame according to a CDMA voice communication standard as a data area.
The method of claim 1,

The voice and non-voice data ARS service method comprising any one or more of automatic telephone number backup, automatic telephone number storage, picture transmission during a call, providing traffic information and stock information.
In the ARS service system,

An ARS server inserting a header for distinguishing types into voice and non-voice data required for the ARS service and mixing them to generate ARS mixed data of a voice data standard;

Receives the ARS mixed data, reads its header, separates it into voice or non-voice data, respectively, and outputs the received user response. A mobile communication terminal, and

And an ARS terminal for transmitting and receiving the ARS mixed data between the ARS server and the mobile communication terminal.
The method of claim 11,

And the ARS terminal processes the user response provided from the mobile communication terminal to an ARS application and outputs ARS mixed data in response.
The method of claim 11,

The ARS server processes the user response provided by the mobile terminal with an ARS application to output the ARS mixed data in response.
The ARS system of claim 11, wherein the ARS mixed data is converted to conform to a voice data standard of the mobile communication network.
The method of claim 11,

The mobile communication terminal activates an internal voice decoder if the separated data is voice as a result of reading the header of the ARS mixed data from the ARS server; otherwise, deactivates the internal voice decoder.
An ARS server for ARS service in a mobile communication network,

An ARS server generating ARS mixed data of a voice data standard by adding headers for form identification to voice and non-voice data required for the ARS service and mixing them.
The method of claim 16,

The ARS mixed data is converted to conform to the voice data standard of the mobile communication network.