Method and apparatus for determining whether a verbal message was spoken during a transaction at a point-of-sale terminal

US6567787B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• Walker Digital, LLC · US

Inventors

• Jay S. Walker · Ridgefield, US
• Andrew S. Van Luchene · Norwalk, US
• Daniel E. Tedesco · Huntington, US
• John B. Dickerson · Syracuse, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 17, 1998
• Grant date: May 20, 2003
• Expiry date: Aug 17, 2018

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G07F9/026
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A point-of-sale terminal initiates a transaction and provides a prompt to be spoken to an operator (e.g. a cashier) of the POS terminal. The prompt indicates a verbal message that is to be spoken by the operator. The POS terminal then receives an audio signal via a microphone or similar device to record what the operator has spoken. Using speech recognition, the POS terminal determines whether the audio signal corresponds to the prompt, and thus whether the operator spoke the prompt properly. In one embodiment, the transaction is paused until the operator properly speaks the prompt. In another embodiment, the POS terminal stores an indication of whether the operator has properly spoken the prompt, thereby allowing the performance of the operator to be measured.