Patent ID: 8451101

Claim:
A communication system for care providers comprising: a patient communication unit configured to be positioned proximate to a patient and operable to capture a patient call that includes speech input of the patient; a central console communicably coupled with the patient communication unit for receiving the call from the patient communication unit; and a portable communication unit configured to be carried by a care provider and communicably coupled with the central console, the portable communication unit operable to receive the call from the central console, at least one of the central console and the portable communication unit including speech circuitry having a speech recognition functionality that is configured for providing an indication of the urgency of the patient call, the central console configured to transfer the call to a care provider based upon the urgency of the patient call and further configured to evaluate the availability of various care providers and to manage a hierarchy for the call to insure proper delivery of a call to the care providers; the portable communication unit further configured to capture speech input of a care provider, and to play at least a portion of the patient speech input included in the call, the portable communication unit further operable to convert at least a portion of the care provider speech input into at least one command associated with the call.