Apple wants to better integrate Siri with phone call features

Apple has been granted a patent (number 11595517 B2) for a “digital assistant integration with telephony.” The goal is to have Siri be able to make and receive calls, arrange appointments, and play back different voicemail messages depending on whose calling on your iPhone.

About the patent

The patent relates generally to intelligent automated assistants such as Siri and, more specifically, to integrating such a digital assistant with telephony. Advancements in digital assistant technology has also improved interactions between humans and devices. 

However, Apple says the full potential of integrating telephony and digital assistant technology hasn’t been fully realized. For example, conventional digital assistants aren’t capable of managing incoming and outgoing calls on behalf of users, much less facilitating ongoing calls. Apple says that traditional devices are also not well equipped to handle digital assistant requests from the user while the user is also engaged in a phone call. 

Given the speech-based nature of both digital assistant technology and telephony, Apple wants to improve the system for integrating Siri with telephony tasks. 

Summary of the patent

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “Systems and processes for integrating a digital assistant with telephony are provided. For example, an incoming call may be received, from a caller, at an electronic device. A communication session may be established between the caller and the digital assistant of the electronic device. 

“In accordance with a determination that the identification of the caller is unknown, determination is made whether the caller corresponds to an automated calling system. In accordance with a determination that the identification of the caller is known, a response is provided by the digital assistant to the caller. An output including information corresponding to the communication is provided at the electronic device.”