Closed-loop command and response system for automatic communications between interacting computer systems over an audio communications channel
A system and method for enabling two computer systems to communicate over an audio communications channel, such as a voice telephony connection. Such a system includes a software application that enables a user's computer to call, interrogate, download, and manage a voicemail account stored on a telephone company's computer, without human intervention. A voicemail retrieved from the telephone company's computer can be stored in a digital format on the user's computer. In such a format, the voicemail can be readily archived, or even distributed throughout a network, such as the Internet, in a digital form, such as an email attachment. Preferably a computationally efficient audio recognition algorithm is employed by the user's computer to respond to and navigate the automated audio menu of the telephone company's computer.
1. A method for interacting with a voice response (VR) system accessible via at least one connection, where the VR system provides audio command prompts to which appropriate responses must be made in order to successfully interact with the VR system, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) connecting a computing device including an interaction management application to the VR system using said at least one connection, wherein said at least one connection is selected from the group consisting of a telephonic connection and a network connection;
(b) receiving an audio communication from the VR system, comprising: storing the audio communication in at least one audio buffer having a size N; and separating each audio buffer into a plurality of window buffers, comprising:
dividing each audio buffer into X identically sized sample windows, where X is equal to N divided by W, each sample window being of size W, such that each sample window includes a whole number of samples, and X is a positive whole number; and
iteratively generating X window buffers using the sample windows, each window buffer being of the size N, such that each window buffer comprises X sample windows, and each sequential window buffer includes one sample window not present in a preceding window buffer;
(c) generating at least one discrete Fourier transform (DFT) for the audio communication that was received comprising generating a DFT for each window buffer;
(d) comparing the at least one DFT with known DFTs, comprising comparing each window buffer DFT with at least one of the known DFTs, each known DFT corresponding to a command prompt likely to be received from the VR system;
(e) providing the VR system any required response, if an acceptable level of correlation exists between said at least one DFT for the audio communication that was received and a known DFT; and
(f) repeating the steps defined in subparagraphs (b)-(e) until a desired interaction has been achieved between the computing device and the VR system.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of teaching the computing device how to recognize and respond to each command prompt likely to be received from the VR system.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of teaching the computing device how to recognize and respond to each command prompt comprises the steps of:
(a) establishing a logical connection between the computing device and the VR system;
(b) receiving an audio communication comprising a command prompt from the VR system;
(c) generating at least one DFT based on the command prompt that was received;
(d) enabling a user to indicate the correct response to the command prompt;
(e) storing the DFT corresponding to the command prompt and a program script enabling the computing device to duplicate the correct response; and
(f) eating the steps defined in claim 1 , subparagraphs (b)-(e), until a DFT and program script have been stored for all command prompts likely to be received from the VR system.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of storing the communication in at least one audio buffer comprises the steps of;
(a) providing two identically sized audio buffers, each sized to accommodate N samples, N being selected to achieve a desired time resolution; and
(b) sequentially filling each audio buffer with N samples of the audio communication, such that a first audio buffer is filled with relatively older samples, and a second audio buffer is filled with relatively newer samples, in time.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the VR system is an audio message service, and wherein the desired interaction comprises retrieving audio messages for a user from the audio message service.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising the step of generating a key for each message received from the message service, said key being stored in association with the message.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the step of generating a key for each message comprises the steps of:
(a) generating a DFT of the message; and
(b) as a function of the DFT, generating a unique key.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising the steps of checking the key for each message received against each key that was stored, and ignoring each message whose key matches a stored key, because such a match indicates that the message has previously been retrieved.
9. A system for automatically interacting with a voice response (VR) system, to achieve a desired interaction with the VR system, comprising:
(a) a memory in which a plurality of machine instructions defining a retrieval application are stored, said memory also storing a plurality of known discrete Fourier transforms (DFTs), each DFT corresponding to a command prompt likely to be received from the VR system; and
(b) a processor that is coupled to the memory to access the machine instructions, said processor executing said machine instructions and thereby implementing a plurality of functions, including:
(i) establishing a logical connection with the VR system;
(ii) receiving an audio communication from the VR system, comprising:
storing the audio communication in at least one audio buffer having a size N; and
separating each audio buffer into a plurality of window buffers, comprising:
dividing each audio buffer into X identically sized sample windows, where X is equal to N divided by W, each sample window being of size W, such that each sample window includes a whole number of samples, and X is a positive whole number; and
iteratively generating X window buffers using the sample windows, each window buffer being of the size N, such that each window buffer comprises X sample windows, and each sequential window buffer includes one sample window not present in a preceding window buffer;
(iii) generating at least one DFT for the audio communication, comprising generating a DFT for each window buffer;
(iv) comparing the at least one each window buffer DFT with at least one known DFT, comprising comparing each window buffer DFT with at least one of the known DFTs, each known DFT corresponding to a different command prompt from a plurality of command prompts likely to be received from the VR system;
(v) if an acceptable level of correlation exists between at least one DFT one of the window buffer DFTs and a known DFT, then providing the VR system with any required response, said machine instructions comprising a program script required to generate any required response associated with each known DFT; and
(vi) repeating the steps defined in subparagraphs (ii)-(v) until the desired interaction is achieved.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of connecting further comprises the steps of:
(a) loading data necessary to communicate with the VR system, wherein the data includes:
(i) a host script including at least one expect clause; and
(ii) a signature file; and
(b) initiating a telephonic communication with the VR system.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of carrying out at least one step selected from the group of steps consisting of:
(a) terminating the connection when the desired interaction has been achieved;
(b) starting a capture of the audio communication;
(c) stopping the capture of the audio communication;
(d) sending a DTMF code sequence over the telephonic connection to instruct the VR system to store a message; and
(e) saving a message to a message store.
12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of machine instructions cause the processor to display a graphical user interface that includes a plurality of controls, in order to enable a user to interact with the VR system.
13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of machine instructions further define an audio messenger application that is coupled to a microphone and a listening device, said machine instructions causing the processor to enable a user to record a message and send the message to a service that interacts with the VR system.
14. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium on which machine readable instructions are stored, which when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to carry out a plurality of functions, such that interaction with a voice response (VR) system is accessible via at least one connection, where the VR system provides audio command prompts to which appropriate responses must be made in order to successfully interact with the VR system, said plurality of functions including:
(a) connecting a computing device including an interaction management application to the VR system using said at least one connection, wherein said at least one connection is selected from the group consisting of the a telephonic connection and the a network connection;
(b) receiving an audio communication from the VR system, comprising:
storing the audio communication in at least one audio buffer having a size N; and
separating each audio buffer into a plurality of window buffers, comprising:
dividing each audio buffer into X identically sized sample windows, where X is equal to N divided by W, each sample window being of size W, such that each sample window includes a whole number of samples, and X is a positive whole number; and
iteratively generating X window buffers using the sample windows, each window buffer being of the size N, such that each window buffer comprises X sample windows, and each sequential window buffer includes one sample window not present in a preceding window buffer;
(c) generating at least one discrete Fourier transform (DFT) for the audio communication that was received comprising generating a DFT for each window buffer;
(d) comparing the at least one DFT with known DFTs, comprising comparing each window buffer DFT with at least one of the known DFTs, each known DFT corresponding to a command prompt likely to be received from the VR system;
(e) providing the VR system any required response, if an acceptable level of correlation exists between said at least one DFT for the audio communication that was received and a known DFT; and
(f) repeating the steps defined in subparagraphs (b)-(e) until a desired interaction has been achieved between the computing device and the VR system.