Telephone call support device and telephone call support method

Abstract

To improve the quality of a telephone call and conference by appropriately supporting each speaker (participant) and improving the convenience of all speakers in the case of performing a telephone call between two persons, a telephone conference and an online conference.SOLUTION: A voice recognition part 1211 converts voice information of each speaker into text data. A vague utterance detection part 1212 analyzes the text data from the voice recognition part 1211, and detects a prescribed part requiring support. A keyword extraction part 1213, a retrieval execution part 123 and a correction sentence creation part 125 function to create a message corresponding to the prescribed part, and a correction provision part 126 provides the speaker with the message as text information or by converting the message into voice information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for supporting each speaker when a call is made between a plurality of speakers in which voice information is transmitted and received over a network. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1, which will be described later, discloses an invention related to a sales support system. This sales support system transmits the conversation between the customer and the salesperson as voice data from a communication terminal device via a network to a sales support server, where errors in what was said are corrected in real time and transmitted to the communication terminal device as an error correction message. This allows for immediate correction of any errors in what was said. This makes it possible to avoid trouble caused by negotiations proceeding with incorrect content, and to prevent inconvenience to the customer. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2002-288352 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The sales support system disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 is intended to support salesmen who deal with customers, and is not intended to correct mistakes made by customers. In recent years, telephone conferences and online conferences (Web conferences) have become commonplace. In a telephone conference, multiple participants located in remote locations exchange voice messages with each other through telephone terminals connected via telephone lines, and hold a conference in real time. In an online conference (Web conference), participants in remote locations are connected using an Internet environment and devices such as a PC (Personal Computer) or a mobile communication terminal such as a smartphone, and audio and video information is exchanged between the participants, and a conference is held in real time.

[0005] In the case of telephone conferences and web conferences, participants are not limited to two people, the caller and the callee, as in conventional telephone communication, but can be two or more people. For this reason, for example, if an error in the call content is detected for only one conference organizer and only that organizer is notified, the convenience of all participants cannot be improved and the quality of the entire conference cannot be improved. In addition to correcting errors in the call content, it is also necessary to supplement unclear matters that were discussed in the conference, such as names and events, with accurate information. Furthermore, it is also necessary to prevent inappropriate remarks from being transmitted from the perspective of compliance violations and harassment, taking into account the participants and contents of the conference.

[0006] In view of the above, the present invention aims to provide appropriate support to each speaker (participant) in, for example, a two-party call, telephone conference, or online conference, thereby improving the convenience for all speakers and improving the quality of the two-party call, telephone conference, or online conference. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, the communication support device of the invention described in claim 1 comprises: A communication support device that relays voice information from each speaker when a call is made between a plurality of speakers by transmitting and receiving voice information over a network, comprising: a speech recognition means for converting speech information from each speaker into text data; a detection means for analyzing the text data from the speech recognition means and detecting a predetermined portion requiring assistance; a creating means for creating a message corresponding to the predetermined portion when the detecting means detects the predetermined portion, or for creating processed voice information by processing a portion of the voice information corresponding to the predetermined portion; providing means for converting the message into text information or into voice information and providing the message to a speaker who provided at least the voice information from which the predetermined portion was detected, or providing the processed voice information to a speaker other than the speaker who provided the voice information from which the predetermined portion was detected; The present invention is characterized by comprising:

[0008] According to the communication support device of the invention described in claim 1, when a call is made between a plurality of speakers in which voice information is transmitted and received over a network, the communication support device relays voice information from each speaker. In the communication support device, the voice information from each speaker is converted into text data by a voice recognition means. The detection means analyzes the text data from the voice recognition means and detects a predetermined portion requiring support.

[0009] When the detection means detects the predetermined portion, the creation means creates a message corresponding to the predetermined portion, or processes a portion of the voice information from the speaker that corresponds to the predetermined portion to create processed voice information. The provision means converts the message created by the creation means into text data or voice information and provides it to at least the speaker who provided the voice information that detected the predetermined portion, or provides the processed voice information to a speaker other than the speaker who provided the voice information that detected the predetermined portion. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to this invention, when a two-party call, telephone conference, or online conference is held, it is possible to appropriately support each speaker (participant), thereby improving the convenience for all speakers and improving the quality of the two-party call, telephone conference, or online conference. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a communication support system according to an embodiment; [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of a telephone control device to which a first embodiment of a communication support device according to the present invention is applied. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining a process in a call support system configured using the telephone control device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of a telephone control device to which a second embodiment of a communication support device according to the present invention is applied. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram for explaining a process in a call support system configured using a telephone control device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of a telephone control device to which a third embodiment of a communication support device according to the present invention is applied. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram for explaining a process in a call support system configured by using a telephone control device according to a third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the device and method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The device and method according to the present invention are applicable to, for example, a main unit that controls telephone calls, a telephone control device such as a PBX (Private Branch eXchange) or a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) server, a conference server for conducting online conferences, a cloud PBX, etc. Here, the main unit, PBX, SIP server, or other telephone control device is a device installed within a company or the like to construct a so-called business phone system, and relays the voices of both callers.

[0013] A conference server is a server device installed on the Internet to realize online conferences, and relays the voices of all participants in the online conference. A cloud PBX builds PBX functions on the Internet (on the cloud), allowing business phone functions to be used over an Internet line, and relays the voices of both callers. A telephone conference can be realized by equipping a telephone control device or cloud PBX with the functionality to become an access point for the telephone conference.

[0014] The device and method according to the present invention are applicable to various devices that relay voice information of all speakers who make a call or hold a conference, such as a telephone control device, a conference server, and a cloud PBX. In other words, the device and method according to the present invention are applicable to devices that relay voice information from each speaker when a call is made between multiple speakers in which voice information is transmitted and received through various networks. In the embodiments described below, for the sake of simplicity, the device and method according to the present invention are applied to a telephone control device installed in a premises such as an office to build a so-called business phone system, and a call between two parties is described as an example.

[0015] In the narrow sense, the term "call" means talking on the telephone. However, in this specification, the term "call" includes conversation between multiple speakers by sending and receiving voice information in real time over a specified network. In other words, in this specification, the term "call" does not only mean telephone communication between two people over a telephone line, but also includes cases where multiple speakers hold meetings or conferences by voice in real time, such as telephone conferences and online conferences.

[0016] [Example of call support system configuration] Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of a telephone call support system according to an embodiment. In Fig. 1, a wide area network 6 shown in the center includes an external telephone network 61 and an IP (Internet Protocol) network 62. The external telephone network 61 includes a public switched telephone network, a mobile phone network, etc., and mainly realizes voice call services. The IP network 62 refers to a computer network interconnected using Internet Protocol Suite technology, and is equivalent to the so-called "Internet."

[0017] A business phone system is constituted by connecting a plurality of internal telephone terminals (hereinafter referred to as telephone terminals) 3(1), 3(2), 3(3), ... to telephone control devices 1A, 1B, 1C, which are connected to an external telephone network 61 and an IP network 62, via an internal telephone network 2. The telephone control devices 1A, 1B, 1C control connections between internal lines and external lines and connections within internal lines. In other words, the telephone control devices 1A, 1B, 1C are connected to a plurality of telephone terminals 3(1), 3(2), 3(3), ..., and perform so-called call control such as connecting, disconnecting, and transferring communications between internal lines and external lines and communications within internal lines.

[0018] The telephone control devices 1A, 1B, and 1C are also connected to the IP network 62 because it is possible to use IP telephone services using VoIP technology through the IP network 62. The telephone control devices are divided into 1A, 1B, and 1C because each device has different functions in addition to the function of performing call control. The different functions of the telephone control devices 1A, 1B, and 1C will be described in detail later.

[0019] The telephone control devices 1A, 1B, and 1C are also connected to an internal information server 5(1) via a LAN (Local Area Network) 4. The internal information server 5(1) is a server device that manages various information used within the company, such as a customer information DB (Data Base), a transaction information DB, and a product information DB. The internal information server 5(1) is not limited to one unit, and multiple internal information servers 5(1), 5(2), ... may be provided, each of which manages different information. In this way, the telephone control devices 1A, 1B, and 1C are connected to the internal information server 5(1) via the LAN 4, making it possible to obtain required information from the internal information server 5(1).

[0020] As shown in FIG. 1, an outside telephone terminal 7(1) and an information providing server 8(1) are connected to the wide area network 6. Although not shown in FIG. 1, a mobile communication terminal such as a smartphone can also be connected via a base station of a mobile phone network. Although only one outside telephone terminal 7(1) is shown in FIG. 1, in reality, many outside telephone terminals such as outside telephone terminals 7(2), 7(3), ... are connected. The outside telephone terminals 7(1), 7(2), 7(3), ... may be connected to the wide area network 6 like a fixed telephone terminal located in a home, or may be connected via another telephone control device and used as a part of a business phone system.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 1, an information providing server 8(1) is connected to the wide area network 6. Although only one information providing server 8(1) is shown in Fig. 1, in reality, a large number of information providing servers such as information providing servers 8(2), 8(3), ... are connected. The information providing server 8(1) and the like are server devices that provide various types of information, such as train transfer information, past and current weather information (history) and future weather forecasts, and past news information.

[0022] The telephone control devices 1A, 1B, and 1C of the call support system shown in Fig. 1 do not only control the connection of call lines between internal and external lines and the connection of call lines within an internal line. The telephone control devices 1A, 1B, and 1C of this embodiment analyze the call voices from both speakers and have new functions such as (1) post-correction (correction of ambiguous utterances), (2) advance supplementation (supplementation of unclear utterances), and (3) advance prevention (overwriting of inappropriate utterances). Of course, it is also possible for one telephone control device to have all three functions shown as (1) to (3).

[0023] However, in the following, for simplicity, the telephone control devices 1A, 1B, and 1C will be described as each having a different function among the above (1) to (3). That is, the telephone control device 1A of the first embodiment has a (1) post-correction function (correction of ambiguous utterances). The telephone control device 1B of the second embodiment has a (2) advance supplementation function (supplementation of unclear utterances). The telephone control device 1C of the third embodiment has a (3) advance prevention function (overwriting of inappropriate utterances).

[0024] 1 have the same basic configuration, and therefore in the following description, unless otherwise specified, telephone terminals 3(1), 3(2), 3(3), ... are collectively referred to as telephone terminal 3. Similarly, external telephone terminals 7(1), 7(2), 7(3), ... have the same basic configuration, and therefore in the following description, unless otherwise specified, telephone terminals 7(1), 7(2), 7(3), ... are collectively referred to as external telephone terminal 7.

[0025] As described above, the call support system shown in Fig. 1 allows calls between telephone terminals and external telephone terminals 7 (calls between extensions and external lines) and calls between telephone terminals 3 (calls within an extension line). However, in the following, for ease of explanation, a case where a call is made by connecting a call line between the telephone terminals 3 and the external telephone terminals 7 (calls between an extension and an external line) will be described as an example. Below, the telephone control devices 1A, 1B, and 1C of the first, second, and third embodiments will be specifically described.

[0026] [First embodiment] <Configuration Example of Telephone Control Device 1A of First Embodiment> The telephone control device 1A of the first embodiment has a function of analyzing the voices of both speakers who communicate over a telephone line and performing post-correction (correction of ambiguous utterances). Fig. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of the telephone control device 1A to which the first embodiment of the communication support device according to the present invention is applied.

[0027] 2, connection terminal 101T constitutes a connection terminal to an external telephone network 61, and telephone network I / F (Interface) 101 is a part that performs communication processing through the external telephone network 61. That is, telephone network I / F 101 converts a signal addressed to the device itself that is transmitted via the external telephone network 61 into a signal in a format that can be processed by the device, and takes in this signal. In addition, telephone network I / F 101 converts a signal to be transmitted from the device to a target destination into a signal in a transmission format, and sends this to the external telephone network 61 to transmit it to the destination.

[0028] The control unit 102 is a microprocessor including a central processing unit (CPU), read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), non-volatile memory, etc. (not shown), and controls each unit of the telephone control device 1A. The storage device 103 is a device unit including a recording medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD) and a driver for the recording medium, and records, reads, modifies, deletes, etc., various data on the recording medium. The storage device 103 stores and holds necessary data and programs, and is also used as a working area for temporarily storing intermediate data generated in various processes.

[0029] The terminal information file 104 is created in a recording device such as an HDD or SSD, and stores various information related to the telephone terminal 3, including the extension number of the telephone terminal 3 connected (accommodated) to the device, and also stores information indicating the current state of the telephone terminal 3. Call control for the telephone terminal 3 is performed using the information stored in the terminal information file 104.

[0030] The ambiguous utterance dictionary 105A is created in a recording device such as an HDD or SSD, and holds various dictionary data for detecting ambiguous utterances in the voices of both speakers who are connected to a telephone line. Examples of the dictionary data include ambiguous expressions such as "probably," "I think," "if I remember correctly," and "probably," as well as expressions that include numbers such as "xx minutes," "xx hours," and "xx yen." Expressions that include numbers are included because the number portion is not necessarily correct.

[0031] The search destination determination dictionary 106 is also created in a recording device such as an HDD or SSD. The search destination determination dictionary 106 holds dictionary data for determining whether to search for stored information such as the internal information server 5(1), ... or the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62 in order to search for the exact content of an ambiguous comment portion. Simply put, the dictionary data is a set of search keywords such as "search keyword: internal" and "search keyword: external" paired with information indicating whether the search destination is internal or external.

[0032] Examples of dictionary data in the search destination determination dictionary 106 include "product number 1234: inside", "sales representative: inside", "from XX station to XX station: outside", and "weather on XX month on XX day: outside". Here, "inside" refers to the internal information server 5(1) connected to the LAN 4, and "outside" refers to the information providing server 8(1) on the IP network 62. By narrowing down the search destination using the search destination determination dictionary 106, the exact content of an ambiguous statement can be searched for appropriately and quickly.

[0033] The connection end 107T constitutes a connection end to the internal telephone network 2. The internal I / F (Interface) 107 enables communication between the telephone control device 1A and each of the telephone terminals 3 accommodated in the telephone control device 1A through the internal telephone network 2. Therefore, signals from the telephone terminals 3 are converted by the connection I / F 107 into signals in a format that can be processed by the telephone control device itself and then taken in. Also, signals from the telephone control device 1A to the telephone terminals 3 are converted by the connection I / F 107 into signals in a format for transmission and then transmitted to the telephone terminals 3. Therefore, communication through the internal telephone network 2 is carried out through the connection end 107T and the connection I / F 107.

[0034] The connection end 108T constitutes a connection end to the LAN4. The LANI / F (Interface) 108 enables communication between the telephone control device 1A and the internal information servers 5(1), ... through the LAN4. Therefore, signals from the telephone control device 1A to the internal information servers 5(1), ... are converted by the LANI / F 108 into signals in a transmission format and transmitted to the internal information servers 5(1), .... Furthermore, signals from the internal information servers 5(1), ... are converted by the LANI / F 108 into signals in a format that can be processed by the device itself and then taken in. Therefore, communication through the LAN4 is performed through the connection end 108T and the LANI / F 108.

[0035] The call control unit 109, under the control of the control unit 102, uses management information from the terminal information file 104 to perform call control such as outgoing calls, incoming calls, responses, and disconnections for the telephone terminal 3. As shown in Fig. 2, the call control unit 109 includes an outgoing call control unit 109S and an incoming call control unit 109R. When the call control unit 109 receives an outgoing call (outgoing call request) from a subordinate telephone terminal 3, the outgoing call control unit 109S functions to call the specified destination, and when the destination responds, the telephone line is connected to enable the call.

[0036] In addition, when the call control unit 109 receives an incoming call addressed to itself (a call notification from the other party), the incoming call control unit 109R functions to notify the subordinate telephone terminal 3 of the incoming call. As a result, the telephone terminal 3 emits a ring tone from a sound emitting unit (ringer) to notify the occurrence of the incoming call. When an operation to answer the incoming call (off-hook operation) is performed at any of the telephone terminals 3, the incoming call control unit 109R detects this, answers the incoming call, and connects a communication line to the off-hook telephone terminal 3 to enable the call.

[0037] Thereafter, processes such as putting the connected telephone line on hold, transferring, and releasing are performed under the control of the control unit 102 in response to requests from the subordinate telephone terminals 3. The control unit 102 also controls turning on / off an LED (Light Emitting Diode) provided in the subordinate telephone terminals 3 and controls display on the display.

[0038] The connection end 110T constitutes a connection end to the IP network 62. The communication I / F (Interface) 110 is a part that performs communication processing through the IP network 62. As a result, the telephone control device 1A can access an information providing server 8(1), ..., etc. on the IP network 62 through the communication I / F 110 and the connection end 110T, and can receive necessary information by performing a search.

[0039] The conversation support processing unit 120A is a unit that realizes the function of analyzing the conversation voices from both speakers who communicate via a telephone line and performing post-correction (correction of ambiguous utterances). As shown in Fig. 2, the conversation support processing unit 120A includes a voice processing unit 121A that includes a voice recognition unit 1211, an ambiguous utterance detection unit 1212, and a keyword extraction unit 1213. Furthermore, the conversation support processing unit 120A includes a search destination determination unit 122, a search execution unit 123, a correctness determination unit 124, a correction sentence creation unit 125, and a correction providing unit 126.

[0040] The voice recognition unit 1211 connects a telephone line and converts the call voices of both speakers who are communicating into text data. In this case, the voice recognition unit 1211 converts the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 and the call voice from the outside telephone terminal 7 into text data so that they can be distinguished from each other. The ambiguous utterance detection unit 1212 analyzes the text data converted from the call voices of each speaker by dividing them into phrases and words, and detects ambiguous utterance parts by referring to the ambiguous utterance dictionary 105A.

[0041] The keyword extraction unit 1213 extracts search keywords for searching for the exact content of the ambiguous utterance portion detected by the ambiguous utterance detection unit 1212, from the text data converted by the voice recognition unit 1211. The search destination determination unit 122 refers to the search destination determination dictionary 106 using the search keywords extracted by the keyword extraction unit 1213, and determines whether to search the internal information server 5(1), ... or the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62.

[0042] The search execution unit 123 performs a process of executing a search using the search keyword extracted by the keyword extraction unit 1213, with the information stored in the search destination determined by the search destination determination unit 122 as the search target. In this case, if the search destination is the internal information server 5(1), ..., a predetermined search program is executed, and information matching the search keyword (search result) is obtained from the information stored in the internal information server 5(1), .... Also, if the search destination is the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62, the search execution unit 123 executes a predetermined browser (web page viewing software), executes a search using the search keyword, and obtains information matching the search keyword (search result).

[0043] The correctness judgment unit 124 compares the content of the ambiguous utterance part detected by the ambiguous utterance detection unit 1212 with the search results acquired by the search execution unit 123 to judge whether the content of the ambiguous utterance part is correct or incorrect. If the correctness judgment unit 124 judges that the content of the ambiguous utterance part detected by the ambiguous utterance detection unit 1212 is correct, the processing for that ambiguous utterance part ends. However, if the correctness judgment unit 124 judges that the content of the ambiguous utterance part detected by the ambiguous utterance detection unit 1212 is incorrect, the correction sentence creation unit 125 functions.

[0044] The correction sentence creation unit 125 creates a correction sentence to correct the content of the detected ambiguous utterance portion, taking into consideration the search results obtained by the search execution unit 123 and information such as search keywords. The correction providing unit 126 converts the correction sentence (text data) created by the correction sentence creation unit 125 into voice information and provides it to the speaker connected to the telephone line through the telephone line. In other words, the correction sentence can be provided as voice information to both the originating speaker and the receiving speaker. This allows the erroneous utterance portion to be corrected simultaneously for both the originating speaker and the receiving speaker.

[0045] As described above, the voice processing unit 121A processes the voices of both speakers who are connected to the telephone line and makes it possible to distinguish which speaker's voice is the subject of the processing. Simply put, when a communication line is connected between the telephone terminal 3 and the outside telephone terminal 7, the voice processing unit 121A processes the voices of the speakers who are connected to the telephone terminal 3 and the outside telephone terminal 7 in a manner that makes it possible to distinguish between the voices of the speakers who are connected to the telephone terminal 3 and the outside telephone terminal 7. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish whether the ambiguous utterance portion for which the correction sentence was created is the part of the voice of the telephone terminal 3 or the part of the voice of the telephone terminal 7.

[0046] Therefore, the correction providing unit 126 can convert the correction sentence (text data) created by the correction sentence creating unit 125 into audio information and provide it only to the speaker who made the erroneous statement. In this case, the speaker who made the erroneous statement can correct the error in his / her own statement by his / her own voice and provide it to the other speaker. In this case, a softer response can be made, in which the speaker who made the erroneous statement can feel convinced and the other speaker can easily accept the correction.

[0047] <Processing in the communication support system according to the first embodiment> 3 is a sequence diagram for explaining the process of the call support system configured using the telephone control device 1A of the first embodiment. As described above, by making a call from the telephone terminal 3 to the outside line telephone terminal 7, or by making a call from the outside line telephone terminal 7 to the telephone terminal 3, a call line is connected between the telephone terminal 3 and the outside line telephone terminal 7, and a call is started (step S1).

[0048] 1, since the telephone terminal 3 is a telephone terminal under the control of the telephone control device 1A, all of the voice communication between the telephone terminal 3 and the outside telephone terminal 7 is transmitted and received via the telephone control device 1A. That is, the telephone control device 1A relays all of the voice communication between the telephone terminal 3 and the outside telephone terminal 7. For this reason, in the telephone control device 1A, transfer of the voice communication and voice recognition are started under the control of the control unit 102 (step S2).

[0049] Specifically, in step S2, the call voice from the outside telephone terminal 7 received through the connection terminal 101T and the telephone network I / F 101 is transferred (sent) to the telephone terminal 3 through the extension I / F 107 and the connection terminal 107T. Also, in step S2, the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 received through the connection terminal 107T and the extension I / F 107 is transferred (sent) to the outside telephone terminal 7 through the telephone network I / F 101 and the connection terminal 101T. Furthermore, in step S2, under the control of the control unit 102, the voice recognition unit 1211 of the voice processing unit 121A functions to start a process of converting each of the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 and the call voice from the outside telephone terminal 7 into text data.

[0050] At the same time, the control unit 102 controls the ambiguous utterance detection unit 1212 and the keyword extraction unit 1213 of the voice processing unit 121A to detect ambiguous utterance parts and extract search keywords (step S3). In step S3, the ambiguous utterance detection unit 1212 receives text data from the voice recognition unit 1211, detects phrases and words, and detects ambiguous utterance parts by referring to the ambiguous utterance dictionary 105A. As described above, the ambiguous utterance parts are parts including ambiguous expressions such as "probably," "I think," "if I remember correctly," and "probably," and parts including numbers such as "xx minutes," [xx hours], and "xx yen."

[0051] In step S3, the keyword extraction unit 1213 assumes that there is text data corresponding to the telephone call voice such as, for example, "The next national holiday after Mountain Day is probably Autumnal Equinox Day, I think." In this case, the part "Probably Autumnal Equinox Day, I think." is extracted as an ambiguous utterance part. Therefore, the keyword extraction unit 1213 also considers the part immediately before the ambiguous part, and extracts the phrase "The next national holiday after Mountain Day is," which is equivalent to "Autumnal Equinox Day," as a search keyword.

[0052] Also, in step S3, the keyword extraction unit 1213 assumes that there is text data corresponding to the telephone call voice such as, for example, "The time required from Machida to Hashimoto is 5 minutes." In this case, the part "It's 5 minutes" is extracted as an ambiguous utterance part. Therefore, the keyword extraction unit 1213 also takes into consideration the part immediately before the ambiguous part, and extracts the phrase "The time required from Machida to Hashimoto is," which is the part equivalent to "5 minutes," as a search keyword.

[0053] Next, under the control of the control unit 102, the search destination determination unit 122 functions to refer to the search destination determination dictionary 106 and perform a process of determining the search destination based on the search keywords extracted by the keyword extraction unit 1213 (step S4). Specifically, the search destination determination unit 122 determines whether the search destination should be the internal information server 5(1), ... on the LAN 4 or the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62.

[0054] For example, in the case of the above-mentioned search keyword "What is the next holiday after Mountain Day?", words such as "Mountain Day" and "holiday" are general words and are not phrases that are particularly used internally (in a company), so it is determined that the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62 is the search destination. In contrast, if the words included in the search keyword are phrases that are particularly used internally (in a company), such as "product number 1234" or "sales representative of XXX Co., Ltd.", it is determined that the internal information server 5(1), ... on the LAN 4 is the search destination.

[0055] Also, if the search keyword is "travel time from Machida to Hashimoto," it is possible to specify the web page itself to be searched (inquiry destination) based on the search keyword, such as searching the web page of a specific railway company on IP network 62. Similarly, if the search keyword is information indicating a customer, such as "product number 1234" or "sales representative of XXX Co., Ltd.", it is possible to specify the database itself to be searched, such as a product information DB (Data Base) or customer information DB on LAN 4.

[0056] Next, under the control of the control unit 102, the search execution unit 123 functions to execute a search for the search destination determined by the search destination determination unit 122 using the search keyword extracted by the keyword extraction unit 1213 (step S5). When the search destination is the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62, the search execution unit 123 uses a predetermined browser (web page viewing software) to input the search keyword, and executes a search for the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62 as the search destination. As a result, for example, when the search keyword "What is the next national holiday after Mountain Day" is used, the search result "Respect for the Aged Day" is obtained. Also, when the search keyword "How long does it take to get from Machida to Hashimoto?" is used, the search result "11 minutes for rapid train, 14 minutes for local train" is obtained.

[0057] Furthermore, when the search destination is the internal information server 5(1), ... on the LAN 4, the search execution unit 123 executes a predetermined search program, inputs a search keyword, and performs a search on the internal information server 5(1), ... on the LAN 4. As a result, to give a specific example, when the search keyword "product number 1234" is used, the product information DB is referenced and detailed information such as the specifications of product number 1234 is obtained. When the search keyword "sales representative of XXXX Co., Ltd." is used, the customer information DB is referenced and the name of the sales representative of XXXX Co., Ltd. is obtained, such as "Sales Division 1, Suzuki Taro."

[0058] Next, under the control of the control unit 102, the truth / false judgment unit 124 functions to compare the ambiguous utterance portion detected by the ambiguous utterance detection unit 1212 with the search result acquired by the search execution unit 123, and judges whether the content of the ambiguous utterance portion is correct or incorrect (step S6). Specifically, when the ambiguous utterance portion is "Probably / Autumnal Equinox / I think," the search result is "Respect for the Aged Day" as described above, so it is judged that the ambiguous utterance portion is incorrect. Also, when the ambiguous utterance portion is "5 minutes," the search result is "11 minutes for rapid train, 14 minutes for local train" as described above, so it can be judged that the ambiguous utterance portion is incorrect.

[0059] If it is determined in step S6 that the ambiguous utterance is not an error, then there is no need for subsequent correction, and the process for that ambiguous utterance is terminated, and the process moves to the process for the next ambiguous utterance. Assume that it is determined to be an error in the step S6 determination process. In this case, under the control of the control unit 102, the correction statement creation unit 125 functions to perform a process for creating a correction statement (step S7). In step S7, the correction statement creation unit 125 creates a correction statement to correct the content of the detected ambiguous utterance, taking into consideration the search results of the search execution unit 123 and information such as the search keywords extracted by the keyword extraction unit 1213.

[0060] For example, in the case of the former example described above, a correction such as "The next national holiday after Mountain Day is Respect for the Aged Day" is created. In the case of the latter example described above, a correction such as "The travel time from Machida to Hashimoto is 11 minutes for rapid trains and 14 minutes for local trains" is created. Thereafter, under the control of the control unit 102, the correction providing unit 126 functions to convert the correction (text data) created by the correction creating unit 125 into voice data and provide it to the speaker connected to the telephone line (step S8).

[0061] In this case, for example, when the control unit 102 detects that the voices of both speakers have been interrupted, the correction providing unit 126 provides the voice data corresponding to the correction sentence (corrected voice data) to both speakers (steps S9 and S10). This is to provide the voice data corresponding to the correction sentence appropriately without interrupting the call. As a result, if the ambiguous utterance portion detected in step S3 contains an error, the function of the telephone control device 1A can automatically correct the utterance to both speakers.

[0062] After that, when the transmission of the voice data of the correction sentence from the correction providing unit 126 is completed, the control unit 102 erases the voice data of the correction sentence and returns to the normal call (step S11). As a result, the transmission and reception of the voice of the call continues without interruption (step S12), and the above-mentioned process from step S2 is repeated.

[0063] In this way, the telephone control device 1A of the first embodiment can analyze the voices of both speakers who are connected to the telephone line and make post-correction (correction of ambiguous utterances). This allows for automatic correction to correct information without leaving mistakes as they are, preventing inaccurate utterances that cause inconvenience to the other party. This makes it possible to prevent disadvantages caused by inaccurate utterances.

[0064] [Second embodiment] <Configuration Example of Telephone Control Device 1B of Second Embodiment> The telephone control device 1B of the second embodiment has a function of analyzing the voices of both speakers who are connected to a telephone line and making a call, and performing advance supplementation (supplementation of an unclear utterance portion). FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of the telephone control device 1B to which the second embodiment of the call support device according to the present invention is applied. In the telephone control device 1B shown in FIG. 4, the parts configured similarly to the telephone control device 1A of the first embodiment explained using FIG. 2 are given the same reference symbols, and detailed explanations of the parts are omitted to avoid duplication.

[0065] As shown in Fig. 4, the telephone control device 1B of the second embodiment includes an unknown situation dictionary 105B. The unknown situation dictionary 105B is created in a recording device such as an HDD or SSD, and holds various dictionary data for detecting unclear utterances in the voices of both speakers who are connected to a telephone line and talking on the telephone. Examples of the dictionary data include expressions for when you can't find the words, such as "Um, um, ...", "Um, ...", "What was it again?", and "How many minutes was it again?", and expressions for asking the other party questions.

[0066] The conversation support processing unit 120B is a unit that realizes a function of analyzing the call voices from both speakers who are connected to a telephone line and performing advance supplementation (supplementing unclear utterance parts). As shown in Fig. 2, the conversation support processing unit 120B includes a voice processing unit 121B consisting of a voice recognition unit 1211, an unclear utterance detection unit 1214, and a keyword extraction unit 1215. Furthermore, the conversation support processing unit 120B includes a search destination determination unit 122, a search execution unit 123, a search success / failure determination unit 127, a supplementary sentence creation unit 128, and a supplement providing unit 129.

[0067] As described above, the voice recognition unit 1211 connects a telephone line and converts the call voices of both speakers who make a call into text data. In this case, the voice recognition unit 1211 converts the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 and the call voice from the outside telephone terminal 7 into text data so that they can be distinguished from each other. The unclear utterance detection unit 1214 analyzes the text data converted from the call voices of each speaker by dividing them into phrases and words, and detects the unclear utterance portion by referring to the unclear situation dictionary 105B. In addition, when the call voice (utterance) is interrupted midway, such as "The product number is...", and thereafter there is silence for a predetermined time or more (for example, 2 seconds or more), the unclear utterance detection unit 1214 detects the relevant portion as the unclear utterance portion.

[0068] The keyword extraction unit 1215 extracts search keywords for searching the content of the unclear utterance portion detected by the unclear utterance detection unit 1214 from the text data converted by the voice recognition unit 1211. The search destination determination unit 122 refers to the search destination determination dictionary 106 using the search keywords extracted by the keyword extraction unit 1215, and determines whether to search the internal information server 5(1), ... or the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62.

[0069] The search execution unit 123 performs a process of executing a search using the search keyword extracted by the keyword extraction unit 1215, with the information stored in the search destination determined by the search destination determination unit 122 as the search target. In this case, if the search destination is the internal information server 5(1), ..., a predetermined search program is executed, and information matching the search keyword (search result) is obtained from the information stored in the internal information server 5(1), .... Also, if the search destination is the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62, the search execution unit 123 executes a predetermined browser (web page viewing software), executes a search using the search keyword, and obtains information matching the search keyword (search result).

[0070] The search success / failure determination unit 127 determines whether an answer corresponding to the unclear utterance portion has been found based on the search result by the search execution unit 123. The supplemental text creation unit 128 functions according to the determination result by the search success / failure determination unit 127. That is, when the determination result by the search success / failure determination unit 127 indicates that an answer corresponding to the unclear utterance portion has not been found, the supplemental text creation unit 128 creates a supplemental text notifying that an answer to the unclear portion has not been obtained. Also, when the determination result by the search success / failure determination unit 127 indicates that an answer corresponding to the unclear utterance portion has been found, the supplemental text creation unit 128 creates a supplemental text including the search result by the search execution unit 123.

[0071] The supplement providing unit 129 converts the supplemental sentence (text data) created by the supplemental sentence creating unit 128 into voice information and provides it to the speaker connected to the telephone line through the telephone line. That is, the supplemental sentence can be provided as voice information to both the originating speaker and the receiving speaker. This allows the originating speaker and the receiving speaker to simultaneously receive supplemental information on the unclear utterance portion.

[0072] As described above, the voice processing unit 121B processes the voices of both speakers who are connected to the telephone line and can distinguish which speaker's voice is the subject of the processing. Simply put, for example, when a communication line is connected between the telephone terminal 3 and the outside telephone terminal 7, the voice processing unit 121B processes the voices of the speakers who are connected to the telephone terminal 3 and the outside telephone terminal 7 in a manner that can distinguish between them. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish whether the unclear utterance portion for which the supplementary sentence was created is the part of the voice of the telephone terminal 3 or the part of the voice of the telephone terminal 7.

[0073] Therefore, the supplement providing unit 129 can convert the supplemental sentence (text data) created by the supplemental sentence creating unit 128 into audio information and provide it only to the speaker who made the unclear utterance. In this case, the speaker who made the unclear utterance can supplement the unclear part of his / her utterance with his / her own voice and provide it to the other speaker. In this case, a gentler response can be made, in which the speaker who made the unclear utterance can feel convinced and the other speaker can easily accept the supplement.

[0074] <Processing in the communication support system according to the second embodiment> Fig. 5 is a sequence diagram for explaining the process of the call support system configured using the telephone control device 1B of the second embodiment. In Fig. 5, it is assumed that a call line is connected between the telephone terminal 3 and the outside line telephone terminal 7 by making a call from the telephone terminal 3 to the outside line telephone terminal 7, or by making a call from the outside line telephone terminal 7 to the telephone terminal 3, and a call is started (step S21).

[0075] As described with reference to FIG. 1, the telephone terminal 3 is a telephone terminal under the control of the telephone control device 1B, so all of the voice communication between the telephone terminal 3 and the outside telephone terminal 7 is transmitted and received via the telephone control device 1B. That is, the telephone control device 1B relays all of the voice communication between the telephone terminal 3 and the outside telephone terminal 7. For this reason, in the telephone control device 1B, transfer of the voice communication and voice recognition are started under the control of the control unit 102 (step S22). In this way, the process of step S21 in FIG. 5 is the same as the process of step S1 shown in FIG. 3, and the process of step S22 in FIG. 5 is the same as the process of step S2 shown in FIG. 3.

[0076] At the same time, the control unit 102 controls the unclear utterance detection unit 1214 and the keyword extraction unit 1215 of the voice processing unit 121B to detect the unclear utterance portion and extract the search keyword (step S23). In step S23, the unclear utterance detection unit 1214 receives text data from the voice recognition unit 1211, detects phrases and words, and detects the unclear utterance portion by referring to the unknown situation dictionary 105B. As described above, the unclear utterance portion is, for example, a portion including an expression when the words cannot be found, such as "Um, um, ...", "What was it?", or "How many minutes was it?", or a portion including an expression to ask the other party. Furthermore, a portion where the voice (utterance) of the call is interrupted midway and then silence occurs for a predetermined time or more (for example, 2 seconds or more) is also detected as the unclear utterance portion.

[0077] For example, when a voice message includes a phrase such as "The model number of the adapter delivered to Mr. / Ms. X last month is, um, um, ...", the portion "um, um, ..." is extracted by the unclear utterance detection unit 1214 as an unclear utterance portion. In this case, the keyword extraction unit 1215 considers the portion immediately before the unclear utterance portion and extracts search keywords such as "Mr. / Ms. X", "Delivered last month", and "Model number of adapter". In addition, when a voice message includes a phrase such as "How many minutes is the flight time from Haneda to Fukuoka?", the portion "How many minutes is it" is detected by the unclear utterance detection unit 1214 as an unclear utterance portion. In this case, the keyword extraction unit 1215 considers the portion immediately before the unclear utterance portion and extracts search keywords such as "Flight time from Haneda to Fukuoka".

[0078] Next, under the control of the control unit 102, the search destination determination unit 122 functions to refer to the search destination determination dictionary 106 and perform a process of determining the search destination based on the search keywords extracted by the keyword extraction unit 1213 (step S24). In step S24, the search destination determination unit 122 refers to the search destination determination dictionary 106 based on the search keywords extracted by the keyword extraction unit 1213 and determines whether the search destination should be the internal information server 5(1), ... or the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62.

[0079] For example, if the words included in the search keyword are phrases that are used especially internally (within a company), such as the above-mentioned "Mr. / Ms. XX," "Delivered last month," and "Adapter model number," then it is determined that the internal information server 5(1), ... on the LAN 4 is the search destination. In contrast, in the case of the above-mentioned search keyword "Flight time from Haneda to Fukuoka," words such as "Haneda," "Fukuoka," and "Flight time" are general words and are not phrases that are used especially internally (within a company). For this reason, in this case, it is determined that the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62 is the search destination.

[0080] Furthermore, when the search keyword is information indicating a customer, such as "Mr. / Ms. XX" or "adapter model number," it is possible to specify the database itself to be searched, such as a customer information DB or product information DB on LAN 4. Similarly, when the search keyword is "flight time from Haneda to Fukuoka," it is also possible to specify the web page itself to be searched (inquiry destination) based on the search keyword, such as searching the web page of a specific airline on IP network 62.

[0081] Next, under the control of the control unit 102, the search execution unit 123 functions to execute a search for the search destination determined by the search destination determination unit 122 using the search keyword extracted by the keyword extraction unit 1215 (step S25). When the search destination is the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62, the search execution unit 123 executes a search for the information providing server 8(1), ... on the IP network 62 as the search destination by inputting the search keyword using a predetermined browser (web page viewing software). As a result, for example, when the search keyword "flight time from Haneda to Fukuoka" is used, the search result "about 1 hour 50 minutes" is obtained.

[0082] Furthermore, when the search destination is the internal information server 5(1), ... on the LAN 4, the search execution unit 123 executes a prescribed search program, inputs search keywords, and performs a search on the internal information server 5(1), ... on the LAN 4 as the search destination. As a specific example, assume that search keywords such as "Mr. / Ms. XX", "Delivered last month", and "Adapter model number" are used. In this case, the transaction information DB is referenced, and a search result of, for example, "ADP1234", which is the "Adapter model number" delivered "last month" to the customer "Mr. / Ms. XX", is obtained.

[0083] Next, under the control of the control unit 102, the search success / failure determination unit 127 functions to determine whether the search performed by the search execution unit 123 is successful (step S26). Specifically, the search execution unit 123 determines whether a search result has been obtained. Next, under the control of the control unit 102, the supplementary sentence creation unit 128 functions to perform a process of creating a supplementary sentence (step S27). If the search success / failure determination unit 127 determines in step S26 that no search result has been obtained (search unsuccessful), the supplementary sentence creation unit 128 creates a supplementary sentence such as, for example, "Search failed." Conversely, if the search success / failure determination unit 127 determines in step S26 that a search result has been obtained (search successful), the supplementary sentence creation unit 128 creates a supplementary sentence based on the result of the search process performed by the search execution unit 123 in step S27.

[0084] For example, if the search keyword "flight time from Haneda to Fukuoka" is used and the search result is "about 1 hour 50 minutes," a supplemental sentence such as "The flight time from Haneda to Fukuoka is about 1 hour 50 minutes" is created. In addition, if the search keywords "Mr. / Ms. XX," "Delivered last month," and "Adapter model number" are used and the search result is "ADP1234," a supplemental sentence such as "The model number of the adapter delivered to Mr. / Ms. XX last month is ADP1234" is created.

[0085] Thereafter, under the control of the control unit 102, the supplementary provision unit 129 functions to convert the supplementary sentence (text data) created by the supplementary sentence creation unit 128 into voice data and provide it to the speakers connected to the telephone line (step S28). In this case, for example, when the control unit 102 detects that the voices of both speakers have been interrupted, the supplementary provision unit 129 provides it to both speakers (steps S29 and S30). This is to provide the voice data corresponding to the supplementary sentence appropriately without interrupting the call. As a result, for the unclear utterance part detected in step S23, information that supplements (complements) the utterance part can be automatically provided to both speakers by the function of the telephone control device 1B.

[0086] After that, when the transmission of the voice data of the supplementary sentence from the supplement providing unit 129 is completed, the control unit 102 erases the voice data of the supplementary sentence and returns to the normal call (step S31). After the process of step S31, the voice processing unit 121B functions, the voice recognition unit 1211 converts the call voice into text data, and the unclear remark detection unit 1214 functions to extract a part indicating an evaluation of the provided supplementary sentence. For example, if negative words such as "That's not right," "It's not right," or "It doesn't make sense," are extracted immediately after the provision of the supplementary sentence, the control unit 102 returns to the process from step S25, searches again, and provides additional supplementation using another search result (step S32).

[0087] In contrast, if positive words such as "Oh, that's right," "I see," or "Finally, I feel better," are extracted immediately after the supplementary text is provided, the search for the current unclear portion is terminated (step S33). Also, if words indicating no need for supplementation, such as "I'll look into this matter and get back to you later," or "Maybe another time," are extracted immediately after the supplementary text is provided, the search for the current unclear portion is terminated (step S33). After this, the transmission and reception of voice communication continues (step S34), and the above-mentioned processes from step S23 are repeated.

[0088] In steps S32 and S33, although not shown, for example, a "negative wording dictionary" stored in memory device 103 is used, and in step S33, although not shown, for example, a "positive wording dictionary" stored in memory device 103 is used.

[0089] In this way, the telephone control device 1B of the second embodiment can analyze the voices of both speakers who are connected to the telephone line and can perform advance supplementation (supplementation of unclear utterances). As a result, even if an unclear thing is said during a call and the conversation does not progress, the answer to the unclear utterance is automatically displayed, so that delays in the conversation can be prevented and the call (conversation) can be carried out smoothly.

[0090] [Third embodiment] <Configuration Example of Telephone Control Device 1C of Third Embodiment> The telephone control device 1C of the third embodiment has a function of analyzing the voices of both speakers who are connected to a telephone line and making a call, and performing preventive measures (overwriting inappropriate remarks). FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration example of the telephone control device 1C to which the third embodiment of the call support device according to the present invention is applied. In the telephone control device 1C shown in FIG. 6, parts configured in the same way as the telephone control device 1A of the first embodiment explained using FIG. 2 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanations of those parts are omitted.

[0091] As shown in Fig. 6, the telephone control device 1C of the third embodiment includes an inappropriate word dictionary 105C. The inappropriate word dictionary 105C is created in a recording device such as an HDD or SSD, and holds various dictionary data for detecting inappropriate utterances in the voices of both speakers who make a call by connecting a call line. The inappropriate word dictionary 105C stores various words that may make the other party feel uncomfortable, such as words that make fun of the other party, discriminatory words, inappropriate words, and words that go against public order and morals.

[0092] The conversation support processing unit 120C is a unit that realizes a function of analyzing the call voices from both speakers who communicate via a telephone line and performing preventive measures (overwriting inappropriate remarks). As shown in FIG. 2, the conversation support processing unit 120C includes a voice processing unit 121C that is made up of a voice recognition unit 1211, an inappropriate remark detection unit 1216, and an inappropriate remark overwriting unit 1217. Furthermore, the conversation support processing unit 120C includes a guidance creation unit 131 and a guidance provision unit 132.

[0093] The telephone control device 1C of the third embodiment prevents a call voice from a subordinate telephone terminal 3 from providing that portion to the outside telephone terminal 7 when the call voice includes an inappropriate remark. Furthermore, the telephone control device 1C provides a guidance message for calling attention to the telephone terminal 3 that is the sender of the call voice including the inappropriate remark. Therefore, even if the call voice from the outside telephone terminal 7 includes an inappropriate remark, the call voice is provided to the telephone terminal 3 as is.

[0094] That is, the voice recognition unit 1211 can distinguish between a call voice from the telephone terminal 3 and a call voice from the outside telephone terminal 7. Therefore, in the telephone control device of the third embodiment, a call line is connected and a process of converting the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 that makes a call into text data is performed. The inappropriate remark detection unit 1216 analyzes the text data converted from the call voice from the speaker of the telephone terminal 3 by dividing it into phrases and words, and detects inappropriate words by referring to the inappropriate word dictionary 105C.

[0095] The inappropriate remarks overwriting unit 1217 replaces the part of the call voice corresponding to the inappropriate remarks detected by the inappropriate remarks detection unit 1216 with silence in the telephone control device 1C of this embodiment, and transmits the part to the outside telephone terminal 7, which is the other party. In this way, the call voice transmitted and received is always transmitted to the other party via the voice processing unit 121C. The guidance creation unit 131 creates a guidance message that calls attention to the speaker of the telephone terminal 3, which is the provider of the call voice in which the inappropriate remarks were detected. The guidance message is, for example, "An inappropriate remark was made. The voice information of that part has not been transmitted to the other party."

[0096] The guidance providing unit 132 converts the guidance message (text data) created by the guidance creating unit 131 into voice information and provides it only to the speaker of the telephone terminal 3 who made the inappropriate remark. That is, the guidance providing unit 132 provides the guidance message (text data) created by the guidance creating unit 131 to the subordinate telephone terminal 3 connected to the telephone line via the extension I / F 107 and the connection terminal 107T.

[0097] In the telephone control device 1C of the third embodiment, inappropriate remarks are detected from the call voice from the subordinate telephone terminal 3. However, the voice processing unit 121C of the telephone control device 1C of the third embodiment can also process the call voices from both speakers who make a call by connecting a call line, and can process the call voice of each speaker in a manner that makes it possible to distinguish which speaker is the target of processing. Therefore, inappropriate remarks can be detected from the call voice from the outside telephone terminal 7 in the same way as when the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 is processed, and the call voice of the relevant part can be prevented from being provided to the telephone terminal 3. In this case, a guidance message notifying that an inappropriate remark has been made can be formed and provided to the outside telephone terminal 7.

[0098] <Processing in the communication support system according to the third embodiment> Fig. 7 is a sequence diagram for explaining the process of the call support system configured using the telephone control device 1C of the third embodiment. In Fig. 7, it is assumed that a call line is connected between the telephone terminal 3 and the outside line telephone terminal 7 by making a call from the telephone terminal 3 to the outside line telephone terminal 7, or by making a call from the outside line telephone terminal 7 to the telephone terminal 3, and a call is started (step S41).

[0099] 1, since the telephone terminal 3 is a telephone terminal under the control of the telephone control device 1C, all of the voice communication between the telephone terminal 3 and the outside telephone terminal 7 is transmitted and received via the telephone control device 1C. That is, the telephone control device 1C relays all of the voice communication between the telephone terminal 3 and the outside telephone terminal 7. For this reason, in the telephone control device 1C, transfer of the voice communication and voice recognition are started under the control of the control unit 102 (step S42).

[0100] In the telephone control device 1C of the third embodiment, for example, the control unit 102 functions to extract information about the speaker of the outside telephone terminal 7, which is the other end of the call, from the contents of the greeting, etc., based on the text data converted from the call voice by the voice recognition unit 1211 (step S43). In addition, in step S43, the control unit 102 also uses the telephone number assigned to the outside telephone terminal 7, which is the other end, to extract information about the speaker of the outside telephone terminal 7. When the outside telephone terminal 7 is the caller, the caller telephone number provided by the outside telephone terminal 7 can be used as the telephone number of the outside telephone terminal 7, and when the outside telephone terminal 7 is the callee, the callee telephone number provided by the telephone terminal 3, which is the caller, can be used.

[0101] The information about the speaker of the external telephone terminal 7 extracted in step S43 is used in the extraction process of the inappropriate remarks. For example, if the speaker of the external telephone terminal 7 is a customer, the inappropriate remarks must be detected at a high level so as not to be rude. Also, if the speaker of the external telephone terminal 7 is a supplier, attention must be paid to harassing remarks in particular. In this way, depending on who the speaker of the external telephone terminal 7 is, the category of remarks that require attention may differ among the inappropriate remarks, so the information about the speaker of the external telephone terminal 7 is also taken into consideration. After the process of step S43, the voice recognition performed by the voice recognition unit 1211 of the telephone control device 1C may be limited to only the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 under the telephone control device 1C.

[0102] Thereafter, the voice processing unit 121C of the telephone control device 1C processes the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 (step S44). Therefore, the voice recognition unit 1211 functions to convert the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 into text data, and the inappropriate remark detection unit 1216 detects inappropriate remarks from this text data by referring to the inappropriate phrase dictionary 105C (step S45). Note that in step S45, the inappropriate remark detection unit 1216 can adjust the level of inappropriate remarks depending on who is speaking at the outside telephone terminal 7, which is the other party.

[0103] For this reason, information indicating the level is added to the dictionary data registered in the inappropriate phrase dictionary 105C, so that inappropriate remarks can be detected according to the level. For example, when the other party is a customer, inappropriate remarks can be detected strictly at a high level in the entire range, and when the other party is a supplier, inappropriate remarks can be detected strictly in the range of harassment.

[0104] In step S45, it is assumed that an inappropriate remark portion is detected in the call voice from the telephone terminal 3. In this case, information indicating the inappropriate remark portion of the call voice from the telephone terminal is provided from the inappropriate remark detection unit 1216 to the inappropriate remark overwriting unit 1217. Here, the information indicating the inappropriate remark portion of the call voice is, for example, time information starting from the start of the call, or address information (pointer information) assigned from the beginning of the call voice.

[0105] The inappropriate remarks overwriting unit 1217 overwrites the inappropriate remarks in the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 with silence based on the information from the inappropriate remarks detection unit 1216, and transmits this overwritten call voice to the outside telephone terminal 7, which is the other party of the call (step S46). As a result, the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 in which the inappropriate remarks have been overwritten with silence is provided to the outside telephone terminal 7, which is the other party of the call (step S47).

[0106] Furthermore, in the telephone control device 1C, the guidance creating section 131 functions to form a guidance message (text data) notifying that an inappropriate comment has been made (step S48).

[0107] The guidance message formed by the guidance creating unit 131 is converted into voice information by the guidance providing unit 132 and transmitted to the telephone terminal 3 that is the sender of the inappropriate remarks and is currently communicating via a telephone line (step S49). As a result, the guidance message is provided to the telephone terminal 3 (step S50). This allows the speaker of the telephone terminal 3 to recognize that he or she has made an inappropriate remark and to be careful about future remarks.

[0108] After this, the control unit 102 controls each unit to return to normal telephone conversation (step S51). This allows the transmission and reception of telephone voice to continue without interruption (step S52), and the above-mentioned processes from step S44 are repeated. In this way, the speaker using the telephone terminal 3 under the telephone control device 1C can recognize from the guidance message that he or she has made an inappropriate remark without notifying the other party of the inappropriate remark, and can pay attention to future remarks. Therefore, the other party in the call will not be unintentionally made to feel uncomfortable.

[0109] In the third embodiment, inappropriate remarks are detected and replaced with silence only for the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 under the telephone control device 1C, but the present invention is not limited to this. As described above, inappropriate remarks can also be detected for the call voice from the outside telephone terminal 7 in the same manner as in the case where the call voice from the telephone terminal 3 is the processing target, and the call voice of that part can be prevented from being provided to the telephone terminal 3. In this case, a guidance message notifying that an inappropriate remark has been made can also be formed and provided to the outside telephone terminal 7.

[0110] Therefore, in the case of an internal call, for example, when a call is made between telephone terminal 3(1) and telephone terminal 3(3), it is possible to detect inappropriate remarks in the call voice from both parties, replace the call voice with silence, and provide the call voice to the other party. Even in this case, it is possible to know which telephone terminal made the inappropriate remark. The sender can be identified based not only on differences in the call paths, but also on information indicating the sender that is added to the call voice (voice data). This makes it possible to provide a guidance message to the telephone terminal of the speaker who made the inappropriate remark.

[0111] Furthermore, the guidance message is not limited to the above, and it is also possible to notify the speaker of which words in the speech are inappropriate, for example, "XXX is an inappropriate phrase." This allows a speaker who has made an inappropriate remark without realizing it to clearly understand what was inappropriate and to be conscious of not making that remark in the future.

[0112] [Applicability to telephone conferences and online meetings] As described above, this invention is not only a telephone control device that relays a call between two people, but also a conference in which two or more speakers participate, such as a telephone conference or an online conference. A telephone conference can be realized if the telephone control device or cloud PBX is provided with a telephone conference function. Also, an online conference is realized by a conference server on the IP network 62.

[0113] For this reason, the conversation support processing units 120A, 120B, and 120C of the telephone control devices 1A, 1B, and 1C described above may be provided in a telephone control device or cloud PBX equipped with a telephone conference function, or in a conference server on the IP network 62, and the call voices from each speaker may be processed. This allows the use of the following functions even in a telephone conference or online conference in which two or more speakers participate: (1) post-correction (correction of ambiguous remarks), (2) advance supplementation (supplementation of unclear remarks), and (3) advance prevention (overwriting of inappropriate remarks).

[0114] [Effects of the embodiment] According to this invention, when a two-party call, a telephone conference, or an online conference is held, each speaker (participant) can be appropriately supported. This improves the convenience of all speakers and improves the quality of the two-party call, the telephone conference, or the online conference.

[0115] [Variations] The telephone control devices of the first, second, and third embodiments described above have been described as having different functions, but are not limited to this. By providing the conversation support processing units 120A, 120B, and 120C, a telephone control device having two functions, namely, (1) post-correction function (correction of ambiguous remarks), (2) advance supplementation function (supplementation of unclear remarks), and (3) advance prevention function (overwriting of inappropriate remarks), can be realized. Of course, it is also possible to provide two of the functions, (1) post-correction function, (2) advance supplementation function, and (3) advance prevention function. The same applies to telephone control devices and cloud PBXs with telephone conference functions, and conference servers for realizing online conferences.

[0116] In the above-mentioned embodiment, the present invention is applicable to a telephone control device, a cloud PBX, a conference server, etc., but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to a gateway device that connects a company to an IP network. In short, when a call is made between multiple speakers to send and receive voice information through various networks, the present invention can be applied to various devices that relay voice information from each speaker.

[0117] In the above-mentioned third embodiment, the inappropriate remarks are described as various words that make the other party feel uncomfortable, such as words that make fun of the other party, discriminatory words, inappropriate words, and words that go against public order and morals. However, the inappropriate remarks are not limited to these. Even if there is a word that does not fall under these words but that you do not want to convey to the other party, you can register it in the inappropriate word dictionary 105C so that it will not be conveyed to the other party. For example, the identity of the other party can be known by identification information unique to each speaker, such as a telephone number or a connection ID. Therefore, by registering words that the other party cares about or dislikes in the inappropriate word dictionary 105C according to the other party, you can prevent the other party from hearing the inappropriate word.

[0118] Also, in the first and second embodiments, it is possible to know who is the other party of the call by analyzing identification information unique to each speaker, such as a telephone number or a connection ID, or by analyzing text data of a voice such as a greeting at the beginning of the call. The analysis may be performed by the ambiguous utterance detection unit 1212 or the unclear utterance detection unit 1214. Therefore, in the telephone control device 1A of the first embodiment, it is possible to detect ambiguous utterance parts, extract keywords, and perform searches, taking into consideration who is the other party of the call. Also, in the telephone control device 1B of the second embodiment, it is possible to detect unclear utterance parts, extract keywords, and perform searches, taking into consideration who is the other party of the call.

[0119] In the first embodiment, the correction text (text data) is converted into audio information and provided. In the second embodiment, the supplementary text (text data) is converted into audio information and provided. In the third embodiment, the guidance message is converted into audio information and provided. However, this is not limited to this. If the recipient of the correction text, supplementary text, or guidance message has a function of receiving text data and displaying it or converting it into audio information and outputting it, the correction text, supplementary text, or guidance message may be provided to the recipient as text data.

[0120] In particular, when an online conference is held using a PC (Personal Computer), tablet PC, or smartphone through a conference server, corrections, supplementary text, and guidance messages are provided to the intended recipient as text data. As a result, the recipient can display the corrections, supplementary text, and guidance messages on the display of the PC, tablet PC, or smartphone being used and provide them to the user. This allows corrections, supplementary text, and guidance messages to be provided to the intended recipient user as text data at the appropriate time without interrupting the audio conference.

[0121] [others] As can be seen from the above description of the embodiment, the function of the voice recognition means in the claims is realized by the voice recognition unit 1211 of the telephone control device 1A, 1B, and 1C of the embodiment. Also, the function of the detection means in the claims is realized by the ambiguous remark detection unit 1212 of the telephone control device 1A, the unclear remark detection unit 1214 of the telephone control device 1B, and the inappropriate remark detection unit 1216 of the telephone control device 1C. Also, the function of the creation means in the claims is realized by the keyword extraction unit 1213, the search execution unit 123, and the correction sentence creation unit 125 in the telephone control device 1A. Similarly, the function of the creation means in the claims is realized by the keyword extraction unit 1213, the search execution unit 123, and the supplementary sentence creation unit 128 in the telephone control device 1B, and the inappropriate remark overwriting unit 1217 in the telephone control device 1C. The function of the providing means in the claims is realized by the correction providing unit 126 of the telephone control device 1A, the supplement providing unit 129 of the telephone control device 1B, and the inappropriate comment overwriting unit 1217 of the telephone control device 1C, respectively.

[0122] Moreover, the processes performed by the telephone control devices 1A, 1B, and 1C described using the sequence diagrams of FIG. 3, FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 are to which an embodiment of the call support method of the present invention is applied. [Explanation of symbols]

[0123] 1A, 1B, 1C...telephone control device, 101T...connection end, 101...telephone network I / F, 102...control device, 103...storage device, 104...terminal management file, 105A...ambiguous speech dictionary, 105B...unknown situation dictionary, 105C...inappropriate word dictionary, 106...search destination determination dictionary, 107T...connection end, 107...extension I / F, 108T...connection end, 108...LAN I / F, 109...call control unit, 109S...call control unit, 109R...call control unit, 110T...connection end, 110...communication I / F, 120A...conversation support processing unit, 121A...voice processing unit, 1211...voice recognition unit, 1212...ambiguous speech detection unit, 1213...keyword extraction unit, 122...search destination determination unit, 1 23...search execution unit, 124...correction judgment unit, 125...correction sentence creation unit, 126...correction control unit, 120B...conversation support processing unit, 1214...unclear remark detection unit, 1215...keyword extraction unit, 127...search success / failure judgment unit, 128...supplementary sentence creation unit, 129...supplement provision unit, 120C...conversation support processing unit, 1216...inappropriate remark detection unit, 1217...inappropriate remark overwriting unit, 131...guidance creation unit, 132...guidance provision unit, 2...extension telephone network, 3, 3(1), 3(2), 3(3)...telephone terminal, 4...LAN, 5(1)...internal information server, 6...wide area network, 61...external telephone network, 62...IP network, 7, 7(1)...external telephone terminal, 8(1)...information provision server

Claims

1. A communication support device that relays voice information from each speaker when a call is made between a plurality of speakers by transmitting and receiving voice information over a network, comprising: a speech recognition means for converting speech information from each speaker into text data; a detection means for analyzing the text data from the speech recognition means and detecting a predetermined portion requiring assistance; a creating means for creating a message corresponding to the predetermined portion when the detecting means detects the predetermined portion, or for creating processed voice information by processing a portion of the voice information corresponding to the predetermined portion; providing means for converting the message into text information or into voice information and providing the converted voice information to a speaker who provided at least the voice information from which the predetermined portion was detected, and providing the processed voice information to a speaker other than the speaker who provided the voice information from which the predetermined portion was detected; A communication support device comprising:

2. The communication support device according to claim 1, The detection means detects an ambiguous utterance portion, The creating means includes: a first extraction means for extracting a search keyword for searching for an accurate content of the ambiguous utterance portion from the text data from the voice recognition means; a first search means for searching information disclosed on a predetermined network by using the search keyword extracted by the first extraction means; a correction message creation means for creating a correction message as the message based on a search result from the first search means; The present invention provides The providing means provides the corrected text as text information or by converting the corrected text into audio information. A communication support device characterized by:

3. The communication support device according to claim 1, The detection means detects an unclear utterance portion, The creating means includes: a second extraction means for extracting search keywords for searching for appropriate content for the unclear utterance portion from the text data from the speech recognition means; a second search means for performing a search for information disclosed on a predetermined network by using the search keyword extracted by the second extraction means; a supplemental text creating means for creating a supplemental text as the message based on a search result from the second search means; The present invention provides The providing means provides the supplemental text as text information or by converting the supplemental text into audio information. A communication support device characterized by:

4. The communication support device according to claim 1, The detection means detects an inappropriate comment portion, The creating means includes: The overwriting means functions as an overwriting means for creating the processed voice information by overwriting the part of the voice information from the one speaker that corresponds to the inappropriate part with silence or other information. A communication support device characterized by:

5. A method for supporting a call used in a call support device that relays voice information from each speaker when a call is made between a plurality of speakers by transmitting and receiving voice information over a network, comprising: a speech recognition step in which speech recognition means converts speech information from each speaker into text data; a detection step in which a detection means analyzes the text data converted in the speech recognition step and detects a predetermined portion requiring assistance; a creating means for creating a message corresponding to the predetermined portion when the predetermined portion is detected in the detecting step, or for creating processed voice information by processing a portion of the voice information corresponding to the predetermined portion; a provision step in which a provision means provides the message as text information or converts the message into voice information to a speaker who provided at least the voice information from which the predetermined portion was detected, or provides the processed voice information to a speaker other than the speaker who provided the voice information from which the predetermined portion was detected; A call support method comprising:

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