Bot group messaging using general voice libraries

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, and computing systems are provided for bot messaging. In an implementation, a method may include one or more of receiving, by a group messaging service coupled to the internet and a group including one or more user nodes, a message including recorded audio, a message address and a first group identifier, and determining that the group includes a bot, the bot including a software application for performing one or more tasks over the internet. The method may also include selecting a voice library to process the recorded audio, processing, by the selected voice library, the recorded audio to produce enhanced text, determining whether the bot is a user bot responsive to a user node in the group or a group bot responsive to each of the one or more user nodes, and sending, by the group messaging service, the enhanced text to the determined user bot or group bot.

1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, at a group messaging service configured to manage audio messaging between a plurality of user nodes in a group, a recorded audio message from a first user node in the group;   determining, at the group messaging service, that the recorded audio message includes a bot command directed to a bot member node of the group;   executing the bot command, including:
 accessing a data structure for the group via the group messaging service to determine, from a plurality of voice libraries, a selected voice library associated with the bot member node to process the recorded audio, a voice library including a specific combination of a speech-to-text engine and a natural language unit configured to convert a received message into enhanced text in a format suited to processing by the bot member node; 
 processing the recorded audio message via the selected voice library; and 
 providing the enhanced text to the bot member node. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 receiving, at the group messaging service, a reply from the bot member node comprising information indicating completion of the bot command; and 
 transmitting a completion message to the group indicating completion of the bot command. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising:
 determining a type of bot the bot member node is between:
 a group bot responsive to any member of the group; 
 a user bot responsive to only the first user node; 
 
 transmitting the completion message to a plurality of user nodes in the group when the bot member node is a group bot; and 
 transmitting the completion message to only the first user node when the bot member node is a user bot. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the recorded audio message includes a user node identifier that identifies the first user node, and a group identifier that identifies the group;   the method further comprises:
 determining the data structure for the group to access based on the group identifier; and 
 determining whether the first user is qualified to access the bot member node, when the bot member node is determined to be a user bot, based on the user node identifier. 
   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein:
 the recorded audio message includes a bot identifier that identifies the bot member node; and 
 the method further comprises determining the selected voice library from the data structure based on the bot identifier. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 receiving the recorded audio message as encoded audio at the group messaging service; 
 decoding, via the group messaging service, the recorded audio message to obtain decoded audio; 
 converting, by the speech-to-text engine of the selected voice library, the decoded audio to decoded text; and 
 enhancing, by the natural language unit of the selected voice library, the decoded text to create the enhanced text. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 sending the recorded audio message, by the group messaging service, to a plurality of user nodes in the group besides the first user node. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein:
 one of the speech-to-text engine and the natural language unit are remote from the group messaging service; and 
 the other of the speech-to-text engine and the natural language unit are located at the group messaging service. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the recorded audio message includes a bot identifier;   the method further comprises:
 comparing the bot identifier to the data structure including a list of members of the group to determine the bot member node is a group member; and 
 sending the enhanced text to the bot member node only when the bot identifier matches a data structure entry for the group corresponding to the bot member node. 
   
     
     
         10 . A memory device storing instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to perform a method comprising:
 receiving, at a group messaging service configured to manage audio messaging between a plurality of user nodes in a group, a recorded audio message from a first user node in the group;   determining, at the group messaging service, that the recorded audio message includes a bot command directed to a bot member node of the group;   executing the bot command, including:
 accessing a data structure for the group via the group messaging service to determine, from a plurality of voice libraries, a selected voice library associated with the bot member node to process the recorded audio, a voice library including a specific combination of a speech-to-text engine and a natural language unit configured to convert a received message into enhanced text in a format suited to processing by the bot member node; 
 processing the recorded audio message via the selected voice library; and 
 providing the enhanced text to the bot member node. 
   
     
     
         11 . The memory device of  claim 10 , the instructions causing the processor to perform the method further comprising:
 receiving, at the group messaging service, a reply from the bot member node comprising information indicating completion of the bot command; and   transmitting a completion message to the group indicating completion of the bot command.   
     
     
         12 . The memory device of  claim 11 , the instructions causing the processor to perform the method further comprising:
 determining a type of bot the bot member node is between:
 a group bot responsive to any member of the group; 
 a user bot responsive to only the first user node; 
   transmitting the completion message to a plurality of user nodes in the group when the bot member node is a group bot; and   transmitting the completion message to only the first user node when the bot member node is a user bot.   
     
     
         13 . The memory device of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the recorded audio message includes a user node identifier that identifies the first user node, and a group identifier that identifies the group;   the method further comprises:
 determining the data structure for the group to access based on the group identifier; and 
 determining whether the first user is qualified to access the bot member node, when the bot member node is determined to be a user bot, based on the user node identifier. 
   
     
     
         14 . The memory device of  claim 10 , the instructions causing the processor to perform the method further comprising:
 receiving the recorded audio message as encoded audio at the group messaging service;   decoding, via the group messaging service, the recorded audio message to obtain decoded audio;   converting, by the speech-to-text engine of the selected voice library, the decoded audio to decoded text; and   enhancing, by the natural language unit of the selected voice library, the decoded text to create the enhanced text.   
     
     
         15 . The memory device of  claim 10 , the instructions causing the processor to perform the method further comprising:
 sending the recorded audio message, by the group messaging service, to a plurality of user nodes in the group besides the first user node.   
     
     
         16 . The memory device of  claim 10 , wherein:
 the recorded audio message includes a bot identifier;   the method further comprises:
 comparing the bot identifier to the data structure including a list of members of the group to determine the bot member node is a group member; and 
 sending the enhanced text to the bot member node only when the bot identifier matches a data structure entry for the group corresponding to the bot member node. 
   
     
     
         17 . An apparatus comprising:
 a network interface;   a memory device storing computer-executable instructions;   a processor configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to implement a group messaging service for managing audio messaging between a plurality of user nodes in a group via the network interface, including:
 receive a recorded audio message from a first user node in the group; 
 determine that the recorded audio message includes a bot command directed to a bot member node of the group; 
 execute the bot command, including:
 access a data structure for the group to determine, from a plurality of voice libraries, a selected voice library associated with the bot member node to process the recorded audio, a voice library including a specific combination of a speech-to-text engine and a natural language unit configured to convert a received message into enhanced text in a format suited to processing by the bot member node; 
 process the recorded audio message via the selected voice library; and 
 provide the enhanced text to the bot member node. 
 
   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , the processor further configured to:
 determine a type of bot the bot member node is between:
 a group bot responsive to any member of the group; 
 a user bot responsive to only the first user node; 
   receive a reply from the bot member node comprising information indicating completion of the bot command;   transmit a completion message to a plurality of user nodes in the group when the bot member node is a group bot; and   transmit the completion message to only the first user node when the bot member node is a user bot.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein
 the recorded audio message includes a user node identifier that identifies the first user node, a group identifier that identifies the group, and a bot identifier that identifies the bot member node;   the processor further configured to:
 determine the data structure for the group to access based on the group identifier; 
 compare the bot identifier to the data structure, including a list of members of the group, to determine the bot member node is a group member; 
 determine the selected voice library from the data structure based on the bot identifier; and 
 determine whether the first user is qualified to access the bot member node, when the bot member node is determined to be a user bot, based on the user node identifier. 
   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , the processor further configured to:
 receive the recorded audio message as encoded audio;   decode the recorded audio message to obtain decoded audio;   convert, by the speech-to-text engine of the selected voice library, the decoded audio to decoded text; and   enhance, by the natural language unit of the selected voice library, the decoded text to create the enhanced text.