Method and system for text-to-speech conversion of caller information

Abstract

A system (10) and method (40) for providing audible caller information to telephone service subscribers is presented. The system (10) includes a pre-processor (28) that converts textual caller information from a first data format to a second data format suitable for text-to-speech synthesis (TTS). The pre-processor (28) can be incorporated in a service node / intelligent peripheral (SN / IP) (24) in an advanced intelligent network (AIN). In this configuration, the pre-processor (28) can be used to convert caller-ID with name database entries into a predetermined TTS format. The TTS formatted information can be provided to a TTS synthesized (30) included in the SN / IP (24). In conjunction with a switching service point (SSP) (20), the pre-processor (28) can provide a talking call-waiting feature to subscribers with significantly improved intelligibility.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention generally relates to telecommunications, and in particular, to caller identification information. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Telecommunications systems incorporating text-to-speech synthesizers for generating audible caller information from textual data are known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,806 discloses an advanced intelligent network (AIN) that incorporates text-to-speech technology for presenting spoken caller information to subscribers. In this network, caller ID information, such as the caller's name and number, ordinarily presented visually to a subscriber using a special display device, is synthesized to voice information that is audibly presented to the subscriber. The textual caller information provided to the text-to-speech synthesizer is stored in phonebook-like databases. [0003] A problem not addressed by the '806 patent is the format mismatch between the caller information databases and the input strings to ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This solution improves the quality of spoken caller information and allows pre-existing databases to be used with text-to-speech synthesizers, providing higher quality audible output during call-waiting and eliminating the need for redundant database formatting.

Problems solved by technology

A problem not addressed by the '806 patent is the format mismatch between the caller information databases and the input strings to the text-to-speech synthesizer.

Consequently, providing compacted caller information directly to a text-to-speech synthesizer can compromise the quality of the audible output.

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