Patent ID: 6980953

Claim:
A computer-based method of providing a service in real time, said service being one of transcription and translation, comprising the steps of: receiving, from a user, a request for service; determining if at least one service agent is available to perform said service; assigning at least one service agent to perform said service, if at least one service agent is available; and providing a result of said service in real time to the user, where the result, in transcription service, is transcribed text of spoken words of at least one speaker, and where, in translation service, the result is a translation of spoken words of at least one speaker; wherein, in transcription service, a service agent is a stenographer; wherein, in translation service, a service agent is a translator, the spoken words of the at least one speaker are in a first language, and the translation is in a second language; and wherein if a service agent is unavailable determining, based on user-based parameters, whether to use Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) to perform said service.