nagle@uunet.uu.net (John Nagle) (08/07/90)
Now here's a thought. We all know the announcments which begin
with a special three-tone sequence followed by "The number you have
reached...". How about a voice recognition unit to recognize the new
number and update your autodialer? The spoken digits are well
separated, the background noise is low, and the digits are clearly
enunciated, so a relatively simple system should suffice. This would
be a neat addition to one of those "turn your computer into an
answering machine" programs.
It would be really easy if the spoken digits were standardized
nationally, but they are not. Even the rate varies with location.
John Naglejeffj@uunet.uu.net (08/10/90)
In Volume 10, Issue 547, Message 9 of 15, Message-ID: <10550@accuvax. nwu.edu>, John Nagle posted: > Now here's a thought. We all know the announcments which begin >with a special three-tone sequence followed by "The number you have >reached...". How about a voice recognition unit to recognize the new >number and update your autodialer? The spoken digits are well >separated, the background noise is low, and the digits are clearly >enunciated, so a relatively simple system should suffice. This would >be a neat addition to one of those "turn your computer into an >answering machine" programs. > It would be really easy if the spoken digits were standardized >nationally, but they are not. Even the rate varies with location. I'll go you one better: right after the tritone (that's called a SIT, right?), transmit the data DIGITALLY with a modem, the same FSK as used in Caller-ID. This is kind to machines: The tritone is the header followed immediately by the data. This is kind to humans: The tritone is loud and annoying already so a little more screaming won't hurt. FAX/modem/autodialer manufacturers should love this: If the machine recognizes the tritone and can act accordingly, you'll prevent repeated failed calls. You could automatically update the phone list when a new number is given. The retry mechanism could adapt if the line is temporarily out of service or give up if it's permanently out of service. I'd expect a CCITT definition of the command to be something like a 16 bit command followed by a variable length field. The commands would be specified like: command: 0000h Number out of service following data: none command: 0001h all lines temporarily busy following data: none command: 0010h number changed following data: phone number (in the same format as ANI) [I'm not sure what will be sent for an unlisted number] Jeffrey Jonas jeffj@synsys.uucp
U5434122@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au (08/16/90)
In article <10715@accuvax.nwu.edu>, synsys!jeffj@uunet.uu.net writes: > In Volume 10, Issue 547, Message 9 of 15, Message-ID: <10550@accuvax. > nwu.edu>, John Nagle posted: >> Now here's a thought. We all know the announcments which begin >>with a special three-tone sequence followed by "The number you have >>reached...". How about a voice recognition unit to recognize the new >>number and update your autodialer? The spoken digits are well > I'll go you one better: right after the tritone (that's called a SIT, > right?), transmit the data DIGITALLY with a modem, the same FSK as > used in Caller-ID. Rather than using a modem, DTMF signalling could be used. It is not as fast, but what's an extra couple of seconds, when you don't have to wait for the modems to CONNECT? > This is kind to machines: > The tritone is the header followed immediately by the data. Why not have the dialling machine respond with a DTMF (Touch tone) code which says, "Please inform of new number." This would necessitate putting a tone interpreter into the ANI (or whatever) system, but that can't be the hardest part of the exercise. Modems already have tone senders in them. A tone interpreter should not be too difficult, and the modem could inform the controlling software with messages like 'TONE 1<CR>' or 'TONE *<CR>' etc. > This is kind to humans: > The tritone is loud and annoying already so a little more screaming > won't hurt. > FAX/modem/autodialer manufacturers should love this: > If the machine recognizes the tritone and can act accordingly, you'll > prevent repeated failed calls. You could automatically update the > phone list when a new number is given. The retry mechanism could > adapt if the line is temporarily out of service or give up if it's > permanently out of service. > I'd expect a CCITT definition of the command to be something like a 16 > bit command followed by a variable length field. The commands would > be specified like: > command: 0000h Number out of service > following data: none CCITT could also define something like: Tritone - If you are a machine, press '* 0 #' to request status report. After the modem has dialled its '* 0 #' the CO can send: 1 - All lines busy 2 - Number out of service 3 - Number changed Modem responds with '*' New number is sent. etc. A really clever modem could conduct the conversation by itself, a more basic unit could simply report the tones received and allow software control. Of course, if there is no machine response after the initial tritone, a voice can inform the human of the number. Danny
Eric Smith <esmith@apple.com> (08/18/90)
In article <10948@accuvax.nwu.edu> U5434122@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au writes: > In article <10715@accuvax.nwu.edu>, synsys!jeffj@uunet.uu.net writes: > > I'll go you one better: right after the tritone (that's called a SIT, > > right?), transmit the data DIGITALLY with a modem, the same FSK as > > used in Caller-ID. > Rather than using a modem, DTMF signalling could be used. It is not > as fast, but what's an extra couple of seconds, when you don't have to > wait for the modems to CONNECT? Using a FSK modulation doesn't imply a need for modems to handshake a connection, as is done with 212 and V.22bis modems. There is not really any advantage to using DTMF, and it is MUCH slower, and would delay the voice recording enough to be annoying. > Modems already have tone senders in them. A tone interpreter should > not be too difficult, and the modem could inform the controlling > software with messages like 'TONE 1<CR>' or 'TONE *<CR>' etc. Putting a DTMF tone decoder into a typical modem would requre the addition of an IC (such as an SSI 204), while many modems already have FSK demodulator chips that are capable of handling the required freqencies, even though the modem may not utilize the particular frequencies in its normal operation. This is common because there are general purpose modem chips which handle many standards. Eric L. Smith Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those esmith@apple.com of my employer, friends, family, computer, or even me! :-)