Granted Patent B2

US 9,215,409 · App. 14/253,413 · Granted Dec 15, 2015

Abstract

Claims (52)

1. A communication system, comprising a relay service comprising a control circuit configured to:

facilitate translation services of an interpreter during a call between an audibly-impaired user of a video endpoint and an audibly-capable user of an audio endpoint;

support a first connection between a video endpoint and the relay service to communicate video data therebetween during the call;

support a second connection between the relay service and an audio endpoint to communicate audio data therebetween during the call;

receive call control signals from the video endpoint over the first connection during the call; and

automatically control audio communications over the second connection between the relay service and the audio endpoint during the call responsive to the call control signals being received from the video endpoint over the first connection and without interpreter intervention.

2. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit comprises:

a memory device including machine-readable instructions directed to at least partially controlling the audio communications over the second connection between the relay service and the audio endpoint responsive to the call control signals received from the video endpoint over the first connection; and

a processing circuit operably coupled to the memory device and configured to execute the machine-readable instructions.

3. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the call control signals comprise a command including information identifying another audio endpoint, wherein the control circuit is further configured to automatically cause a request to be sent from the relay service to the another audio endpoint to initiate audio communication between the relay service and the another audio endpoint over a new second connection responsive to the control circuit receiving the command.

4. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the call control signals comprise a command, and wherein the control circuit is further configured to automatically cause the audio communications over the second connection between the relay service and the audio endpoint to terminate responsive to the control circuit receiving the command without the first connection being terminated.

5. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is further configured to:

determine a current status of the audio communications over the second connection between the relay service and the audio endpoint; and

transmit call status indications from the relay service to the video endpoint over the first connection, the call status indications indicating the determined current status for presenting to the audibly-impaired user.

6. The communication system of claim 5 , wherein the call status indications indicate at least one current status selected from the group consisting of ringing, connected, disconnected, on hold, and busy.

7. A method of operating a communication system, the method performed by a relay service and comprising:

conveying, with a relay service, video communications of an interpreter with a video endpoint over a first connection during a call;

conveying, with the relay service, audio communications of the interpreter with an audio endpoint over a second connection during the call;

receiving call commands during the call from the video endpoint over the first connection; and

automatically executing the call commands without interpreter intervention to control the audio communications over the second connection between the relay service and the audio endpoint during the call.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

detecting a call status of the audio communications with the audio endpoint; and

transmitting an indication of the call status to the video endpoint over the first connection.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein detecting the call status of the audio communications comprises determining the call status from command messages sent between the relay service and the audio endpoint.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein detecting the call status of the audio communications comprises determining the call status from audio signals received at the relay service from the audio endpoint.

11. A communication system, comprising a video endpoint configured for video communication with a relay service, the relay service configured to provide translation services of an interpreter during a call between an audibly-impaired user of the video endpoint and an audibly-capable user of an audio endpoint, the video endpoint comprising a user interface configured to receive user inputs from the audibly-impaired user during video communication between the video endpoint and the relay service over a first connection during the call, wherein the video endpoint is further configured to transmit call commands to the relay service over the first connection during the call responsive to the user inputs, the call commands directed to automatically triggering controls at the relay service without interpreter intervention that control audio communications over a second connection between the relay service and the audio endpoint during the call.

12. The communication system of claim 11 , wherein the video endpoint is configured to transmit a first command to the relay service over the first connection during the call, the first command directed to triggering the relay service to automatically transmit a request for audio communication to another audio endpoint responsive to a first user input without first terminating the first connection between the video endpoint and the relay service.

13. The communication system of claim 12 , wherein:

the first user input comprises a redial input; and

the another audio endpoint comprises a last audio endpoint the relay service called on behalf of the video endpoint.

14. The communication system of claim 12 , wherein:

the first user input comprises a redial input;

the user interface is configured to present a list of selectable identifiers corresponding to a predetermined number of audio endpoints the relay service most recently called on behalf of the video endpoint responsive to the redial input; and

the first command indicates one of the predetermined number of audio endpoints that corresponds to a selected one of the list of selectable identifiers.

15. The communication system of claim 12 , wherein:

the user interface is configured to present a list of selectable contacts corresponding to a plurality of audio endpoints;

the first user input comprises a selection of one of the selectable contacts; and

the first command indicates one of the plurality of audio endpoints corresponding to a selected one of the list of selectable contacts.

16. The communication system of claim 15 , wherein the list of selectable contacts corresponding to the plurality of audio endpoints comprises a call history.

17. The communication system of claim 11 , wherein the user interface comprises a graphical user interface configured to:

display a unique identifier corresponding to a first audio endpoint to be called by the relay service on behalf of the audibly-impaired user; and

enable the audibly-impaired user to edit the unique identifier to correspond to a second audio endpoint, before directing the relay service to establish audio communications with a second audio endpoint corresponding to the edited unique identifier.

18. The communication system of claim 17 , wherein the unique identifier is a telephone number.

19. The communication system of claim 11 , wherein the video endpoint is configured to receive call status indications from the relay service, wherein the call status indications indicate a status of the audio communications between the relay service and the audio endpoint on behalf of the audibly-impaired user, and wherein the video endpoint is configured to present the status of the audio communications to the audibly-impaired user.

20. The communication system of claim 19 , wherein the call status indications indicate at least one status selected from the group consisting of ringing, connected, disconnected, busy, and on hold.

21. The communication system of claim 19 , wherein the call status indications comprise call command messages transmitted between the relay service and the audio endpoint, and the video endpoint is further configured to analyze the call command messages to determine the status of the audio communications between the relay service and the audio endpoint.

22. The communication system of claim 11 , wherein the user interface comprises a graphical user interface configured to display a hang-up option, wherein the video endpoint is configured to send a first command directing the relay service to automatically terminate the audio communications over the second connection between the relay service and the audio endpoint without terminating the first connection responsive to detection of a selection of the hang-up option.

23. The communication system of claim 19 , wherein the call status indications indicate who is speaking between the interpreter at the relay service and the audibly-capable user.

24. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the call control signals include an in-call hang-up command to terminate the second connection between the relay service and the audio endpoint without terminating the first connection between the video endpoint and the relay service.

25. The communication system of claim 24 , wherein the in-call hang-up command causes the second connection between the relay service and the audio endpoint to terminate without terminating the first connection between the relay service and the video endpoint.

26. The communication system of claim 25 , wherein the call control signals include an in-call call command to initiate a new second connection between the relay service and another audio endpoint.

27. The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the call control signals include an in-call hold command to place the audio endpoint on hold with the relay service over the second connection during the call.

Assignments (17)