Identifying an unidentified person using an ambiguity-resolution criterion

Software for automatically and unambiguously identifying a currently unidentified caller as a particular known person, the software embodied in a computer-readable medium and when executed by a computer operable to:

• access both stored digital representations of speech and stored ambiguity-resolution criteria identified with a plurality of known persons, the digital representations of speech for the known persons being independent of account codes for the known persons, the ambiguity-resolution criteria for the known persons being independent of the digital representations of speech for the known persons, the digital representations of speech and stored ambiguity-resolution criteria having been stored in previous sessions;
• access, in a current session prior to identification of the currently unidentified person, both a digital representation of speech for the caller and an ambiguity-resolution identifier for the caller, the digital representation of speech for the caller being independent of an account code for the caller, the ambiguity-resolution identifier for the caller being independent of the digital representation of speech for the caller, the digital representations of speech and stored ambiguity-resolution criteria having been received in the current session;
• perform a first automatic comparison of the digital representation of speech for the still currently unidentified caller with at least some of the stored digital representations of speech for the known persons;
• identify the caller as at least one of the known persons;
• and
• if the caller is ambiguously identified as more than one of the known persons as a result of the first automatic comparison, perform a second automatic comparison of the ambiguity-resolution identifier for the caller that was received in the current session prior to identification of the caller with at least one selected ambiguity-resolution criterion for a known person that was stored in a previous session to unambiguously identify the caller as a particular one of the known persons, the second automatic comparison being performed independent of human interaction between the first and second automatic comparisons;
• the ambiguity-resolution criterion for the selected known person comprising historical purchasing information.

A system for authenticating a caller before providing the caller with access to one or more secured resources, comprising:

• identification data stored during system enrollment of a plurality of known persons;
• verification data stored during system enrollment of the plurality of known persons;
• and
• a processing system operable to:
• in a current call initiated by a currently unidentified caller and prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, receive voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller based on one or more words spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call, the received voice-based information comprising voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller and voice-based verification information for the currently unidentified caller;
• automatically compare the received voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, with the stored identification data for a plurality of known persons, which was stored during enrollment of these known persons, to uniquely identify the now identified caller as a particular one of these known persons;
• automatically compare the received voice-based verification information for the now identified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the now identified caller, with the stored verification data for at least the particular one of the known persons, which was stored during enrollment of the particular one of the known persons, to verify the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;
• and
• authenticate the now identified caller for access to the one or more secured resources in response to the verification of the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;
• the received voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller comprising a digital representation of a telephone number spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call.

A method for authenticating a caller before providing the caller with access to one or more secured resources, comprising:

• in a current call initiated by a currently unidentified caller and prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, receiving voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller based on one or more words spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call, the received voice-based information comprising voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller and voice-based verification information for the currently unidentified caller;
• accessing identification data stored during system enrollment of a plurality of known persons;
• automatically comparing the received voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, with the stored identification data for a plurality of known persons, which was stored during enrollment of these known persons, to uniquely identify the now identified caller as a particular one of these known persons;
• accessing verification data stored during system enrollment of the plurality of known persons;
• automatically comparing the received voice-based verification information for the now identified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the now identified caller, with the stored verification data for at least the particular one of the known persons, which was stored during enrollment of the particular one of the known persons, to verify the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;
• and
• authenticating the now identified caller for access to the one or more secured resources in response to the verification of the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;
• the received voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller comprising a digital representation of a telephone number spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call.

Software for authenticating a caller before providing the caller with access to one or more secured resources, the software being embodied in computer-readable media and when executed operable to:

• in a current call initiated by a currently unidentified caller and prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, receive voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller based on one or more words spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call, the received voice-based information comprising voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller and voice-based verification information for the currently unidentified caller;
• access identification data stored during system enrollment of a plurality of known persons;
• automatically compare the received voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, with the stored identification data for a plurality of known persons, which was stored during enrollment of these known persons, to uniquely identify the now identified caller as a particular one of these known persons;
• access verification data stored during system enrollment of the plurality of known persons;
• automatically compare the received voice-based verification information for the now identified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the now identified caller, with the stored verification data for at least the particular one of the known persons, which was stored during enrollment of the particular one of the known persons, to verify the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;
• and
• authenticate the now identified caller for access to the one or more secured resources in response to the verification of the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;
• the received voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller comprising a digital representation of a telephone number spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call.

A system for authenticating a caller before providing the caller with access to on e or more secured resources, comprising:

• means for storing identification data and verification data during system enrollment of a plurality of known persons;
• means for, in a current call initiated by a currently unidentified caller and prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, receiving voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller based on one or more words spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call, the received voice-based information comprising voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller and voice-based verification information for the currently unidentified caller;
• means for automatically comparing the received voice-based identification information for the currently unidentified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the currently unidentified caller, with the stored identification data for a plurality of known persons, which was stored during enrollment of these known persons, to uniquely identify the now identified caller as a particular one of these known persons;
• means for automatically comparing the received voice-based verification information for the now identified caller, which was received in the current call prior to identification of the now identified caller, with the stored verification data for at least the particular one of the known per sons, which was stored during enrollment of the particular one of the known persons, to verify the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;
• and
• means for authenticating the now identified caller for access to the one or more secured resources in response to the verification of the unique identification of the now identified caller as the particular one of the known persons;
• the received voice-based information for the currently unidentified caller comprising a digital representation of a telephone number spoken by the currently unidentified caller in the current call.