Granted Patent B2

US 7,379,973 · App. 09/759,926 · Granted May 27, 2008

Abstract

Claims (53)

1. A computer-implemented voice application indexing method for supplying voice applications that provide telephony services to users, comprising the steps of:

receiving voice application data over an Internet network, wherein the voice application data includes location data to indicate where the voice applications are located on a remote Web site on the Internet network;

storing in a database the voice application data in accordance with a predetermined voice application taxonomy, wherein the taxonomy includes at least indexing voice applications based upon what resources are required to operate each voice application and type of telephony service provided;

receiving a request for a voice application based upon a user requiring a telephony service, wherein the request includes at least search criteria for selecting a voice application from the application data stored in the database including resources required for operation in the request and type of telephony service required by the user; and

retrieving from the database the location data of at least one voice application whose stored voice application data substantially satisfies the search criteria;

wherein the voice application located at the retrieved location from the data is used to perform the user-requested telephony service.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the voice application data includes voice application operational requirement data, said method further comprising the steps of:

receiving from a telephony server telephony server attribute data, wherein the telephony server is an interface between the user and the database; and

retrieving from the database the location data of at least one voice application whose voice application operational requirement data substantially satisfies the telephony server attribute data.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the voice application data includes voice markup language data which indicates type of voice markup language used in the voice applications, said method further comprising the step of:

retrieving from the database the location data of at least one voice application whose voice markup language data substantially satisfies the search criteria.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the voice application data includes speech engine requirement data, said method further comprising the steps of:

receiving from a telephony server telephony server attribute data which indicates which speech engines are operational within the telephony server; and

retrieving from the database the location data of at least one voice application whose speech engine requirement data substantially satisfies the telephony server attribute data.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the voice applications are VoiceXML applications.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the location data is a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the remote Web site which indicates where the voice applications are located on the Internet network.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the database is a relational database.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the voice application taxonomy includes classifications selected from the group consisting of required speech engine resources, required telephony resources, required telephony markup language, required application server environment, and combinations thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

receiving the request for a voice application through a telephony server that is connected to the user.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the search criteria includes the nature of the telephony service requested by the user.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

providing the voice application data through a graphical user interface that is in data communication with the Internet network.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the graphical user interface allows retrieving location data of at least one of the voice applications based upon criteria specified through the graphical user interface.

13. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

reviewing the voice application data to ensure accuracy of the voice application data.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of:

reviewing the voice application data to verify the location data of the voice applications on the Internet network.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of:

reviewing the voice application data to verify that the operation of the voice applications complies with the voice application data.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

sending on the Internet network an automated searching spider to locate and index additional voice applications that are located on the network.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the spider is sent when a search of the database does not retrieve based upon the search criteria any location data for the voice applications.

18. A computer-implemented voice application indexing system for supplying voice applications that provide telephony services to users, comprising:

a voice application data structure that contains voice application data that is received over an Internet network and regards the voice applications, wherein the voice application data includes location data to indicate where the voice applications are located on the Internet network;

a database that stores the received voice application data in accordance with a predetermined voice application taxonomy, wherein the taxonomy includes at least indexing voice applications based upon what resources are required to operate each voice application and type of telephony service provided;

a database engine with a data connection to the database, wherein the database engine receives a request for a voice application the request including search criteria including user resources for operating applications and requiring a specific telephony service;

wherein the database engine retrieves from the database the location data of at least one voice application on a remote Web site whose stored voice application data substantially satisfies the search criteria;

whereby the voice application located at the retrieved location data is used to perform the user-requested telephony service.

19. The voice application indexing system of claim 18 wherein the voice application data includes voice application operational requirement data, wherein a telephony server provides telephony server attribute data to the database engine, wherein the database engine determines the location data of at least one voice application whose voice application operational requirement data substantially satisfies the telephony server attribute data.

20. The voice application indexing system of claim 18 wherein the voice application data includes voice markup language data which indicates type of voice markup language used in the voice applications, wherein the database engine retrieves from the database the location data of at least one voice application whose voice markup language data substantially satisfies the search criteria.

21. The voice application indexing system of claim 18 wherein the voice application data includes speech engine requirement data, wherein the database engine receives from a telephony server telephony server attribute data which indicates which speech engines are operational within the telephony server, wherein the database engine retrieves from the database the location data of at least one voice application whose speech engine requirement data substantially satisfies the telephony server attribute data.

22. The voice application indexing system of claim 18 wherein the voice applications are VoiceXML applications.

23. The voice application indexing system of claim 18 wherein the location data is a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the remote Web site which indicates where the voice applications are located on the Internet network.

24. The voice application indexing system of claim 18 wherein the database is a relational database.

25. The voice application indexing system of claim 18 wherein the voice application taxonomy includes classifications selected from the group consisting of required speech engine resources, required telephony resources, required telephony markup language, required application server environment, and combinations thereof.

26. The voice application indexing system of claim 18 wherein the search criteria includes the nature of the telephony service requested by the user.

27. The voice application indexing system of claim 18 further comprising:

a graphical user interface with a data connection over the Internet network to the database for providing the voice application data.

28. The voice application indexing system of claim 27 wherein the graphical user interface allows retrieval of location data of at least one of the voice applications based upon criteria specified through the graphical user interface.

29. The voice application indexing system of claim 18 further comprising:

automated searching means for locating and indexing additional voice applications that are located on the Internet network.

30. The voice application indexing system of claim 29 wherein the automated searching means is provided when a search of the database does not retrieve based upon the search criteria any location data for the voice applications.

Assignments (13)