Patent Issued for Systems and methods for authentication program enrollment (USPTO 11270708): United Services Automobile Association

2022 MAR 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Buckingham, Thomas Bret (Fair Oaks, TX, US), Casillas, Debra Randall (Helotes, TX, US), Fernandez, Gabriel Carlos (San Antonio, TX, US), Johnson, Zakery Layne (Santa Clara, UT, US), Mortensen, Maland Keith (San Antonio, TX, US), Rangarajan, Sudarshan (San Antonio, TX, US), filed on May 7, 2020, was published online on March 8, 2022.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11270708 is United Services Automobile Association (San Antonio, Texas, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The protection and security of customer information is critical from an organization’s perspective, not only to comply with applicable laws, but to earn and foster customers’ trust. Enhanced security often comes at the cost of convenience for the user. For example, customers may be required to provide additional information simply to be enrolled in an authentication program (e.g., select and answer security questions). Additionally, the authentication process may become more of an inconvenience as the user is asked to provide additional information to verify his or her identity.

“The drawings have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be expanded or reduced to help improve the understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Similarly, some components and/or operations may be separated into different blocks or combined into a single block for the purposes of discussion of some of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Moreover, while embodiments of the present disclosure are amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The intention, however, is not to limit the disclosure to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the disclosure is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Various embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to authentication. More specifically, various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for authentication program enrollment.

“Traditional methods of authentication on a voiceline (e.g., telecommunications network, internet connection, etc.) may identify and verify the user based on knowledge factors. For example, the user may call and provide a name to identify the user and an address to verify the user’s identity. More sophisticated methods of authentication may identify the user using an ownership factor such as a device or token associated with the device of the user. Thereafter, the user’s identity may be verified with a knowledge factor such as additional personal information. For example, the user may be asked to provide a PIN, birthdate, address, phone number, account number, and/or other information. The constant repeating and revealing of personal information may be cumbersome and less secure for the user.

“In some embodiments of the present disclosure, an inherence factor (i.e., biometric information) may be used to identify the user and/or to verify the user’s identity. For example, the user may be identified by collecting information from the device being used to call the organization (e.g., via a device fingerprint, token, phone number, etc.). This information may be used to create a biometric profile containing characteristics that may be used to verify future biometric samples. Once the biometric profile is created, the user’s identity may be verified by comparing the caller’s biometrics (e.g., voice biometrics) with previously generated or collected biometrics associated with the user. For example, if the voice biometrics match to a certain threshold, then the user may be authenticated. Thus, in some systems, a user may simply speak a command and be authenticated without actively providing additional information.

“To enroll a user in an authentication system or program that allows authentication based on voice biometrics, samples of the user’s voice must be collected and analyzed. If the user is passively enrolled in the authentication program, the user is enrolled without actively responding to a request for information (e.g., device information or voice biometrics are gathered in the background without requiring the user to actively provide any information). In contrast, if the user is actively enrolled in the authentication program, the user actively responds to requests for information (e.g., setting up a username/password, providing personal information such as a date of birth, provide biometric samples, etc.).

“Once the samples are obtained, the samples may be analyzed to derive characteristics of the user’s voice and speech. In some embodiments, a voice profile and/or voice print (i.e., a stored template used to identify a person via their voice) may be created. The characteristics, voice profile, and/or voice print may be associated with the user. During authentication, the caller’s voice and speech may be analyzed and compared with previously collected and analyzed samples of the user’s voice to ensure the caller is in fact the user.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a machine to perform operations comprising: receiving a verbal request or a verbal command and non-voice biometric authentication information from a user; authenticating the user via a first authentication method using the non-voice biometric authentication information; after authenticating the user via the first authentication method: enrolling, without requesting enrollment information, the user into a voice biometric authentication program for at least one portion of the verbal request or the verbal command.

“2. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: enrolling the user into the voice biometric authentication program for other verbal requests or other verbal commands that include the at least one portion of the verbal request or the verbal command and at least one portion of a second verbal request or a second verbal command for which the user has been enrolled into the voice biometric authentication program.

“3. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: after enrolling the user into the voice biometric authentication program for the verbal request or the verbal command, authenticating the user via the voice biometric authentication program prior to fulfilling the verbal request or the verbal command made subsequently.

“4. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the voice biometric authentication program authenticates the user via a voice biometric authentication method, wherein the voice biometric authentication method includes: receiving a subsequent voice interaction including the verbal request or the verbal command; deriving characteristics of a voice from the subsequent voice interaction; comparing the characteristics of the voice in the subsequent voice interaction with characteristics previously derived from one or more previously received voice interactions from the user including the verbal request or the verbal command; and authenticating the user when a match of the characteristics of the voice in the subsequent voice interaction and the characteristics previously derived from the one or more previously received voice interactions meet or exceed a threshold.

“5. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the voice biometric authentication program uses text-dependent speech recognition to authenticate the user.

“6. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: enrolling the user into the voice biometric authentication program for other requests or commands that include the at least one portion of the verbal request or the verbal command and at least one portion of a second verbal request or a second verbal command for which the user has been enrolled into the voice biometric authentication program.

“7. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a subsequent verbal request or a subsequent verbal command identifiable from a voice of the user; determining an activity authentication level required to fulfill the subsequent verbal request or the subsequent verbal command; analyzing characteristics of the subsequent verbal request or the subsequent verbal command, the characteristics including at least one of: pitch, intonation, speed, attenuation, accent, cadence, and volume; authenticating the user via the voice biometric authentication program to an authentication level based on the characteristics of the voice speaking the subsequent verbal request or the subsequent verbal command; and fulfilling the subsequent verbal request or the subsequent verbal command when the authentication level meets or exceeds the activity authentication level.

“8. A system comprising: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receiving a verbal request or a verbal command and non-voice biometric authentication information from a user; authenticating the user via a first authentication method using the non-voice biometric authentication information; after authenticating the user via the first authentication method: enrolling, without requesting enrollment information, the user into a voice biometric authentication program for at least one portion of the verbal request or the verbal command.

“9. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: enrolling the user into the voice biometric authentication program for other verbal requests or other verbal commands that include the at least one portion of the verbal request or the verbal command and at least one portion of a second verbal request or a second verbal command for which the user has been enrolled into the voice biometric authentication program.

“10. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: after enrolling the user into the voice biometric authentication program for the verbal request or the verbal command, authenticating the user via the voice biometric authentication program prior to fulfilling the verbal request or the verbal command made subsequently.

“11. The system of claim 8, wherein the voice biometric authentication program authenticates the user via a voice biometric authentication method, wherein the voice biometric authentication method includes: receiving a subsequent voice interaction including the verbal request or the verbal command; deriving characteristics of a voice from the subsequent voice interaction; comparing the characteristics of the voice in the subsequent voice interaction with characteristics previously derived from one or more previously received voice interactions from the user including the verbal request or the verbal command; and authenticating the user when a match of the characteristics of the voice in the subsequent voice interaction and the characteristics previously derived from the one or more previously received voice interactions meet or exceed a threshold.

“12. The system of claim 8, wherein the voice biometric authentication program uses text-dependent speech recognition to authenticate the user.

“13. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: enrolling the user into the voice biometric authentication program for other requests or commands that include the at least one portion of the verbal request or the verbal command and at least one portion of a second verbal request or a second verbal command for which the user has been enrolled into the voice biometric authentication program.

“14. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a subsequent verbal request or a subsequent verbal command identifiable from a voice of the user; determining an activity authentication level required to fulfill the subsequent verbal request or the subsequent verbal command; analyzing characteristics of the subsequent verbal request or the subsequent verbal command, the characteristics including at least one of: pitch, intonation, speed, attenuation, accent, cadence, and volume; authenticating the user via the voice biometric authentication program to an authentication level based on the characteristics of the voice speaking the subsequent verbal request or the subsequent verbal command; and fulfilling the subsequent verbal request or the subsequent verbal command when the authentication level meets or exceeds the activity authentication level.

“15. A computerized method comprising: receiving, by a computing device, a verbal request or a verbal command and non-voice biometric authentication information from a user; authenticating the user via a first authentication method using the non-voice biometric authentication information; after authenticating the user via the first authentication method: enrolling, without requesting enrollment information, the user into a voice biometric authentication program for at least one portion of the verbal request or the verbal command.

“16. The computerized method of claim 15, the method further comprising: enrolling the user into the voice biometric authentication program for other verbal requests or other verbal commands that include the at least one portion of the verbal request or the verbal command and at least one portion of a second verbal request or a second verbal command for which the user has been enrolled into the voice biometric authentication program.

“17. The computerized method of claim 15, the method further comprising: after enrolling the user into the voice biometric authentication program for the verbal request or the verbal command, authenticating the user via the voice biometric authentication program prior to fulfilling the verbal request or the verbal command made subsequently.

“18. The computerized method of claim 15, wherein the voice biometric authentication program authenticates the user via a voice biometric authentication method, wherein the voice biometric authentication method includes: receiving a subsequent voice interaction including the verbal request or the verbal command; deriving characteristics of a voice from the subsequent voice interaction; comparing the characteristics of the voice in the subsequent voice interaction with characteristics previously derived from one or more previously received voice interactions from the user including the verbal request or the verbal command; and authenticating the user when a match of the characteristics of the voice in the subsequent voice interaction and the characteristics previously derived from the one or more previously received voice interactions meet or exceed a threshold.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For additional information on this patent, see: Buckingham, Thomas Bret. Systems and methods for authentication program enrollment. U.S. Patent Number 11270708, filed May 7, 2020, and published online on March 8, 2022. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11270708.PN.&OS=PN/11270708RS=PN/11270708

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