External control unit with reduced keypad integrated in voice activated vehicular telephone system with call-in-process voice-to-tones and voice to-memory conversion facilities

Abstract

An external control unit (ECU) with a reduced keypad is tightly integrated in a voice activated vehicular telephone system which further includes a voice adapter (VA) providing an intelligent interface between the ECU and a portable telephone removably coupled to a portable telephone holder. By taking full advantage of the voice recognition capabilities of the VA, the ECU is able to effectively harness the extensive power of the vehicular telephone system while requiring a very small amount of vehicle space through the combination of an internal microphone and a keypad with a very few number of keys. The remaining keys are specifically chosen for their unique value in the integrated system and are further defined to support multiple mode-specific functions. Accordingly, use of a voice activated dialer key causes the system during an idle mode to prompt the user to speak a number to be dialed, yet also causes the system during a call-in-process mode to activate a voice-to-tones conversion facility for operating, for example, voice mail systems, without the need for a conventional keypad. Likewise, use of a directory key during the idle mode results in a prompt for the user to speak a name previously stored in the directory with an accompanying telephone number for dialing the number, yet use of the same key during the call-in-process mode enables a voice-to-memory conversion facility for storing in scratchpad memory spoken digits which are easily dialed upon completion of the current call.