The foregoing will be better understood with reference to the description and to the following drawings, in which:
As discussed in greater detail below, a communication system is set forth for providing simultaneous audio and visual content at low bandwidth. A markup language specification is set forth for providing pseudo-rich media during phone calls and for implementing two endpoints that support this specification. Each implemented endpoint functions as a half-phone, half-browser (or half-server, as the case may be). In other words, a phone call consists partly of the traditional full-duplex audio stream between the parties and is supplemented by pseudo-rich media being transmitted from one of the parties to the other. It is contemplated that the pseudo-rich media include, but not be limited to, text, pictures and hyperlinks.
With reference to
A server 12 (second endpoint) is connected to the network 14 via, for example, a proxy, a gateway, a firewall or a load balancer (designated generally by 11B). The server can, for example, include an interactive voice response system (IVR). The network 14 supports a pseudo-rich communication specification, as further discussed below.
According to the example of
Once the call between device 10 and server 12 has been established, an automated voice response from the IVR greets the user with an audio message that is reproduced via the speaker 14 at device 10, such as: “Welcome to the ABC Company consumer helpline . . . etc.”. At the same time, through the markup language (i.e. script) discussed below, text corresponding to the voice announcement is displayed as an image at display 15, via the phone browser application (
Alternatively, if the server 12 incorporates voice recognition technology then the user may respond by issuing voice commands that are recognized by the server 12 and then acted upon. Such voice recognition systems are well known in the art.
During the call, the phone 10 receives messages from the IVR server 12 out of band with the audio connection. That is, the user at phone 10 does not hear the data being transmitted to the phone, while the phone decodes the data for display.
The user can continue navigating through the IVR system to find the address of the organization. As the IVR reads out the information for the user to hear, the information is simultaneously displayed, as shown in
After receiving the desired information, the user requests shutdown by, for example, responding “no” to the question “Do you require any further information?” (FIG. 1D). In response to receipt of the shutdown request, the call is ended, while retaining the graphic information concerning a contact address on the display screen of the phone 10.
The IVR example of
The data structure of the packets that are transmitted is based on a modified version of the Voice Extensible Markup Language (VoiceXML). The IVR script is written to allow synchronization of voice and data for playback and display. As described above, images are displayed while sounds are simultaneously played back. Exemplary Voice XML code for implementing the pseudo-rich hybrid phone browser of the present application is as follows:
Turning to
Referring to
A person skilled in the art, having read this description, may conceive of variations and alternative embodiments. For example, the data structure of the packets that are transmitted is not limited to a modified version of VoiceXML as other data structures and protocols are possible. It is contemplated that HTML content could be pushed from the IVR to the first endpoint by embedding an HTML page in the payload section of a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message (RFC3261). A SIP INFO method (RFC2976), or another similar method, can be employed. It is also contemplated that other media and audio/video sequencing protocols can be employed. For example, an audio/video protocol that is similar to Macromedia Flash™ can be used while routing voice traffic on the audio end, as well as speech recognition. Still other variations and modifications may occur to those skilled in the art.
All such variations and alternative embodiments are believed to be within the ambit of the claims appended hereto.