Patent Application
20250217571
The present application generally relates to virtual communication and more specifically relates to artificial intelligence (AI)-powered communication assistance.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more certain examples and, together with the description of the example, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the certain examples.
Examples are described herein in the context of AI-based communication assistance. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following description is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of examples as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or like items.
In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the examples described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another.
Interactive communications, either virtual or in-person, such as virtual conferences, phone calls, online chats, in-person meetings, are important for a project, a deal, or any other suitable subjects that involve human interaction. In some situations, a communication session can be evaluated, and feedback may be provided after the communication session for associated users to improve next time. However, it can be difficult for a user to receive real-time feedback during the communication session so that the user can steer or improve an ongoing communication session to attain a favorable result of the communication session or associated project.
To assist a user during a communication session, it is desirable for a communication platform to automatically analyze communication data in real time and provide guidance during the communication session, be it in-person or virtual. For example, the communication platform provides a communication assistance engine to automatically analyze communication data associated with a communication session between at least two participants and providing guidance for one participant during the communication session.
In an example, a communication session is established on the communication platform between a first participant and a second participant related to a predetermined topic. The first participant can request the communication platform to assist with the communication session. When requesting assistance, the first participant can also provide certain information about the second participant, for example gender, job title, organization of the second participant. In addition, the first participant can also provide the predetermined topic (e.g., a sales deal for a product) for the communication session and a goal of the first participant for the communication session (e.g., close a sales deal).
The communication platform can access communication data associated with the communication session, for example real-time video data or audio data during a video conference. The evaluation engine can analyze the communication data, from both the first participant and the second participant. The evaluation engine can implement a trained artificial intelligence (AI) model, for example an “apriori” algorithm. The apriori algorithm is trained to learn multiple association rules related to certain types of topics and certain types of participants for achieving a favorable result for a communication session.
During the communication session, the communication assistance engine receives a first set of communication data corresponding to the first participant and a second set of communication data corresponding to the second participant. The communication assistance engine identifies a set of words from the second set of communication data corresponding to the second participant that matches an antecedent of an association rule, and then triggers the consequent of the association rule. If the communication assistance engine does not identify any words from the first participant which correspond to the consequent of the association rule for a predetermined period of time (e.g., 30 seconds), the communication assistance engine can generate a communication assistance message for the first participant. The communication assistance message includes a recommended talking point corresponding to the consequent of the association rule. In addition, the communication assistance message can include supporting documents associated with the recommended talking point for the first participant. For example, if the second participant is talking about budget, an association rule is triggered with a consequent that the other participant should talk about the price, advantages, and value of the product. The communication assistance message is a prompt for the first participant to talk about the price, advantages, and value of the product. The communication assistance message can include a link to a cost analysis report or an attachment of the cost analysis report. As another example, if the second participant is talking about the product is not kept up, another association rule is triggered with a consequent that the other participant should talk about new development and new features of the product. The communication assistance message is a prompt for the first participant to talk about the new development and new features of the product. The communication assistance message can also include a link to a demonstration of the product or one or more images of the new edition of the product.
The communication assistance messages can be provided to the first participant on a graphical user interface (GUI) of a communication application provided by the communication platform and installed on a client device associated with the first participant. For example, in a video conference, there can be a button for communication assistance. A separate window can be opened alongside the video conference window in the GUI to display guiding messages. As the communication session proceeds, multiple guiding messages can be provided in real time.
Thus, this example automatically assists a participant during a communication session to communicate with other participants. Communication data from the communication session can be analyzed and evaluated in real time using a trained AI model. A communication assistance message can be generated to prompt the participant to talk about certain aspects or take certain actions related to the topic of the communication session. It provides effective communication assistance for the participant, improves the communication during the communication session, and accelerates a project related to the communication session.
Applicant's goal is to invest in AI-driven innovation that enhances user experience and productivity while prioritizing trust, safety, and privacy. Applicant does not use any customer audio, video, chat, screen-sharing, attachments, or other communications-like customer content (such as poll results, whiteboards, or reactions) to train Applicant's or third-party AI models. Additionally, AI-enabled features are turned off by default—account owners and administrators control whether to enable these AI features for their accounts. Applicant provides admins and users control and visibility when AI features are being used or activated. By putting its customers' privacy needs first, Applicant is taking a leadership position, enabling its customers to use AI-powered tools and its capabilities with confidence.
This illustrative example is given to introduce the reader to the general subject matter discussed herein and the disclosure is not limited to this example. The following sections describe various additional non-limiting examples and examples of AI-based communication assistance.
Referring now to
The system optionally also includes one or more authentication and authorization providers, e.g., authentication and authorization provider 115, which can provide authentication and authorization services to users of the client devices 140-160. Authentication and authorization provider 115 may authenticate users to the chat and video conference provider 110 and manage user authorization for the various services provided by chat and video conference provider 110. In this example, the authentication and authorization provider 115 is operated by a different entity than the chat and video conference provider 110, though in some examples, they may be the same entity.
Chat and video conference provider 110 allows clients to create videoconference meetings (or “meetings”) and invite others to participate in those meetings as well as perform other related functionality, such as recording the meetings, generating transcripts from meeting audio, generating summaries and translations from meeting audio, manage user functionality in the meetings, enable text messaging during the meetings, create and manage breakout rooms from the virtual meeting, etc.
Meetings in this example chat and video conference provider 110 are provided in virtual rooms to which participants are connected. The room in this context is a construct provided by a server that provides a common point at which the various video and audio data is received before being multiplexed and provided to the various participants. While a “room” is the label for this concept in this disclosure, any suitable functionality that enables multiple participants to participate in a common videoconference may be used.
To create a meeting with the chat and video conference provider 110, a user may contact the chat and video conference provider 110 using a client device 140-180 and select an option to create a new meeting. Such an option may be provided in a webpage accessed by a client device 140-160 or a client application executed by a client device 140-160. For telephony devices, the user may be presented with an audio menu that they may navigate by pressing numeric buttons on their telephony device. To create the meeting, the chat and video conference provider 110 may prompt the user for certain information, such as a date, time, and duration for the meeting, a number of participants, a type of encryption to use, whether the meeting is confidential or open to the public, etc. After receiving the various meeting settings, the chat and video conference provider may create a record for the meeting and generate a meeting identifier and, in some examples, a corresponding meeting password or passcode (or other authentication information), all of which meeting information is provided to the meeting host.
After receiving the meeting information, the user may distribute the meeting information to one or more users to invite them to the meeting. To begin the meeting at the scheduled time (or immediately, if the meeting was set for an immediate start), the host provides the meeting identifier and, if applicable, corresponding authentication information (e.g., a password or passcode). The video conference system then initiates the meeting and may admit users to the meeting. Depending on the options set for the meeting, the users may be admitted immediately upon providing the appropriate meeting identifier (and authentication information, as appropriate), even if the host has not yet arrived, or the users may be presented with information indicating that the meeting has not yet started, or the host may be required to specifically admit one or more of the users.
During the meeting, the participants may employ their client devices 140-180 to capture audio or video information and stream that information to the chat and video conference provider 110. They also receive audio or video information from the chat and video conference provider 110, which is displayed by the respective client device 140 to enable the various users to participate in the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, the host may select an option to terminate the meeting, or it may terminate automatically at a scheduled end time or after a predetermined duration. When the meeting terminates, the various participants are disconnected from the meeting, and they will no longer receive audio or video streams for the meeting (and will stop transmitting audio or video streams). The chat and video conference provider 110 may also invalidate the meeting information, such as the meeting identifier or password/passcode.
To provide such functionality, one or more client devices 140-180 may communicate with the chat and video conference provider 110 using one or more communication networks, such as network 120 or the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”) 130. The client devices 140-180 may be any suitable computing or communication devices that have audio or video capability. For example, client devices 140-160 may be conventional computing devices, such as desktop or laptop computers having processors and computer-readable media, connected to the chat and video conference provider 110 using the internet or other suitable computer network. Suitable networks include the internet, any local area network (“LAN”), metro area network (“MAN”), wide area network (“WAN”), cellular network (e.g., 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, 5G, etc.), or any combination of these. Other types of computing devices may be used instead or as well, such as tablets, smartphones, and dedicated video conferencing equipment. Each of these devices may provide both audio and video capabilities and may enable one or more users to participate in a video conference meeting hosted by the chat and video conference provider 110.
In addition to the computing devices discussed above, client devices 140-180 may also include one or more telephony devices, such as cellular telephones (e.g., cellular telephone 170), internet protocol (“IP”) phones (e.g., telephone 180), or conventional telephones. Such telephony devices may allow a user to make conventional telephone calls to other telephony devices using the PSTN, including the chat and video conference provider 110. It should be appreciated that certain computing devices may also provide telephony functionality and may operate as telephony devices. For example, smartphones typically provide cellular telephone capabilities and thus may operate as telephony devices in the example system 100 shown in
Referring again to client devices 140-160, these devices 140-160 contact the chat and video conference provider 110 using network 120 and may provide information to the chat and video conference provider 110 to access functionality provided by the chat and video conference provider 110, such as access to create new meetings or join existing meetings. To do so, the client devices 140-160 may provide user authentication information, meeting identifiers, meeting passwords or passcodes, etc. In examples that employ an authentication and authorization provider 115, a client device, e.g., client devices 140-160, may operate in conjunction with an authentication and authorization provider 115 to provide authentication and authorization information or other user information to the chat and video conference provider 110.
An authentication and authorization provider 115 may be any entity trusted by the chat and video conference provider 110 that can help authenticate a user to the chat and video conference provider 110 and authorize the user to access the services provided by the chat and video conference provider 110. For example, a trusted entity may be a server operated by a business or other organization with whom the user has created an account, including authentication and authorization information, such as an employer or trusted third-party. The user may sign into the authentication and authorization provider 115, such as by providing a username and password, to access their account information at the authentication and authorization provider 115. The account information includes information established and maintained at the authentication and authorization provider 115 that can be used to authenticate and facilitate authorization for a particular user, irrespective of the client device they may be using. An example of account information may be an email account established at the authentication and authorization provider 115 by the user and secured by a password or additional security features, such as single sign-on, hardware tokens, two-factor authentication, etc. However, such account information may be distinct from functionality such as email. For example, a health care provider may establish accounts for its patients. And while the related account information may have associated email accounts, the account information is distinct from those email accounts.
Thus, a user's account information relates to a secure, verified set of information that can be used to authenticate and provide authorization services for a particular user and should be accessible only by that user. By properly authenticating, the associated user may then verify themselves to other computing devices or services, such as the chat and video conference provider 110. The authentication and authorization provider 115 may require the explicit consent of the user before allowing the chat and video conference provider 110 to access the user's account information for authentication and authorization purposes.
Once the user is authenticated, the authentication and authorization provider 115 may provide the chat and video conference provider 110 with information about services the user is authorized to access. For instance, the authentication and authorization provider 115 may store information about user roles associated with the user. The user roles may include collections of services provided by the chat and video conference provider 110 that users assigned to those user roles are authorized to use. Alternatively, more or less granular approaches to user authorization may be used.
When the user accesses the chat and video conference provider 110 using a client device, the chat and video conference provider 110 communicates with the authentication and authorization provider 115 using information provided by the user to verify the user's account information. For example, the user may provide a username or cryptographic signature associated with an authentication and authorization provider 115. The authentication and authorization provider 115 then either confirms the information presented by the user or denies the request. Based on this response, the chat and video conference provider 110 either provides or denies access to its services, respectively.
For telephony devices, e.g., client devices 170-180, the user may place a telephone call to the chat and video conference provider 110 to access video conference services. After the call is answered, the user may provide information regarding a video conference meeting, e.g., a meeting identifier (“ID”), a passcode or password, etc., to allow the telephony device to join the meeting and participate using audio devices of the telephony device, e.g., microphone(s) and speaker(s), even if video capabilities are not provided by the telephony device.
Because telephony devices typically have more limited functionality than conventional computing devices, they may be unable to provide certain information to the chat and video conference provider 110. For example, telephony devices may be unable to provide authentication information to authenticate the telephony device or the user to the chat and video conference provider 110. Thus, the chat and video conference provider 110 may provide more limited functionality to such telephony devices. For example, the user may be permitted to join a meeting after providing meeting information, e.g., a meeting identifier and passcode, but only as an anonymous participant in the meeting. This may restrict their ability to interact with the meetings in some examples, such as by limiting their ability to speak in the meeting, hear or view certain content shared during the meeting, or access other meeting functionality, such as joining breakout rooms or engaging in text chat with other participants in the meeting.
It should be appreciated that users may choose to participate in meetings anonymously and decline to provide account information to the chat and video conference provider 110, even in cases where the user could authenticate and employs a client device capable of authenticating the user to the chat and video conference provider 110. The chat and video conference provider 110 may determine whether to allow such anonymous users to use services provided by the chat and video conference provider 110. Anonymous users, regardless of the reason for anonymity, may be restricted as discussed above with respect to users employing telephony devices, and in some cases may be prevented from accessing certain meetings or other services, or may be entirely prevented from accessing the chat and video conference provider 110.
Referring again to chat and video conference provider 110, in some examples, it may allow client devices 140-160 to encrypt their respective video and audio streams to help improve privacy in their meetings. Encryption may be provided between the client devices 140-160 and the chat and video conference provider 110 or it may be provided in an end-to-end configuration where multimedia streams (e.g., audio or video streams) transmitted by the client devices 140-160 are not decrypted until they are received by another client device 140-160 participating in the meeting. Encryption may also be provided during only a portion of a communication, for example encryption may be used for otherwise unencrypted communications that cross international borders.
Client-to-server encryption may be used to secure the communications between the client devices 140-160 and the chat and video conference provider 110, while allowing the chat and video conference provider 110 to access the decrypted multimedia streams to perform certain processing, such as recording the meeting for the participants or generating transcripts of the meeting for the participants. End-to-end encryption may be used to keep the meeting entirely private to the participants without any worry about a chat and video conference provider 110 having access to the substance of the meeting. Any suitable encryption methodology may be employed, including key-pair encryption of the streams. For example, to provide end-to-end encryption, the meeting host's client device may obtain public keys for each of the other client devices participating in the meeting and securely exchange a set of keys to encrypt and decrypt multimedia content transmitted during the meeting. Thus, the client devices 140-160 may securely communicate with each other during the meeting. Further, in some examples, certain types of encryption may be limited by the types of devices participating in the meeting. For example, telephony devices may lack the ability to encrypt and decrypt multimedia streams. Thus, while encrypting the multimedia streams may be desirable in many instances, it is not required as it may prevent some users from participating in a meeting.
By using the example system shown in
Referring now to
In this example, the chat and video conference provider 210 employs multiple different servers (or groups of servers) to provide different examples of video conference functionality, thereby enabling the various client devices to create and participate in video conference meetings. The chat and video conference provider 210 uses one or more real-time media servers 212, one or more network services servers 214, one or more video room gateways 216, one or more message and presence gateways 217, and one or more telephony gateways 218. Each of these servers 212-218 is connected to one or more communications networks to enable them to collectively provide access to and participation in one or more video conference meetings to the client devices 220-250.
The real-time media servers 212 provide multiplexed multimedia streams to meeting participants, such as the client devices 220-250 shown in
The real-time media servers 212 then multiplex the various video and audio streams based on the target client device and communicate multiplexed streams to each client device. For example, the real-time media servers 212 receive audio and video streams from client devices 220-240 and only an audio stream from client device 250. The real-time media servers 212 then multiplex the streams received from devices 230-250 and provide the multiplexed stream to client device 220. The real-time media servers 212 are adaptive, for example, reacting to real-time network and client changes, in how they provide these streams. For example, the real-time media servers 212 may monitor parameters such as a client's bandwidth CPU usage, memory and network I/O) as well as network parameters such as packet loss, latency and jitter to determine how to modify the way in which streams are provided.
The client device 220 receives the stream, performs any decryption, decoding, and demultiplexing on the received streams, and then outputs the audio and video using the client device's video and audio devices. In this example, the real-time media servers do not multiplex client device 220's own video and audio feeds when transmitting streams to it. Instead, each client device 220-250 only receives multimedia streams from other client devices 220-250. For telephony devices that lack video capabilities, e.g., client device 250, the real-time media servers 212 only deliver multiplex audio streams. The client device 220 may receive multiple streams for a particular communication, allowing the client device 220 to switch between streams to provide a higher quality of service.
In addition to multiplexing multimedia streams, the real-time media servers 212 may also decrypt incoming multimedia stream in some examples. As discussed above, multimedia streams may be encrypted between the client devices 220-250 and the chat and video conference provider 210. In some such examples, the real-time media servers 212 may decrypt incoming multimedia streams, multiplex the multimedia streams appropriately for the various clients, and encrypt the multiplexed streams for transmission.
As mentioned above with respect to
It should be appreciated that multiple real-time media servers 212 may be involved in communicating data for a single meeting and multimedia streams may be routed through multiple different real-time media servers 212. In addition, the various real-time media servers 212 may not be co-located, but instead may be located at multiple different geographic locations, which may enable high-quality communications between clients that are dispersed over wide geographic areas, such as being located in different countries or on different continents. Further, in some examples, one or more of these servers may be co-located on a client's premises, e.g., at a business or other organization. For example, different geographic regions may each have one or more real-time media servers 212 to enable client devices in the same geographic region to have a high-quality connection into the chat and video conference provider 210 via local servers 212 to send and receive multimedia streams, rather than connecting to a real-time media server located in a different country or on a different continent. The local real-time media servers 212 may then communicate with physically distant servers using high-speed network infrastructure, e.g., internet backbone network(s), that otherwise might not be directly available to client devices 220-250 themselves. Thus, routing multimedia streams may be distributed throughout the video conference system and across many different real-time media servers 212.
Turning to the network services servers 214, these servers 214 provide administrative functionality to enable client devices to create or participate in meetings, send meeting invitations, create or manage user accounts or subscriptions, and other related functionality. Further, these servers may be configured to perform different functionalities or to operate at different levels of a hierarchy, e.g., for specific regions or localities, to manage portions of the chat and video conference provider under a supervisory set of servers. When a client device 220-250 accesses the chat and video conference provider 210, it will typically communicate with one or more network services servers 214 to access their account or to participate in a meeting.
When a client device 220-250 first contacts the chat and video conference provider 210 in this example, it is routed to a network services server 214. The client device may then provide access credentials for a user, e.g., a username and password or single sign-on credentials, to gain authenticated access to the chat and video conference provider 210. This process may involve the network services servers 214 contacting an authentication and authorization provider 215 to verify the provided credentials. Once the user's credentials have been accepted, and the user has consented, the network services servers 214 may perform administrative functionality, like updating user account information, if the user has account information stored with the chat and video conference provider 210, or scheduling a new meeting, by interacting with the network services servers 214. Authentication and authorization provider 215 may be used to determine which administrative functionality a given user may access according to assigned roles, permissions, groups, etc.
In some examples, users may access the chat and video conference provider 210 anonymously. When communicating anonymously, a client device 220-250 may communicate with one or more network services servers 214 but only provide information to create or join a meeting, depending on what features the chat and video conference provider allows for anonymous users. For example, an anonymous user may access the chat and video conference provider using client device 220 and provide a meeting ID and passcode. The network services server 214 may use the meeting ID to identify an upcoming or on-going meeting and verify the passcode is correct for the meeting ID. After doing so, the network services server(s) 214 may then communicate information to the client device 220 to enable the client device 220 to join the meeting and communicate with appropriate real-time media servers 212.
In cases where a user wishes to schedule a meeting, the user (anonymous or authenticated) may select an option to schedule a new meeting and may then select various meeting options, such as the date and time for the meeting, the duration for the meeting, a type of encryption to be used, one or more users to invite, privacy controls (e.g., not allowing anonymous users, preventing screen sharing, manually authorize admission to the meeting, etc.), meeting recording options, etc. The network services servers 214 may then create and store a meeting record for the scheduled meeting. When the scheduled meeting time arrives (or within a threshold period of time in advance), the network services server(s) 214 may accept requests to join the meeting from various users.
To handle requests to join a meeting, the network services server(s) 214 may receive meeting information, such as a meeting ID and passcode, from one or more client devices 220-250. The network services server(s) 214 locate a meeting record corresponding to the provided meeting ID and then confirm whether the scheduled start time for the meeting has arrived, whether the meeting host has started the meeting, and whether the passcode matches the passcode in the meeting record. If the request is made by the host, the network services server(s) 214 activates the meeting and connects the host to a real-time media server 212 to enable the host to begin sending and receiving multimedia streams.
Once the host has started the meeting, subsequent users requesting access will be admitted to the meeting if the meeting record is located and the passcode matches the passcode supplied by the requesting client device 220-250. In some examples additional access controls may be used as well. But if the network services server(s) 214 determines to admit the requesting client device 220-250 to the meeting, the network services server 214 identifies a real-time media server 212 to handle multimedia streams to and from the requesting client device 220-250 and provides information to the client device 220-250 to connect to the identified real-time media server 212. Additional client devices 220-250 may be added to the meeting as they request access through the network services server(s) 214.
After joining a meeting, client devices will send and receive multimedia streams via the real-time media servers 212, but they may also communicate with the network services servers 214 as needed during meetings. For example, if the meeting host leaves the meeting, the network services server(s) 214 may appoint another user as the new meeting host and assign host administrative privileges to that user. Hosts may have administrative privileges to allow them to manage their meetings, such as by enabling or disabling screen sharing, muting or removing users from the meeting, assigning or moving users to the mainstage or a breakout room if present, recording meetings, etc. Such functionality may be managed by the network services server(s) 214.
For example, if a host wishes to remove a user from a meeting, they may select a user to remove and issue a command through a user interface on their client device. The command may be sent to a network services server 214, which may then disconnect the selected user from the corresponding real-time media server 212. If the host wishes to remove one or more participants from a meeting, such a command may also be handled by a network services server 214, which may terminate the authorization of the one or more participants for joining the meeting.
In addition to creating and administering on-going meetings, the network services server(s) 214 may also be responsible for closing and tearing-down meetings once they have been completed. For example, the meeting host may issue a command to end an on-going meeting, which is sent to a network services server 214. The network services server 214 may then remove any remaining participants from the meeting, communicate with one or more real time media servers 212 to stop streaming audio and video for the meeting, and deactivate, e.g., by deleting a corresponding passcode for the meeting from the meeting record, or delete the meeting record(s) corresponding to the meeting. Thus, if a user later attempts to access the meeting, the network services server(s) 214 may deny the request.
Depending on the functionality provided by the chat and video conference provider, the network services server(s) 214 may provide additional functionality, such as by providing private meeting capabilities for organizations, special types of meetings (e.g., webinars), etc. Such functionality may be provided according to various examples of video conferencing providers according to this description.
Referring now to the video room gateway servers 216, these servers 216 provide an interface between dedicated video conferencing hardware, such as may be used in dedicated video conferencing rooms. Such video conferencing hardware may include one or more cameras and microphones and a computing device designed to receive video and audio streams from each of the cameras and microphones and connect with the chat and video conference provider 210. For example, the video conferencing hardware may be provided by the chat and video conference provider to one or more of its subscribers, which may provide access credentials to the video conferencing hardware to use to connect to the chat and video conference provider 210.
The video room gateway servers 216 provide specialized authentication and communication with the dedicated video conferencing hardware that may not be available to other client devices 220-230, 250. For example, the video conferencing hardware may register with the chat and video conference provider when it is first installed and the video room gateway may authenticate the video conferencing hardware using such registration as well as information provided to the video room gateway server(s) 216 when dedicated video conferencing hardware connects to it, such as device ID information, subscriber information, hardware capabilities, hardware version information etc. Upon receiving such information and authenticating the dedicated video conferencing hardware, the video room gateway server(s) 216 may interact with the network services servers 214 and real-time media servers 212 to allow the video conferencing hardware to create or join meetings hosted by the chat and video conference provider 210.
Referring now to the telephony gateway servers 218, these servers 218 enable and facilitate telephony devices' participation in meetings hosted by the chat and video conference provider 210. Because telephony devices communicate using the PSTN and not using computer networking protocols, such as TCP/IP, the telephony gateway servers 218 act as an interface that converts between the PSTN, and the networking system used by the chat and video conference provider 210.
For example, if a user uses a telephony device to connect to a meeting, they may dial a phone number corresponding to one of the chat and video conference provider's telephony gateway servers 218. The telephony gateway server 218 will answer the call and generate audio messages requesting information from the user, such as a meeting ID and passcode. The user may enter such information using buttons on the telephony device, e.g., by sending dual-tone multi-frequency (“DTMF”) audio streams to the telephony gateway server 218. The telephony gateway server 218 determines the numbers or letters entered by the user and provides the meeting ID and passcode information to the network services servers 214, along with a request to join or start the meeting, generally as described above. Once the telephony client device 250 has been accepted into a meeting, the telephony gateway server is instead joined to the meeting on the telephony device's behalf.
After joining the meeting, the telephony gateway server 218 receives an audio stream from the telephony device and provides it to the corresponding real-time media server 212 and receives audio streams from the real-time media server 212, decodes them, and provides the decoded audio to the telephony device. Thus, the telephony gateway servers 218 operate essentially as client devices, while the telephony device operates largely as an input/output device, e.g., a microphone and speaker, for the corresponding telephony gateway server 218, thereby enabling the user of the telephony device to participate in the meeting despite not using a computing device or video.
It should be appreciated that the components of the chat and video conference provider 210 discussed above are merely examples of such devices and an example architecture. Some video conference providers may provide more or less functionality than described above and may not separate functionality into different types of servers as discussed above. Instead, any suitable servers and network architectures may be used according to different examples.
Referring now to
The client devices 340 can be any suitable computing or communications device. The client device 340 can be a client device (e.g., 140, 150, 160, or 170) in
Now referring to
The communication platform 310 includes a data store 410, a communication assistance engine 420, and a communication evaluation engine 430. The data store 410 stores communication data and metadata associated with different communication sessions established on the communication platform 310 or assisted by the communication platform 310. The communication data includes real-time (e.g., live) communication data and historical communication data. A communication session can be an in-person meeting. The communication data associated with an in-person meeting can include live audio data, live video data, live transcript data, a recording or transcript of the completed meeting, or shared documents during the in-person meeting. The metadata associated with the in-person meeting can include one or more of a scheduled start or end time, an actual start or end time, location, meeting topic, participant data associated with the in-person meeting.
The communication sessions can also be virtual communication sessions, for example video conference sessions, chat sessions, email threads, phone calls, etc. The communication data associated with a video conference session can include one or more of live audio data, live video data, live transcript data, a recording of the completed video conference session, a transcript of the recording, and shared documents during the video conference session. The metadata associated with the video conference session can include one or more of a title of the video conference session, a scheduled start or end time of the video conference session, an actual start or end time of the video conference session, a description of the video conference session, an agenda of the video conference session, and participant data associated with the video conference session. The communication data associated with a chat session can include live chat messages and historical chat messages. The chat messages can be text-based messages, audio-based messages, or attached documents or files. The metadata associated with the chat session can include one or more of a topic of the chat session, a scheduled start or end time of the chat session, and participant data associated with the chat session. The communication data associated with an email thread can include the email content in the email thread. The metadata associated with the email thread can include one or more of a subject of the email thread, a send time of an email in the email thread, and sender and recipient data associated with an email in the email thread. The communication data associated with a phone call can include live audio data, a voicemail message, or a recording of the phone call. The metadata associated with the phone call can include one or more of a calling phone number and associated name if there is any available, a calling time, and a duration of the phone call.
The data store 410 can also store communication assistance messages that the communication platform 310 provides to participants during communication sessions and evaluation summaries for completed communication sessions, which will be described below.
The communication assistance engine 420 is configured to provide communication assistance messages to a participant during a communication session. The communication assistance engine 420 can include a speech-to-text module configured to convert live audio data into text data in real time or near real time.
The communication assistance engine 420 can also include a rule-based analytics module. The rule-based analytics module includes multiple sets of association rules created for multiple types of communication sessions. A set of association rules can be mined or learned from a set of training data (e.g., a relational database) using an apriori algorithm. An association rule includes an antecedent and a consequent. Example types of communication sessions include sales negotiations or pitches. The set of training data includes communication data and participant data associated with different communication sessions, and project data for projects that different communication sessions are associated with. The project data can include a result of a communication session related to a project (e.g., a closed deal, more follow-up sessions, or an unsuccessful sale). The apriori algorithm can extract certain words that a person of a specific job title likes to say or certain aspects that the person of the specific job title likes to ask and corresponding responses from another party that lead to a favorable or winning result from corresponding communication sessions. The words or aspects mentioned by the person of the specific job title can be an antecedent of an association rule, and corresponding winning response can be a consequent. An example association rule is that if a chief financial officer or someone in a financial related position from a potential client talks about budget or mentions words related to budget, a salesperson should talk about price and value of a product and may also show a cost analysis report. Another example association rule is that if a chief technology officer or a person in a technical position from a potential client talks about how they use certain product and how the product is not kept up, the salesperson should talk about new features and new development of the product.
If the rule-based analytics module identifies certain words or aspects from the communication data associated with one party in the communication session that match an antecedent of an association rule, the association rule is triggered. The rule-based analytics module can generate a communication assistance message for the other party based on the consequent of the triggered association rule. The communication assistance message can include a recommended action, for example a talking point for the participant and related supporting materials.
Alternatively, or additionally, the communication assistance engine 420 includes an AI-based analytics module. The AI-based analytics module can implement a pre-trained AI model, for example a generative pre-trained transformer (GPT), Bidirectional Auto-Regressive Transformer (BART), Text-to-Text Transfer Transformer (T5), or other suitable large language models (LLMs) and their variations. The AI model is pre-trained to analyze live communication data and generate a recommended action in real time or near real time.
In some examples, the communication assistance engine 420 includes both a rule-based analytics module and an AI-based analytics module, working together to provide a communication assistance message by providing the triggered association rule and the recommended action. In some examples, the communication assistance engine 420 also includes speech analytics modules for analyzing audio features (e.g., pitch, loudness, timbre, speech rate, and pauses) of the audio data during a communication session. These audio features can be mapped to certain emotions. A communication assistance message can be generated for the first participant based on an emotion of the second participant. In some examples, the communication assistance engine 420 also includes video analytics modules for analyzing the face expressions or gestures of participants and creating labels for identified face expressions or gestures (e.g., happy face, subtle smile, or impatient finger tapping). The video analytics module can include a set of visual association rules mined or learned by an AI model (e.g., an apriori algorithm). The identified face expressions or gestures can be mapped to and trigger one or more rules in the set of visual association rules with corresponding antecedent. The consequents of the triggered rules can be used to generate communication assistance messages. For example, if a subtle smile is detected, a communication assistance message can be “good job! Talk more about it.”
The communication evaluation engine 430 is configured to generate an evaluation report for a completed communication session based on a recording, a transcript, or a summary of the completed communication session and communication assistance messages received during the communication session. The communication evaluation engine 430 can receive a request to generate an evaluation report for a completed communication session. The request can be preset or preconfigured by a user, such as an administrator of a project associated with the communication session or a participant of the communication session. Alternatively, or additionally, the user can specify a one-time request to the communication evaluation engine 430. The request can include an evaluation target. In some examples, the evaluation target is a project being discussed in the communication session.
For example, a seller had a conversation with a potential customer about a potential deal associated with a product. A user on the seller's side can request an evaluation report including evaluation categories, such as “customer interest in the product,” “customer consideration of cost,” “value demonstration,” “scaling potential,” which can be grouped as “deal winners” or “deal objects” based on their positive or negative effects to the potential deal, from the seller's perspective. In some examples, the evaluation target is the performances of a participant during the virtual conference. For example, a salesperson had a sales conversation with a potential customer. A user from the seller's side (e.g., a manager or the salesperson) can request an evaluation report about the salesperson's performance based on a predetermined sales methodology or the communication assistance messages provided to the salesperson during the communication session. The evaluation report can include what recommended actions from communication assistance messages were executed, what recommended actions were not executed, and an overall performance of the user during the communication session.
The communication evaluation engine 430 can implement a generative AI model pre-trained for generating an evaluation report for a completed communication session. The communication evaluation engine 430 or another engine (not shown) on the communication platform 310 can generate a recommendation of next-step action based on the evaluation of the completed communication session or the evaluation of the user performance. The recommendation of next-step actions can be included in the evaluation report. The communication evaluation engine 430 can be optional.
The communication application 440 installed on the client device 340 can include a local data store 450, a local communication assistance engine 460, and a local communication evaluation engine 470. The local data store 450 can store communication data associated with communication sessions hosted or joined by a local user associated with the client device 340. The local communication assistance engine 460 can be configured to generate communication assistance messages during the communication session, similar to the communication assistance engine 420 as described above. The local communication assistance engine 460 can implement a pre-trained AI model provided by the communication platform 310 to generate communication assistance messages. The local communication evaluation engine 470 can be configured to generate an evaluation report for the communication session based on the communication data stored in the local data store 450 for the completed communication session or communication assistance messages generated during the communication session, similar to the communication evaluation engine 430 as described above. The local communication evaluation engine 470 can also implement a pre-trained generative AI model provided by the communication platform 310 to generate an evaluation report.
The communication application 440 can also include a GUI displaying communication assistance messages during a communication session. There can be a button for communication assistance in the GUI. If the communication session is a virtual communication session, such as a video conference, the communication assistance messages can be displayed to a user in a separate window next to a video conference window (e.g., speaker view window or gallery view window) in the GUI. As the communication session proceeds, multiple guiding messages can be provided in real time. A user can provide feedback on the generated communication assistance message, for example, pressing or clicking a thumbs-up button or a thumbs-down button.
The communication application 440 can also include a GUI for accessing evaluation reports after the communication session. For example, an “evaluation report” button can be included in the GUI of a recorded virtual conference. In some examples, if a user clicks or presses the button, a pre-generated evaluation report can be displayed. In some examples, if a user clicks or presses the button, it triggers a popup window for entering a request to generate an evaluation report. A user can specify the evaluation target and other related fields. A user can provide feedback on the generated evaluation report, for example, pressing or clicking a thumbs-up button or a thumbs-down button.
In some examples of the present disclosure, implementations may include or otherwise use one or more AI or ML (collectively, AI/ML) systems having one or more models trained for one or more purposes. Use of such AI/ML systems, such as for generating summaries or evaluation reports of virtual communication sessions, may be turned off by default, where a user, an organization, or both have to opt-in to utilize the features or functions that include or otherwise use an AI/ML system. User or organization consent to use the AI/ML systems or features may be provided in one or more ways, for example, as explicit permission granted by a user prior to the use of an AI/ML feature, as administrative consent configured using administrator settings, or both. Users for whom such consent is obtained can be notified that they will be interacting with one or more AI/ML systems or features, for example, by an electronic message (e.g., delivered via a chat or email service or presented within a client application or webpage) or by an on-screen prompt, which can be applied on a per-interaction basis. Those users can also be provided with an easy way to withdraw their user consent, for example, using a form or like element provided within a client application, webpage, or on-screen prompt to allow the user to opt-out of use of the AI/ML systems or features.
To enhance privacy and safety, as well as provide other benefits, the AI/ML processing system may be prevented from using personal information (e.g., customer audio, video, chat, screen-sharing, attachments, or other communications-like customer content (such as poll results, whiteboards, or reactions)) to train any AI/ML models and instead only use the personal information for inferencing of the AI/ML processing system. Instead of using personal information to train AI/ML models, AI/ML model training may be performed using one or more commercially licensed data sets that do not contain the personal information of the user or organization.
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Before capturing and using any such information, whether to provide optional AI features or to provide training data for the underlying AI models, the user may be provided with an option to consent, or deny consent, to access and use some or all of the user's personal information. In general, Applicant's goal is to invest in AI-driven innovation that enhances user experience and productivity while prioritizing trust, safety, and privacy. Without the user's explicit, informed consent, the user's personal information will not be used with any AI functionality or as training data for any AI model. Additionally, these optional AI features are turned off by default-account owners and administrators control whether to enable these AI features for their accounts, and if enabled, individual users may determine whether to provide consent to use their personal information.
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In this example, a user is an administrator from the seller of product Y. The user can configure a setting for the video conference 710 to evaluate a potential deal associated with product Y based on the video conference 710 or evaluate a salesperson's performance in the video conference 710. If the user clicks or touches the “evaluation report” button 735, a popup window (not shown) can be displayed for the user to specify an evaluation target and other fields (e.g., evaluation categories, report format, etc.). When the user confirms the information provided in the popup window, an evaluation report can be generated and displayed. In some examples, the evaluation report is automatically generated based on pre-defined settings. If the user clicks the evaluation report button 735, an evaluation report can be displayed in a popup window. The user can also be a participant in the video conference, for example the salesperson for product Y. The salesperson can record the video conference and a recorded item corresponding to the recorded video conference can be generated after the video conference is completed. The user can select to generate or view an evaluation report by clicking the evaluation report button 735.
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At block 802, a communication platform 310 establishes a communication session related to a predetermined topic between a first participant and a second participant. The communication session can be a video conference, a phone call, a live chat session, or any suitable virtual communication. The communication session can include a first participant and a second participant. The communication session can also include additional participants. The participants of the communication session can represent two or more parties. For example, the first participant represents a first party, and the second participant represents a second party. The communication session can be related to a predetermined topic, for example a product demonstration by a salesperson to a potential customer. It should be appreciated that while this communication session is between two participants in this example, a communication session may be between any number of participants who have joined via any number of client devices.
At block 804, the communication platform 310 receives an assistance request from a client device 340 associated with the first participant. Following the example at block 802, the first participant is a salesperson, and the salesperson can send a request to the communication platform 310 for communication assistance during the communication session, for example by clicking a communication assistance button 635 as illustrated in
At block 806, the communication platform 310 accesses communication data associated with the communication session. The communication data associated with the communication session include live communication data and historical communication data. For example, the communication session is a video conference, and the live communication data includes live audio data or live transcript data. The communication platform 310 can convert live audio data to text data using a speech-to-text algorithm. If the communication session is a live chat session, the communication data include live chat messages. In addition, the communication platform 310 can also access profile data associated with the second participant. The profile data can include a gender, a job title, and an organization of the second participant. The profile data for the second participant can be provided by the first participant or the second participant. The profile data can be stored in the data store 410. The communication platform 310 can retrieve the profile data associated with the second participant from the data store 410.
At block 808, the communication platform 310 executes a pre-trained artificial intelligence (AI) model to generate a communication assistance message for the first participant based on the communication data associated with the communication session. The communication assistance engine 420 on the communication platform 310 can generate communication assistance messages for the first participant, generally as described in
At block 810, the communication platform 310 provides the communication assistance message to the client device associated with the first participant during the communication session. The communication assistance message can be provided to the first participant via a GUI window, for example a message window 632 as illustrated in
The example process 800 illustrates a method for providing communication assistance during a communication session. However, not every step in the example process 800 may be needed, some other steps may be added, or the order of the steps may be changed. Alternatively, the example process 800 can be performed by a communication application 440 installed on a client device 340.
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The computing device 900 also includes a communications interface 930. In some examples, the communications interface 930 may enable communications using one or more networks, including a local area network (“LAN”); wide area network (“WAN”), such as the Internet; metropolitan area network (“MAN”); point-to-point or peer-to-peer connection; etc. Communication with other devices may be accomplished using any suitable networking protocol. For example, one suitable networking protocol may include the Internet Protocol (“IP”), Transmission Control Protocol (“TCP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”), or combinations thereof, such as TCP/IP or UDP/IP.
While some examples of methods and systems herein are described in terms of software executing on various machines, the methods and systems may also be implemented as specifically-configured hardware, such as field-programmable gate array (FPGA) specifically to execute the various methods according to this disclosure. For example, examples can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in a combination thereof. In one example, a device may include a processor or processors. The processor comprises a computer-readable medium, such as a random access memory (RAM) coupled to the processor. The processor executes computer-executable program instructions stored in memory, such as executing one or more computer programs. Such processors may comprise a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and state machines. Such processors may further comprise programmable electronic devices such as PLCs, programmable interrupt controllers (PICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), programmable read-only memories (PROMs), electronically programmable read-only memories (EPROMs or EEPROMs), or other similar devices.
Such processors may comprise, or may be in communication with, media, for example one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, that may store processor-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, can cause the processor to perform methods according to this disclosure as carried out, or assisted, by a processor. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable medium may include, but are not limited to, an electronic, optical, magnetic, or other storage device capable of providing a processor, such as the processor in a web server, with processor-executable instructions. Other examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, a floppy disk, CD-ROM, magnetic disk, memory chip, ROM, RAM, ASIC, configured processor, all optical media, all magnetic tape or other magnetic media, or any other medium from which a computer processor can read. The processor, and the processing, described may be in one or more structures, and may be dispersed through one or more structures. The processor may comprise code to carry out methods (or parts of methods) according to this disclosure.
The foregoing description of some examples has been presented only for the purpose of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Numerous modifications and adaptations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Reference herein to an example or implementation means that a particular feature, structure, operation, or other characteristic described in connection with the example may be included in at least one implementation of the disclosure. The disclosure is not restricted to the particular examples or implementations described as such. The appearance of the phrases “in one example,” “in an example,” “in one implementation,” or “in an implementation,” or variations of the same in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same example or implementation. Any particular feature, structure, operation, or other characteristic described in this specification in relation to one example or implementation may be combined with other features, structures, operations, or other characteristics described in respect of any other example or implementation.
Use herein of the word “or” is intended to cover inclusive and exclusive OR conditions. In other words, A or B or C includes any or all of the following alternative combinations as appropriate for a particular usage: A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B only; A and C only; B and C only; and A and B and C.
