TELEPHONE NETWORK SERVICE FOR CONVERTING SPEECH TO TOUCH-TONES

A telecommunications network service for converting spoken words to individual DTMF (e.g., touch-tone) signals to be furnished to an automated system responsive to touch-tone control thereof. In accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the invention, a telephone user speaks an utterance comprising a word representing a digit, letter, the "*" key (e.g., the word "star") or the "#" key (e.g., the word "pound"). The illustrative network service performs conventional, speaker independent speech recognition on the utterance to identify the spoken word and then generates the touch-tone signal which corresponds to the spoken word so identified (e.g., a digit, letter or special character as found on a conventional touch-tone telephone). This generated DTMF signal is then transmitted to an automated system such as a voice messaging system or telephone answering machine to control the operation thereof. The network service of the present invention may be advantageously employed when the telephone being used by the caller is a rotary or dial pulse type telephone, or in other circumstances where it may be preferable to speak rather than to press the keys of a telephone keypad.