Voice Application Network Platform

What is this patent about?

’750 is related to the field of distributed voice services, specifically addressing the limitations of traditional centralized Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems. Prior systems relied on expensive, centrally located high-end computing devices connected to users via dedicated telephone lines, leading to high costs, inflexibility, and limited personalization. These systems struggled to scale efficiently, provide reliable service, and offer personalized experiences due to their reliance on telephony infrastructure and shared server resources.

The underlying idea behind ’750 is to shift voice application processing from a centralized server to a distributed architecture , leveraging a local device at the user's location. This local device, equipped with a voice browser and speech recognition capabilities, handles the core voice application logic. The local device communicates with a network-based rendering agent and management system to receive personalized voice applications and data, reducing the reliance on dedicated telephone connections and expensive central infrastructure.

The claims of ’750 focus on a method, performed by a local device, for providing voice services. This involves sending information about the local device's state to a voice service provider, receiving voice service information based on that state, and then managing processes or threads to perform or respond to the received information. The local device includes a voice services software client that manages connectivity between audio input/output and the processes/threads that handle voice services.

In practice, the local device acts as a smart client, performing the bulk of the voice application processing. It monitors its own state (e.g., available memory, network connectivity, audio input) and communicates this information to the voice service provider. The provider then tailors the voice application experience based on this information, sending back instructions and data that the local device executes. This approach allows for dynamic adaptation to the user's environment and device capabilities.

This distributed architecture differentiates itself from prior approaches by eliminating the need for a persistent, dedicated telephone connection to a central server. Instead, the local device uses a data network to communicate with the voice service provider, enabling more efficient resource utilization and greater scalability. Furthermore, the ability to personalize voice applications based on the local device's state and user preferences allows for a more tailored and responsive user experience, overcoming the limitations of generic, centrally-managed voice services.