Granted Patent B2

US 11,595,509 · App. 17/032,440 · Granted Feb 28, 2023

Inventors: Paul Roller Michaelis (Louisville, CO); Bradley Raymond Black (Ottawa, CA)

Assignee: Avaya Management L.P.

H04M1/72448G06F3/048H04M1/0266H04M1/72466

Abstract

Claims (58)

1. A method for operating a telecommunications soft client without a graphical user interface (GUI), the method comprising:

in a user system, operating the telecommunications soft client in a first mode, wherein, in the first mode, the telecommunications soft client does not present a GUI of the telecommunications soft client to avoid interfering with narration provided by a screen reader application executing on the user system, wherein the narration describes one or more GUIs displayed by the user system;

while in the first mode:

audibly describing, by the telecommunications soft client, a first occurrence for the telecommunications soft client;

receiving global user input into the telecommunications soft client; and

wherein the screen reader application describes a second occurrence for a first application executing, and displaying an application window, on the user system.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

operating the telecommunications soft client in the first mode in response to determining that the screen reader application is executing on the user system.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

operating the telecommunications soft client in the first mode in response to input from a user selecting the first mode over at least a second mode that presents the GUI for the telecommunications soft client.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the global user input comprises an instruction in an instruction group comprising:

a call answer instruction;

a call mute instruction;

a call hold instruction; and

a call initiation instruction.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein audibly describing the first occurrence comprises:

generating speech that conveys the first occurrence to a user.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first occurrence comprises an event in an event group comprising:

an incoming call request;

a new voicemail notification; and

a feature status notification.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the application window is a current focus window on the user system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein audibly describing the first occurrence uses a first speaker of the user system and wherein the screen reader application describes the second occurrence using a second speaker of the user system.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein audibly describing the first occurrence uses a first voice and wherein the screen reader application describes the second occurrence using a second voice.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the global user input comprises a key combination input into a user interface of the user system that is mapped to the telecommunications soft client.

11. An apparatus for a user system executing a telecommunications soft client without a graphical user interface (GUI), the apparatus comprising:

one or more computer readable storage media;

a processing system operatively coupled with the one or more computer readable storage media; and

program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media that, when read and executed by the processing system, direct the processing system to:

operate the telecommunications soft client in a first mode, wherein, in the first mode, the telecommunications soft client does not present a GUI of the telecommunications soft client to avoid interfering with narration provided by a screen reader application executing on the user system, wherein the narration describes one or more GUIs displayed by the user system;

while in the first mode:

audibly describe, by the telecommunications soft client, a first occurrence for the telecommunications soft client;

receive global user input into the telecommunications soft client; and

wherein the screen reader application describes a second occurrence for a first application executing, and displaying an application window, on the user system.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the program instructions further direct the processing system to:

operate the telecommunications soft client in the first mode in response to determining that the screen reader application is executing on the user system.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the program instructions further direct the processing system to:

Operate the telecommunications soft client in the first mode in response to input from a user selecting the first mode over at least a second mode that presents the GUI for the telecommunications soft client.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the global user input comprises an instruction in an instruction group comprising:

a call answer instruction;

a call mute instruction;

a call hold instruction; and

a call initiation instruction.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein to audibly describe the first occurrence, the program instructions direct the processing system to:

generate speech that conveys the first occurrence to a user.

16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first occurrence comprises an event in an event group comprising:

an incoming call request;

a new voicemail notification; and

a feature status notification.

17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the application window is a current focus window on the user system.

18. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein a first speaker of the user system is used to audibly describe the first occurrence and wherein the screen reader application uses a second speaker of the user system to describe the second occurrence.

19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein a first voice is used to audibly describe the first occurrence and wherein the screen reader application uses a second voice to describe the second occurrence.

20. One or more computer readable storage media having program instructions stored thereon for executing a telecommunications soft client, on a user system, without a graphical user interface (GUI), the program instructions, when read and executed by a processing system, direct the processing system to:

operate the telecommunications soft client in a first mode, wherein, in the first mode, the telecommunications soft client does not present a GUI of the telecommunications soft client to avoid interfering with narration provided by a screen reader application executing on the user system, wherein the narration describes one or more GUIs displayed by the user system;

while in the first mode:

audibly describe, by the telecommunications soft client, a first occurrence for the telecommunications soft client;

receive global user input into the telecommunications soft client; and

wherein the screen reader application describes a second occurrence for a first application executing, and displaying an application window, on the user system.

Assignments (8)

Continuity (2)