Abstract:
A voice transcription system employing a speech engine to transcribe spoken words, detects the spelled entry of words via keyboard or voice to invoke a database of common words attempting to complete the word before all the letters have been input. This database is separate from the database of words used by the speech engine. A voice level indicator is presented to the operator to help the operator keep his or her voice in the ideal range of the speech engine.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is a continuation in part of Ser. No. 09/789,120 filed Feb. 20, 2001, which is a continuation-in-part on Ser. No. 09/288,420 filed Apr. 8, 1999 which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,482 filed Sep. 8, 1997. 
     
    
     
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates to systems for transcribing voice communications into text and specifically to a system facilitating real-time editing of a transcribed text stream by a human call assistant for higher accuracy.  
           [0003]    A system for real-time transcription of remotely spoken voice signals is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,482 assigned to the same assignee as the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference. This system may find use implementing both a “captel” (caption telephone) in which a user receives both voice and transcribed text through a “relay” from a remote second party to a conversation, and a “personal interpreter” in which a user receives, through the relay, a text transcription of words originating from a second party at the location of the user.  
           [0004]    In either case, a human “call assistant” at the relay listens to the voice signal and “revoices” the words to a speech recognition computer program tuned to that call assistant&#39;s voice. Revoicing is an operation in which the call assistant repeats, in slightly delayed fashion, the words she or he hears. The text output by the speech recognition system is then transmitted to the captel or personal interpreter. Revoicing by the call assistant overcomes a current limitation of computer speech recognition programs that they currently need to be trained to a particular speaker and thus, cannot currently handle direct translation of speech from a variety of users.  
           [0005]    Even with revoicing and a trained call assistant, some transcription errors may occur, and therefore, the above-referenced patent also discloses an editing system in which the transcribed text is displayed on a computer screen for review by the call assistant.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The present invention provides for a number of improvements in the editing system described in the above-referenced patent to speed and simplify the editing process and thus generally improve the speed and accuracy of the transcription. Most generally, the invention allows the call assistant to select those words for editing based on their screen location, most simply by touching the word on the screen. Lines of text are preserved intact as they scroll off the screen to assist in tracking individual words and words on the screen change color to indicate their status for editing and transmission. The delay before transmission of transcribed text may be adjusted, for example, dynamically based on error rates, perceptual rules, or call assistant or user preference.  
           [0007]    The invention may be used with voice carryover in a caption telephone application or for a personal interpreter or for a variety of transcription purposes. As described in the parent application, the transcribed voice signal may be buffered to allow the call assistant to accommodate varying transcription rates, however, the present invention also provides more sophisticated control of this buffering by the call assistant, for example adding a foot control pedal, a graphic buffer gauge and automatic buffering with invocation of the editing process. Further, the buffered voice signal may be processed for “silence compression” removing periods of silence. How aggressively silence is removed may be made a function of the amount of signal buffered.  
           [0008]    The invention further contemplates the use of keyboard or screen entry of certain standard text in conjunction with revoicing particularly for initial words of a sentence which tend to repeat.  
           [0009]    The above aspects of the inventions are not intended to define the scope of the invention for which purpose claims are provided. Not all embodiments of the invention will include all of these features.  
           [0010]    In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which there is shown by way of illustration, a preferred embodiment of the invention. Such embodiment also does not define the scope of the invention and reference must be made therefore to the claims for this purpose. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a voice relay used with a captioned telephone such as may make use of the present invention and showing a call assistant receiving a voice signal for revoicing to a computer speech recognition program and reviewing the transcribed text on a display terminal;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a figure similar to that of FIG. 1 showing a relay used to implement a personal interpreter in which the speech signal and the return text are received and transmitted to a single location;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a simplified elevational view of the terminal of FIGS. 1 and 2 as viewed by the call assistant;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a generalized block diagram of the computer system of FIGS. 1 and 2 used for one possible implementation of the present invention according to a stored program;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a pictorial representation of a buffer system receiving a voice signal prior to transcription by the call assistant such as may be implemented by the computer of FIG. 4;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the elements of the program of FIG. 4 such as may realize the present invention including controlling the aging of transcribed text prior to transmission;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7 is a detailed view of one flowchart block of FIG. 6 such as controls the aging of text showing various inputs that may affect the aging time;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 8 is a graphical representation of the memory of the computer of FIG. 4 showing data structures and programs used in the implementation of the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view of a caption telephone of FIG. 1 showing a possible implementation of a user control for controlling a transcription speed accuracy tradeoff;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 10 is a plot of the voice signal from a call assistant as is processed to provide a voice level indicator; and  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 11 is a fragmentary view of FIG. 6 showing an auto-complete feature operating when the call assistant must spell out a word. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0022]    Referring now to FIG. 1, a relay  10 , permitting a hearing user  12  to converse with a deaf or hearing-impaired user  14 , receives a voice signal  16  from the mouthpiece of handset  13  of the hearing user  12 . The voice signal  16  may include a calling number identification (ANI data) as is understood in the art identifying the call originator or an electronic serial number (ESN) or other ANI data. The voice signal  16  is processed by the relay  10  to produce a text stream signal  20  sent to the deaf or hearing-impaired user  14  where it is displayed at a user terminal  22 . The caller identification number or other data is stripped off to be used as described below. Optionally, a modified voice signal  24  may also be provided to the earpiece of a handset  26  used by the deaf or hearing-impaired user  14 .  
         [0023]    The deaf or hearing-impaired user  14  may reply via a keyboard  28  per conventional relay operation through a connection (not shown for clarity) or may reply by spoken word into the mouthpiece of handset  26  to produce voice signal  30 . The voice signal  30  is transmitted directly to the earpiece of handset  13  of the hearing user  12 .  
         [0024]    The various signals  24 ,  20  and  30  may travel through a single conductor  32  (by frequency division multiplexing or data multiplexing techniques known in the art) or may be separate conductors. Equally, the voice signal  30  and voice signal  16  may be a single telephone line  34  or may be multiple lines.  
         [0025]    In operation, the relay  10  receives the voice signal  16  at computer  18  through an automatic gain control  36  providing an adjustment in gain to compensate for various attenuations of the voice signal  16  in its transmission. It is then combined with an attenuated version of the voice signal  30  (the other half of the conversation) arriving via attenuator  23 . The voice signal  30  provides the call assistant  40  with context for a transcribed portion of the conversation. The attenuator  23  modifies the voice signal  30  so as to allow the call assistant  40  to clearly distinguish it from the principal transcribed conversation from user  12 . Other forms of discriminating between these two voices may be provided including, for example, slight pitch shifting or filtering.  
         [0026]    The combined voice signals  16  and  30  are then received by a “digital tape recorder”  19  and output after buffering by the recorder  19  as headphone signal  17  to the earpiece of a headset  38  worn by a call assistant  40 . The recorder  19  can be controlled by a foot pedal  96  communicating with computer  18 . The call assistant  40 , hearing the voice signal  16 , revoices it by speaking the same words into the mouthpiece of the headset  38 . The call assistant&#39;s speech signal  42  are received by a speech processor system  44 , to be described, which provides an editing text signal  46  to the call assistant display  48  indicating a transcription of the call assistant&#39;s voice as well as other control outputs and may receive keyboard input from call assistant keyboard  50 .  
         [0027]    The voice signal  16  after passing through the automatic gain control  36  is also received by a delay circuit  21 , which delays it to produce the delayed, modified voice signal  24  provided to the earpiece of a handset  26  used by the deaf or hearing impaired user  14 .  
         [0028]    Referring now to FIG. 2, the relay  10  may also be used with a deaf or hearing-impaired individual  14  using a personal interpreter. In this case a voice signal from a source proximate to the deaf or hearing-impaired user  14  is received by a microphone  52  and relayed to the computer  18  as the voice signal  16 . That signal  16  (as buffered by recorder  19 ) is again received by the earpiece of headset  38  of the call assistant  40  who revoices it as a speech signal  42 .  
         [0029]    In both the examples of FIGS. 1 and 2, the speech signal  40  from the call assistant  40  are received by speech processor system  44  which produces an editing text signal  46  separately and prior to text stream signal  20 . The editing text signal  46  causes text to appear on call assistant display  48  that may be reviewed by the call assistant  40  for possible correction using voicing or the keyboard  50  prior to being converted to a text stream signal  20 .  
         [0030]    Referring now to FIG. 4, the relay computer  18  may be implemented by an electronic processor  56  possibly including one or more conventional microprocessors and a digital signal processor joined on a bus  58  with a memory  60 . The bus  58  may also communicate with various analog to digital converters  62  providing for inputs for signals  16 ,  30  and  42 , various digital to analog converters  64  providing outputs for signals  30 ,  24  and  17  as well as digital I/O circuits  66  providing inputs for keyboard signal  51  and foot pedal  96  and outputs for text stream signal  20  and pre-edited editing text signal  46 . It will be recognized that the various functions to be described herein may be implemented in various combinations of hardware and software according engineering choice based on ever changing speeds and costs of hardware and software.  
         [0031]    Referring now to FIG. 8, the memory  60  includes a variety of programs and data structures including speech recognition program  70 , such as the Via Voice program manufactured by the IBM Corporation, of a type well known in the art. The speech recognition program  70  operates under an operating system  72 , such as the Windows operating system manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation, also known in the art. The speech recognition program  70  creates files  74  and  76  as part of its training to a particular speaker and to the text it is likely to receive. File  74  is a call assistant specific file relating generally to the pronunciation of the particular call assistant. File  76  is call assistant independent and relates to the vocabulary or statistical frequency of word use that will be transcribed text—dependant on the pool of callers not the call assistant  40 . File  76  will be shared among multiple call assistants in contrast to conventions for typical training of a speech recognition program  70 , however, file  74  will be unique to and used by only one call assistant  40  and thus is duplicated (not shown) for a relay having multiple call assistants  40 .  
         [0032]    The memory  60  also includes program  78  of the present invention providing for the editing features and other aspects of the invention as will be described below and various drivers  80  providing communication of text and sound and keystrokes with the various peripherals described under the operating system  72 . Memory  60  also provides a circular buffer  82  implementing recorder  19 , circular buffer  84  implementing delay  21  (both shown in FIG. 1) and circular buffer  85  providing a queue for transcribed text prior to transmission. Operation of these buffers is under control of the program  78  as will be described below.  
         [0033]    Memory also includes a common word database  87  as will be described below.  
         [0034]    Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 5, the voice signal  16  as received by the recorder, as circular buffer  82  then passes through a silence suppression block  86  implemented by program  78 . Generally, as voice signal  16  is received, it is output to circular buffer  82  at a record point determined by a record pointer  81  to be recorded in the circular buffer  82  as a series of digital words  90 . As determined by a playback pointer  92 , these digital words  90 , somewhat later in the circular buffer  82 , are read and converted by means of digital to analog converter  64  into headphone signal  17  communicated to headset  38 . Thus, the call assistant  40  may occasionally pause the playback of the headphone signal  17  without loss of voice signal  16  which is recorded by the circular buffer  82 . The difference between the record pointer  81  and the playback pointer  92  defines the buffer fill length  94  which is relayed to the silence suppression block  86 .  
         [0035]    The buffer fill length  94  may be displayed on the call assistant display  48  shown in FIG. 3 by means of a bar graph  95  having a total width corresponding to total size of the circular buffer  82  and a colored portion concerning the buffer fill length  94 . Alternatively, a simple numerical percentage display may be provided. In this way the call assistant may keep tabs of how far behind she or he is in revoicing text.  
         [0036]    The foot pedal  96  may be used to control movement of the playback pointer  92  in much the same way as a conventional office dictation unit. While the foot pedal  96  is released, the playback pointer  92  moves through the circular buffer  82  at normal playback speeds. When the pedal is depressed, playback pointer  92  stops and when it is released, playback pointer  92  backs up in the buffer  82  by a predetermined amount and then proceeds forward at normal playing speeds. Depression of the foot pedal  96  may thus be used to pause or replay difficult words.  
         [0037]    As the buffer fill length  94  increases beyond a predetermined amount, the silence suppression block  86  may be activated to read the digital words  90  between the record pointer  81  and playback pointer  92  to detect silences and to remove those silences, thus shortening the amount of buffered data and allowing the call assistant to catch up to the conversation. In this regard, the silence suppression block  86  reviews the digital words  90  between the playback pointer  92  and the record pointer  81  for those indicating an amplitude of signal less than a predetermined squelch value. If a duration of consecutive digital words  90  having less than the squelch value, is found exceeding a predetermined time limit, this silence portion is removed from the circular buffer  82  and replaced with a shorter silence period being the minimum necessary for clear distinction between words. The silence suppression block  86  then adjusts the playback pointer  92  to reflect the shortening of the buffer fill length  94 .  
         [0038]    As described above, in a preferred embodiment, the silence suppression block  86  is activated only after the buffer fill length  94  exceeds a predetermined volume. However, it may alternatively be activated on a semi-continuous basis using increasingly aggressive silence removing parameters as the buffer fill length  94  increases. A squelch level  98 , a minimum silence period  100 , and a silence replacement value  102  may be adjusted as inputs to this silence suppression block  86  as implemented by program  78 .  
         [0039]    Referring now to FIG. 6, after the program  78  receives the voice signal  16  onto circular buffer  82  as indicated by process block  104 , provided the call assistant has not depressed the pedal  96 , the headphone signal  17  is played back as indicated by process block  106  to be received by the call assistant  40  and revoiced as indicated by process block  108 , a process outside the program as indicated by the dotted line  109 . The program  78  then connects the speech signal  42  from the call assistant  40  to the speech recognition program  70  as indicated by process block  110  where it is converted to text and displayed on the call assistant display  48 .  
         [0040]    During the revoicing, the call assistant  40  may encounter a word expected to be unlikely to be properly recognized by the speech engine. In this case, as indicated by process block  111 , the call assistant  40  may simply type the word in providing text in an alternative fashion to normal revoicing. The program  78  may detect this change in entry mode and attempt to aid the call assistant in entering the word as will be described below.  
         [0041]    Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, the speech signal  42  from the call assistant  40  is processed by a digital signal processor being part of the electronic processor  56  and may produce a voice level display  115  shown in the upper left hand corner of the display  48 . To avoid distracting the call assistant  40 , the voice level display  115  does not display instantaneous voice level in a bar graph form or the like but presents, in the preferred embodiment, simply a colored rectangle whose color changes categorize the call assistant&#39;s voice volume into one of three ranges. The first range denotes a voice volume too low for accurate transcription by the speech processor system  44  and is indicated by coloring the voice level display  115  to the background color of the display  48  so that the voice level display  115  essentially disappears. This state instructs the call assistant  40  to speak louder or alerts the call assistant  40  to a broken wire or disconnected microphone.  
         [0042]    The second state is a green coloring and indicates that the voice volume of the call assistant  40  is proper for accurate transcription by the speech processor system  44 .  
         [0043]    The third state is a red coloring of the voice level display  115  and indicates that the voice volume of the call assistant  40  is too loud for accurate transcription by the speech processor system  44 . The red coloring may be stippled, that is of non-uniform texture, to provide additional visual clues to those call assistants  40  who may be colorblind.  
         [0044]    Referring to FIG. 10, it is desirable that the voice level display  115  provide an intuitive indication of the speaking volume of the speech signal  40  without unnecessary variation that might distract the call assistant  40 , for example, as might be the case if the voice level display  115  followed the instantaneous voice power. For this reason, the digital signal processor is used to provide an amplitude signal  160  following an average power of the speech signal  40 . The amplitude signal  160  is processed by thresholding circuitry which may be implemented by the digital signal processor or other computer circuitry to determine which state of the voice level is appropriate. The thresholding circuit uses a low threshold  162  placed at the bottom range at which accurate speech recognition can be obtained and a high threshold  164  at the top of the range at which accurate speech recognition can be obtained. These thresholds  162  and  164  may be determined empirically or by use of calibration routines included with the speech recognition software.  
         [0045]    When the amplitude signal  160  is between the high and low thresholds  164  and  162 , the proper volume has been maintained by the call assistant  40  and the voice level display  115  shows green. When the amplitude signal  160  is below the low threshold  162 , insufficient volume has been provided by the call assistant  40  and the voice level display  115  disappears. When the amplitude signal  160  is above the high threshold  164 , excessive volume has been provided by the call assistant  40  and the voice level display  115  shows red.  
         [0046]    In an alternative embodiment, the speech processor system  44  may receive the voice signal  16  directly from the user  12 . In this case, the voice signal  16  is routed directly to the digital signal processor that is part of the electronic processor  56  and provides the basis for the voice level display  115  instead of the voice of the call assistant  40 , but in the same manner as described above. The call assistant  40  may monitor the voice level display  115  to make a decision about initiating revoicing, for example, if the voice level display  115  is consistently low.  
         [0047]    Referring now to FIG. 3, the text is displayed within a window  112  on the call assistant display  48  and arranged into lines  114 . The lines  114  organize individual text words  116  into a left to right order as in a book and preserves a horizontal dimension of placement as the lines  114  move upward ultimately off of the window  112  in a scrolling fashion as text is received and transmitted. Preserving the integrity of the lines allows the call assistant  40  to more easily track the location of an individual word  116  during the scrolling action.  
         [0048]    The most recently generated text, per process block  110  or  111  of FIG. 6, is displayed on the lowermost line  114  which forms on a word-by-word basis.  
         [0049]    At process block  118 , the words  121  of the lowermost line are given a first color (indicated in FIG. 3 by a lack of shading) which conveys that they have not yet been transmitted to the deaf or hearing-impaired individual  14 .  
         [0050]    At process block  120  the words are assigned an aging value indicating how long they will be retained in a circular buffer  85  prior to being transmitted and hence how long they will remain the first color. The assignment of the aging values can be dynamic or static according to values input by the call assistant  40  as will be described below.  
         [0051]    As indicated by process block  122 , the circular buffer  85  forms a queue holding the words prior to transmission.  
         [0052]    At process block  124 , the words are transmitted after their aging and this transmission is indicated changing their representation on the display  48  to a second color  126 , indicated by crosshatching in FIG. 3. Note that even after transmission, the words are still displayed so as to provide continuity to the call assistant  40  in tracking the conversation in text form.  
         [0053]    Prior to the words being colored the second color  126  and transmitted (thus while the words are still in the queue  122 ), a correction of transcription errors may occur. For example, as indicated by process block  130 , the call assistant  40  may invoke an editing routine by selecting one of the words in the window  112 , typically by touching the word as it is displayed and detecting that touch using a touch screen. Alternatively, the touch screen may be replaced with more conventional cursor control devices. The particular touched word  132  is flagged in the queue and the activation of the editing process by the touch causes a stopping of the playback pointer  92  automatically until the editing process is complete.  
         [0054]    Once a word is selected, the call assistant  40  may voice a new word (indicated by process block  131 ) to replace the flagged word or type in a new word (indicated by process block  132 ) or use another conventional text entry technique to replace the word in the queue indicated by process block  122 . The mapping of words to spatial locations by the window  112  allows the word to be quickly identified and replaced while it is being dynamically moved through the queue according to its assigned aging. When the replacement word is entered, the recorder  19  resumes playing.  
         [0055]    As an alternative to the playback and editing processes indicated by process block  106  and  130 , the call assistant  40  may enter text through a macro key  135  as indicated by process block  134 . These macro keys  135  place predetermined words or phrases into the queue with the touch of the macro key  135 . The words or phrases may include conversational macros, such as words placed in parentheses to indicate nonliteral context, such as (holding), indicating that the user is waiting for someone to come online, (sounds) indicating nonspoken sounds necessary to understand a context, and the (unclear) indicating a word is not easily understood by the call assistant. Similarly, the macros may include call progress macros such as those indicating that an answering machine has been reached or that the phone is ringing. Importantly, the macros may include common initial words of a sentence or phrase, such as “okay”, “but”, “hello”, “oh”, “yes”, “um”, “so”, “well”, “no”, and “bye” both to allow these words to be efficiently entered by the call assistant  40  without revoicing.  
         [0056]    The macro keys  135  for common initial words allow these words to be processed with reduced delay of the speech to text step  110  and error correction of editing process block  130 . It has been found that users are most sensitive to delay in the appearance of these initial words and thus that reducing them much improves the comprehensibility and reduces frustration in the use of the system.  
         [0057]    The voice signal received by the buffer as indicated by process block  104  is also received by a delay line  136  implemented by circular buffer  84  and adjusted to provide delay in the voice so that the voice signal arrives at the caption telephone or personal interpreter at approximately the same time as the text. This synchronizing reduces confusion by the user.  
         [0058]    Referring now to FIG. 3, the call assistant display  48  operating under the control of the program  78  may provide for a status indicator  138  indicating the status of the hardware in making connections to the various users and may include the volume control buttons  140  allowing the call assistant  40  to independently adjust the volume of the spoken words up or down for his or her preference. An option button  142  allows the call assistant to control the various parameters of the editing and speech recognition process.  
         [0059]    A DTMF button  144  allows the call assistant to directly enter DTMF tones, for example, as may be needed for a navigation through a menu system. Pressing of the button  144  converts the macro key  135  to a keypad on a temporary basis.  
         [0060]    Referring now to FIG. 7, the assignment of aging of text per process block  120  may be functionally dependant on several parameters. The first parameter  146  is the location of the particular word within a block of the conversation or sentence. It has been found that reduced delay (aging) in the transmission of these words whether or not they are entered through the macro process  134  or the revoicing of process block  108 , decreases consumer confusion and frustration by reducing the apparent delay in the processing.  
         [0061]    Error rates, as determined from the invocation of the editing process of process block  130  may be used to also increase the aging per input  148 . As mentioned, the call assistant may control the aging through the option button  142  shown in FIG. 3 (indicated by input  150 ) with inexperienced call assistants  40  selecting for increased aging time.  
         [0062]    Importantly, the deaf or hearing-impaired user  14  may also control this aging time. Referring to FIG. 9, the user terminal  22  may include, for example, a slider control  152  providing for a range of locations between a “faster transcription” setting at one end and “fewer errors” setting at the other end. Thus the user may control the aging time to mark a preference between a few errors but faster transcription or much more precise transcription at the expense of some delay.  
         [0063]    It will be understood that the mechanisms described above may also be realized in collections of discrete hardware rather than in an integrated electronic computer according to methods well known in the art.  
         [0064]    It should be noted that the present invention provides utility even against the expectation of increased accuracy in computer speech recognition and it is therefore considered to cover applications where the call assistant may perform no or little revoicing while using the editing mechanisms described above to correct for machine transcription errors.  
         [0065]    It will be understood that the digital tape recorder  19 , including the foot pedal  96  and the silence suppression block  86  can be equally used with a conventional relay in which the call assistant  40  receiving a voice signal through the headset  38  types, rather than revoices, the signal into a conventional keyboard  50 . In this case the interaction of the digital tape recorder  19  and the editing process may be response to keyboard editing commands (backspace etc) rather than the touch screen system described above. A display may be used to provide the bar graph  95  to the same purposes as that described above.  
         [0066]    Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 11, keystrokes or their spoken equivalent, forming sequential letter or character inputs from the call assistant  40  during the processes described above of process blocks  111 ,  133 , and  131 , are forwarded on a real time basis to a call assistant input circuit formed by the digital I/O circuit  66  receiving keystrokes  51  or an internal connection between the speech recognition program  70  and a program  78  implementing the present invention (shown in FIG. 8). The call assistant input circuit also provides for a reception of the caller number identification or another user identification number such as an electronically readable serial number on the captel or phone used by the speaker.  
         [0067]    As the call assistant  40  types or spells a word, the call assistant input circuit so formed, queries the database  87  for words beginning with the letters input so far, selecting when there are multiple such words, the most frequently used word as determined by a frequency value also stored with the words as will be described. This word selected immediately appears on the display  48  for review by the call assistant  40 . If the desired word is displayed, the call assistant  40  may cease typing and accept the word displayed by pressing the enter key. If the wrong word has been selected from the database  87 , the call assistant  40  simply continues spelling, an implicit rejection causing the database  87  to be queried again using the new letters until the correct word has been found or the word has been fully spelled and entered. In the former case, the frequency of the word stored in the database  87  is incremented. In the later case, the new word is entered into the database  87  with a frequency of one. At the end of the call, the database  87  is deleted.  
         [0068]    This process of anticipating the word being input by the call assistant  40  may be used by the call assistant  40  either in editing her or his own revoicing or in monitoring and correcting a direct voice-to-speech conversion of the caller&#39;s voice.  
         [0069]    It is specifically intended that the present invention not be limited to the embodiments and illustrations contained herein, but that modified forms of those embodiments including portions of the embodiments and combinations of elements of different embodiments also be included as come within the scope of the following claims.