Call Screening Engine Audio Pattern Analysis for Automated Call Unsubscribing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Automated sales calls, or 'spam' calls, are a nuisance due to their frequency and the inefficiency of existing methods for unsubscribing, which often require users to interact with automated systems, wasting time and being ineffective against entities that use multiple numbers and number spoofing.

Innovation Solution

A computerized method that uses a call screening engine to generate an incoming call audio pattern, compare it to a set of automated call audio patterns, and prompt the user for instructions to unsubscribe, allowing for automatic execution of unsubscribe operations and updating the pattern set for future decisions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If users manually interact with automated call systems to unsubscribe, then they can remove themselves from call lists, but they waste significant time listening to automated messages and navigating menus

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of unsubscribingVSAvoidtime spent on unsubscribe process

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs unsubscribe operations automatically without requiring user interaction. The call screening engine analyzes incoming call audio patterns, identifies automated calls, and executes unsubscribe actions autonomously based on pre-configured user preferences, allowing the system to serve itself rather than requiring manual user intervention

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system pre-configures unsubscribe preferences and criteria before automated calls occur. Users set up their unsubscribe preferences in advance, and the system has pre-identified audio patterns of automated calls, enabling rapid automatic execution when such calls are detected without requiring real-time user decision-making or interaction during the call

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If users block specific numbers to prevent automated calls, then they can stop receiving calls from those numbers, but entities use multiple source numbers and spoofing to bypass blocking

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveeffectiveness of call blockingVSAvoidability of callers to bypass blocking

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system replaces the mechanical number-blocking approach with an audio-based detection system. Instead of relying on numerical identifiers that can be spoofed or changed, the system analyzes the acoustic characteristics and audio patterns of incoming calls to identify automated calling systems, making the blocking mechanism more difficult to bypass since it targets the operational characteristics of the calling system rather than its identifier

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously learns from intercepted automated call audio patterns and updates its detection capabilities. By analyzing the audio responses and behaviors of automated calling systems, the system refines its pattern recognition algorithms, creating a feedback loop that improves detection accuracy over time and adapts to new automated calling techniques

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Measurement precision

If the system automatically analyzes all incoming calls to identify automated calls, then it can accurately classify and unsubscribe, but it increases processing complexity and computational resources

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveaccuracy of automated call identificationVSAvoidcomplexity of call analysis system

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies audio pattern analysis selectively rather than to all calls equally. It uses preliminary filtering to identify calls that match known automated call patterns or exhibit suspicious characteristics, then applies more sophisticated analysis only to those candidates, avoiding the computational overhead of analyzing every single incoming call in detail

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS10659605B1Automatically unsubscribing from automated calls based on call audio patterns

Publication Date: 2020.05.19 MASTERCARD INT INC

AI summary

The disclosure herein describes automatically unsubscribing from automated calls based on automated call audio patterns. Audio data of an incoming call is accessed and an incoming call audio pattern is generated based on the audio data of the incoming call. The incoming call audio pattern is compared to an automated call audio pattern set by a call screening engine. Based on the comparison, the user is prompted for a call response instruction. Based on the call response instruction from the user, the call screening engine identifies an unsubscribe operation indication in the incoming call audio pattern, performs an unsubscribe operation associated with the identified unsubscribe operation indication, and updates the automated call audio pattern set based on the incoming call audio pattern. The disclosure enables efficient handling of automated calls and reduces user interaction necessary to unsubscribe from associated call lists.