Communication processing system
A method and apparatus are described for automatic processing of electronic communications in a networked computer environment. The invention facilitates the appropriate form of translation of the communication to suit the circumstance. The communication is identified as a foreign language communication, a quotation program is optionally applied to calculate the cost of a human translation and a machine translation program is optionally applied to the foreign language communication. The communication, optional quotation and optional machine translation are forwarded to a recipient. The method is transparent to the sender and receiver.
1. A system for automatic processing of a foreign language communication, the system comprising:
first means for sending a communication over a communications network;
second means for receiving said communication and identifying said communication as a foreign language communication;
third computer-implemented means for generating a quotation for human translation of said foreign language communication to a native language;
fourth means for generating a machine translation of the foreign language communication to the native language;
fifth means for forwarding said communication, said machine translation and said quotation to an intended recipient; and
sixth means for said intended recipient to receive said communication, said machine translation and said quotation;
wherein the fifth means forwards the communication, the machine translation and the quotation substantially simultaneously.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the first and sixth means are personal computers.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein said second and fifth means is a network server computer configured as a mail server.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein said third means is a computer configured as a quotation server.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein said second, third, fourth and fifth means is a single network server computer.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein the first and sixth means are the same personal computer.
7. A method for automatic processing of electronic communication including the steps of:
sending a communication from a sender in a first language;
identifying the communication as a foreign language communication;
in response to one or more previously provided instructions by a recipient, automatically applying a translation program to the communication to generate a machine translation of the communication to a second language;
in response to one or more previously provided instructions by a recipient, automatically applying a quotation program to the communication to generate a quotation for a human translation of the communication to the second language; and
automatically forwarding the communication and the machine translation and the quotation to the recipient;
wherein the communication and the machine translation and the quotation are forwarded substantially simultaneously to the recipient.
8. A method for automatic processing of electronic communication including the steps of:
sending a communication from a sender in a first language;
identifying the communication as a foreign language communication;
automatically applying a translation program to the communication to generate a machine translation;
automatically applying a quotation program to the communication to generate a quotation for a human translation; and
automatically forwarding the communication, the machine translation, and the quotation to a recipient;
wherein the communication, the machine translation, and the quotation are forwarded substantially simultaneously to the recipient.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the steps of:
performing a human translation of certain keywords contained in the communication, wherein the keywords are predefined by the recipient; and
forwarding the human translation of the keywords to the recipient substantially simultaneously with the communication, the machine translation and the quotation.