Patents by Inventor Andrew W. Lang

Andrew W. Lang has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8843373
    Abstract: The present invention provides a communication monitoring and analysis method and system. More specifically, the present invention provides a method for analyzing problems within a communication network and further identifying sources of such problems based on voice sample substitutions. The voice sample substitutions used may correspond to canned speech samples used to highlight possible communication network problems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Toby Edward Gedis Allen, Alexander Beck, Christopher William Kendall, Andrew W. Lang, David Thambiratnam
  • Patent number: 8644886
    Abstract: An improved system and method to provide important information either, as voice, text, picture, holographic image or video from the calling party to a called party before the called party answers a telephone. The information may be a live or recorded voice, text, image or video message. The calling party may send a voice message, for example, and send it along with a call set-up message. The voice message may be recorded beforehand, recorded as part of the dialing process, or sent live before the call is answered. Instead of the called party's telephone ringing, the recorded voice message is played or the real-time data/bearer stream is heard. The called party hears the voice message instead of the ring tone normally heard when there is an incoming telephone call.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2014
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy C. Delaney, Andrew W. Lang, Assaph Mehr, Muneyb Minhazuddin
  • Patent number: 8495147
    Abstract: The present invention provides methods and systems for automatically threading multiple media into a single document. More specifically, a single conversation may be distributed among a number of different contacts and replies to those contacts. The distributed contacts and the corresponding replies may be chronologically ordered and analyzed. Then the repetitive portions of the documents and replies are removed. After repetitive portions of the conversation have been removed, the multiple documents are threaded together as a single representation of the conversation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew W. Lang, Paul Thomas McNamara, Muneyb Minhazuddin, David Preshan Thambiratnam
  • Patent number: 8413069
    Abstract: The automatic completion of composite characters is supported by the generation of lists of candidate words or characters. Such lists may be generated by specifying letters or word shapes that are required to be included in candidate words or characters, independent of the order in which a specified letter or word shape is traditionally added to the completed word or character. In a subtractive mode, a user may exclude words or characters that include one or more letters or word shapes specified by the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2013
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Kevin Chan, Christopher R. Gentle, Neil Hepworth, Andrew W. Lang
  • Patent number: 8249873
    Abstract: Tonal correction of speech is provided. Received speech is analyzed and compared to a table of commonly mispronounced phrases. These phrases are mapped to the phrase likely intended by the speaker. The phrase determines to be the phrase the user likely intended can be suggested to the user. If the user approves of the suggestion, tonal correction can be applied to the speech before that speech is delivered to a recipient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Kevin Chan, Christopher R. Gentle, Neil Hepworth, Andrew W. Lang, Paul R. Michaelis
  • Patent number: 8219429
    Abstract: The present invention provides a communication monitoring and analysis method and system. More specifically, the present invention provides a method for determining the health and overall satisfaction of employees in an organization. The determination may be made by monitoring communications generated by employees for their tone and other parameters related to their satisfaction with various decisions made within the organization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Kevin Chan, Christopher R. Gentle, Neil Hepworth, Andrew W. Lang
  • Patent number: 8210848
    Abstract: A method and apparatus provide feedback of facial expressions of participants during communication by capturing facial expressions of participants; extracting facial information from the captured facial expressions; transmitting the extracted facial information to communication terminals; and displaying the transmitted facial information by the communication terminals in a symbolic form.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander John Gray Beck, Colin Blair, Andrew W. Lang, Paul Thomas McNamara, Paul Roller Michaelis, David Preshan Thambiratnam, James K. Wan
  • Publication number: 20120016703
    Abstract: The present invention provides a communication monitoring and analysis method and system. More specifically, the present invention provides a method for determining the health and overall satisfaction of employees in an organization. The determination may be made by monitoring communications generated by employees for their tone and other parameters related to their satisfaction with various decisions made within the organization.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2011
    Publication date: January 19, 2012
    Applicant: AVAYA INC.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Kevin Chan, Christopher R. Gentle, Neil Hepworth, Andrew W. Lang
  • Patent number: 8095120
    Abstract: The present invention provides methods, devices, and systems for creating an ad-hoc conference station from speakers on a plurality of mobile communication devices. The ad-hoc conference station can cancel the echo of any incoming audio for all of the communication devices. This feature may be achieved by employing a master/slave configuration for the communication devices within a common area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Andrew W. Lang, Paul Roller Michaelis, Deborah Jeanne Hill, Kevin Chan, Christopher R. Gentle, Neil Hepworth
  • Patent number: 8041589
    Abstract: The present invention provides a communication monitoring and analysis method and system. More specifically, the present invention provides a method for determining the health and overall satisfaction of employees in an organization. The determination may be made by monitoring communications generated by employees for their tone and other parameters related to their satisfaction with various decisions made within the organization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2011
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Kevin Chan, Christopher R. Gentle, Neil Hepworth, Andrew W. Lang
  • Patent number: 7995741
    Abstract: The present invention is directed toward a method and system for determining changes in a customer that have occurred between contact center visits. The invention is operable to compare data captured from a previous interaction and data captured from a current interaction and compare the two in order to determine if the customer has had any changes to their appearance or otherwise since their last contact center visit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2011
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Paul Thomas McNamara, Andrew W. Lang, David Preshan Thambiratnam, James K. Wan
  • Patent number: 7930762
    Abstract: Various systems and methods for automated media filtering are disclosed. For example, some methods include receiving an indication of a situational difference via an automatic sensor, and based at least in part on the situational difference, a program played on a media player is modified. In some cases, the methods further include accessing a filter that compares the change in situational difference with a predefined access control rule set. As just some of many examples, the situational difference may include a change in persons within proximity of the media player and/or a change in programming selection in relation to the media player.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2011
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Andrew W. Lang, David Thambiratnam, Alexander Beck, Paul McNamara, Karen L. Barrett, David Shaw, Verna L. Iles, Zao Te Mo
  • Patent number: 7920158
    Abstract: An integrated communications system is provided wherein video conferencing is conducted and participants sharing a video resource may be identified. Application of the present invention is particularly suited for videoconferencing when there are a plurality of communication endpoints, and at least one of the communication endpoints includes multiple participants at the shared video resource. A video or audio processing technique takes place to identify locations of conference participants at the communication endpoints. Each participant has an assigned RFID identifier during the conference. The RFID identifiers are interrogated by an RFID reader that downloads data from the identifiers to the system. The gathered RFID data is then matched with the processed video or audio data in order to identify each of the conference participants. A user interface is provided to allow the participants to view the other remote participants along with the identifying data of the remote participants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2011
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander J. G. Beck, Andrew W. Lang, Paul Thomas McNamara, David Preshan Thambiratnam, James K. Wan
  • Patent number: 7865172
    Abstract: A method and apparatus protect data stored in a device by storing data from the device on a backup system upon the device being connected to the backup system; detecting that the device has been lost or stolen; encrypting a set of data stored on the device that has not been stored on the backup system using an encryption key based on another set of data stored on the device and also stored on the backup system; and deleting the other set of data and encryption key from the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2011
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Kevin Chan, Christopher Reon Gentle, Neil Hepworth, Andrew W. Lang
  • Patent number: 7843486
    Abstract: The present invention is directed toward conference calls and methods, devices, and systems for facilitating a conference call. Specifically, the present invention allows participants of a conference call to selectively alter or mute other participants' voices in a conference call. More specifically, a number of participants may be associated with a single communication device and only a subset of those participants may have their voice signal altered or muted during the conference call.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2010
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Kevin Chan, Andrew W. Lang, Christopher Reon Gentle, Neil Hepworth
  • Patent number: 7835774
    Abstract: The present invention provides mechanisms for removing duplicate signals during a communication session. More particularly an over-air signal is received at a given endpoint and a stream of electronic data is monitored at the same endpoint for a duplicate to the over-air signal. If a duplicate is detected in the electronic data stream, it is removed so that only one occurrence of the signal is received at the endpoint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2010
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Jennifer M. Appell, Srikanth Chilakapati, Stanley R. Hall, Andrew W. Lang, Leonel R. Saenz
  • Patent number: 7693136
    Abstract: The present invention is directed toward a method, device, and system for use during a network failure. The invention provides a telecommunication device that may be circuit-switched and packet-switched enabled. In a first mode of operation the telecommunication device is operable to communicate via a packet-switched network and in a second more of operation the telecommunication device is operable to communicate via a circuit-switched network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Kevin Chan, Andrew W. Lang, Christopher Reon Gentle, Neil Hepworth
  • Patent number: 7653543
    Abstract: The present invention is directed toward a method, device, and system for providing a high quality communication session. The system provides a way of determining speech characteristics of participants in the communication session and adjusting, if necessary, signals from a speaker to a listener such that the listener can more intelligibly understand what the speaker is saying.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2010
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Jonathan R. Yee-Hang Choy, Andrew W. Lang, David Preshan Thambiratnam, Paul Roller Michaelis
  • Patent number: 7647499
    Abstract: A method and apparatus identifying an item by attaching a radio frequency identification device to the item; obtaining encryption information; generating an encrypted code from the encryption information by a programmer; inserting the encrypted code into the radio frequency identification device by the programmer whereas the encrypted code may be one of a plurality of encrypted codes; attempting to access the radio frequency identification device by a security reader by transmission of another encrypted code to the radio frequency identification device; and responding with a correct access signal by the radio frequency identification device in response to receipt of the other encrypted code if the other encrypted code is same as the inserted encrypted code.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2010
    Assignee: Avaya Inc
    Inventors: Colin Blair, Kevin Chan, Alexander Quentin Forbes, Christopher Reon Gentle, Neil Hepworth, Andrew W. Lang, Paul Roller Michaelis
  • Patent number: 7617337
    Abstract: The present invention provides methods and systems for improving VoIP quality in speech and similar communications. More specifically, various lower limits for network performance may be identified and in the event that the communication network begins performing below the lower limits a buffered conversation may be employed in an attempt to improve conversation quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2009
    Assignee: Avaya Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander Beck, Colin Blair, Andrew W. Lang, Paul McNamara, David Thambiratnam