CA2613363A1 - Device independent text captioned telephone service - Google Patents
Device independent text captioned telephone service Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CA2613363A1 CA2613363A1 CA002613363A CA2613363A CA2613363A1 CA 2613363 A1 CA2613363 A1 CA 2613363A1 CA 002613363 A CA002613363 A CA 002613363A CA 2613363 A CA2613363 A CA 2613363A CA 2613363 A1 CA2613363 A1 CA 2613363A1
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- Prior art keywords
- telephone
- caller
- internet
- relay
- text
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Classifications
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M3/00—Automatic or semi-automatic exchanges
- H04M3/42—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers
- H04M3/42391—Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers where the subscribers are hearing-impaired persons, e.g. telephone devices for the deaf
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- G—PHYSICS
- G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
- G10L—SPEECH ANALYSIS OR SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING
- G10L15/00—Speech recognition
- G10L15/26—Speech to text systems
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2201/00—Electronic components, circuits, software, systems or apparatus used in telephone systems
- H04M2201/40—Electronic components, circuits, software, systems or apparatus used in telephone systems using speech recognition
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04M—TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
- H04M2201/00—Electronic components, circuits, software, systems or apparatus used in telephone systems
- H04M2201/60—Medium conversion
Abstract
Text captioned telephony, in which a telephone conversation is accompanied b text captions to aid in hard-of-hearing users, is implemented without the use of specialized text captioned telephone terminals by using a combination of an Internet appliance such as a computer and a telephone or by generalized voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) telephones.
Description
DEVICE INDEPENDENT TEXT CAPTIONED TELEPHONE SERVICE
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This Application claims the beiiefit of U.S. Patent Application 11/391,141 filed March 28, 2006 and U.S. Provisional Application 60/695,099 filed June 29, 2005, and hereby incorporated by reference.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY
SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This Application claims the beiiefit of U.S. Patent Application 11/391,141 filed March 28, 2006 and U.S. Provisional Application 60/695,099 filed June 29, 2005, and hereby incorporated by reference.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY
SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] --[00031 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0004] The present application relates generally to telephone systezns and specifically to telephone systems that provide for real-time text captioning for the hard of hearing.
[0005] Modem telecoinmunication services provide features to assist those who are deaf or hard of hearing. One such feature is the text telephone (TTY) also lmown as a telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD). TDDs allow for text communication through the telephone system by generating tones that may be transmitted by analog telephone lines in response to a user typing letters on a keyboard.
[0006] Hearing users may communicate with deaf users who have TDD devices tllrough so-called "relays." A relay is a service funded by telephone communication surcharges that provides a "call assistant" who intennediates between a deaf user and a hearing user. The call assistant communicates with the deaf user using a TDD
and communicates with the hearing user by voice over a standard telephone line.
[0007] A relay service may also be used to help those who are not deaf, but hard of hearing, by providing a captioned telephone. With a captioned telephone, a user who is hard of hearing may carry on a normal telephone conversation with a hearing user while a text transcription of the words spoken by the hearing user is displayed on the telephone. The text transcription allows the hard of hearing user to confirm his or her understanding of the spoken words. Unlike with a conventional relay service, captioned telephone requires extreinely fast text transcription using a computer executed voice recognition systein (typically witll revoicing by a trained operator) so that the text captioning is as nearly as possible contemporaneous with the spoken words.
[0008] Text captioned telephones of this type are marketed under the service marlc CAPTEL and described in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,307,921 and 6,075,842 assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference.
[0009] A text captioned telephone system employs a relay service in a mode where the relay transmits both the voice of the hearing user and a text stream of the spoken words by that user. A telephone of the receiving hard of hearing user provides a text display for displaying the captions.
[0010] In a single-line text captioned telephone, text and voice signals may be received over a single telephone line and separated electronically. The text captioned telephone includes software that automatically dials the relay, and providing the relay with the telephone humber of the ultimate destination of the call. For incoming telephone calls, the hard of hearing user inust normally hang up and redial the caller through the relay.
[0011] In a two-line text captioned telephone, a first telephone line communicates with the caller, and a second telephone line communicates exclusively with the relay. The two-line system allows text captioning to be easily used on incoming calls by allowing the text captioned telephone to dial out to the relay when the call is received and forward the necessary voice signal.
[0012] Many users of text-captioned telephony have jobs requiring significant use of the telephone as made possible by text-captioning. These users face a significant problem when they need to make use of telephone systems outside of their normal worlc environment where text captioning telephones may not be available or equipment such as cellular telephones that does not support text captioning must be used.
Many workplaces use proprietary private branch exchange (PBX) telephone lines that do not support analog text captioning telephones, the latter which require standard telephone connections.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The present inventors have recognized that increased accessibility of worlcers to the Internet and general purpose computers makes it possible to provide text-captioned telephony independently of specialized telephone terminal hardware intended narrowly for the deaf, hard of hearing, or assisted users. In a first embodiment, a standard telephone may be used in tandem with an Internet-connected computer to allow the conversation on the telephone to be augmented with text displayed on the computer.
The voice signal is provided to a captioning service which transmits text captions over the Internet to the computer in near real time. Iil this way, standard office equipment can provide text-captioning capabilities without the need for specialized telephone equipment.
[0014] Specifically, in a first embodimeiit of the invention, text captioning is provided to callers by a combination of a telephone terminal and an Internet appliance such as a browser on a computer. A first caller coinmunicates a voice portion of a telephone call over the telephone networlc with a second caller, both callers operating telephone terminals on telephone lines. Text transcribing the telephone call is communicated over the Internet to one of the first and second callers for display on the Internet appliance.
[0015] Thus it is one object of at least one embodiment of the invention to use commonly available office equipment to provide text-captioned telephony.
[0016] It is another object of at least one embodiinent of the invention to permit text-captioned telephony using available telephone equipment, telephone networks, and billing arrangements.
[0017] The telephone networlc may include a PBX networlc.
[0018] Thus it is an object of at least one embodiment of the invention to allow users of PBX phones to participate in the beiief ts of text-captioned telephony normally limited to standard telephone lines.
[0004] The present application relates generally to telephone systezns and specifically to telephone systems that provide for real-time text captioning for the hard of hearing.
[0005] Modem telecoinmunication services provide features to assist those who are deaf or hard of hearing. One such feature is the text telephone (TTY) also lmown as a telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD). TDDs allow for text communication through the telephone system by generating tones that may be transmitted by analog telephone lines in response to a user typing letters on a keyboard.
[0006] Hearing users may communicate with deaf users who have TDD devices tllrough so-called "relays." A relay is a service funded by telephone communication surcharges that provides a "call assistant" who intennediates between a deaf user and a hearing user. The call assistant communicates with the deaf user using a TDD
and communicates with the hearing user by voice over a standard telephone line.
[0007] A relay service may also be used to help those who are not deaf, but hard of hearing, by providing a captioned telephone. With a captioned telephone, a user who is hard of hearing may carry on a normal telephone conversation with a hearing user while a text transcription of the words spoken by the hearing user is displayed on the telephone. The text transcription allows the hard of hearing user to confirm his or her understanding of the spoken words. Unlike with a conventional relay service, captioned telephone requires extreinely fast text transcription using a computer executed voice recognition systein (typically witll revoicing by a trained operator) so that the text captioning is as nearly as possible contemporaneous with the spoken words.
[0008] Text captioned telephones of this type are marketed under the service marlc CAPTEL and described in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,307,921 and 6,075,842 assigned to the assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference.
[0009] A text captioned telephone system employs a relay service in a mode where the relay transmits both the voice of the hearing user and a text stream of the spoken words by that user. A telephone of the receiving hard of hearing user provides a text display for displaying the captions.
[0010] In a single-line text captioned telephone, text and voice signals may be received over a single telephone line and separated electronically. The text captioned telephone includes software that automatically dials the relay, and providing the relay with the telephone humber of the ultimate destination of the call. For incoming telephone calls, the hard of hearing user inust normally hang up and redial the caller through the relay.
[0011] In a two-line text captioned telephone, a first telephone line communicates with the caller, and a second telephone line communicates exclusively with the relay. The two-line system allows text captioning to be easily used on incoming calls by allowing the text captioned telephone to dial out to the relay when the call is received and forward the necessary voice signal.
[0012] Many users of text-captioned telephony have jobs requiring significant use of the telephone as made possible by text-captioning. These users face a significant problem when they need to make use of telephone systems outside of their normal worlc environment where text captioning telephones may not be available or equipment such as cellular telephones that does not support text captioning must be used.
Many workplaces use proprietary private branch exchange (PBX) telephone lines that do not support analog text captioning telephones, the latter which require standard telephone connections.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] The present inventors have recognized that increased accessibility of worlcers to the Internet and general purpose computers makes it possible to provide text-captioned telephony independently of specialized telephone terminal hardware intended narrowly for the deaf, hard of hearing, or assisted users. In a first embodiment, a standard telephone may be used in tandem with an Internet-connected computer to allow the conversation on the telephone to be augmented with text displayed on the computer.
The voice signal is provided to a captioning service which transmits text captions over the Internet to the computer in near real time. Iil this way, standard office equipment can provide text-captioning capabilities without the need for specialized telephone equipment.
[0014] Specifically, in a first embodimeiit of the invention, text captioning is provided to callers by a combination of a telephone terminal and an Internet appliance such as a browser on a computer. A first caller coinmunicates a voice portion of a telephone call over the telephone networlc with a second caller, both callers operating telephone terminals on telephone lines. Text transcribing the telephone call is communicated over the Internet to one of the first and second callers for display on the Internet appliance.
[0015] Thus it is one object of at least one embodiment of the invention to use commonly available office equipment to provide text-captioned telephony.
[0016] It is another object of at least one embodiinent of the invention to permit text-captioned telephony using available telephone equipment, telephone networks, and billing arrangements.
[0017] The telephone networlc may include a PBX networlc.
[0018] Thus it is an object of at least one embodiment of the invention to allow users of PBX phones to participate in the beiief ts of text-captioned telephony normally limited to standard telephone lines.
[00191 The text may be provided by a relay communicating with the Internet.
[0020] It is thus another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to allow existing relay services to be used without the need to navigate proprietary calling systeins such as PBX or cellular telephone.
[0021] The relay may receive a portion-of the telephone call from the telephone networlc.
[0022] Thus it is an object of at least one embodiment of the invention to present an embodiment in which high speed Iiiternet is not required.
[0023] The first caller may dial the relay on -the telephone networlc to provide the relay with the telephone number of the second caller, and the relay may call the telephone nuznber of the second caller to complete the call.
[0024] Thus it is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to preserve the anonymity or invisibility of the relay in the calling process.
[0025] The relay may alternatively receive a portion of the telephone call from the Internet in a voice over Internet protocol.
[0026] It is thus another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to eliminate the need for a separate call to the relay allowing seamless handling of incoming calls as well as the ability to malce outgoing calls.
[0027] The portion of the telephone call may be provided by tapping into the handset of one telephone terminal to coinmunicate a portion of the conversation to the Internet appliance.
[0028] It is thus another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a wide variety of telephone terininals to be used, with which the user is convenient and familiar, while providing a signal to the Internet appliance without the need for cumbersome or specialized microphones and the lilce.
[0029] The Intenlet appliance may further transmit a video signal to the user over the Internet.
[0020] It is thus another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to allow existing relay services to be used without the need to navigate proprietary calling systeins such as PBX or cellular telephone.
[0021] The relay may receive a portion-of the telephone call from the telephone networlc.
[0022] Thus it is an object of at least one embodiment of the invention to present an embodiment in which high speed Iiiternet is not required.
[0023] The first caller may dial the relay on -the telephone networlc to provide the relay with the telephone number of the second caller, and the relay may call the telephone nuznber of the second caller to complete the call.
[0024] Thus it is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to preserve the anonymity or invisibility of the relay in the calling process.
[0025] The relay may alternatively receive a portion of the telephone call from the Internet in a voice over Internet protocol.
[0026] It is thus another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to eliminate the need for a separate call to the relay allowing seamless handling of incoming calls as well as the ability to malce outgoing calls.
[0027] The portion of the telephone call may be provided by tapping into the handset of one telephone terminal to coinmunicate a portion of the conversation to the Internet appliance.
[0028] It is thus another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a wide variety of telephone terininals to be used, with which the user is convenient and familiar, while providing a signal to the Internet appliance without the need for cumbersome or specialized microphones and the lilce.
[0029] The Intenlet appliance may further transmit a video signal to the user over the Internet.
[0030] Thus it is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to talee advantage of the Internet connection to provide augmented communication between the callers or a caller and the relay.
[0031] In an alternative embodiment, the invention may provide for text captions to telephone calls by coinmunicating a voice portion of the telephone call between the first caller and the second caller over an Internet telephone using voice over Internet protocol (VOIP). Text captioning of the telephone call can be provided by a relay tapping into the Inteniet transmission and forwarding captioning information to the Internet telephone also over the Internet.
[0032] Thus it is an object of at least one embodiment of the invention to take advantage of the ability of the Internet to make multiple connections among more than one party (e.g., two callers and the relay) to provide text-captioned telephony. It is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to take advantage of the ubiquity of Internet connections in the office environment to avoid the problems normally inherent in PBX proprietary lines.
[0033] The Internet telephone may be a computer communicating with the Internet or a dedicated VOIP telephone where the captioning is displayed on the VOIP
telephone display.
[0034] Thus it is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to talce advantage of inherent text communication qualities of VOIP telephone systems, either those using computers or dedicated VOIP phones, to provide for text-captioned telephony without specialized equipment.
[0035] The user may initiate the communication to the relay to promote text captioning.
[0036] Thus it is an object of at least one embodiment of the invention to allow on-demand text captioning only as required.
[0037] The device may provide for a volume display to one of the first and second users.
[0038] Thus it is an object of at least one embodiment of the invention to allow the hard-of-hearing user to have an additional dimension of understanding of the conversation, and thus some assurance that proper text captioning is occurring.
100391 The Internet telephone may incorporate a serial number and may use the serial nuinber to validate the user.
[0040] It is thus anotller object of at least one embodiment of the invention to prevent misuse of relay services as may occur with the anonymity of the Internet.
[0041] The Internet telephone may further include a telephone network coimection and the telephone may use the telephone network in lieu of the Internet when a telephone number is an emergency number such as 911.
[0042] Thus it is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a systein that allows for traditiona1911 response.
100431 These particular objects and advantages may apply to only some embodiments falling within the claims and thus do not define the scope of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA.WINGS
[0044] Fig. 1 is a representation of a first embodiment of the invention providing text-captioned telephony using a PBX office telephone and Internet-connected computer;
[0045] Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a voice-tap connecting the PBX
telephone of Fig.
1 to the coinputer to allow transfer of voice signals over the Internet to a relay;
[0046] Fig. 3 is a caller interface window as may be displayed on the computer of Fig. 1 allowing on-demand captioning of the telephone call;
[0047] Fig. 4 is a flowcllart of the principle steps of a program executed on the coinputer of Fig. 1 when captioning is demanded by the caller;
[0048] Fig. 5 is a figure similar to that of Fig. 1, showing an alternative einbodiment in which the voice signal is routed tlirough a standard telephone line to the relay and the text is returned to the computer;
[0049] Fig. 6 is a figure similar to that of Fig. 4 showing the flowchart for the embodiment of Fig. 5;
[0050] Fig. 7 is a figure similar to that of Fig. 3 showing a caller interface window for entering a PIN nuinber to link captioning text to a particular call;
[0051] Fig. 8 is a figure similar to that of Figs. 1 and 5 showing implementation of a text-captioning using VOIP transinissions;
[0052] Fig. 9 is a figure similar to that of Figs. 7 and 3 showing a caller interface window for a VOIP telephone iinpleinented on a standard computer;
[0053] Fig. 10 is a flowchart of the principal steps executed by the computer in implementing the text-captioned telephony using VOIP telephones;
[0054] Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view of the computer of Fig. 8 showing the addition of a video camera so that voice and video may be transmitted to the other caller;
and [0055] Fig. 12 is a fragmentary view of the caller interface window of Fig. 9 showing a video inset possible with the configuration of Fig. 11.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0056] Referring to Fig. 1, in a first embodiment of the invention, a text captioned teleplione system 10 may be impleinented within a typical office having a PBX
telephone terminal 12 and a desk top computer 14. The desk top computer 14 includes a display screen 16, a base unit 18 (including a processor, memory, disk drives and iinportantly a sound card) and a keyboard or other entry device 20.
[0057] As is understood in the art, the PBX telephone terminal 12 may be connected through an office wall j ack 22 to a PBX network 24 using a proprietary communication protocol. The PBX networlc 24 communicates with a public switched telephone networlc 26 that allows the PBX telephone terminal 12 to connect to an external telephone terminal 28 to originate a call to the external telephone termina128 or to receive a call fiom the external telephone termina128.
[0058] The computer 14 may connect through an Ethernet card to an Ethernet networlc 30, passing to a local router 32 to connect to the Internet 34 or may use one of a number of we111tnown wireless standards to coruiect to the local router 32.
[0059] Referring now also to Fig. 2, a voice signal tap 36 has a short cable stub 38 terminating in an RJ-12 jack 40 that may be received in the handset jaclc for the main body of the PBX telephone terminal 12. The tap 36 also provides a receiving socket for the RJ-12 jack 42 associated with the handset cord 44 so that the tap 36 may be simply interposed between the handset 46 and the main body of the PBX telephone tenninal 12 to conduct voice signals as analog audio signals therethrough.
[0060] A tap line 48 extending from the tap 36 terminates in a subminiature telephone jack 50 that may be received by audio input of the sound card of the base unit 18. The tap line conducts a portion of the voice signals from the handset 46 to the sound card of the base unit 18.
[0061] The voice signals received by the computer 14 may be processed by an internal program of a type well lG7own in the art to encode the voice signals as VOIP
signals 52 that may be sent over the Internet to a server 54 associated with a relay service 56.
Programs for transmitting VOIP signal are commercially available from Skype of Luxembourg and Vonage of New Jersey, USA. At the relay service 56, the encoded voice signals may be converted back to an analog signal for transcription by a call assistant wlio produces corresponding captioning text 55 that may be relayed through conventional Internet tralsfer protocols baclc to the computer 14 where the text may be displayed.
[0062] In an alternative embodiment, a headset microphone and earpiece (not shown) may communicate separately with left and right sound card channels. This, along with echo canceling software in the coinputer 14 allows the relay service 56 to separate the voice of the caption user fiom the otlier party for improved transcription and anonymity.
[0063] The relay service 56 may provide for human operators working with speech recognition engines to rapidly translate voice signals into text streams. The operation of such a relay is described in more detail in U.S. Patent 6,567,503, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference.
[0064] By placing the tap 36 in the path of the handset 46, analog audio signals may be obtained, greatly simplifying the acquisition of the audio signal without the need to contend with the PBX standard or the need or awkward or unfamiliar computer associated microphones.
[0065] Referring now to Fig. 3, an office user wishing to avail themselves of text captioning may start a text-captioning program 58 on the computer 14 to provide a caller interface window 60 on the display screen 16. The caller interface window 60 may provide simple mouse or keyboard operated controls including a caption button 62 that may be actuated by the caller to begin the program's operation.
[0066] Referring to Fig. 4, upon pressing of the caption button 62, as indicated by process block 64, the computer 14 may initiate an Internet connection to the relay service 56 by invoking a stored URL of the relay server 54. At this time, the computer 14 may provide some information to the relay including a serial number of the caller to validate the caller's location for the purpose of identifying the particular public authority responsible for the relay call. The caller can be required to register the program with a relay service database and the serial number can be used to authorize their use of the service, thus limiting fraudulent use of the relay service and allowing for local 911 service by providing information about the geographic location of the user.
[0067] As indicated by process block 66, the program 58 may then forward the tapped voice signals as VOIP signals to the relay server 54, and receive text as indicated by process block 68 which maybe displayed in text box 70 of the caller interface window 60. The text box 70 includes conventional scroll-type controls 73 allowing text to be reviewed after it has been received. The progra.in 58 may also provide for normal file operations 75 including saving of text files, e-mailing text files, and the like.
[0068] Upon coinpletion of the call, the caller may press the caption button 62 again to disconnect the call as indicated by process block 71. The caption button 62 may include an animation visually indicating its state as being depressed or released or may change its label from "caption" to "end caption" indicating its changing function.
[0069] Importantly, this system allows for convenient and intuitive voice coinmunication between a PBX telephone terminal 12 and telephone terminal 28, either for making outgoing calls or ingoing calls, while allowing eitlier type of call to be captioned on deinand without interruption of the telephone call or the need for specialized telephone equipment. This system will also worlc without a PBX
exchange and can worlc for a variety of different telephone types not intended for text captioning.
[0070] Referring now to Fig. 5, in a second embodiment, a standard deslc top computer 14 may worlc in conjunction with a standard telephone (i.e., not text captioned), in this case a cell telephone 72, the latter of which communicates through a cellular service 74 with the public switched telephone network 26, without a direct connection between the cell telephone 72 and the coinputer 14.
[0071] In this embodiment, the caller using the cell telephone 72 first calls the relay service 56 as indicated by process block 76 of Fig. 6. The relay service 56, per standard practice, receives telephone calls over the public switched telephone network 26. The relay seivice 56 may provide an automated answering systein that requests a telephone number from the caller of the ultimate destination of the telephone call, in this case, telephone terminal 28. As indicated by process block 78 of Fig. 6, the caller may enter the requested telephone nuinber by using the caller's keypad on the cell telephone 72.
[0072] In the case where the relay service remains anonymous, in the sense that the call assistant does not spealc directly with the caller, the answering system may provide the caller with a personal identification number (PIN) as indicated in process block 80. The relay service 56 links the caller's particular incoming line to the PIN in an internal database 57.
[0073] The caller, using a conventional browser on the desk top computer 14, then enters the URL of the server 54 of the relay service 56, as indicated by process block 82 of Fig. 6. This may also be done before initiating the call to the relay service 56.
[0074] As shown in Fig. 7, the relay server 54 provides the caller with webpage 86 offering a text box 88 allowing entry of the PIN received at process block 80.
The caller, by entering that PIN and press a captioning initiation button 90, causes the relay service 56 to coinplete the call by connecting the incoming audio from the cell telephone 72 to the telephone terminal 28. The relay service 56 then forwards captioning text 55 over the Internet 34 to the caller through a text box 92 as indicated by process block 94. The text box 92 may use, for example, a browser plug-in or instant messaging program to provide for a consistent updating of the text as it is received, but otherwise requires no specialized software on computer 14.
[0075] Alternatively and preferably, the caller may first contact the webpage 86 using the computer 14 to provide the relay server 54 with both the number the caller wishes to dial and also the caller's own telephone number. The relay server 54 then calls the caller over the cell phone 72. Once a connection is established with captions, the relay server 54 dials to the other party. This automatically linlcs the IP address to the telephone connections without the need for PIN. The phone nuinber of the caller may be entered on the webpage 86 in text box 87 and the destination phone number may be entered in text box 89 similar to those described for the PIN.
[0076] The use of a web page and browser plug in to avoid the need for specialized software to be on the deslctop computer 14 is also applicable to the earlier embodiment of Fig. 1.
[0077] At the end of the call as indicated by process block 96, the caller may press the captioning initiation button 90 again to terininate the call. The captioning initiation button 90 may reflect this new purpose, of terminating the captioning, by changing its label.
[0078] Again, in this embodiment, no specialized text captioning equipment is required, but the system makes use of commonly available office and telephone equipment to provide for text captioning that is not limited to a particular location, but which may be used in any location where Internet and telephone access may be had. In this regard, computer 14 may, for example, be any Intenzet appliance, for example, a wireless mobile laptop or the like. Thus a caller may work from a hot spot using a cell telephone and a wireless laptop to obtain competent text captioning.
[0079] In a variation on this enibodiment, set-up of the call (e.g. providing the relay service 56 with the destination phone number) may be accomplished using the desktop computer 14 rather than via telephone 72. When the caller calls the relay service 56, the caller enters a pin number to coruzect the call to the captioning or the connection may be made by linking the callers phone number with a number previously entered on the computer 14.
[0080] In this embodiment, identification of the particular governmental entity responsible for reiinbursement for the captioning can be obtained from the information of the public switched telephone network 26 per standard practice.
[0081] In a variation on this embodiment, new 3G cellular services allow the use of both cellular voice and data comlections simultaneously using a cellular phone. In this case, the browser on a desktop computer 14 may be replaced with a browser on the cell phone which provides a telephone and Internet appliance, all in one.
[0082] Referring now to Fig. 8 in a third embodiment, a single advanced Internet appliance may be used to replace the need for a telephone. That Internet appliance, for example, may be a standard computer 14 equipped witll a microphone and headphone assembly 100 for making VOTP calls or a VOIP telephone 102 providing for display capabilities on screen 104. Many PBX systeins now allow for the connection of VOIP
pliones.
[0083] Referring also to Figs. 9 and 10, in a first variation on this embodiment, a program 108 executed by the computer 14 provides a caller interface window 110 on the display screen 16 of the computer allowing the initiation of a VOIP
connection as indicated by process block 112 of Fig. 10. The caller interface window 110 provides a standard virtual telephone keypad 114 by which a telephone number of a telephone termina128 on the public switched telephone network 26 may be en.tered and displayed in text box 116. Pressing of a call button 120 initiates a VOIP telephone call. The basic process of initiating a VOIl' call is well understood in the art.
[0084] In the present invention, however, at any time, a captioning initiation button 122 may be pressed, causing initiation of a second VOIP telephone call directly to the relay service 56 through the relay server 54 as indicated by process block 124. At this time, the VOIP signals 52 exchanged between the computer 14 and telephone terminal (optionally via the public switched telephone network 26) may be multicast to the server 54 to be interpreted as voice signals by the relay service 56. The server 54 may also receive a serial number 125 identifying the caller and assisting in allocation of relay service fees among governmental entities. The relay service 56 returns captioning text 55 transcribing the VO1P signals 52 back to the computer 14 to be displayed in text box 92 as indicated by process block 126.
[0085] The caller interface window 110 may also provide a volume meter 130 aiding the caller in speaking to obtain sufficient signal strength for proper relay interpretation.
[0086] Alternatively, the call may be initiated as a captioned call by pressing the captioning initiation button 122, then dialing the telephone number, in which case, setup information 123 (e.g., the destination telephone number) together with a serial number 125, are forwarded to the relay service 56 which may then initiate the VOIP
call to the telephone terminal 28 patching through signals received from computer 14 to the telephone terminal 28.
[0087] As indicated by process block 132, the call may be terminated by pressing the call button 120 and/or captioning may be terminated by pressing the captioning initiation button 122.
[0088] When the coinputer 14 is used, a connection to the public switched telephone network 26 may also be provided for interception of emergency calls, for example, to 911, routing those through the publicly-switched telephone network rather than through the Internet so as to provide for the benefits of rapid identification of geographic location of the caller inherent in calls made through the publicly-switched telephone network and not always provided currently with the VOIP services.
[0089] Referring again to Fig. 8, the identical steps may be accomplished by a specially prograinmed VOIP telephone 102, which requires only a modification in software to implement the same functions as those described above. The captioning initiation button in this case can be implemented in software keystroke combinations without the need for additional switches with the standard screen 104 on the VOIP
telephone serving as the text display and optional volume meter.
[0090] General purpose liiternet appliances such as computer 14 make it possible to expand the previous einbodiments to the addition of a video camera 140 providing video signals 142 to the Intenlet as well as the VOIP signals 52 and the receipt of captioning text 55. Referring to Fig. 12, the addition of video signals allows a video inset box 144 to be added to the caller interface window 136, allowing viewing of the other party to the conversation or the relay operator also having an Internet appliance such as a computer 14. This embodiment allows face-to-face conversations, but also may allow, for example, the use of American Sign Language or lip reading between users together with the captioning provided by the text box 92. In other respects, the caller interface window 136 may be identical to caller interface window 110 described above.
[0091] In a variation on this embodiment, a standard videophone may be used as may be connected over a broadband Internet connection (or corporate LAN) to provide video and voice. Videophones are popular with both hearing people and deaf people that use sign language and provide a built in camera and display screen for the picture of the otller party.
[0092] In this embodiment, the videophone user or video conference system user can comzect with the captioning service website and the service can send the captions not as IP text but as an IP video signal formatted to be compatible with the videophone. The captions are transmitted instead of the image of the caller, as video images of letters using standard captioning software that converts text to a video signals or as overlaid on the image of one caller using a video merging technique. In the case where a videophone provides a separate text display, this can alternatively be used for the captioning, as described above with the Internet phone, with the text being transmitted as IP text, that is, character data such as ASCII or Baudot. Alternatively, IP
text may be converted at the videophone into image data to be displayed on a video screen as a caption. When IP text is recieved, the videophone may elect how the text is to be displayed, either as captions on a video image or as text with no other image.
The IP
text may be uniquely marked to identify it to the videophone.
[0093] It is specifically intended that the present invention not be limited to the einbodiments and illustrations contained herein, but include modified forms of those einbodiinents including portions of the embodiments and combinations of elements of different embodiments as come within the scope of the following claims.
[0031] In an alternative embodiment, the invention may provide for text captions to telephone calls by coinmunicating a voice portion of the telephone call between the first caller and the second caller over an Internet telephone using voice over Internet protocol (VOIP). Text captioning of the telephone call can be provided by a relay tapping into the Inteniet transmission and forwarding captioning information to the Internet telephone also over the Internet.
[0032] Thus it is an object of at least one embodiment of the invention to take advantage of the ability of the Internet to make multiple connections among more than one party (e.g., two callers and the relay) to provide text-captioned telephony. It is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to take advantage of the ubiquity of Internet connections in the office environment to avoid the problems normally inherent in PBX proprietary lines.
[0033] The Internet telephone may be a computer communicating with the Internet or a dedicated VOIP telephone where the captioning is displayed on the VOIP
telephone display.
[0034] Thus it is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to talce advantage of inherent text communication qualities of VOIP telephone systems, either those using computers or dedicated VOIP phones, to provide for text-captioned telephony without specialized equipment.
[0035] The user may initiate the communication to the relay to promote text captioning.
[0036] Thus it is an object of at least one embodiment of the invention to allow on-demand text captioning only as required.
[0037] The device may provide for a volume display to one of the first and second users.
[0038] Thus it is an object of at least one embodiment of the invention to allow the hard-of-hearing user to have an additional dimension of understanding of the conversation, and thus some assurance that proper text captioning is occurring.
100391 The Internet telephone may incorporate a serial number and may use the serial nuinber to validate the user.
[0040] It is thus anotller object of at least one embodiment of the invention to prevent misuse of relay services as may occur with the anonymity of the Internet.
[0041] The Internet telephone may further include a telephone network coimection and the telephone may use the telephone network in lieu of the Internet when a telephone number is an emergency number such as 911.
[0042] Thus it is another object of at least one embodiment of the invention to provide a systein that allows for traditiona1911 response.
100431 These particular objects and advantages may apply to only some embodiments falling within the claims and thus do not define the scope of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA.WINGS
[0044] Fig. 1 is a representation of a first embodiment of the invention providing text-captioned telephony using a PBX office telephone and Internet-connected computer;
[0045] Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a voice-tap connecting the PBX
telephone of Fig.
1 to the coinputer to allow transfer of voice signals over the Internet to a relay;
[0046] Fig. 3 is a caller interface window as may be displayed on the computer of Fig. 1 allowing on-demand captioning of the telephone call;
[0047] Fig. 4 is a flowcllart of the principle steps of a program executed on the coinputer of Fig. 1 when captioning is demanded by the caller;
[0048] Fig. 5 is a figure similar to that of Fig. 1, showing an alternative einbodiment in which the voice signal is routed tlirough a standard telephone line to the relay and the text is returned to the computer;
[0049] Fig. 6 is a figure similar to that of Fig. 4 showing the flowchart for the embodiment of Fig. 5;
[0050] Fig. 7 is a figure similar to that of Fig. 3 showing a caller interface window for entering a PIN nuinber to link captioning text to a particular call;
[0051] Fig. 8 is a figure similar to that of Figs. 1 and 5 showing implementation of a text-captioning using VOIP transinissions;
[0052] Fig. 9 is a figure similar to that of Figs. 7 and 3 showing a caller interface window for a VOIP telephone iinpleinented on a standard computer;
[0053] Fig. 10 is a flowchart of the principal steps executed by the computer in implementing the text-captioned telephony using VOIP telephones;
[0054] Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view of the computer of Fig. 8 showing the addition of a video camera so that voice and video may be transmitted to the other caller;
and [0055] Fig. 12 is a fragmentary view of the caller interface window of Fig. 9 showing a video inset possible with the configuration of Fig. 11.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0056] Referring to Fig. 1, in a first embodiment of the invention, a text captioned teleplione system 10 may be impleinented within a typical office having a PBX
telephone terminal 12 and a desk top computer 14. The desk top computer 14 includes a display screen 16, a base unit 18 (including a processor, memory, disk drives and iinportantly a sound card) and a keyboard or other entry device 20.
[0057] As is understood in the art, the PBX telephone terminal 12 may be connected through an office wall j ack 22 to a PBX network 24 using a proprietary communication protocol. The PBX networlc 24 communicates with a public switched telephone networlc 26 that allows the PBX telephone terminal 12 to connect to an external telephone terminal 28 to originate a call to the external telephone termina128 or to receive a call fiom the external telephone termina128.
[0058] The computer 14 may connect through an Ethernet card to an Ethernet networlc 30, passing to a local router 32 to connect to the Internet 34 or may use one of a number of we111tnown wireless standards to coruiect to the local router 32.
[0059] Referring now also to Fig. 2, a voice signal tap 36 has a short cable stub 38 terminating in an RJ-12 jack 40 that may be received in the handset jaclc for the main body of the PBX telephone terminal 12. The tap 36 also provides a receiving socket for the RJ-12 jack 42 associated with the handset cord 44 so that the tap 36 may be simply interposed between the handset 46 and the main body of the PBX telephone tenninal 12 to conduct voice signals as analog audio signals therethrough.
[0060] A tap line 48 extending from the tap 36 terminates in a subminiature telephone jack 50 that may be received by audio input of the sound card of the base unit 18. The tap line conducts a portion of the voice signals from the handset 46 to the sound card of the base unit 18.
[0061] The voice signals received by the computer 14 may be processed by an internal program of a type well lG7own in the art to encode the voice signals as VOIP
signals 52 that may be sent over the Internet to a server 54 associated with a relay service 56.
Programs for transmitting VOIP signal are commercially available from Skype of Luxembourg and Vonage of New Jersey, USA. At the relay service 56, the encoded voice signals may be converted back to an analog signal for transcription by a call assistant wlio produces corresponding captioning text 55 that may be relayed through conventional Internet tralsfer protocols baclc to the computer 14 where the text may be displayed.
[0062] In an alternative embodiment, a headset microphone and earpiece (not shown) may communicate separately with left and right sound card channels. This, along with echo canceling software in the coinputer 14 allows the relay service 56 to separate the voice of the caption user fiom the otlier party for improved transcription and anonymity.
[0063] The relay service 56 may provide for human operators working with speech recognition engines to rapidly translate voice signals into text streams. The operation of such a relay is described in more detail in U.S. Patent 6,567,503, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference.
[0064] By placing the tap 36 in the path of the handset 46, analog audio signals may be obtained, greatly simplifying the acquisition of the audio signal without the need to contend with the PBX standard or the need or awkward or unfamiliar computer associated microphones.
[0065] Referring now to Fig. 3, an office user wishing to avail themselves of text captioning may start a text-captioning program 58 on the computer 14 to provide a caller interface window 60 on the display screen 16. The caller interface window 60 may provide simple mouse or keyboard operated controls including a caption button 62 that may be actuated by the caller to begin the program's operation.
[0066] Referring to Fig. 4, upon pressing of the caption button 62, as indicated by process block 64, the computer 14 may initiate an Internet connection to the relay service 56 by invoking a stored URL of the relay server 54. At this time, the computer 14 may provide some information to the relay including a serial number of the caller to validate the caller's location for the purpose of identifying the particular public authority responsible for the relay call. The caller can be required to register the program with a relay service database and the serial number can be used to authorize their use of the service, thus limiting fraudulent use of the relay service and allowing for local 911 service by providing information about the geographic location of the user.
[0067] As indicated by process block 66, the program 58 may then forward the tapped voice signals as VOIP signals to the relay server 54, and receive text as indicated by process block 68 which maybe displayed in text box 70 of the caller interface window 60. The text box 70 includes conventional scroll-type controls 73 allowing text to be reviewed after it has been received. The progra.in 58 may also provide for normal file operations 75 including saving of text files, e-mailing text files, and the like.
[0068] Upon coinpletion of the call, the caller may press the caption button 62 again to disconnect the call as indicated by process block 71. The caption button 62 may include an animation visually indicating its state as being depressed or released or may change its label from "caption" to "end caption" indicating its changing function.
[0069] Importantly, this system allows for convenient and intuitive voice coinmunication between a PBX telephone terminal 12 and telephone terminal 28, either for making outgoing calls or ingoing calls, while allowing eitlier type of call to be captioned on deinand without interruption of the telephone call or the need for specialized telephone equipment. This system will also worlc without a PBX
exchange and can worlc for a variety of different telephone types not intended for text captioning.
[0070] Referring now to Fig. 5, in a second embodiment, a standard deslc top computer 14 may worlc in conjunction with a standard telephone (i.e., not text captioned), in this case a cell telephone 72, the latter of which communicates through a cellular service 74 with the public switched telephone network 26, without a direct connection between the cell telephone 72 and the coinputer 14.
[0071] In this embodiment, the caller using the cell telephone 72 first calls the relay service 56 as indicated by process block 76 of Fig. 6. The relay service 56, per standard practice, receives telephone calls over the public switched telephone network 26. The relay seivice 56 may provide an automated answering systein that requests a telephone number from the caller of the ultimate destination of the telephone call, in this case, telephone terminal 28. As indicated by process block 78 of Fig. 6, the caller may enter the requested telephone nuinber by using the caller's keypad on the cell telephone 72.
[0072] In the case where the relay service remains anonymous, in the sense that the call assistant does not spealc directly with the caller, the answering system may provide the caller with a personal identification number (PIN) as indicated in process block 80. The relay service 56 links the caller's particular incoming line to the PIN in an internal database 57.
[0073] The caller, using a conventional browser on the desk top computer 14, then enters the URL of the server 54 of the relay service 56, as indicated by process block 82 of Fig. 6. This may also be done before initiating the call to the relay service 56.
[0074] As shown in Fig. 7, the relay server 54 provides the caller with webpage 86 offering a text box 88 allowing entry of the PIN received at process block 80.
The caller, by entering that PIN and press a captioning initiation button 90, causes the relay service 56 to coinplete the call by connecting the incoming audio from the cell telephone 72 to the telephone terminal 28. The relay service 56 then forwards captioning text 55 over the Internet 34 to the caller through a text box 92 as indicated by process block 94. The text box 92 may use, for example, a browser plug-in or instant messaging program to provide for a consistent updating of the text as it is received, but otherwise requires no specialized software on computer 14.
[0075] Alternatively and preferably, the caller may first contact the webpage 86 using the computer 14 to provide the relay server 54 with both the number the caller wishes to dial and also the caller's own telephone number. The relay server 54 then calls the caller over the cell phone 72. Once a connection is established with captions, the relay server 54 dials to the other party. This automatically linlcs the IP address to the telephone connections without the need for PIN. The phone nuinber of the caller may be entered on the webpage 86 in text box 87 and the destination phone number may be entered in text box 89 similar to those described for the PIN.
[0076] The use of a web page and browser plug in to avoid the need for specialized software to be on the deslctop computer 14 is also applicable to the earlier embodiment of Fig. 1.
[0077] At the end of the call as indicated by process block 96, the caller may press the captioning initiation button 90 again to terininate the call. The captioning initiation button 90 may reflect this new purpose, of terminating the captioning, by changing its label.
[0078] Again, in this embodiment, no specialized text captioning equipment is required, but the system makes use of commonly available office and telephone equipment to provide for text captioning that is not limited to a particular location, but which may be used in any location where Internet and telephone access may be had. In this regard, computer 14 may, for example, be any Intenzet appliance, for example, a wireless mobile laptop or the like. Thus a caller may work from a hot spot using a cell telephone and a wireless laptop to obtain competent text captioning.
[0079] In a variation on this enibodiment, set-up of the call (e.g. providing the relay service 56 with the destination phone number) may be accomplished using the desktop computer 14 rather than via telephone 72. When the caller calls the relay service 56, the caller enters a pin number to coruzect the call to the captioning or the connection may be made by linking the callers phone number with a number previously entered on the computer 14.
[0080] In this embodiment, identification of the particular governmental entity responsible for reiinbursement for the captioning can be obtained from the information of the public switched telephone network 26 per standard practice.
[0081] In a variation on this embodiment, new 3G cellular services allow the use of both cellular voice and data comlections simultaneously using a cellular phone. In this case, the browser on a desktop computer 14 may be replaced with a browser on the cell phone which provides a telephone and Internet appliance, all in one.
[0082] Referring now to Fig. 8 in a third embodiment, a single advanced Internet appliance may be used to replace the need for a telephone. That Internet appliance, for example, may be a standard computer 14 equipped witll a microphone and headphone assembly 100 for making VOTP calls or a VOIP telephone 102 providing for display capabilities on screen 104. Many PBX systeins now allow for the connection of VOIP
pliones.
[0083] Referring also to Figs. 9 and 10, in a first variation on this embodiment, a program 108 executed by the computer 14 provides a caller interface window 110 on the display screen 16 of the computer allowing the initiation of a VOIP
connection as indicated by process block 112 of Fig. 10. The caller interface window 110 provides a standard virtual telephone keypad 114 by which a telephone number of a telephone termina128 on the public switched telephone network 26 may be en.tered and displayed in text box 116. Pressing of a call button 120 initiates a VOIP telephone call. The basic process of initiating a VOIl' call is well understood in the art.
[0084] In the present invention, however, at any time, a captioning initiation button 122 may be pressed, causing initiation of a second VOIP telephone call directly to the relay service 56 through the relay server 54 as indicated by process block 124. At this time, the VOIP signals 52 exchanged between the computer 14 and telephone terminal (optionally via the public switched telephone network 26) may be multicast to the server 54 to be interpreted as voice signals by the relay service 56. The server 54 may also receive a serial number 125 identifying the caller and assisting in allocation of relay service fees among governmental entities. The relay service 56 returns captioning text 55 transcribing the VO1P signals 52 back to the computer 14 to be displayed in text box 92 as indicated by process block 126.
[0085] The caller interface window 110 may also provide a volume meter 130 aiding the caller in speaking to obtain sufficient signal strength for proper relay interpretation.
[0086] Alternatively, the call may be initiated as a captioned call by pressing the captioning initiation button 122, then dialing the telephone number, in which case, setup information 123 (e.g., the destination telephone number) together with a serial number 125, are forwarded to the relay service 56 which may then initiate the VOIP
call to the telephone terminal 28 patching through signals received from computer 14 to the telephone terminal 28.
[0087] As indicated by process block 132, the call may be terminated by pressing the call button 120 and/or captioning may be terminated by pressing the captioning initiation button 122.
[0088] When the coinputer 14 is used, a connection to the public switched telephone network 26 may also be provided for interception of emergency calls, for example, to 911, routing those through the publicly-switched telephone network rather than through the Internet so as to provide for the benefits of rapid identification of geographic location of the caller inherent in calls made through the publicly-switched telephone network and not always provided currently with the VOIP services.
[0089] Referring again to Fig. 8, the identical steps may be accomplished by a specially prograinmed VOIP telephone 102, which requires only a modification in software to implement the same functions as those described above. The captioning initiation button in this case can be implemented in software keystroke combinations without the need for additional switches with the standard screen 104 on the VOIP
telephone serving as the text display and optional volume meter.
[0090] General purpose liiternet appliances such as computer 14 make it possible to expand the previous einbodiments to the addition of a video camera 140 providing video signals 142 to the Intenlet as well as the VOIP signals 52 and the receipt of captioning text 55. Referring to Fig. 12, the addition of video signals allows a video inset box 144 to be added to the caller interface window 136, allowing viewing of the other party to the conversation or the relay operator also having an Internet appliance such as a computer 14. This embodiment allows face-to-face conversations, but also may allow, for example, the use of American Sign Language or lip reading between users together with the captioning provided by the text box 92. In other respects, the caller interface window 136 may be identical to caller interface window 110 described above.
[0091] In a variation on this embodiment, a standard videophone may be used as may be connected over a broadband Internet connection (or corporate LAN) to provide video and voice. Videophones are popular with both hearing people and deaf people that use sign language and provide a built in camera and display screen for the picture of the otller party.
[0092] In this embodiment, the videophone user or video conference system user can comzect with the captioning service website and the service can send the captions not as IP text but as an IP video signal formatted to be compatible with the videophone. The captions are transmitted instead of the image of the caller, as video images of letters using standard captioning software that converts text to a video signals or as overlaid on the image of one caller using a video merging technique. In the case where a videophone provides a separate text display, this can alternatively be used for the captioning, as described above with the Internet phone, with the text being transmitted as IP text, that is, character data such as ASCII or Baudot. Alternatively, IP
text may be converted at the videophone into image data to be displayed on a video screen as a caption. When IP text is recieved, the videophone may elect how the text is to be displayed, either as captions on a video image or as text with no other image.
The IP
text may be uniquely marked to identify it to the videophone.
[0093] It is specifically intended that the present invention not be limited to the einbodiments and illustrations contained herein, but include modified forms of those einbodiinents including portions of the embodiments and combinations of elements of different embodiments as come within the scope of the following claims.
Claims (42)
1. A method of providing captions to telephone callers using a combination of a telephone terminal and an Internet appliance comprising the steps of:
(a) communicating, over a telephone network, a voice portion of a telephone call between a first caller and a second caller operating telephone terminals communicating with the telephone network;
(b) routing the voice portion to voice recognition engine at a relay, the voice recongition engine transcribing the voice portion to corresponding text;
(c) communicating the text over the Internet; and (d) displaying the text on the Internet appliance to at least one of the first and second callers.
(a) communicating, over a telephone network, a voice portion of a telephone call between a first caller and a second caller operating telephone terminals communicating with the telephone network;
(b) routing the voice portion to voice recognition engine at a relay, the voice recongition engine transcribing the voice portion to corresponding text;
(c) communicating the text over the Internet; and (d) displaying the text on the Internet appliance to at least one of the first and second callers.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the telephone network includes a PBX
network.
network.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the relay receives the portion of the telephone call from the telephone network.
4. The method of claim 3 including the step of the first caller dialing the relay on the telephone network to provide the relay with the telephone number of the second caller, and the step of the relay calling the second caller to complete the call.
5. The method of claim 3 including the step of the first caller contacting the relay to provide the relay with the telephone number of the first and second caller, and the step of the relay calling the first and second caller to complete the call.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the relay receives the portion of the telephone call from the Internet in voice over Internet protocol.
7. The method of claim 6 including the step of tapping into a handset of one telephone terminal to communicate the portion of the telephone call to an Internet appliance for communication of the portion to the relay over the Internet.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the Internet appliance further transmits a video signal of the caller over the Internet.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the telephone network is selected from the group consisting of a telephone land line, a cellular telephone link, and a voice over an Internet protocol (IP) connection.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the telephone network receives a standard telephone number to connect the first and second caller.
11. A telephone call captioning system comprising:
a first and second telephone terminal communicating over a telephone network to convey a voice portion of a telephone call between a first caller and a second caller operating the telephone terminals;
a relay recieving the voice portion and providing a computer executed speech recognition engine transcribing the voice portion to corresponding text; and an Internet appliance communicating over the Internet to display the text to at least one of the first and second callers.
a first and second telephone terminal communicating over a telephone network to convey a voice portion of a telephone call between a first caller and a second caller operating the telephone terminals;
a relay recieving the voice portion and providing a computer executed speech recognition engine transcribing the voice portion to corresponding text; and an Internet appliance communicating over the Internet to display the text to at least one of the first and second callers.
12. The captioning system of claim 11 wherein the telephone network includes a PBX network.
13. The captioning system of claim 11 wherein the relay communicates with the telephone network to receive the portion of the telephone call from the telephone network.
14. The captioning system of claim 13 wherein the relay operates to receive a telephone number from the first caller dialing the relay on the telephone network, and calling the second caller to complete the call.
15. The captioning system of claim 11 wherein the relay receives the portion of the telephone call from the Internet in voice over Internet protocol.
16. The captioning system of claim 15 further including a tap connecting a handset of one telephone terminal to the Internet appliance to communicate the portion of the telephone call to an Internet appliance for communication of the portion to the relay over the Internet.
17. The captioning system of claim 11 wherein the Internet appliance further includes a camera transmitting a video signal of one of the first and second callers to a relay over the Internet.
18. The captioning system of claim 17 wherein the text is provided as a signal selected from the group consisting of: a video signal, a text signal.
19. The captioning system of claim 11 wherein the telephone network is selected from the group consisting of a telephone land line, a cellular telephone link, and a voice over Internet protocol (IP) connection.
20. The captioning system of claim 11 wherein the telephone network receives a standard telephone number to connect the first and second caller.
21. A relay for telephone call captioning comprising:
a first connection for receiving at least a voice portion telephone call between a first caller and a second caller operating telephone terminals communicating with a telephone network;
a computer executed speech recognition engine operating to transcribe at least a portion of the telephone call to text; and a second connection conveying the text over the Internet to an Internet appliance viewable by one of the first and second callers.
a first connection for receiving at least a voice portion telephone call between a first caller and a second caller operating telephone terminals communicating with a telephone network;
a computer executed speech recognition engine operating to transcribe at least a portion of the telephone call to text; and a second connection conveying the text over the Internet to an Internet appliance viewable by one of the first and second callers.
22. The relay of claim 21 wherein at least one telephone terminal and Internet applicance are provided by a single cellular telephone.
23. A captioning method providing captions to callers communicating over the Internet comprising the steps of:
communicating a voice portion of a telephone call between a first caller and a second caller, at least the first caller operating an Internet telephone using a voice over Internet protocol; and communicating a text captioning of the telephone call between the first caller and the second caller to at least one of the Internet telephones communicating over the Internet with a relay, the relay providing a speech recognition engine transcribing the voice portion to text captioning.
communicating a voice portion of a telephone call between a first caller and a second caller, at least the first caller operating an Internet telephone using a voice over Internet protocol; and communicating a text captioning of the telephone call between the first caller and the second caller to at least one of the Internet telephones communicating over the Internet with a relay, the relay providing a speech recognition engine transcribing the voice portion to text captioning.
24. The method of claim 23 wherein the Internet telephone is a computer communicating with the Internet.
25. The method of claim 23 wherein the Internet telephone is a dedicated VOIP telephone, and the captioning is displayed on a VOIP telephone display.
26. The method of claim 23 including the step of accepting an input from the first caller to initiate communicating the text captioning of the telephone call between the first caller and the second caller.
27. The method of claim 23 wherein the caller initiates the text captioning by activating a control button.
28. The method of claim 23 including the step of displaying a volume of the telephone call to at least one of the first and second users.
29. The method of claim 23 wherein the Internet telephone further includes a serial number, and including the step of transmitting the serial number to the relay to validate the caller.
30. The method of claim 23 wherein the Internet telephone further includes a telephone network connection, and including the step of communicating a voice portion of a telephone call between a first caller and a second caller over the telephone network connection when a telephone number of the second caller is a public emergency number.
31. The method of claim 23 wherein the Internet telephone further transmits a video signal of the first caller to the relay over the Internet.
32. The method of claim 23 wherein the text captioning is received as an IP
video signal.
video signal.
33. The method of claim 23 wherein the voice portion is only one of the first caller and the second caller to preserve anonymity of the other of the first caller and the second caller.
34. A captioning system providing captions to callers communicating over the Internet comprising:
at least one Internet telephone communicating a voice portion of a telephone call between a first caller and a second caller using a voice over Internet protocol;
a relay providing a speech recogition engine and operating to communicate a text captioning of the telephone call to at least one of the Internet telephone communicating over the Internet with a relay.
at least one Internet telephone communicating a voice portion of a telephone call between a first caller and a second caller using a voice over Internet protocol;
a relay providing a speech recogition engine and operating to communicate a text captioning of the telephone call to at least one of the Internet telephone communicating over the Internet with a relay.
35. The captioning system of claim 34 wherein the Internet telephone is a computer communicating with the Internet.
36. The captioning system of claim 34 wherein the Internet telephone is a dedicated VOIP telephone and the captioning is displayed on a VOIP telephone display.
37. The captioning system of claim 34 wherein the Internet telephone provides a caller control accepting an input from the first caller to initiate communicating the text captioning of the telephone call between the first caller and the second caller.
38. The captioning system of claim 37 wherein the caller control is a control button.
39. The captioning system of claim 34 wherein the Internet telephone provides a display displaying a volume of the telephone call.
40. The captioning system of claim 34 wherein the Internet telephone further includes a serial number, and wherein the Internet telephone transmits the serial number to the relay to validate the caller.
41. The captioning system of claim 34 wherein the Internet telephone further includes a telephone network connection, and the Internet telephone operates to communicate a voice portion of a telephone call between a first caller and a second caller over the telephone network connection when a telephone number of the second caller is a public emergency number.
42. The captioning system of claim 34 wherein the Internet telephone further transmits a video signal of the first caller to the relay over the Internet.
Applications Claiming Priority (5)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US69509905P | 2005-06-29 | 2005-06-29 | |
| US60/695,099 | 2005-06-29 | ||
| US11/391,141 US7881441B2 (en) | 2005-06-29 | 2006-03-28 | Device independent text captioned telephone service |
| US11/391,141 | 2006-03-28 | ||
| PCT/US2006/025236 WO2007002777A1 (en) | 2005-06-29 | 2006-06-28 | Device independent text captioned telephone service |
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| CA2613363A1 true CA2613363A1 (en) | 2007-01-04 |
| CA2613363C CA2613363C (en) | 2014-09-16 |
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|---|---|---|---|
| CA2613363A Active CA2613363C (en) | 2005-06-29 | 2006-06-28 | Device independent text captioned telephone service |
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|---|---|
| US (1) | US7881441B2 (en) |
| EP (2) | EP3024208A1 (en) |
| AU (1) | AU2006263680B2 (en) |
| CA (1) | CA2613363C (en) |
| WO (1) | WO2007002777A1 (en) |
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2006
- 2006-03-28 US US11/391,141 patent/US7881441B2/en active Active
- 2006-06-28 AU AU2006263680A patent/AU2006263680B2/en active Active
- 2006-06-28 EP EP16150223.2A patent/EP3024208A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2006-06-28 EP EP06785768.0A patent/EP1897354B1/en active Active
- 2006-06-28 WO PCT/US2006/025236 patent/WO2007002777A1/en active Application Filing
- 2006-06-28 CA CA2613363A patent/CA2613363C/en active Active
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US11170784B2 (en) | 2020-03-03 | 2021-11-09 | Capital One Services, Llc | Systems and methods for party authentication and information control in a video call with a server controlling the authentication and flow of information between parties whose identities are not revealed to each other |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| US20070036282A1 (en) | 2007-02-15 |
| EP1897354B1 (en) | 2016-07-27 |
| AU2006263680B2 (en) | 2010-08-05 |
| US7881441B2 (en) | 2011-02-01 |
| AU2006263680A1 (en) | 2007-01-04 |
| EP1897354A1 (en) | 2008-03-12 |
| WO2007002777A1 (en) | 2007-01-04 |
| CA2613363C (en) | 2014-09-16 |
| EP3024208A1 (en) | 2016-05-25 |
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