Speech recognition adapter for telephone system

Abstract

A voice responsive telephone adapter, or speech recognition adapter, for use with a telephone set having for example, telephone answering capabilities. The voice responsive telephone adapter may be used to dial telephone numbers or control auxiliary functional capabilities relating the message playback, for example in response to recognized verbal commands, such as, for example, names or operational functions.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A speech recognition adapter for use in a telephone system having a telephone set, said speech recognition adapter comprising: speech recognizing means including a first memory for performing a voice recognition process on a voice sound received from the telephone set, said voice sound including the name of a person to be called, and for storing said voice sound as a voice sound pattern in said first memory;   storage control means including a second memory and a controller for controlling said speech recognizing means to store said voice sound pattern in said first memory in response to receiving repeated utterances of said voice sound only when said voice sound patterns of said repeated utterances of said voice sound agree with each other, said storage control means storing said voice sound in said second memory in association with at least one of a plurality of telephone numbers transmitted from the telephone set and,   means for entering said at least one of a plurality of telephone numbers.   
     
     
       2. A speech recognition adapter according to claim 1, wherein said storage control means is capable of selecting a registration mode, said controller being operable to store the voice sound pattern of said voice sound recognized by said speech recognizing means and the telephone number associated with said voice sound pattern in said second memory in said registration mode. 
     
     
       3. A speech recognition adapter according to claim 2 wherein said storage control means is capable of selecting a speech recognition mode, said controller being operable to output the telephone number and said associated voice sound pattern from said second memory in response to said voice sound recognized by said speech recognizing means in said registration mode. 
     
     
       4. A speech recognition adapter according to claim 1, wherein said storage control means is capable of selecting a name registration mode, and said control is operable to store the voice sound pattern of said voice sound recognized by said speech recognizing means as name information in said first memory in said name registration mode. 
     
     
       5. A speech recognition adapter according to claim 1, wherein said storage control means is capable of selecting a command registration mode, said controller being operable to store the voice sound pattern of said voice sound recognized by said speech recognizing means as command information in said first memory in said command registration mode. 
     
     
       6. A speech recognition adapter according to claim 1, further comprising a noise filter connected to an input terminal of said speech recognizing means, for removing noise from said voice sound. 
     
     
       7. A speech recognition adapter according to claim 1, wherein the telephone set has a telephone answering function. 
     
     
       8. A speech recognition adapter for use with a multi-function telephone set which receives telephone signals from an exchange office, comprising: data entry means for providing command information and for selectively providing telephone number signals comprising telephone numbers;   detection means for detecting voice sounds having voice sound patterns;   first memory means for storing voice sound pattern information; and,   controller means including second memory means for controlling said detection means to repeatedly detect said voice sounds and to store said voice sound pattern information in said first memory means in response to said repeated detections of said voice sounds only when said voice sound pattern information of said repeated detections of said voice sound agree with each other, said controller means further storing said voice sound pattern information in association with a telephone number provided by said data entry means.   
     
     
       9. A speech recognition adapter for use in a telephone system having a telephone set and a central switching exchange according to claim 8 wherein said telephone set comprises a multifunctional telephone answering device. 
     
     
       10. A speech recognition adapter for use in a telephone system having a telephone set and a central switching exchange, according to claim 8 wherein said command information further comprises a telephone number. 
     
     
       11. A speech recognition adapter for use in a telephone system having a telephone set and a central switching exchange, according to claim 8 wherein said command information comprises telephone set function commands. 
     
     
       12. A speech recognition adapter for use in a telephone system having a telephone set and a central switching exchange, according to claim 8 wherein said detected voice sound patterns correspond to names of individual persons. 
     
     
       13. A speech recognition adapter for use in a telephone system having a telephone set and a central switching exchange, according to claim 8 wherein said voice sound patterns correspond to operational functions of said telephone set. 
     
     
       14. A speech recognition adapter for use in a telephone system having a telephone set and a central switching exchange, according to claim 8 wherein said data entry means further comprises a keypad of said telephone set. 
     
     
       15. A speech recognition adapter for use in a telephone system having a telephone set, said speech recognition adapter comprising: name registration means, including a first memory, for receiving from said telephone set a voice sound including a name of a person to be called, and for storing said voice sound as a voice sound pattern in said first memory;   control means, including a second memory, for controlling said name registration means to store said voice sound pattern in said first memory in response to receiving repeated utterances of said voice sound when said voice sound patterns of said repeated utterances of said voice sound agree with each other; and,   mean for entering a telephone number, wherein said control means stores in said second memory said telephone number in association with said stored voice sound pattern.   
     
     
       16. A speech recognition adapter for use in a telephone system having a telephone set, said speech recognition adapter comprising: a name registration unit, including a first memory, for receiving from said telephone set a voice sound including a name of a person to be called, and for storing said voice sound as a voice sound pattern in said first memory;   a controller, including a second memory, for controlling said name registration unit to store said voice pattern in response to successive utterances of said voice sounds, when said voice sound patterns of said successive utterances of said voice sounds agree with each other; have the same voice sound patterns; and,   a keypad for entering a telephone number, wherein said controller stores in said second memory said telephone number in association with said stored voice sound pattern.