Importance

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Abstract

Recording and automated transcription methods and apparatus suitable for use in a communication system such as a telephone system are described. In one embodiment, a telephone system has a conference bridge, a transcription system, and multiple telephone sets connected to a central office (CO) switch via communication channels. Each telephone set lets its user transmit speech on first and second channels simultaneously. The CO switch selectively connects the first channel from each telephone being used in a conference call to the conference bridge. The bridge interconnects the first channels to establish a telephone conference. The CO switch selectively connects the second channels to the transcription system, which records the teleconference participants in separate recordings. The separate recordings are each time stamped and identified with a user's or communication unit ID. An automated speech-to-text (speech recognition) system transforms the recorded speech into textual data. A collator collates text segments generated from the speech obtained from different channels using the time stamps and the ID's to form a master transcript of textual data. The present invention can be used by single or multiple users. A single user may use the system of the present invention as a dictation system. The system can be used for automatically generating a transcript of a multi-party telephone conference or meeting.

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First Claim