ES2377682B1 - PROCEDURE FOR REMOTELY VALIDATING A USER ACTION FROM A VOICE COMMUNICATION. - Google Patents

Abstract

Procedure for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication, comprising: # - receiving the voice communication 13 made by a sender 12 from a voice device 11; # - obtaining an identification of the voice device 11 from the voice communication 13 received; # - verify if said identification of the voice device 11 is associated with a registered location; - in case of positive result: # - obtain an identification of the transmitter 12 from the communication by voice 13 received; # - verify if the sender's identification 12 is associated with a registered user associated with the registered location; # - in case of positive result: # - validate the action of the registered user associated with the registered location from the registered 13 voice communication received.

Description

Procedure to remotely validate a user action from a voice communication.

The present invention relates to a method for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication. More specifically, the invention relates to a method for validating, for example, the schedules of entry / exit of a worker from his job, through a telephone call.

The invention also relates to a computer program product and a control system suitable for carrying out said method for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication.

In addition, the invention also relates to a system for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication.

Background of the invention

The evolution of communication technologies has changed people's lives. It is currently possible to connect with other people and access a large amount of information faster, easier, and less expensive. Each technological advance has implied changes in society manifest and subtle, direct and indirect, predictable and unexpected. Connectivity is now, surely, the most powerful tool in people's lives, with a great informative, economic, social, cultural and political impact.

Actually, this evolution is leading to increasing levels of connectivity. But the "journey" of progress should not be guided solely by developers and engineers, understood as producers of technology, but other parameters of a more sociological nature must be taken into account, specifically everything related to the relationship of people with technologies, since, otherwise, the development of technologies can lead to situations full of obstacles and complexities instead of increasing people's well-being.

Technology is not an end in itself, but must be considered a means to achieve a result: improve the quality of people's lives. According to this principle, technologists are increasingly considering the contributions of professionals in fields that are in the link between technology and people, for example, psychologists, philosophers and sociologists.

Such collaboration has two fundamental objectives. First, understand the relationship between technology and people so that the production of technology is more oriented to the satisfaction of human needs. Second, such collaboration increases the possibilities of understanding the ramifications of new technologies and ensures that said new technology offers maximum benefit with minimum cost.

In this sense, one of the applications of communication technologies is the realization of remote actions by users and, in particular, the validation and control of said actions carried out through communication devices. For example, the existence of solutions that allow access to bank or personal data through the Internet or through automatic or semi-automatic telephone communications is widely known.

The simplest solutions, whether based on Internet access or telephone conversations, often require "heavy" data communications in order to avoid, for example, phishing and other similar fraudulent acts. In particular, telephone conversations with automatic telephone assistance systems are usually long and heavy for the user. On the other hand, solutions based on access via the Internet require infrastructure and knowledge that may not be available to all users, such as older people.

In the labor world there are also multiple solutions for the validation and control of user actions through communication devices, these solutions being oriented to the interaction between displaced workers and a control center in charge of managing all or some of their remote actions .

For example, US patent application US 005991742 A describes a computer system that accepts user data using an input recognizer, such as a handwriting recognizer or a voice recognizer. The data generated by the recognizer is processed by a microprocessor and stored in a memory, such as RAM or ROM or a disk. The recorded data includes an identification of the customer, an identification of the subject, a billing fee, and a description of the activity that is performed by the service provider.

Accordingly, in patent application US 005991742 A, the proposed system is based on a device that captures user-generated data, whether handwritten or by voice, and stores it in a memory comprised in said device. That is, there is no online (online) data transmission to a control center or the like, but only the possibility of offline (offline) storage on an external computer is mentioned.

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(for example, the aforementioned control center) thanks to the existence of communication ports. Therefore, this system has the disadvantage of being vulnerable to the loss or destruction or serious breakdown of the device before the data has been dumped into an external computer, since such data would not be lost yet transferred to an eventual computer receiving them .

On the other hand, this system comprises an input data recognizer, which can be a handwriting recognizer or a voice recognizer or both, but which, in any case, said recognizer is comprised in the user device. Therefore, this system also has the disadvantage of being excessively complex and expensive as a result of understanding said means of recognizing input data, which implies that it may not be available to all possible users.

Finally, the system requires that the user always carry the user device with them, in order to enter the data after recognition. The fact that the user forgets the device means that he will not be able to enter data into it. In addition, there is also the inconvenience of always having to charge with the device, which can become heavy and bulky.

Therefore, the system described in US 005991742 A has the disadvantages of being insecure because of its vulnerability to the loss or serious breakdown of the device, of not being available to all possible users, and of always having to be charged by the user.

Another example is US patent application US 20060111089 A1, which describes a mobile resource management system to control the arrival of a mobile agent at a customer's location. The system comprises a mobile agent location module, a client communication module, and an agent communication module. The mobile agent location module is configured to identify the location of a mobile agent and the client communication module is configured to transmit a notification to a customer about the availability of a mobile agent for arrival at a customer location such as a function, at least in part, of the location of the identified mobile agent, requesting the client a confirmation message of the arrival of the mobile agent at the client's location, and receiving a confirmation from the client in response to the confirmation request . The communication module with agents is configured to transmit, to the mobile agent, information about the time and place of meeting with the client in response to customer confirmation.

The system described in US 20060111089 A1 is based on the identification of devices associated with users or mobile agents, assuming that the bearer of a certain device is a certain agent, which implies a high vulnerability to phishing attempts. For example, an agent could transfer his mobile device to another person who could simulate the activity of said incumbent agent and the system would not notice such a fraudulent situation. The document refers to the user entering (logs in) on the device, which is understood as the user activates the device by, for example, the typical mobile phone pin. Therefore, the incumbent could provide the activation data of the device to another person who could simulate the activity of said incumbent without the system detecting the fraud.

In addition, this system is based on the existence of various user interfaces and a heavy operation, in which two types of user, the mobile agent and the client, the latter even sending a message confirming the arrival of the mobile agent. This system includes various means of transmitting notifications, among which are the most relevant: Web, SMS and voice. In the case of voice transmissions, the patent application does not describe how such transmissions are validated or how structured data (capable of being processed by a computer) is obtained from voice communication. SMS transmissions further increase the operational inefficiency mentioned above, since, in this case, users are required to perform the typical manual actions associated with receiving, preparing and sending SMS. Finally, Web transmissions require an infrastructure and knowledge that may not be available to all users, such as older people.

Therefore, the system described in US 20060111089 A1 has the disadvantages of being insecure due to its vulnerability to fraudulent users, and of being operationally inefficient or of not being available to all possible users, depending on the means of transmission used.

Description of the invention

From what has been described above, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a method and system for the remote validation of user actions that present an important level of reliability. This reliability can refer both to making a secure identification of the user to validate their action, as well as to the level of user data security, so that they are not lost in case of failure of some elements of the system.

Another objective of the present invention is that it should be available to all potential users (in terms, for example, of ease of use and low cost), and should not be a nuisance to users by having, for example, Charge with a device that is part of the system.

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Said objectives are achieved by a method according to claim 1, a computer program product according to claim 11, a control system according to claim 14 and a system according to claim 15. The rest of The claims define some of the preferred embodiments of the invention.

Throughout the description and the claims the word "comprises" and its variants are not intended to exclude other technical characteristics, additives, components or steps. For those skilled in the art, other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be derived partly from the description and partly from the practice of the invention. The examples and drawings are provided by way of illustration, and are not intended to be limiting of the present invention. The numerical signs relating to the drawings and placed in parentheses in a claim are only intended to increase the understanding of the claim, and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the claim. In addition, the present invention covers all possible combinations of particular and preferred embodiments indicated herein.

In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication, comprising:

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receive voice communication by a sender from a voice device;

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obtain an identification of the voice device from the received voice communication;

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verify if said voice device identification is associated with a registered location;

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in case of positive result:

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obtain an identification of the transmitter from the voice communication received;

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verify if the issuer identification is associated with a registered user associated with the registered location;

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in case of positive result:

or validate the action of the registered user associated with the registered location from the voice communication received.

Thus, the fact of obtaining the identification of the voice device, the identification of the location of the voice device, and the identification of the sender means that the impersonation of the user cannot occur, mainly if techniques based on biometric comparison are used of fingerprints (subject that will be detailed later), for identification. More specifically, the procedure is based on identifying the caller, the device through which he is calling and the location from which he is calling. From these three identifications, the procedure verifies that they correspond to a combination of registered (or allowed or authorized) identifications, in which case it goes on to validate the detail of the user action included in the voice communication. This triple identification implies a high level of security with respect to the other known procedures of this type or the like, since a fraudulent call must take into account a correct combination of these three parameters, which greatly reduces the chances of fraud.

In addition, the fact that the validation of the user's action is carried out remotely, prevents that there may be a loss of data entered by the user in the system, since the user data is stored on a central server and not locally ( on the voice device itself).

Also, the invention does not require the user to carry a voice device exclusively for voice communication. The user can both use their own mobile phone, and can use a landline present in the registered location.

On the other hand, it should be noted that this procedure is based only on voice data transmissions, which greatly facilitates user participation in it when compared to solutions based on other types of transmissions, such as through SMS or Web. In addition, any user can have access to a telephone, whether fixed or mobile, so it is an accessible procedure for the vast majority of people. For example, elderly people with no knowledge of the Internet or SMS transmissions can be users of this procedure.

People tend to spend most of their time in previously known places, such as their home, at work, at the home of close relatives, etc. Even workers with greater mobility are also usually in previously known locations. Thus, a certain user can previously define a list of trusted locations, from which the procedure of the invention would accept his call as valid in case, together with the other two parameters (user and device identifications), they conform A registered combination.

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The reception of the voice communication made by a transmitter from a voice device may refer to the reception of a request for voice communication (for example, telephone) and the establishment thereof, said request made by the sender through the Voice device, such as a telephone. Said voice communication may include information that the issuer deems appropriate for the execution of the procedure. In the event that the voice communication includes some erroneous information from the point of view of the procedure, the issuer may be called upon to correct it according to the logic of the procedure.

For example, obtaining the identification of the sender from the voice communication may include the request of a user key to the sender, who may respond, for example, with a set of oral signs or DTMF tones included in what It has been defined as the voice communication received. In the event that said set of signs presents an error, such as an empty set (without signs), obtaining the identification of the issuer from the voice communication may include the repetition of the request for a user key to the issuer as many times as defined. For example, a maximum number of attempts can be defined, such as up to a maximum of five attempts.

The information provided by the transmitter can be any type of audio signals or tones typical of voice communications, such as telephone calls. Thus, the issuer can provide such information by means of oral sequences of sounds or sequences of tones referred, for example, to numerical or alphabetic signs or combinations thereof, said sequences being able to constitute any type of concatenations of said signs, such as quantities or words or phrases, etc.

For example, an oral sequence of numerical signs referred to as "123" may be issued orally as "one, two, three" or "one hundred and twenty-three". Similarly, an oral sequence of alphabetic signs referred, for example, to "Felipe" can be issued orally as "efe, e, ele, i, pe, e" or as the word "Felipe". Additionally, an oral sequence can combine the two types of cited signs, that is, numerical and alphabetic.

In the event that the verification of whether the identification of the voice device is associated with a registered location produces a negative result, the procedure can be canceled or restarted or reverted to an earlier stage (for example, to obtain the identification of the voice device from the received voice communication) a predetermined number of times, until such verification produces a positive result or a predefined maximum number of attempts is exceeded. In the latter situation, the procedure could produce an error message and terminate the voice communication, although it could also offer the user the possibility of transferring the call to a control center (belonging, for example, to the supplier or the client company) to deal with the incident. Said incidence treatment could comprise, for example, the manual validation (outside the defined procedure) of the user action by the control center.

In the event that the verification of whether the issuer identification is associated with a registered user associated with the registered location produces a negative result, the procedure can be canceled or restarted or reverted to an earlier stage (for example, to obtain the identification of the sender from the voice communication received) a predetermined number of times, until said verification produces a positive result or a predefined maximum number of attempts is exceeded. In the latter situation, the procedure could produce an error message and terminate the voice communication, although it could also offer the user the possibility of transferring the call to a control center (belonging, for example, to the supplier or the client company) to deal with the incident. Said incidence treatment could comprise, for example, the manual validation (outside the defined procedure) of the user action by the control center.

Preferably, obtaining the identification of the sender from the received voice communication may comprise:

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obtain a user password from the voice communication received;

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verify if said user password is a registered user password;

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in case of positive result:

or obtain identification of the issuer from said registered user key.

In this way, the system, from the key provided by the user through voice communication, can determine the identity of the user, for example, from a repository comprising at least one field that refers to keys of user, and a field associated to the previous one that makes reference to the identity of the user from the user key. Alternatively, the issuer identification can directly be the registered user key, in which case obtaining the issuer identification from the registered user key would comprise the adoption or setting of the registered user key as the issuer identification.

In the event that the verification of whether the user key is a registered user key produces a negative result, the procedure can be canceled or restarted or reverted to an earlier stage (for example, to obtain a user key to from voice communication received) a predetermined number of times,

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until such verification produces a positive result or a predefined maximum number of attempts is exceeded. In the latter situation, the procedure could produce an error message and terminate the voice communication, although it could also offer the user the possibility of transferring the call to a control center (belonging, for example, to the supplier or the client company) to deal with the incident. Said incidence treatment could comprise, for example, the manual validation (outside the defined procedure) of the user action by the control center.

According to an embodiment of the invention, obtaining the user key from the received voice communication comprises:

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Obtain the user code from an oral sequence of the sender included in the voice communication received.

Obtaining the user key from an oral sequence of the sender can be done by applying any of the known voice recognition techniques or products on said oral sequence of the sender included in the received voice communication. Therefore, in the context of the invention, speech recognition refers to the conversion of audio signals from a human being (oral signals) into text or structured data that can be processed by a computer system.

Alternatively, obtaining a user key from the received voice communication comprises:

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obtain the user code from a sequence of DTMF tones included in the received voice communication.

Accordingly, the system can obtain the user key from an oral sequence performed by the user in voice communication, or from a sequence of DTMF tones performed by the user in voice communication.

In preferred embodiments, obtaining the user key from the received voice communication may comprise any of the possible combinations of the two options described above, that is, the option based on an oral sequence and the option based on a sequence of DTMF tones. In other words, obtaining the user key from the voice communication received may first comprise obtaining the user key from an oral sequence of the sender and second obtaining the user key from a sequence of DTMF tones. Although, alternatively, obtaining the user key from the received voice communication may first comprise obtaining the user key from a sequence of DTMF tones and secondly obtaining the user key from a oral sequence of the issuer.

The main advantage of combining these options (oral sequence and sequence of DTMF tones) is a greater reliability of the procedure in the sense of a secure identification of the user, since obtaining the user key from the received voice communication can further comprise comparing the key obtained from the oral sequence and the key obtained from the sequence of DTMF tones and, if said keys are the same, it could be considered that the user key has been obtained successfully.

However, alternatively, if the two options produce different keys, it could be considered that the user key comprises a set of two keys, one obtained by the oral sequence and the other obtained by the DTMF tone sequence. In this case, subsequent actions would take into account the set of two keys. For example, the verification of whether the user key is a registered user key may comprise verification of whether the key obtained by the oral sequence or the key obtained by the DTMF tone sequence is a registered user key. This increases the flexibility of the procedure, since the user is offered two equally valid identification possibilities, such identification may be through an oral sequence and / or through a sequence of DTMF tones.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, obtaining the identification of the transmitter from the received voice communication further comprises:

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obtain at least one voice attribute of the sender from an oral sequence of the sender for authentication comprised in the received voice communication;

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verify if said voice attribute is associated with a registered voiceprint associated with the user key obtained;

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in case of positive result:

or mark the issuer identification as authenticated issuer identification.

Therefore, obtaining the issuer's identification may also include the authentication of the issuer, that is, verifying that the issuer is who he claims to be, which has the great advantage of increasing the reliability of the procedure in the sense of secure identification of the issuer. issuer as user of the procedure. The term "footprint of

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voice "refers to a set of measurable characteristics of a human voice that identifies an individual. The term applies to a vocal sample recorded for that purpose, the derived mathematical formula, and / or its graphic representation.

The mentioned graphic representation can be a spectrogram, that is, a graph that shows the frequency of a sound in the vertical axis and the time in the horizontal axis. Different voices create different shapes on the chart. The spectrograms also use the color or shades of gray to represent the acoustic qualities of the sound. People's voices are singularly different (even in the case of twins) and cannot be duplicated exactly, which allows each individual to be uniquely identified from appropriate characteristics or attributes related to their voice.

Obtaining at least one voice attribute from the sender refers to the generation of, for example, a spectrogram and / or associated mathematical formulas from the voice received through voice communication. The verification of whether said voice attribute is associated with a registered voiceprint refers to checking whether there is a recorded vocal sample (previously) and / or derived mathematical formulas and / or matching graphical representations (according to predetermined match parameters) with the emitter's voice attributes obtained (for example, spectrograms and / or associated mathematical formulas). In case of coincidence, it is checked if the voiceprint corresponds to a registered user who is identified by the obtained user key. Finally, if the previous checks end up producing a positive result, the identification of the issuer is considered authenticated and, therefore, of maximum security.

In the event that the verification of whether the voice attribute is associated with a registered voiceprint associated with the obtained user key produces a negative result, the procedure can be canceled or restarted or reverted to an earlier stage (for example, to obtain at least one voice attribute of the sender from an oral sequence of the sender for authentication comprised in the received voice communication) a predetermined number of times, until said verification produces a positive result or a number of Maximum predefined attempts. In the latter situation, the procedure could produce an error message and terminate the voice communication, although it could also offer the user the possibility of transferring the call to a control center (belonging, for example, to the supplier or the client company) to deal with the incident. Said incidence treatment could comprise, for example, the manual validation (outside the defined procedure) of the user action by the control center.

In some embodiments, the voice device is a fixed voice device, and the verification of whether said voice device identification is associated with a registered location comprises:

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verify whether said voice device identification is associated with a registered fixed voice device;

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in case of positive result:

or verify if the registered fixed voice device is associated with a registered location.

If the calling voice device is a fixed voice device, such as a conventional telephone, it is first checked whether said device corresponds to a registered fixed voice device. This check can be carried out, for example, from the telephone number received from the calling device, verifying that said telephone number satisfies a certain fixed telephone format and verifying that there is also an authorized telephone that matches the received telephone number, in which case it is verified if the calling phone corresponds to a registered location.

In the event that the verification of whether the identification of the voice device is associated with a registered fixed voice device produces a negative result, the procedure can be canceled or restarted or reverted to a previous stage (for example, to obtain the identification of the voice device from the received voice communication) a predetermined number of times, until said verification produces a positive result or a predefined maximum number of attempts is exceeded. In the latter situation, the procedure could produce an error message and terminate the voice communication, although it could also offer the user the possibility of transferring the call to a control center (belonging, for example, to the supplier or the client company) to deal with the incident. Said incidence treatment could comprise, for example, the manual validation (outside the defined procedure) of the user action by the control center.

Alternatively, the voice device is a mobile voice device, and the verification of whether said voice device identification is associated with a registered location comprises:

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verify if said voice device identification is associated with a registered mobile voice device;

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in case of positive result:

or obtain geographic location of the mobile voice device from the identification of the voice device;

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or verify if the geographical location of the mobile voice device is associated with a registered location.

In the event that the procedure is based solely on the participation of mobile phones, it is first checked whether said device corresponds to a registered mobile voice device. This check can be carried out, for example, from the telephone number received from the calling device, verifying that said telephone number satisfies a certain mobile telephone format and verifying that there is also an authorized telephone that matches the received telephone number, in which case the geographical location of the mobile voice device is obtained from the identification of the voice device and it is verified whether the geographical location of the mobile voice device is associated with a registered location.

The mobile voice device can therefore comprise any technology that allows determining its geographical location at the time of the call, such as:

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GSM or network based location (per cell or triangulation);

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GPS Location (Global Positioning System);

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Hybrid location, such as combinations of GSM and GPS;

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Wireless location (WiFi, Bluetooth, infrared, RFID, etc.).

Network-based techniques consist of using the infrastructure of the network service provider to identify the location of the phone.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a worldwide satellite navigation system that provides reliable information about location and weather at any time and anywhere on Earth or near Earth whenever there is an unobstructed line of sight for four or more GPS satellites.

Hybrid systems use a combination of positioning of the two previous technologies. An example would be the A-GPS (Assisted GPS), which uses GPS and the information network to calculate the location more quickly and reliably.

The wireless systems are based on the synchronization of the mobile voice device, carried by the user to be identified, with the sending device installed by the client user.

Whatever the geographic location technology used, the mobile voice device will send at the time of the call data related to its geographical location, obtained by means of said geographical location technology, as part of the identification of the mobile voice device. For example, voice communication may comprise, among other data, the calling mobile phone number and geographic coordinates that determine its location or confirmation of being within the area of influence of a particular wireless network, at the time of the call .

Obtaining the geographical location of the mobile voice device from the identification of the voice device may comprise verification of whether the identification of the voice device comprises the geographical location of the mobile voice device, in which case the procedure will continue normal.

In the event that the verification of whether the identification of the voice device comprises the geographical location of the mobile voice device produces a negative result, the procedure can be canceled or restarted or reverted to an earlier stage (for example, to obtain the identification of the voice device from the received voice communication) a predetermined number of times, until said verification produces a positive result or a predefined maximum number of attempts is exceeded. In the latter situation, the procedure could produce an error message and terminate the voice communication, although it could also offer the user the possibility of transferring the call to a control center (belonging, for example, to the supplier or the client company) to deal with the incident. Said incidence treatment could comprise, for example, the manual validation (outside the defined procedure) of the user action by the control center.

In the event that the verification of whether the identification of the voice device is associated with a registered mobile voice device produces a negative result, the procedure can be canceled or restarted or reverted to an earlier stage (for example, to obtain the identification of the voice device from the received voice communication) a predetermined number of times, until said verification produces a positive result or a predefined maximum number of attempts is exceeded. In the latter situation, the procedure could produce an error message and terminate the voice communication, although it could also offer the user the possibility of transferring the call to a control center (belonging, for example, to the supplier or the client company) to deal with the incident. Said incidence treatment could comprise, for example, the manual validation (outside the defined procedure) of the user action by the control center.

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Alternatively, the verification of whether said voice device identification is associated with a registered location comprises:

or verify if said voice device identification is associated with a registered fixed voice device;

or in case of positive result:

or verify if the registered fixed voice device is associated with a registered location;

or in case of negative result:

or verify if said voice device identification is associated with a registered mobile voice device;

or in case of positive result:

• obtain geographic location of the mobile voice device from the identification of the voice device;

• verify if the geographical location of the mobile voice device is associated with a registered location.

This alternative consists in combining the treatment of fixed devices and mobile devices, which increases the flexibility of the procedure in relation to a system based only on mobile phones and in relation to a system based only on fixed phones, which implies an extension of the procedure to the general population, since anyone has access to a landline or mobile phone.

In the event that the verification of whether the identification of the voice device is associated with a registered mobile voice device produces a negative result, the procedure can be canceled or restarted or reverted to an earlier stage (for example, to obtain the identification of the voice device from the received voice communication) a predetermined number of times, until said verification produces a positive result or a predefined maximum number of attempts is exceeded. In the latter situation, the procedure could produce an error message and terminate the voice communication, although it could also offer the user the possibility of transferring the call to a control center (belonging, for example, to the supplier or the client company) to deal with the incident. Said incidence treatment could comprise, for example, the manual validation (outside the defined procedure) of the user action by the control center.

In some embodiments of the invention, the validation of the action of the registered user associated with the registered location from the received voice communication comprises:

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obtain structured data representing the action of the registered user from the voice communication received;

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verify whether said structured data satisfies predetermined requirements associated with the authorized user and the registered location;

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record the result of verifying whether said structured data satisfies said predetermined requirements.

For example, in the field of remote signings or work tele-records, obtaining structured data representing the action of the registered user from the voice communication received refers to obtaining data from the voice communication that can be processed by a computer system, said data referring to the action of the registered user, such as a movement of entry or exit of the registered user, which in this case could be a worker moved to a work center outside the company with which it is related labor (supplier company), said work center belonging to a client company. Obtaining structured data representing the user action can be obtained by means of known speech recognition techniques or products (explained above).

The verification of whether the structured data satisfies predetermined requirements associated with the authorized user and the registered location refers, for example, to verifying whether an entry / exit movement of a displaced worker satisfies a predetermined work schedule associated with the displaced worker and the registered work center.

Preferably, the user action is a work signing, the user is a worker, and the registered location is a registered work center. As already mentioned, the procedure of the invention is especially suitable to be applied in the field of remote signings or teleworking by workers who carry out their activity in work centers outside their company.

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In a second aspect of the invention, a computer program product is provided comprising program instructions that are executed in a computer system to perform the procedure for remote validation of a user action from a voice communication.

Said computer program may be stored in physical storage media, such as recording media, a computer memory, or a read-only memory, or it may be carried by a carrier wave, such as electrical or optical.

In a third aspect, the present invention provides a control system for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication, characterized by the fact that it comprises: means for receiving the voice communication made by a transmitter from a voice device; - means for obtaining identification of the voice device from the received voice communication; - means to verify if said voice device identification is associated with a registered location; - means to obtain identification of the transmitter from the voice communication received; - means to verify if the issuer identification is associated with a registered user associated with the registered location; -mediums to validate the action of the registered user associated with the registered location from the

Voice communication received. In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a system for remote validation of a user action from a voice communication, comprising:

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the control system to remotely validate user action from voice communication; -at least one voice device from which at least one transmitter can perform voice communication. In any case, the voice device may be a fixed voice device (such as a landline) or a mobile voice device (such as a mobile phone).

Brief description of the drawings

For a better understanding of how much has been exposed, some drawings are attached in which, schematically and only by way of non-limiting example, some practical cases are presented.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of the system for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication, according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of the method for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication, according to the invention;

Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of obtaining the identification of the transmitter from the voice communication received, according to the invention.

Description of a preferred embodiment of the invention

Next, the description of preferred embodiments of the invention will be carried out in which the validation of a labor signing (or movement of entry / exit of work) of a worker who does not work in his offices but, for example, does so in a client's work center, that is, it is a worker who works far from the scope of observation of his company and in an itinerant way.

Said application of the invention is suitable to allow validation of the schedules of entry / exit of workers in their jobs, being able to verify their identity. In this way, the company can know if the worker is fulfilling his work schedule in the work centers of the clients where he provides his services.

In the market there are many static presence control systems that are mainly based on modern watches that allow the user to be identified by, for example, biometric systems (fingerprint, palm, facial, iris, etc.), cards with chip, RFID cards or magnetic stripe cards. The method and system of the invention, compared to these known systems, has the following advantages:

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does not require any initial investment since:

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it is possible to organize the work and schedule the tele-records from any Web access point;

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with a simple landline or mobile phone, it is enough to record the schedules of entry / exit of a worker, even verifying his identity;

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It is possible to control those workers who carry out their work in an itinerant way, without requiring the installation of fixed clocks in the different locations where they work;

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it is an online system that manages operations in real time, without having to carry out information dumps periodically;

•

to identify the user, it is not necessary for the user to carry any physical support (card, key, etc.) since his voice is sufficient.

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As can be seen in figure 1, a possible embodiment of the system 10 to remotely validate a user action 12 (entry / exit of a worker 12 from his workstation that is far from the premises of his company - worker 12 itinerant) From a voice communication 13 you can understand the following elements:

•

A fixed or mobile telephone 11 from which worker 12 makes a telephone call 13;

•

A central telephone management system 14 that receives the call 13 and performs the necessary checks to validate the movement of entry / exit of the worker 12;

•

A database 15; 17 to which the central telephone management system 14 is connected, which may be a public or private database 15 to which the central system 14 accesses locally 18 or remotely, for example, via the Internet 16. Said database 15; 17 may comprise data referring, for example, to:

o Identifications of authorized telephone numbers 11;

o Registered locations or work centers;

o Registered users or workers 12;

o Relationships between identifications of authorized telephone numbers 11 and registered locations or work centers;

o Relations between registered users or workers 12 and registered locations or work centers;

or etc.

Thus, in some embodiments of the invention, when the worker 12 arrives at the workplace (for example, the offices of a client of his company) he can perform the remote signing or tele-filing according to the following procedure:

•

From a telephone 11 of the workstation, fixed or mobile, it calls a telephone number associated with the central telephone management system 14, registered in the database 15; 17;

•

System 14, before answering the call, analyzes and determines the identity of telephone 11 and if said telephone 11 is associated with a registered work center of one of its clients. The analysis depends on the origin of the call:

o Landline:

The system 14 checks in the database 15; 17 if the telephone number from which the call is received corresponds to that of a center of an existing client in the database 15; 17 and that it is also active.

Obviously, the location cannot be other than the one that corresponds to the telephone number from which it is called (that is, the dependencies of the owner of the telephone).

o Mobile phone:

The system 14 checks in the database 15; 17 if the telephone number from which the call is received corresponds to that of a customer registered in the system and that it is also active, although the mobile phone may not be from the client , but may be associated, by

ES 2 377 682 Al

For example, the worker, but in any case, the calling mobile phone must exist in the database 15; 17 as a registered device.

The system checks the geographical location 19 of the mobile phone by, for example, location by cells or GPS. If the location 19 of the mobile phone at the time of the call corresponds to a center of an existing customer in the database 15; 17, the procedure follows its normal course.

• A phrase welcomes the service and requests the identity of the worker, who can provide it, for example, from only one or a combination of the following methods:

o Numeric code: the worker issues a numerical code that uniquely identifies him in the system. Said code or code may have, for example, 8 digits and the worker can enter it using the telephone keypad (DTMF tones) or issue it using his voice (voice recognition);

o Alphabetical code: the worker orally issues a word or short phrase that identifies him in the system through a voice recognition program.

Next, the system searches for the worker in the database 15; 17 by said numerical / alphabetical code and verifies that he is registered, that he is active and that he is assigned to the client in question.

•

In the event that the system has identified the worker by any of the available methods, they can proceed to verify or authenticate their identity (if the company using the system deems it convenient). In this case, a phrase will ask for the voiceprint password to compare it with the one in the database 15; 17.

In some embodiments of the invention, the entry system (or login) could consist of using the worker's first and last name for the alphabetic key and for the voiceprint, reducing the identification and verification steps to a single locution and taking data. That is, the numerical or alphabetical code that the worker issues orally for identification (user password) and the voiceprint password (oral sequence of the issuer for authentication) could be the same key for both purposes, identification and user or worker authentication, thereby increasing the efficiency of the procedure.

•

In the event that the system has been able to identify the calling telephone, locate the geographical origin of the call and identify the worker (authenticated or not), the system will validate (register) the entry or exit of the worker at work. Thus, for example, a phrase can be reproduced that indicates that the worker must press “1” or say “Enter” in the case of entering work, and press “2” or say “Exit” in the case of leaving work.

•

The system analyzes whether the worker's signing is correct (it already exists, does not apply, etc.) and, if so, is registered in the database 15; 17 of the system for consultation, for example, from an assigned web page .

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of the method for remotely validating a tele-record from a telephone communication, in accordance with the invention. In said figure 2, the following procedure is represented:

-

start 200 execution;

-

receive 201 telephone communication made by a worker from a telephone;

-

obtain 202 a telephone identification from the telephone communication received;

-

verify 203 if said telephone identification is associated with a registered work center;

-

in case of positive result 204:

-

obtain 210 worker identification from the telephone communication received;

-

verify 211 if the worker's identification is associated with a registered worker associated with the registered work center;

-

in case of positive result 212:

or validate 217 the teleworking of the registered worker associated with the registered work center from the received telephone communication;

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or finish 218 execution; -in case of negative result 213:

or verify 214 if a maximum number of attempts to obtain the worker's identification has been exceeded;

or in case of positive result 215:

•

transfer 209 telephone communication to a control center to address the issue;

•

finish 218 execution;

or in case of negative result 216:

• transfer control of the procedure to obtain 210 worker identification from the received telephone communication. -in case of negative result 205: -Cancel 206 the procedure;

-

finish 218 execution. Figure 3 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of obtaining the worker's identification from the received telephone communication, in accordance with the invention. In said figure 3 the following procedure is represented:

-start 300 execution; -to obtain 301 a worker code from DTMF tones an oral sequence of the worker included in

the telephone communication received; - verify 302 if said worker code is a registered worker code; -in case of positive result 303:

or set 318 the registered worker's code as the worker's identification;

or obtain at least 308 a voice attribute of the worker from the oral sequence of the worker included in the received telephone communication;

or verify 309 if said voice attribute is associated with a registered voiceprint associated with the worker code obtained;

or in case of positive result 310:

•

dial 315 worker identification as authenticated worker identification;

•

finish 317 execution;

or in case of negative result 311:

•

verify 312 if a maximum number of attempts to obtain voice attributes of the worker has been exceeded;

•

in case of positive result 313:

•

transfer 316 telephone communication to a control center to address the issue;

•

finish 317 execution;

•

in case of negative result 314:

• transfer control of the procedure to obtain 308 at least one voice attribute of the worker from the oral sequence of the worker included in the received telephone communication;

-

in case of negative result 304:

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or verify 305 if a maximum number of attempts to obtain a worker code from DTMF tones or an oral sequence of the worker has been exceeded;

or in case of positive result 306:

•

transfer 316 telephone communication to a control center to address the issue;

•

finish 317 execution;

or in case of negative result 307:

• transfer control of the procedure to obtain a worker code 301 from an oral sequence of the worker included in the received telephone communication.

Although a specific embodiment of the present invention has been described and represented, it is clear that the person skilled in the art will be able to introduce variants and modifications, or replace the details with other technically equivalent ones, without departing from the scope of protection defined by the claims. attached.

Although also the described embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings comprise computer systems and processes performed in computer systems, the invention also extends to computer programs, more particularly to computer programs in or on carrier media. , adapted to put the invention into practice. The computer program may be in the form of source code, object code or intermediate code between source code and object code, such as partially compiled form, or in any other form suitable for use in the implementation of the agreement processes. with the invention The carrier medium can be any entity or device capable of carrying the program.

For example, the carrier medium may comprise a storage medium, such as a ROM, for example a CD ROM or a semiconductor ROM, or a magnetic recording medium, for example a floppy disc or a hard disk. In addition, the carrier means may be a transmissible carrier medium such as an electrical or optical signal that can be transmitted via electrical or optical cable or by radio or other means.

When the computer program is contained in a signal that can be transmitted directly by means of a cable or other device or medium, the carrier means may be constituted by said cable or other device or medium.

Alternatively, the carrier means can be an integrated circuit in which the computer program is encapsulated (embedded), said integrated circuit being adapted to perform, or to be used in the realization of, the relevant processes.

ES 2 377 682 Al

Claims (15)

1. Procedure for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication (13), comprising: - receiving (201) voice communication (13) by a sender (12) from a voice device (eleven); - obtaining (202) an identification of the voice device (11) from a channel responsible for transporting identification data of the received voice communication (13); - verify (203) if said voice device identification (11) is associated with a registered location; -in case of positive result:

-

obtain (210) an identification of the sender (12) from the voice communication (13) received; - obtain (308) at least one voice attribute of the sender (12) from an oral sequence of the sender

(12) for authentication included in the voice communication (13) received; -check (309) if said voice attribute is associated with a registered voiceprint associated with the issuer identification (12) obtained; -in case of positive result: or mark (315) the issuer identification (12) as the authenticated issuer identification (12);

-

verify (211) if the issuer identification (12) is associated with a registered user associated with the registered location;

-

in case of positive result:

or validate (217) the action of the registered user associated with the registered location from the voice communication (13) received.

2.

 Method according to claim 1, characterized in that obtaining (210) an identification of the transmitter (12) from the voice communication (13) received comprises:

- obtain (301) the issuer identification (12) from an oral sequence of the transmitter (12) included in the voice communication (13) received.

3.

 Method according to claim 1, characterized in that obtaining (210) an identification of the transmitter (12) from the voice communication (13) received comprises:

- obtain the identification of the transmitter (12) from a sequence of DTMF tones included in the voice communication (13) received.

Four.

 Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the voice device (11) is a fixed voice device (11); and by the fact that verifying (203) if said identification of the voice device (11) is associated with a registered location comprises:

-

verify whether said voice device identification (11) is associated with a registered fixed voice device (11);

-

in case of positive result:

or verify if the registered fixed voice device (11) is associated with a registered location. 5. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the voice device (11) is a mobile voice device (11); and by the fact that verifying (203) if said identification of the voice device (11) is associated with a registered location comprises:

-

verify whether said voice device identification (11) is associated with a registered mobile voice device (11);

-

in case of positive result:

or obtain a geographical location (19) of the mobile voice device (11) from the identification of the voice device (11); ES 2 377 682 Al or verify if the geographical location (19) of the mobile voice device (11) is associated with a registered location. 6. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it is verified (203) if said voice device identification (11) is associated with a registered location comprises: - verifying whether said voice device identification (11) is associated with a fixed voice device (11) registered; -in case of positive result: or verify if the registered fixed voice device (11) is associated with a registered location; -in case of negative result:

or verify if said voice device identification (11) is associated with a registered mobile voice device (11);

or in case of positive result:

or obtain a geographical location (19) of the mobile voice device (11) from the identification of the voice device (11); or verify if the geographical location (19) of the mobile voice device (11) is associated with a registered location. 7. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that validating (217) the action of the registered user associated with the registered location from the voice communication (13) received comprises:

-

obtain structured data representing the action of the registered user from voice communication

(13) received; -verify whether said structured data satisfies predetermined requirements associated with the user authorized and to the registered location; -register the result of verifying if said structured data satisfies said predetermined requirements.

8.

 Computer program product comprising program instructions to cause a computer system to perform the procedure to remotely validate a user action from a voice communication (13), according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9.

Computer program product according to claim 8, characterized in that it is stored in recording media.

10.

 Computer program product according to claim 8, characterized in that it is carried by a carrier signal.

eleven.

 Control system to remotely validate a user action from a voice communication (13), comprising:

-

means for receiving (201) voice communication (13) by a sender (12) from a voice device (11);

-

means for obtaining (202) an identification of the voice device (11) from the voice communication (13) received;

-

means for verifying (203) if said identification of the voice device (11) is associated with a registered location;

-

means for obtaining (210) an identification of the sender (12) from the voice communication (13) received;

-

means for verifying (211) if the issuer identification (12) is associated with a registered user associated with the registered location;

-

means for validating (217) the action of the registered user associated with the registered location from the voice communication (13) received.

12. System for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication (13), comprising: ES 2 377 682 Al

-

a control system for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication (13), according to claim 11;

-

at least one voice device (11) from which at least one transmitter (12) can perform voice communication (13).

13.

System according to claim 12, characterized in that the voice device (11) is a fixed voice device (11).

14.

System according to claim 12, characterized in that the voice device (11) is a mobile voice device (11).

ES 2 377 682 Al ES 2 377 682 Al ES 2 377 682 Al SPANISH OFFICE OF THE PATENTS AND BRAND Application no .: 201031315 SPAIN Date of submission of the application: 02.09.2010 Priority Date: REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE 51 Int. Cl.: G07C9 / 00 (2006.01) RELEVANT DOCUMENTS

Category

Documents cited Claims Affected

X

WO 0004510 A1 (AMERITECH CORP et al.) 27.01.2000, the whole document. 1-14

X

WO 2006128171 A2 (PORTICUS TECHNOLOGY INC et al.) 30.11.2006, the whole document. 1-14

X

US 2003182182 A1 (KOCHER ROBERT W) 25.09.2003, summary; figure 2. 1-14

Category of the documents cited X: of particular relevance Y: of particular relevance combined with other / s of the same category A: reflects the state of the art O: refers to unwritten disclosure P: published between the priority date and the date of priority submission of the application E: previous document, but published after the date of submission of the application

This report has been prepared • for all claims • for claims no:

Date of completion of the report 13.06.2011

Examiner J. Santaella Vallejo Page 1/5

REPORT OF THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE Application number: 201031315 Minimum documentation sought (classification system followed by classification symbols) G07C Electronic databases consulted during the search (name of the database and, if possible, terms of search used) INVENES, EPODOC, WPI, INTERNET State of the Art Report Page 2/5  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 201031315 Date of Completion of Written Opinion: 06.13.2011 Statement

Novelty (Art. 6.1 LP 11/1986)

Claims Claims 1-14 IF NOT

Inventive activity (Art. 8.1 LP11 / 1986)

Claims Claims 1-14 IF NOT

The application is considered to comply with the industrial application requirement. This requirement was evaluated during the formal and technical examination phase of the application (Article 31.2 Law 11/1986).  Opinion Base.- This opinion has been made on the basis of the patent application as published. State of the Art Report Page 3/5  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 201031315  1. Documents considered.- The documents belonging to the state of the art taken into consideration for the realization of this opinion are listed below.

Document

Publication or Identification Number publication date

D01

WO 0004510 A1 (AMERITECH CORP et al.) 27.01.2000

D02

WO 2006128171 A2 (PORTICUS TECHNOLOGY INC et al.) 11/30/2006

D03

US 2003182182 A1 (KOCHER ROBERT W) 09.25.2003

 2. Statement motivated according to articles 29.6 and 29.7 of the Regulations for the execution of Law 11/1986, of March 20, on Patents on novelty and inventive activity; quotes and explanations in support of this statement The claimed invention presents a method, a system and a computer product for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication. From an incoming communication it obtains the device identifier, and checks if it is linked to a registered location, it also obtains a voice attribute and verifies that attribute in case a registered user corresponds. The state-of-the-art document closest to the invention is D01 and discloses a method and system for vocal verification with a minimum supervision system For clarity, and as far as possible, the same wording used in claim 1 is used. The references in parentheses correspond to D01. Technical characteristics not found in document D01 are indicated in square brackets. Claim 1 Procedure for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication, comprising:

•

receive voice communication by a sender from a voice device (page 41, line 7, figure 2 item 207);

• obtain an identification of the voice device from a channel responsible for transporting identification data of the received voice communication (page 41, line 8);

•

verify whether said voice device identification is associated with a registered location (page 41, lines 1112, figure 2 item 221);

•

in case of positive result: o obtain an identification of the transmitter from the received voice communication (page 41, line 13-15, figure 5, element 441);

or obtain at least one voice attribute of the sender from an oral sequence of the sender for authentication comprised in the received voice communication (page 41, line 13-15, figure 5, element 441);

or verify whether said voice attribute is associated with a registered voiceprint associated with the identification of the obtained transmitter (page 41, line 13-15, figure 5, element 501);

or in case of positive result:

• mark the issuer identification as authenticated issuer identification (page 41, line 1315, figure 5 item 509);

or verify if the issuer identification is associated with a registered user associated with the registered location (page 41, lines 9-10);

or in case of positive result:

• validate the action of the registered user associated with the registered location from the voice communication received. (figure 2 item 215) Therefore, in light of D01, the invention described in claim 1 is novel as set forth in articles 6 and 8 of the 1986 Patent Law Claims 2-7 In view of the cited document D01, the remaining claims are practical issues, which are either included in the document or are previously known from the cited document. Therefore, in light of D01, the inventions described in claims 2-7 are novel as set forth in articles 6 and 8 of the 1986 Patent Law State of the Art Report Page 4/5  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 201031315 Claims 8-10 The computer program product comprising program instructions to cause a computer system to perform the procedure to remotely validate a user action from a voice communication. Claims 8-10 are only embodiments of claims 1-7 and cannot be considered as having novelty with respect to D01 Therefore, in light of D01, the inventions described in claims 8-10 are novel as established in articles 6 and 8 of the 1986 Patent Law Claims 11-14 Control system for remotely validating a user action from a voice communication, these claims 11-14 consist in the general means implementation of the method described in claims 1-7. The system as previously the method is disclosed as prior art in document D01. The inventions described in claims 11-14 lack novelty as set forth in articles 6 and 8 of the 1986 Patent Law State of the Art Report Page 5/5