Communication management system for network-based telephones

Abstract

A signal monitoring apparatus and method involving devices for monitoring signals representing communications traffic, devices for identifying at least one predetermined parameter by analyzing the context of the at least one monitoring signal, a device for recording the occurrence of the identified parameter, a device for identifying the traffic stream associated with the identified parameter, a device for analyzing the recorded data relating to the occurrence, and a device, responsive to the analysis of the recorded data, for controlling the handling of communications traffic within the apparatus.

1. A signal monitoring system for monitoring and analyzing communications passing through a monitoring point, the system comprising:
 a digital voice recorder ( 18 ) for monitoring two-way conversation traffic streams passing through the monitoring point, said digital voice recorder having connections ( 20 ) for being operatively attached to the monitoring point;   a digital processor ( 30 ) connected to said digital voice recorder for identifying at least one predetermined parameter by analyzing the voice communication content of at least one monitored signal taken from the traffic streams;   a recorder ( 38 ) attached to said digital processor for recording occurrences of the predetermined parameter;   a traffic stream identifier ( 36 ) for identifying the traffic stream associated with the predetermined parameter;   a data analyzer ( 36 ) connected to said digital processor for analyzing the recorded data relating to the occurrences; and   a communication traffic controller ( 34 ) operatively connected to said data analyzer and, operating responsive to the analysis of the recorded data, for controlling the handling of communications traffic within said monitoring system.   
     
     
       2. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one predetermined parameter includes a frequency of keywords identified in the voice communication content of the at least one monitored signal. 
     
     
       3. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein said digital processor further identifies episodes of anger or shouting by analyzing amplitude envelope. 
     
     
       4. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one predetermined parameter is a prosody of the voice communication content of the at least one monitored signal. 
     
     
       5. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein said connections for being operatively attached to the telephony exchange switch are attached via high impedance taps ( 20 ) to telephone signal lines ( 24 ,  26 ) attached to said telephony exchange switch. 
     
     
       6. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein said communication traffic controller serves to identify at least one section of traffic relative to another so as to identify a source of the predetermined parameter. 
     
     
       7. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein said communication traffic controller serves to influence further monitoring actions within the apparatus. 
     
     
       8. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the analyzed contents of the at least one monitored signal comprise the interaction between at least two signals representing an at least two-way conversation. 
     
     
       9. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the recorder operates in real time to provide a real-time indication of the occurrence. 
     
     
       10. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein said digital voice recorder comprises an analog/digital convertor ( 18 ) for converting analog voice into a digital signal. 
     
     
       11. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein said digital processor is a Digital Signal Processor ( 30 ) arranged to operate in accordance with an analyzing algorithm. 
     
     
       12. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the digital processor is arranged to operate in real time. 
     
     
       13. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , further comprising a replay station ( 32 ) connected to said digital processor and arranged such that the voice communication content of the at least one monitored signal can be recorded and monitored by said digital processor for identifying the at least one parameter at some later time. 
     
     
       14. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one predetermined parameter comprises plural predetermined parameters and wherein said recorder records the occurrence of the plural predetermined parameters in each of the two directions of traffic separately. 
     
     
       15. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein said traffic stream identifier comprises a means for receiving an identifier tagged onto the traffic so as to identify its source. 
     
     
       16. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein said digital voice recorder for monitoring the traffic streams is operative responsive to an output from said traffic stream identifier identifying the source of the conversation in which the predetermined parameter has been identified, or a threshold occurrence of the predetermined parameter has been exceeded. 
     
     
       17. The monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein said digital voice recorder, said digital processor, said recorder, said traffic stream identifier, and said data analyzer reside on an add-in card to a telecommunications system. 
     
     
       18. A system to manage communications over a communications network that includes an exchange, the system comprising:
 a monitoring device configured to connect the system to the communications network and to receive data packets from the communications network;   an analysis module configured to receive an identifier tagged onto the data packets so as to identify the data packets, such that the identified data packets form at least a portion of the traffic stream and that data packets are selected data packets;   a recorder configured to receive the selected data packets and to store the selected data packets, such that the selected data packets are stored data packets;   a data store configured to receive and to store the stored data packets from the recorder, such that said at least a portion of the traffic stream is stored;   a link between the exchange and the recorder configured to transfer information related to the data packets from the exchange to the recorder.   
     
     
       19. The system of claim 18, further comprising:
 a replay station for retrieving and displaying said at least a portion of the traffic stream, the replay station requesting the data packets from the data store through the recorder, and the replay station reconstructing the data packets for displaying said at least a portion of the traffic stream.   
     
     
       20. The system of claim 19, wherein the replay station further comprises replay logic configured to display said at least a portion of the traffic stream. 
     
     
       21. The system of claim 20, wherein the replay logic comprises one or more of video logic or audio logic. 
     
     
       22. The system of claim 19, further comprising:
 a database coupled to the traffic stream identifier for storing identification information, the identification information including at least one identification associated with a monitored traffic stream;   wherein said traffic stream identifier identifies data packets according to said identification information, such that the traffic stream identifier uses the identification information to identify those data packets associated with the monitored traffic stream, to the exclusion of other data packets.   
     
     
       23. The system of claim 22, wherein the network is selected from a group consisting of a local area network and a wide area network. 
     
     
       24. The system of claim 23, wherein the network comprises a local area network. 
     
     
       25. The system of claim 18, wherein said connection comprises an add-in card. 
     
     
       26. A method for storing at least a portion of a network-based communications being performed on a network between a packet source and a packet destination, the method comprising the steps of:
 receiving data packets on the network at a switch;   processing each of the received data packets at a data analysis engine based upon data included within the data packets;   identifying an audio or video traffic stream at the data analysis engine to which the data packets belong responsive to the processing of the data packets and the data included within the data packets; and   storing at least a portion of the data packets corresponding with a traffic stream on the network in a storage device.   
     
     
       27. A method for storing at least a portion of an interaction occurring over a network between a packet source and a packet destination, the method comprising the steps of:
 receiving data packets from the network at a switch, the data packets containing at least the portion of the interaction comprising one or more of audio data or video data;   communicating the data packets to a data analysis engine;   identifying, at the data analysis engine, an interaction to which the data packets belong responsive to information included within the data packets; and   storing at least a portion of the interaction contained within the data packets in a storage device.