Enhanced wide area audio response network

Claims

I claim:

1. Method of providing video messaging services to callers from a wide area network system, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of locationally diverse audio peripherals connected to user telephone lines and a central controller connected through a network to each of the plurality of audio peripherals to control the operation of each of the plurality of audio peripherals;

receiving a call from a caller through a telephone line at an audio peripheral;

reproducing to the caller audio prompts from digital representations of the audio prompts stored in the audio peripheral in response to control signals received from the central controller;

receiving a caller audio message and a destination number from the caller in response to the reproduced audio prompts;

converting the caller audio message and the destination number into a digital representations of the caller audio message and the destination number;

storing the digital representations of the caller audio message and the destination number in the audio peripheral;

calling the destination number to access a message recipient;

reproducing to the message recipient the caller audio message from the digital representation of the caller audio message.

2. Method of claim 1, wherein the audio peripheral is located in a long distance carrier (LDC) point of presence (POP), the number dialed by the caller is an 800 number which bypasses a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) translation, and the telephone from which the caller called is a public pay telephone.

3. Method of providing college registration services to students, through a wide area network system, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of locationally diverse audio peripherals connected to user telephone lines and a central controller connected through a network to each of the plurality of audio peripherals to control the operation of each of the plurality of audio peripherals;

receiving a (900) call from a caller through a telephone line at an audio peripheral;

reproducing to the caller audio prompts from digital representations of the audio prompts stored in the audio peripheral in response to control signals received from the central controller;

receiving registration information from the caller through indications corresponding to menu choices provided through the audio prompts;

interfacing with a college registration computer to effect the desired registration function;

communicating confirmation messages from digital representations of the confirmation messages to the caller;

transferring billing information to a regional Bell operating company (RBOC);

receiving payment from the RBOC; and

transferring a corresponding payment to the college.

4. An audio response system comprising:

a plurality of audio peripheral means remotely distributed over a wide area for storing digital representations of analog audio signals, converting said digital representations of analog audio signals into reproduced analog audio signals, and communicating said reproduced analog audio signals to connected user telephone lines;

central control means connected to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for communicating control commands to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, whereby operation of each of said plurality of audio peripheral means is controlled by said central control means; and

network means connected between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for providing communication paths between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, said network means including transmission media and network signal conditioning means for conditioning signals for transmission on said transmission media,

wherein each of said audio peripheral means includes, at least,

peripheral processing means connected to said network means for interpreting control commands from said central control means,

digital storage means connected to said processing means for retrievably storing said digital representations of analog audio signals and retrieving said digital representations of analog audio signals,

telephone interface means connected to said processing means and said connected user telephone lines for conditioning signals between said processing means and said connected telephone lines,

switching means through which said connected user telephone lines pass to said telephone interface means for establishing and breaking connections between each of said connected user telephone lines, and

channel bank means through which said connected user telephone lines pass to said switching means for providing an interface between digital, multiplexed telephone lines, and analog, de-multiplexed lines.

5. Audio response system of claim 4, wherein said analog, de-multiplexed lines are configured for a 4-wire E&M protocol, wherein each channel includes four wires for full-duplex communication and two wires for signalling, and wherein said digital, multiplexed telephone lines are T1 lines.

6. Audio response system of claim 5, wherein said 4-wire E&M protocol includes a wink start method for receiving and originating calls.

7. An audio response system comprising:

a plurality of audio peripheral means remotely distributed over a wide area for storing digital representations of analog audio signals, converting said digital representations of analog audio signals into reproduced analog audio signals, and communicating said reproduced analog analog signals to connected user telephone lines;

central control means connected to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for communicating control commands to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, whereby operation of each of said plurality of audio peripheral means is controlled by said central control means; and

network means connected between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for providing communication paths between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, said network means including transmission media and network signal conditioning means for conditioning signals for transmission on said transmission media,

wherein said central control means includes, at least,

a plurality of buses,

a plurality of processor subsystems connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel,

a plurality of memory subsystems connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel,

a plurality of input/output processors connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel,

digital storage subsystem connected to said plurality of input/output processors, and

communication means connected to said plurality of input/output processor and said network means for conditioning signals between said central control means and said network means.

8. Audio response of claim 7, wherein said central control means further includes a local audio peripheral means connected directly to said communication means, said local audio peripheral means defining one of said plurality of audio peripheral means.

9. Audio response system of claim 8, wherein said central control means includes monitoring means for interpretting error messages and for selectively sending notification commands to said local audio peripheral means to notify operator personnel through said audio peripheral means.

10. Audio response system of claim 9, wherein said notification commands include instructions to access a paging service and provide said paging service with notification information and commands to access a home telephone of said operator personnel.

11. An enhanced wide area audio response network for providing a wide range of audio response services comprising:

a plurality of audio peripheral means remotely distributed over a wide area for storing digital representations of analog audio signals, converting said digital representations of analog audio signals into reproduced analog audio signals, and communicating said reproduced analog audio signals to connected user telephone lines, said plurality of audio peripheral means including

peripheral processing means connected to said network means for interpreting control commands from said central control means,

digital storage means connected to said processing means for retrievably storing said digital representations of analog audio signals and retrieving said digital representations of analog audio signals,

conversion means connected to said processing means for converting said digital representations of analog audio signals into said reproduced analog audio signals,

telephone interface means connected to said processing means and said connected user telephone lines for conditioning signals between said processing means and said connected telephone lines, said telephone interface means including means for converting said digital representations of analog audio signals into reproduced analog audio signals, means for detecting predetermined frequencies on said connected user telephone lines, and means for supplying driving signals to said connected user telephone lines,

switching means through which said connected user telephone lines pass to said telephone interface means for establishing and breaking connections between each of said connected user telephone lines, and

channel bank means through which said connected user telephone lines pass to said switching means for providing an interface between digital, multiplexed telephone lines, and analog, de-multiplexed lines;

central control means connected to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for communicating control commands to each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, whereby operation of each of said plurality of audio peripheral means is controlled by said central control means, said central control means including

a plurality of buses,

a plurality of processor subsystems connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel,

a plurality of memory subsystems connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel,

a plurality of input/output processors connected to said plurality of buses and designed to operate in parallel,

digital storage subsystem connected to said plurality of input/output processors,

communication means connected to said plurality of input/output processor and said network means for conditioning signals between said central control means and said network means,

a local audio peripheral means connected directly to said communication means, said local audio peripheral means defining one of said plurality of audio peripheral means,

monitoring means for interpretting error messages and for selectively sending notification commands to said local audio peripheral means to notify operator personnel through said audio peripheral means, wherein said notification commands include instructions to access a paging service and provide said paging service with notification information and commands to access a home telephone of said operator personnel, and

logging means for recording all signals between said central control means and said plurality of audio peripheral means;

network means connected between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means for providing communication paths between said central control means and each of said plurality of audio peripheral means, said

network means including transmission media and network signal conditioning means for conditioning signals for transmission on said transmission media; and

information provider means remotely connected to said central control means for providing database information to said central control means in response to calls alarm condition; received at said plurality of audio peripheral means.

12. Method of providing audio response services to callers from a wide area audio response network system, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of audio peripherals remotely distributed over a wide area and connected to user telephone lines;

connecting each of the plurality of audio peripherals through a network to a central controller which controls the operation of each of the plurality of audio peripherals;

receiving user information at an audio peripheral through a user telephone line;

transferring the user information from the audio peripheral through the network to the central controller;

processing the transferred information at the central controller, including the steps of

referencing a DNIS table to identify appropriate command files to execute and

executing the corresponding command file based on the DNIS number received which determines which commands are transferred to the audio peripheral;

transferring command signals from the central controller through the network to the audio peripheral;

converting digital representations of analog audio signals stored at the audio peripheral into reproduced analog audio signals according to the transferred command signals; and

supplying the reproduced analog audio signals to the user telephone line.

13. Method of claim 12, wherein the command file includes timing response intervals at the central controller.

14. Method of providing audio response services to callers from a wide area audio response network system, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of audio peripherals remotely distributed over a wide area and connected to user telephone lines;

connecting each of the plurality of audio peripherals through a network to a central controller which controls the operation of each of the plurality of audio peripherals;

receiving user information at an audio peripheral through a user telephone line;

transferring the user information from the audio peripheral through the network to the central controller;

transferring command signals from the central controller through the network to the audio peripheral;

converting digital representations of analog audio signals stored at the audio peripheral into reproduced analog audio signals according to the transferred command signals;

supplying the reproduced analog audio signals to the user telephone lines;

generating an error signal at an audio peripheral which corresponds to a predefined alarm condition;

transferring the error signal through the network to the central controller;

evaluating the severity of the error signal; and notifying support personnel to provide error identification information.

15. Method of claim 14, wherein the step of notifying support personnel includes

dialing a predefined telephone number over a telephone line by commanding an audio peripheral to dial the telephone number over the telephone line; and

supplying audio error identification information to the telephone line by commanding the audio peripheral to reproduce analog audio signals from corresponding stored digital representations of the analog audio signals and to supply analog audio signals to the telephone line.

16. Method of claim 15, wherein the predefined telephone number corresponds to a paging service, and further including the step of transmitting a radio paging signal containing corresponding error identification information.

17. Method of providing audio response services to callers from a wide area audio response network system, said method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of audio peripherals remotely distributed over a wide area and connected to user telephone lines;

connecting each of the plurality of audio peripherals through a network to a central controller which controls the operation of each of the plurality of audio peripherals;

receiving user information at an audio peripheral through a user telephone line;

transferring the user information from the audio peripheral through the network to the central controller;

processing the transferred information at the central controller;

transferring command signals from the central controller through the network to the audio peripheral;

converting digital representations of analog audio signals stored at the audio peripheral into reproduced analog audio signals according to the transferred command signals;

supplying the reproduced analog audio signals to the user telephone line;

routinely testing an audio peripheral by commanding an audio peripheral to perform the steps of

dialing out on a first connected telephone liens a telephone number corresponding to a number which is normally answered by the audio peripheral,

answering the call on a second connected telephone line,

supplying a predetermined sequence of analog audio signals to the first connected telephone line, and

transferring signals corresponding to the received analog audio signals to the central controller over the network;

comparing the signals supplied over the first connected telephone line to the signals received over the second connected telephone line;

generating an error identification signal; and

repeating the above steps commanding, comparing, and generating until each connected telephone line has been tested.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of audio response systems, and more specifically to the field of providing enhanced audio response services over a wide area network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Audio response systems have been used in businesses for many years to replace costly human operators. Generally speaking, audio response systems include such systems as Audio Text, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Voice Mail, and Voice Messaging. Audio Text generally refers to a service in which a caller dials a telephone number from a telephone station to receive audio information simply as a result of making the call. Examples of this service include time and temperature recordings.

Interact Voice Response systems (IVR's) generally incorporate caller interaction with the service. These systems have been utilized very effectively in businesses which typically utilize labor to perform "rote" or repetitive informational, customer service tasks. IVR's normally solicit caller responses by providing audio menus to callers. The audio menus are frequently canned messages of digitized voice prompts. The callers respond to the audio menus by pressing one or more of the Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) keys on their telephone keypads. In this way, the callers and the IVR's "interact".

IVR's are used in many different applications, including telephone banking, order entry, and automatic call routing. IVR's often enable telephones to serve as "terminals" to host computers. Live operators are often incorporated to assist callers using rotary phones and callers who refuse to interact with machines. One example of an IVR is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,850. That patent shows a local network of independent IVR's which work in conjunction with live operators. IVR's are typically connected to Private Branch Exchanges (PBX's) or exist as stand alone systems in single locations.

Voice Mail Systems and Voice Messaging Systems are very similar to each other and are also very well-known. Both of these systems often incorporate many IVR functions. Typically, these systems are used to record messages which will be re-played to intended recipients at later times. The messages are very often digitized and subsequently stored on digital storage media.

Voice Mail Systems are functionally similar to common answering machines. A caller is typically transferred to the Voice Mail System when the intended recipient is not available. A digitized message, often in the recipient's voice, requests the caller to leave a message. The system then typically records the caller's message by storing a digital representation of the message. The system then provides an indication on the recipient's telephone, i.e., a Message Waiting light, to notify the recipient that a message is waiting to be retrieved. The recipient then accesses the system and listens to a re-play of the message. The system normally provides several options to the recipient, including replaying, deleting, and saving the message.

Voice Messaging Systems also involve leaving messages for intended recipients. However, these systems are normally accessed by callers who wish to record messages to be sent to recipients at future times. A common system number is dialed, and the intended recipient's number is entered along with the message. The system later calls the intended recipient and re-plays the recorded message. One example of a Voice Messaging System is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,752. That patent also discloses functions typically found in Voice Mail Systems. Voice Mail Systems and Voice Messaging Systems are also typically connected to PBX's or exist as stand alone systems in single locations.

A system which offers audio response services to a wide area, for example, the United States, can either be a stand alone or a distributed system. A stand alone system often suffers the typical disadvantages of long distance communication, including signal degradation, propagation delay, and cost. Many wide area audio response systems include 800 number access, a service provided by Long Distance Carriers (LDC's) and typically referred to as INWATS ("IN" designates that the call is directed to the owner of the number and "WATS" is an acronym for Wide Area Telephone Service) which allows callers to make long distance calls which are paid for by the recipient of the call rather than by the caller. The service is typically billed on a time or time-distance basis.

Alternately, distributed systems often have other disadvantages. U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,267 discloses a wide area system for routing calls to suppliers of goods. In that patent, locally controlled IVR's process caller specific information and access a remote database for supplier telephone numbers. The system disclosed in that patent is relatively costly to implement due to the required number of intelligent IVR's. This high start-up cost reduces the system's effectiveness as a substitute for human operators. Because identical call control programs are stored independently on each and every IVR, programming changes appear to be very time consuming and inefficient, possibly requiring a break in availability.

A need exists in the industry for a wide area audio response system which is uniquely designed to be both economical and efficient. Specifically, a system is needed which minimizes signal degradation, propagation delay, and cost, while providing for convenient programming changes and non-interruptible service.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly described, the object of this invention is to provide an enhanced wide area audio response network which satisfies the above stated needs. The present invention offers audio response services through a unique wide area network of Audio Response Nodes (ARN's) which are controlled by an Audio Response Node (ARN) manager. The system is potentially capable of offering a wide range of audio response services to a large number of users efficiently and cost effectively.

Each ARN, frequently located in a Long Distance Carrier's (LDC's) Point of Presence (POP) within a Local Access & Transport Area (LATA), is connected to an LDC switch and appears to the switch, in many respects, as another switch. Two channel banks in each ARN typically split T1 digital lines from the LDC switch into 4-wire Ear & Mouth (E&M) analog lines. Two Audio Response Units (ARU's) and switches are also included in each ARN. A telephone interface in each ARU is capable of detecting and producing Multi-Frequency (MF), Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF), and E&M control signals. The telephone interface can also be used in conjunction with the switch to connect callers with remote live operators.

Each ARN communicates with the ARN manager through a network. The preferred network is the Packet Switched Public Data Network (PSPDN) using the X.25 protocol. Alternately, other networks including conventional leased lines are also acceptable. Packet Assembler/Disassemblers (PAD's) are connected to each ARU because they are not capable of operating in the packet mode, unlike the ARN manager which is capable of operating in the packet mode. Data Circuit-terminating Equipment (DCE), often in the form of MODEM's (MODulator/DEModulator), is used to connect the PAD's and the ARN manager to the PSPDN.

In addition to the telephone interface and switch, each ARU contains digital storage media on which digital representations of analog audio signals are contained. These analog audio signals can include IVR prompts, volatile Audio Text information, or messages for Voice Messaging applications. Also included is a processor with enough intelligence to interpret commands received from the ARN manager. The ARU is often referred to as a peripheral, indicating its dependence on an additional controlling device. Because the intelligence levels of the ARN's are low, the corresponding costs of the ARN's are therefore lower than independent IVR's or similar ARN's with greater intelligence. Also, the transmission costs of data communication between the ARN manager and the ARN's are much lower than the high transmission costs of audio signals normally associated with stand alone systems. The concentration of intelligence and distribution of audio storage of the present invention constitutes a unique balance.

The ARN manager is a highly reliable and continuously available, fault tolerant, and redundant general purpose controller which offers utility grade service to each ARN and is capable of processing a very large number of calls at many different ARN's simultaneously. All of the call control programs (scripts) are located in the ARN manager and contain, among other elements, ARN commands. Caller information, such as the number dialed by the caller, is used to determine which script should be run by the ARN manager for each caller. This information is normally provided through the conventional Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS). Because scripts are contained in only one location, the ARN manager, programming changes can be handled efficiently and cost effectively. Through a table selection process, programming changes are prevented from affecting the availability of the system.

The ARN manager is also capable of interfacing with remote information provider databases through various network links, including the PSPDN, leased lines, and switched lines, using any of a variety of communication protocols, including X.25, 3270, LU2, LU6.2, Asynchronous, and Bisynchronous. The system is therefore able to simultaneously provide many telephone callers with interfaces to various remote databases. In this way, the system can provide access to many diverse services as a result of dialing one telephone number.

Many back-end services are also provided by the ARN manager, including billing, testing, error detection, and error notification procedures. Transaction files are kept for every caller and are formatted into appropriate billing formats. Testing procedures include originating and receiving testing information over each connected user telephone line. Error detection and notification includes interpreting various error signals and subsequently notifying appropriate service personnel. An Audio Response Unit (ARU), similar to ARU's utilized in the ARN's, is co-located with the ARN manager and provides the means by which audio messages, varying with the type of error detected, can be delivered to support personnel over a telephone at the time of the error. Similarly, a paging service can be accessed to provide service personnel with error identification information.

A wide variety of services can be provided by the present invention. One service offered by the present invention is voice messaging. In one embodiment, callers from public pay telephones access the system by calling 800 numbers. One identical 800 number may be used for the entire nationwide system, in which case a call routing service to minimize the distance to the nearest ARN could be provided by the LDC, or regional 800 numbers may be assigned. In the latter case, labels on each pay telephone indicate the 800 number to be called. A destination number and credit card or Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) calling card number are entered by the caller and verified by the system. The caller then leaves a message which is digitized and stored at the ARN and later delivered to the intended recipient. Before delivery, the ARN manager determines if the intended recipient's location is nearer an ARN different from the ARN which recorded the message. If this condition is met and enough time exists before the next scheduled delivery attempt, a high speed data transfer of the digitized message is arranged to transfer the message from the ARN which recorded the message and the ARN which is nearer the intended recipient. In this wa