1. Technical Field
Inventive embodiments of the invention disclosed generally relate to communication systems. More particularly, the invention relates to providing alert functionality in a mobile communications environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Communications networks and devices for transmitting voice data are well known. In the field of mobile telecommunications, end-user mobile devices (such as cellular telephones) are linked to one another via well known communications network infrastructures. Typically in such systems, a mobile device can receive oral speech as input, which is processed into voice data that is eventually transmitted to another mobile device. Cellular telephones, by way of a specific example of mobile devices, are provided with various functions to enhance user experience. One example of such functionality is the provision of a calendar, along with option to set alerts. As used here, the term “alert” is synonymous with the terms “alarm” and “reminder.” Some cellular phones (“cell phone” or “phone”) are configured to allow the setting of a reminder, which is frequently associated with some specified future time. When the specified time arrives, the device (in this example, the cell phone) provides an indication alerting of the event, which indication can be a ring, vibration, blinking light, etc.
In the general field of data processing, it is well known to receive oral speech input and to process said input for a variety of purposes. A system that performs such functionality is sometimes referred to as a voice/speech recognition system (“SRS” or “speech recognition technology”). Typically, a SRS accepts oral speech input, processes the speech input into voice data to detect input voice data that matches pre-determined data of interest, and provides the output of the matching operation for further processing or desired actions to be taken by other systems.
The use of SRS in cooperation with telecommunications systems (such as telephony) is well known. For example, it is known for a user to make a cell phone call and interact with a data processing system that uses a SRS. A very specific instance of this is when a user places a call to a banking institution. In such an instance, typically, the banking institution's data processing system is configured to use a SRS to guide the user experience or actions, either completely or only partially, in preparation for a human-to-human interaction. However, a very typical use of cell phones (that is, communication between one user and another user) does not involve use of a SRS.