CA2230267C - Transaction support apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A transaction support apparatus for use by one or more human transaction operators, each provided with a telephone, which comprises a speech recognition device having: a speech input coupled to receive a speech signal input to a said telephone, a speech recognition processor arranged to recognise predetermined transaction parameters within said speech signal; and a parameter output at which said speech recognition device is arranged to make values of said parameters thus recognised available.

Description

TR}~NSACTION SUPPORT APPA~ S

This invention relates to transaction support apparatus;
particularly, but not exclusively, to apparatus for use in financial transactions.
It is known to perform transactions in shares, currency or other financial commodities in a dealing room. A known dealing room consists of a number of human dealers located around a large circle. Each human dealer is typically equipped with a computer terminal, a telephone, a pair of indicator llghts o, different colours (one indicating a desire to sell and one indicatins a desire to buy), and a number of cards with which to indicate the client party, or other information.
On receipt of an instruction to buy or sell a quantity of a particular commodity, the dealer concerned turns on the light to indicate the corresponding wish to buy or sell, and then starts to negotiate with other dealers by gestures, signals and speech. Often, to com?lete one transaction, the dealer may need to buy from or sell to a number of other dealers t~ make up a cumulative total.
When t:ne deal is agreed, each dealer makes a note of the details of the deal on paper, and relays the details by telephone to his client. The details are collected later by a messenger ana are input to dealing system which executes the transfers o~ the commodities between the clients.
The dealer's telephones may intermitten.ly be monitored and recorded onto tape.
During busy periods, it becomes difficult to keep track of all deal details and to ensure that they are promptly input into the dealing computer whilst keeping up with the volume of transactions.
Various proposals have been made for automating transactions, so as to replace the human interaction with interaction ViG computer terminals.
In a first aspect, the present invention is however intended to provide apparatus to support transactions to be performed by human operators, so as to improve the efficiency of human to human communication whilst maintaining many aspects of their current way of working.
In a second aspect, the present invention is concerned with the provision of transaction support apparatus in which htlm~n.c communicate via computer terminals, whilst retaining some elements of hllm~n-human interaction.
In one specific aspect, the invention aims to improve the reliability and efficiency with which deals are recorded.
This is achieved by the provision of speech recognition apparatus adjacent each dealer, advantageously connected to his telephone. It is advantageous that the apparatus should also be c2pable of performing speaker or voice recognition, thus adding an extra element o- security to the system.
Advantageously, some means of confirming the details of the deal which has been recognised may be provided, and this may be in the form of a visual display, or in the form of a synthetic speech recital.
In an~ther specific aspect, the invention aims to improve the reliahility and efficiency with whi_h deals are recorded by provid--g a disitzl speech recording un-~ to record the confirmato~Y telephone conve-sations from each dealer, and to supply the recorded digital telephone conversztion files to a transcrip-ion terminal at which they may be -e~layed and the details ex~-acted for data entry. Advantageously, this is combined wlth the first specific aspect of the invention and only those parts of calls for which speech recognition has not been com~pletely successful are thus transcribed.
Conveniently, where digital data on values of paramete-s of the call are alreaày available (for example via speech recognition), such values are transmitted as a single file along with the recorded speech.
In known dealing rooms, it is possi~le for several deals to be conaucted simultaneously. The e~ficiency of a marke.
increases with the number o dealers, but the efficiency of human communication sets a limit on the slze or the dealing room beyond which dealing is not reliably possible; this -typically occurs at around 14-18 people.
In another aspect, the invention aims to facilitate human-human communication, and thus to increase the efficiency of a given size of group of dealers, or to increase the number of dealers within the dealing room. This is achieved, in one aspect, by a common display visible to all the dealers, which may conveniently be a single display surface such as a table top around which the dealers are located. It is thus possible to display graphical indicia of the deals and prospective deals wnich are in progress at any time, thus reducing verbal confusion and facilitating faster dealing.
In ano.her aspect, the inventicn proviaes transaction support apparatus in which humans communicate via computer terminals which illustrate a display (?referably a common display as in the above em~odiments) which is prererably represented as a three dimensional display, an~ advantageously also includes private display information which is not available to all human operators.
In a yet further embodiment, which may De independently useful separately of the above emboa~ments and for ~urposes other tL.an transaction suppor_, the invention provides a telephone handset for use in transaction support apparatus of the kind aescribed above, which includes a dis?lay screen held in fron. cf the face of the numan operato~ .is enables the display of financial or other data w;nilc_ the operator utilises tke telephone or conduc,s nego.iations, thus accelerating the deal process.
Other zspects and preferred embodiments will be apparent hereafter from the following description and claims.
The invention will now be illustrated, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying arawings in which:
Figure 1 illustrates transaction supDort asparatus according to a first embodiment to the inven.ioni Figure 2 is a block diagram showing in greater detail the elements of Figure l;
Figure 3 is an illustrative diagram indicating the contents of a record held within a memory ~orming part of Figures 1 and 2;
Figure 4 shows in greater detail part of Figure 1 and indicates the display produced thereby;
Figure 5 illustrates particular displays to be dlsplayed in the embodiment of Figure 4;
Figure 6 is a plan view showing in sreater detail a portion of the display of Figure l;
Figure 7 (comprising Figures 7a to 7d) is a flow diagram illustrating one exemplary mode of operation of the apparatus o~ Figure l;
Figu~e 8 is a block diagram illustrating the elements of a second embodiment o~ the invention;
~ igure 9 is a block diagram showing in areater detail the components o~ a workstation forming part C- the embodiment of Figure 8;
Fi~lres lOa-lOd are illustratiors Oc displays generated on the wo-kstation of r igure 9;
Fisures 11 and 12 are further displays generated on the workstatior. Oc Figure 9;
Fisure '3 is 2 pe--spective view o_ 2 handset forming part of a third e~odiment o,~ the inventicn in an open position;
Fisu-e 1 is a perspective view of the handset o- Figure 13 in a closed positicn; and ~igure 1~ is G block diagram shcwing the nternal components o- the handset of Figures i3 and 14 First ~mbodiment A l~irs_ embodiment c_ the invention will now be disclosed The ap?aratus of the p-esent invention is connected to a dealing system computer 10, which does not in this embodimer.t _orm part o~ the present invention. The operation of the dealing system computer 10 is conventional, and will not be described in detail; briefly, it comprises a store which stores records of each deal consisting at least o~ the identity of the buyer(s) and the seller(s), the agreed price(s), the ~uantity (or quantities), the instrument or commodity in question, and the identity of the dealer(s) These details are then used to initiate payment through an automated system (such as, for share dealing, TAURUS).
The present embodiment com~rises a display surface 20 provided as the top of a table structure 30; a projection apparatus 40 positioned to project an lmage onto the display surface 20; and a plurallty of dealer st2tions 50a, 50b....
(only 50a, and 50b being shown).
A control unit 60 (provided typically by a suitably programmed computer) is connected to each of the work stations 50a, 50b... and the projector 40.
Referring to Figure 2, each dealer station 50 comprises a compute- terminal 70 consisting of a keyboard 70a and display 70b (for example a conventior.21 computer monitor) which are connected to the control unit 60. Also provided is a telephone 80.
Also cor.prised at each dealer station 50 is a pointing device (i.e. a device permitting the operator to desisnate an object or area by pointing the device or some part of his body towards that object or area. The pointins device 55 may, r~or example, be a light pen as aescribed in greater detail below.
Each psinting device is connected to the control unit 60.
Each o~ the telephones 80a-...80n is connected to a local telephone switching centre 90 (ror examDle a private branch exchange (~ABX) located aajacen~ the dealing room).
A;so connected to the local switching centre 90 are a plurality of voice recognition units 92a-92e, a plurality of digital voice storage uni.s 94a-9~e, a moaem 96 connected to a signalling line 97 to the control un-t 60, and a modem 98 connected via a signalling line 99 to a work station 95. The work station 95 comprises a voice mail replay facility 78 and a keyboard 79 connected to a permit data input into the control device 60.
In general, the control unit and local switching unit 90 are programmed to perform as follows.
Local Switchinq Centre The local switching centre 90 is arranged to function as a conventional switching centre, routing calls to and from the W O 97/11435 PCT/~r'/~2176 telephones 80 of the individual dealers from particular clients, or other parties.
It is arranged also to perform calling party identification (using conventional caller line identification (CLI) tecnniques embodied in current telephones and switching centres), which is particularly straightforward where the lines from dealer to client are pri~ate circuits.
Additionally, the local switching centre 90 is arranged to connect a selected one of the speech recognition units 92 and digital voice store units 94 into selected calls, so as to be responsive to the microphone of the telephone 80 (and therefore to the telephone users voice).
Furthermore, the local switching cen~re 90 is arranged to selec~ively interconnect the output port o' speech recognition unit 92 to the modem 96 to supply a digital message consisting of recognised work token sigr.als via the line 97 to the control unit 60; and to connect the output of a digital voice store 94 to the modem 98 to supply a file of digitally recorded speech as a voice mail message to the voice mail unit 78.
ContrQl D_vice In tle arrangement shown in Fisures 1 and 2, _he control device 60 comprises a digital storage device (e.g. a ha~c disk drive) 62, a display control device 6 , a moaem 65 for receiving digital data via the line 97 anà modem 96 from tne local swi_ching unit 90 and a real time clock 68.
Refe~ring to Figure 3, the control u-.it 60 is arranged to create, in the digital s.ore 62, a stored record 100 for each attempted transaction, the record 100 comprising the following information:
dealer name lO1 clien_ name 102 data and time of deal 103 commodity 104 volume 105 price 106 Also provided are one or more other party fields 108a listing at least the identity of the other dealer ~or, in the case where the deal involves several other dealers, each field 108 listing the identity of one of the other dealers) and, i~
available, data such as the identity of the other dealers client and so on. The other party fielàs 108 may each contain a pointer to a further deal record 100 wnich corresponds to the deal as perceived by the other party dealer.
The control unit 60 is arranged to perform the following general functions:
l. create a new deal record 100 within the store 62;

2. create new partial deal fields 108;

3. fllling in data into each of the fields of the deal and partial deal records 100 with data received from:
(a) the local exchange unit 90 (via the modem 95 and line 97) (~) the speech recognition units 92 (t~ia the local exchange ~0, modem 96 and line 97), (c) the keyboards 70a and 79 (G) the pointing devices 5~

4. display the information relating to each deal record 100 or the dispiays 20 and 70b, and maint:ain and update the displays as the contents of the deal record 100 change.

5. record the closure of a deal and transmit a deal record to the deal computer lO.
Diaital voice store The digital voice store units 9 each comprise a digital encoder and a digital storage device (e.g. a hard disk drive or a flash eprom). The coder may be a simple adaptive differential pulse code modulation (ADDCM) encoder, bu~ is preferably a low bit rate encoder such as a linear predictive coding (LDC) or other parametric coder. The full rate or half rate coaers describe fully in the specirications for the GS~
digltal cellular radio system may, for example, be employed.
The output of the coder is digital data representing the 3~ telephone speech of the dealer, which is stored in the memory device, together with header data itemising the dealer, the calling party telephone number, the date and time, and any other known data ~e g the identity of the other dealer in the transaction) S~eech recoqnition units Each speech recognition unit comprises, in this embodiment, a hidden markov model (HMM) speech recosnlser, as disclosed for example in "Hidden Markov Models ror automatic speech recognition theory and application~; S J Cox;
8ritish Telecom Technology Journal Vol 6 No 2, April 1988 The recogniser typically comprises a preprocessor arranged to extract features ~ror example mel frequency capstral coefficients (MFCCs)) from the speech signal, and to calculate the likelihood the sequence of such features corresponding to a predetermined set of words, represented by store data modelling the words (fo- exa~ple, HMM states and transition probabilities) The stored data corresponds to a limited set of words, which specifically represen~ predetermined prices, amoun~s, commodities or instruments and transaction types (for example, digits ana multlples such as hundreds or .housands; currencies such as pounds, marks c- dollars; instruments such a currencies, stocks o- bonds; and transactions such as buy, sell, swap and so on) In ~his emboaiment, stored models are derived -rom instances of the word spoken by each of the aealers, so .hat the speec:~ recognition units function as speaker dependent speech recognition units Each speech recognition unit therefore stores a set o~ templates (i e stored data representing a model of each word) for each of the dealers, and uses the set of templates associated with the dealer with whose telephone 80 the speech recognition unit is connected by the local switching cen_re 90 Where the speech recoanition units are speaker dependent recognition units, and additional advantage is obtained in that, as well as identifying words within the stream of speech, the speech recognition is able to give some measure of the closeness of the words recognised and the stored templates for the dealer who should be using the telephone concerned. This can be taken as an indication of how iikely the speaker is to be the correct dealer.
Where a word is recognised with a degree of probability above a predetermined threshold level, the speech recognition unit outputs a token signal comprisins, for example, the ASCII
text stream representing the recognised word (i.e. "mark", "1000" and so on). Thus, a set of token signal representing the in~ormation recognised in the dealers speech over the telephone 80.
Each speech recognition unit is operable to transmit the token signals, together with header information indicating the telephone 80 from which the call was received (and hence the dealer I~), the telephone number with which the tele~;~one was connected (and hence the idertity of the ciient), the date and the time, v a the modem 96 and line 97 to the control device 60, which is operable to cemodulate the data and operate the corresponding the fields within the deal record 100.
In this embodimen_, the control device 60 is operable to generate a confirmatory display on the monitor 70b -or the dealer whose speech has been recognlsed, comprising t:-e token data corresponding to wha. tne speech recognition _n_~ has recognisec. The display indicates fields 102-106 f~ hich data has not been recognised by a substitu.ion of cLaracters (for exampie asterisks), and may also indicate data f~r which the speecn recognition unit established a relatively low level of recognition probability (and the validity of which is therefore uncertain) in italics or in some other special manner, so to draw the attention of the aealer to missing, suspect or incomplete data. The control device is then operable for a predetermined period of time (for example a minute) to permit the dealer to amend or erter data d-splayed on the monitor 7b via the kevboard 70a; thus, the dealer can correct misrecognised data immediately.
In an alternative emboaiment, each speaker recognition unit 92 further comprises a speech synthesizer, and after termination of the call, the speech recognition unit 92 seizes the line to the dealers phone 80 and generates a synthesized W O 97/11435 PCT/~Lr''~2176 voice signal through the load speaker thereof, to recite the recognised data and allow the dealer of a further opportunity of re-entering the data verbally via the telephone 80 for re-recognition. Alternatively, only words the recognition of which is dubious may be offered for re-recognition, as disclosed in our earlier application GB-A-2192746. The speech synthesizer may comprise a commercially available allophone synthesizer, supplied for example by Texas Instruments of Bedford, ~nited Kingdom.
~is~lav The operation of the display formatter 64 and display ger.erator 40 will now be discussed in general terms.
The display generator 40 may comprise a kno~ video generator comprising, for example, three scannins iicht beam generators each arranged to generate one of three primary colou~s, red, sreen and blue, to create a raster scan across the display sur.ace 20. The display rormatter 64 is arranged to generate the graphics to be displayed on the display surface 20.
Refe-ring ~o Figure 4, a first graph_c aisplayed on the display s~rface 20 comprises three deal indicator lines A-C, each of which here is represented as an arrow linking the wcrk pos-~ions 50a, 50b of the two parties ~o ~,.e deal.
Refe_ring to Figure 5, in Figure 5a, an ~invita~ion to trade' graphic is shown. When a dealer at, for example, position 50a has received an instruction from a clien~ to buy (e.g. $5 million at $1.682 per pound), o~ oDening the deal table 100 the control unit 60 causes the display of a graphic comprising an arrow between the dealer slation 50a and the centre o~ the display, and indicates such other information as may be available in table 100.
Where another dealer hzs an instruction -rom a client tO
perform a complimentary transaction (e.g., in this case, to sell dollars, for example $5 million at $1.683 to the pound), on creation of deal table 100, the control uni~ 60 is arranged to display a corresponding graphic between the second dealer position 5Ob and the centre of the display. In each case, the direction of the arrow indicates whether the dealer wishes to buy (e.g. accuire a particular commodity) or sell (e.g.
dispose of a particular commodity); it will be recognised that ~ in currency transactions, strlctly, each transaction is a swap rather than a purchase.
A first deal representation graphic (Figure 5c) shows a tentati~e deal in progress, when communication has been established between the two dealers but before the deal is finalised. The two intention to traGe graphics running rrom the dealers ~Oa, 50b to the centre of the table are -eplaced by a connec.ing line graphic running between the two dealers 50a, 50b. The tentative nature of the deal is indicated by rendering the line discontinuous in space or tlme (i.e. either dotted/dashed or flashing respectively).
Figure 5d shows the correspondirg graphic displayed when the deal is inalised; it consists o~ a fully dark (or fully bright) sollA arrow running across the aisplay sur~ace 20 between the stations 50 o~ the two aealers.
Prefera~ly, some persistence mav be provided; in other words, deals may continue to be displayed for a time after completion, but with diminishing in~ensity relative to the backgrouna c~ the display sur~ace. T:ne ti~.e over which deals remain visib~~ is such that the number or deals simultaneousiy visible does not confuse the display.
As shown in Figures 5e and 5f, the width of the connector may be used .o represent the value o- the deal, this being obtained by the control unit 60 from the volume and price fields 105, 106 for the deal record 100 in question. Figure 5e indicates a high value previous deal, whereas Figure 5f represents a low value previous deal. Al~ernatively, rather than width, some other visual parameter (for example brightness cr colour) could be used.
Thus, immediate visual feedback is available to all dealers as to the deals currently in progress, and as-to the existence an~ value of previous deals.
Refe-ring to Figure 6, other data relating to the deal is preferably displayed graphically (and/or textually) in the display area 50 immediately adjacent each dealer; for example, a ~irst display field S1 displays the name of the client; a second display field 52 displays the nature of the commodity;
a third display field 53 indicates the amount; and a fourth S display field 54 indicates whether the commodity is to be bought or sold, or in general the type of transaction (buy, sell, swap etc) envisaged.
Thus, every other dealer has an immediately available display of the available data on the deal.
The same data is preferably also displayed on the terminals 70b of each dealer.
In each case, the data displayed ls de_ived directly from the ~ields of the deal record 100.
The control unit 60 may, in this emboGiment, be zrranged to create tentative deal records 108 its~lf, using simple price matching rules. For example, to establish a tentative currency deal, the control unit 60 determines whether two dealers wish to deal in the same currency; and, if so, whether their wlshes are complimentary (i.e. one wishes to acquire and the other to dispose); and, if so, whether ~he two prices (if known) are within a predetermined range which indicates that compromlse may be possible (for example within 0.1~ , or 5~).
~ointinc 3ev~ces The pointing devices 55 may be active or passive designators. One passive optical designator consists of a photoelec.ric cell and suitable lenses to ~roduce a narrowly directional beam to the cell. When the pointing device is pointed at the display area 50 immediately in front of a target dealer and a ~utton is pressed, a pulse is produced in the photoelectric cell output at the moment when the raster beam produced by the display generator 40 passes the field of view of the pointing device. The control unit 60 is operable to compare the time of the pulse with the time base of the display generator 40, to aetermine the point on the display sur~ace 20 at which the pointing device was pointed when the button thereon was pressed.

Equally, an active designator could be employed which generates a directed light or other radiation beam; in this case, a suitable detecting means tfor example a wide area photoelectric sensor) may be provided at the target dealer.
The signals transmitted by different active pointing devices are distinguishable (for examDle by time division multiple access techniques in which each pointing device transmits at a different time and the control unit 60 is arranged to determine the identity of the point device from the timing of the impulse detected ~y the photoelectric sensor).
Alternatively, a uniaue bar code may be present at each dealer display area 50, and each designator may be a bar code reader.
Method o~ o~eration Referring to Figure 7, one exemplary method of o~eration of the above described embodiment will now be described in greater detail.
Fisure 7 is an illustrative flowchart of the process performed by the apparatus of this embodiment. In a step 112, a call is rece-ved from a client at the local switching centre 90, and is -outed to a dealer tele~hcne 80.
Tre local switching centre 90 transmits to the control device 60 the calling line iden.ification number, which is compared at the control aevice 60 w -h the numbers o~ known clients, and where there is a corres?ondence with a client, the control device 60 sets up, in a step 114, a new deal record 100, comprising the dealer identi~ication field 101 Isignalled to the control device 60 by the local switching centre 90 by reference to the telephone ~0 to which the call was routed); and client identification field 102 (derived from the calling line ID).
A. the same time, the local switching centre 90 is also arranged .o detect any da.a signalled from the client via the telephone line (for exam?le in the form c_ modulated tones, or out of band signalling) indicatins, fo~ example, the type of commodity or transaction sought, and to signal any such data to the control device 60 which is arranged to populate W O 97/11435 PCT/~5G~'~2176 other fields of the deal record 100 with any such information which may be available.
Likewise, at any point after the opening o~ a new deal record 100, the control device 60 is arranged to generate a display on the dealer~s display 70b and to accept input ~step 116) from the dealer~s keyboard 70a of data in displayed fields for commodity, price, or other deal information (step 120); and to store such input information in respective rields of the deal record 100 (step 118).
The control unit 60 is further arranged to display such information as is held in the deal record 100 in the fields 51-54 o~ the dealer station 50, so as to make information conce_nins the tentative deal available to the other dealers around the table. The same information in textual fo-r.. may also be aisplayed on the monitors 70b of each dealer.
At this time, the other dealers will consider ~heir positions and any deale_ wishing to participate in the tentative deal points at the first dealer station 50a with his pointing cevice 55b. The identity of the pointing device 55b and of the dealer area 50a at which it poin~ed are read by the control aevice 60 (step 122). Accordingly, the controi device 60 accesses the deal record 100 corresponding to the pointed at deale~ area 50a, and creates a tentative sub-deal -ield 108a in which is recorded the identity of the dealer opera~ing the pointing device 55b, in a step 124.
Next, the control device 60 causes the display on the display surface 20 of a dashed arrow, as shown in Figure 5a, from the dealer area 50b of the dealer operating the poir.ting device 5~b to the dealer area 50a pointed to by the pointing device 55b, in a step 126 ~in which all other existing connectiGn graphics are also re-displayed).
When the dealer with whom the deal ~ecord 100 is associated has decided to close a deal with one of the other dealers for whom tentative sub deal fields 108 exis., he points his pointing device 55a at the dealer station 50~ of the corresponding other dealer and presses the button. When this is aetected (in step 128), the control device 60 is CA 02230267 l998-02-24 W O 97/11435 PCT/~5G~'~2176 operable to record the time from its real time clock 68 into the sub deal record 108 and close the sub deal record ~step 130). This does not necessarily close the deal, because the deal may be comprised of several such sub aeals. Accordingly, at this time, the deal record 100 is kept: open.
At this time, in a step 122, the cont~ol device 60 is operable to modify the connection graphic (the dashed arrow) indicating a tentative deal to a solid arrow indicating a completed sub deal ~in a step 132.
Once the whole deal is done, the dea].er calls his client on his telephone 80a. The local switching centre 90 signals the off hook status of the telephone and the called number to the cor.~rol device 60. On detecting tha~ the telephone corresponding to the deale- ID field lCl has dialled the telephone number correspondins to the client ID field 102, in a ste~ 134, the control device 60 instructs the local switchins centre 90 to connect to the call a speech recosn-iion un t 92a and a digital voice store 94a in a step 136, anc records the time from the real time clock 68 in the time ,~ield 103 in a ste~ i28. In a ste? 13C, any te.l~ative deal ccnnectiors displayed on the display 2C, acceptance of whlch has no~ been indicated in a step 128 are erased rom the display surface 20 and the corresponding sub deal re_ords 108 are closed, with a flas indicating ~ha. they were not accepted.
Any parameter data recognised by the speech recognition unit is stored in the corresponding fields o~ the deal record 100 in a step 142 when the call is completed. In a step 144, all the data held in the deal record is displayed on the dealer~s monitor 70b (or otherwise output for confirmation of its correctness). In a ste~ 146, any amendments input via the dealer~s keyboard 70a (or telephone 8C) are accepted and stored in the deal table 100 in a step 148. In a step 150, the control device 60 tests whether all the necessary fields of the deal table 100 are populated and, if they are, in a step 152 the whole deal table is transmitted as a digital data file to the deal computer 10.

If some parameter fields in the deal record 100 are empty, in a step 15~, the recorded speech file stored by the digital voice store 94 is transmitted to the voice message receiving station 78, together with a header associating the telephore conversation with the deal record 100. In a step 146, when the voice message workstation 78 is manned, the workstation 78 is operable to replay the recorded telephone conversation and, at the same time, the control device 60 re-opens the deal record 100 associated with tne telephone conversation, and accepts keyboard input from the voice message workstation 78 to complete the missing parameter data into the fields of the deal record 100 in accordance with the replayed telephone message as interpreted by the human operator o~ t:ne workstation 78. The control unit 60 tnen reverts to step 152 to transmit the de~l table 100 to the deal computer 10.
It will, of course, be clea- that whilst the above description illustrates the operation or the apparatus of ~his embodiment in processing a single àeal, multiple such deals may be cccurri~g simultaneously, and accordingly the ccntrol device ~C and local switching centre 90 are operable to process m.ultip~e such deals, each with a sepa~ate deal table, simultaneously.
Alterna~ive e~odimen_s It will be clea~- from the foregoing embodimen~ ~hat various ~.inor modirications may be made to the apparatus and method aescribed therein.
Fo- example, in the above described embodiment, the speech -ecognition units and digital voice stores are described as a plurality of separate devices connected to the local switching centre. Whilst this is advantageous in some embodiments ~n that a smaller number of such devices may be provided than the number of telephones ~since not ali telephones will be simultaneously in operation), it will be apparent that a digital voice store and/or a speech recognition unit could be provided at each dealer telephone, and this alternative would render it possible to reduce the storage required for each speech recognition unit since it would only need to store the templates corresponding to words as spoken by a single speaker (the dealer whose telephore it is) .
Equally, the speech recognition an.d/or digital voice store units could be provided at a physically separate location, or even at an exchange of the PSTN or another network to which the local switching centre is connected.
This alternative provides the advantage that a large number of dealing rooms may share a smaller number of speech recognition and/or digital voice storage apparatus. On the other hand, it is inherently less secure since the telephone conversat~ons pass outside of the dealing room and the circuit to the customer.
Whilst pointing devices in the form of light wands have been desc-ibed, it would equally be possible to use more conventlonal pointing devices such as a mouse or trackball ~convenientlv provided as an input to the dealer's terminal 70). In .his case, a curs_r representing _:~e position o~ the mouse o- .rack ball is pre-erabiy display-d on the display surface 20 -v the control device 60, to be controiled by the dealer. Alterna~ively, means such as heaa position or eye direction derectors could be emDloyed, thus avoiding the need for physical manipulation of a pointi~g cevice by the àealer.
Whlls~ one example o- a projection screen is described above, it will egually be apparent that a different type of projector could be used (for example a deformable mirror device (DMD) projector as described in, fo instance, US
5424868 could be used).
It may be conveniert to make the display surface 20 translucent, and to illumina.e it from below, from within the support s.ructure 30; this has the advan_age of making it possible to reduce the heat liberated in t:he dealing room by projected light beams, w:.ich may be con.ained within the support structure 30 beneath the display surface 20. The display surface 20 could be a phosphor screen in the manner of a cathode ray tube, illuminated by a ca.hode ray gun from below rather than by a light beam. Rather than using raster sc~nn; ng, a stroke writing or vector display could be used Equally, the display sur~ace 20 itself could comprise an active display such as a liquid crystal display.
5Rather than transmitting the digitally recorded speech as a separate file to a voice messaging work station 78, it would be possible to route the digitally recorded speech from the disital voice store 94 and the recognised data from the speech recognition unlt 92, together with the data already held in the table 100, to a single digital file capable of representing both alphanumerlc data and recorded audio data in a multi media format, and then the multi media format file may be forwarded to the deal compute- 10; subsequently, the missing entries m~y be fllled ln on ~he aeal computer 10 by replaying the recorded audio rather than correcting them on the control device 60 before Eorwa_ding them to the deal computer 10.
The sDeech recognition and digital voice storage devices 92, 94 could be provided with separate mic-ophones positioned adjacent _he dealer's telephone, to receive the same audio signal from the dealer as the telephone, rathe- than receiving the electric signal ~rom the telephone itsel~; n practice, however, i_ is more convenient to util se t~e telephone itsel~
as the mic_ophone since this will be ?osi.ioned close to the dealer~s mouth.
It will readily be recognised tkLat the local switching centre an~ control device could be combined into a single programmed switching device. Likewise, eit:~er or both devices could in practice be combined with the deal computer 10 itself. The local switching device need not be a PABX, but could be provided by a local area network _o~ example, or by an exchange forming part of a larger teleDhone network ~e.g.
the PSTN) suitably prosrammed to respond t~ the telephones 80 of the dealers.
Second embodiment A second embodiment ol the invention will now be disclosed.

W O 97/11435 PCT/~5G~'~2176 In this embodiment, the operation of the control device 60 and the local switching centre 90 a-e substantially as described above, but the display surface 20, display projector 40 and dealer terminal 70 are supplemented or replaced by a dealer graphics workstation 170, shown in Figure 8 The graphics workstation 170 is arranged to display connection graphics corresponding to those displayed on the common display surface 20 of the first embodiment, so that one or more deale_s do not actually need to be in the dealing roomi the seco..d em~odiment is thus operable with the ~irst embodiment to provide access to the deallng room from dealers located elsewhere, or is operable to replace the common display sur,~ace 20 by physically separating all of the dealers and prov ~ing each with a grapnics work station displaying a common co.nectivity graphic display Figure 8 shows 2 plurality of dealer graphic worl;
stations 70a, 170b connected via a comriunications lirk 171 (which may be a wide area network, for exam?le) with a network control s=ation l9O (which may be a WAN netwo-k controller) At the ne_work control s.ation l90 are located the speech recogniti~n ara voice recs-ding units 92, 94 disclosed in the above embcdimen~ The cor.trol station 190 is connected with the contrsl device 60 and aata entry terminal 78, an~ the control aevice 60 is conne~ted to the aea computer 10 The network 171 is also connected to a gateway 180 to a finzncial informatic,n ?rovider (such as Reuters or ~nignt-Ridder) Refe-ring to Figure 9, each sra?hic terminal 170 comprises a visual display unit 172, a microphone 173, a loud speaker 17A, an input device 175 (comprising a keyboard 175a and a mouse or other cursor control device 175b, both of which are indicated by the common numeral 175 in Figure 9j; a communica_ions interface 176 connected to the wide area network 171; and a processor section 177 comprising, functionally, the following elements a th~ee dimensional graphics generator 201;
a mathematics and statistics processor 202;
a security function 203;

an audio visual communication module 204.
The processor section 177 is constructed of known processing elements; typically, a microprocessor and associated read only memory, random access memory and long term storage de~ices all three such memory or storage devices being denoted schematically by numeral 205 in Figure 9; and a programmed digital signal processor device for providing communications and graphics capability.
The three ~;men.qional graphics function may be provided by available three dimensional graphics programmes such as Superscape, available ~rom Superscape Ltd, Cromwell House, Bartley Wood House, Business Park, Hook, Hants RG27 8XA, UK.
The principles of three dimensional graphics programming are well known and the basics are described in, for example, Personal Computer World July 1992 pages 276-286; August 1992 pages 276-284i Se?tember 19~2 pages 37~-384; and October 1992 pages 40_-_10, or "Fundamentals of three dimensional computer graphicsl'; A.H. Watt; Addison Wesley; 1990, or "Principles of interac_i-v-e computer graphi-s" (W.M. Newman ana R.F. Sproull);
McGraw-Hill In_ernational (second edition) 1979.
The three dimensional graphics r-unction 20~ is arranged to display a view of a p_edeterminea three dimensional artificial space, in which the same common display areas as in the ~irst embodiment are displayed; to navisate around the space under the control of the cursor control device 175b; and to alter t~e dlsplay in accorâance with data received via the communications function 176 from the control device 60.
In this embodiment, as well as displaying the common display of a dealing table, other objects in the three dimensional display space are information derived from the maths and statistics function 202, using data from the control device 60, or the in~ormation provider sa~eway 180, or data held in the processor 177.
The security function 203 operates a password lock, to ensure that only an authorised dealer can operate the workstation 170 (in known fashion). The password may be entered by the input device 175, but is preferably entered via W O 97/11435 PCT/~9~ 2176 the microphone 174, in which case the security section 203 may apply a speaker-dependent word recognition test (as disclosed above in relation to the speech recognition units 92) to determine, firstly, whether the correct password hzs been given and secondly whether it has been pronounced in a manner characteristic of the predetermined dealer to whom the graphics workstation 170 is allocated.
The audiovisual communications function 204 is arranged to receive input from the microphone 173 and the communications device 176, and to generate output to the loudspeaker 17~, the VDU 172 and the communications de~ice 176.
Referring to Figure lOa, a display on the VDU 172 is indicated. The display consists of a re2resentation o~ a table 300 having a central area 301, surrounded by a plurality of sub images 302a-302d... each representing the face of a dealer. The face sub images 302 are distributed evenly around the cen_ral area 301, exce?t that there is a gap corresponding to a place for the dealer operating the work station in question.
The table 300, area 301 and sub imaaes 302 form a sincle dealing room unit, the positions of which are fixed ~elative to eac:h other in a three dimensional Sp2Ce defined bv the 3D
graphics generator 201. 3y manipulatirg _he cursor csntrol device 175D, the dealer may change his vie~point rela_ive to the table 300, so as cause the 3D graphics generator 201 to change t~e display on the VDU 172 to correspond to the different viewpoint.
The system is then arranged to follow the method of operation described above in relation to the first emboaimer.~, exce?t that rather than the control device 60 controlling the display on a common display 20, it signals data to be displayed to the three ~;m~n~ional graphics generator 201 ror display on the VDU 172 or each of the workstatior.s 170a, 170b.... Rather than the control device 60 determinins the pointing device 55 and dealer area 50 pointed a., each workstation 170 is operable to detect the selection by the W O 97/1143~ PCT/GB96/02176 22 dealer of another dealer, by detecting the position o~ the cursor controlled by the position sensitive input device 175b and, when the cursor is coincident with one of the face sub images 302, and a selection button on the pointing device 175b is pressea, the dealer corresponding to the face sub image 302 is signalled as being selected to the control device 60.
To replace the audio visual contact between dealers present in the same room in the first embodiment, in this embodiment a perm~nent audioconference link may be provided between the dealers via the communications link 171.
Alternatively, when one dealer selects 2nother using his pointing device 175b, a selective audioconference link may be established between the selecting and the selected dealer.
In each case, the communications interface 176, audiovisual communications function 204, loudspeaker l7A and microphone 173 are employed.
Figure lOb illustrates the display shown on the VDU 172 of one of the workstations, indicating a high value deal in which payment passes from a dealer 302c to a dealer 302f; a low value deal in which payment passes from a dealer 302d to a deale~ 302g; and a tentaLive sub deal be~ween a dealer 302e and a dealer 302a; indicated, respectively, by arrows 303a, 303b and 303c.
In this embodiment, on selection o, another dealer as described above, the 3D graphics generator 201 is prererably arranged to change the display on the VDU 172 to a closer view as shown in Figure lOc. This is preferably performed by causing the 3D graphics generator 201 to progressively mo~e the viewpoint closer to the face sub image 302 of the selected dealer, so as to provide an animated display in which the screen appears to travel towards the selected dealer.
Preferably, the resolution wi.h which the facial sub image is displayed is progressiveiy increased as it occupies a progressively larger area of the VDU 172.
As shown in Figure lOd, the control device 60 is arranged in this embodiment to display such data as is held in the deal record 100 at the facial sub image 302 in the form of a data window 30a (in this case containing the words "I'm Andrew I want l K BT unpaid"); thus indicatin_ the deale~~s name field 101 ("Andrew"); transaction type ("want"); commodity ("BT unpaid"); and volume ("14K").
In this embo~;m~nt this is additional to the voice communicc-ion between the two deale~-s, but in other embodiments, all comm-ln;cation may be purely textual.
In this embodiment, to increase interaction, tke facial display 3 04 of a selected dealer may be animated to provide a low bit rate videotelephone link, as disclosed for example in EP-A-G225729 (incorpo~~ated herein by _-eference).
The elements 300-303 of the display described are commonly shown on all the workstatior.s 170, so that GS _n the first embodiment there is a common dis?lay o,~ the ongoing status o deals visible to all dealers.
On t:~e other hand, the view point o the display area is under the local control of each dealer, so that the common dlsplay elemerLts may appear from diffe-ent viewpoints at different .erminals 170. In particular, where one dealer has 2G selected another for the purpose o, creat ng a tentative deal, the contG__ing dealer will urlquely have the "close-uD" view of Figures 10c and 10d, with visibility cf the data display winàow 3C~.
TAe common display area is, ia this embodimen~, supplemer..ed by additional da.a which mGy be displavea only on one cr selected ones of the dealer qraphic workstations 171. Referring to Figure ll, in this embcdiment, the area in the three dimensional representation space beneath tr.e common display table 300 is used as a private display area, in which data from the mathematics and statistics processo- 202 is displaye~ in three dimensional form 205, consisting in this embcdimer- of a three dimensional ba- chart with a threshold plane 306 to provide the dealer with a visually convenient representation of a decision point.
The data displayed in the bar char_ representa-ion 305 may, for example, relate to securities price data received by the graphics workstation 171 from the financial information provider gateway 180, or from other sources. The bar chart display 305 is continually updated as new data is received via the com~.unications link 171 from the gateway 180 (or elsewhere). Thus, the dealer is able to judge when predetermined criteria are met by observing when the bars of the bar chart pass the predetermined display plane 306, and to initiate dealing at that time (for example, on achieving a certain price level for a commodity on other international markets).
Refe~ring to Figure 12, the information provider gateway 180 may be represented by another three dimensional display 310 in the display space containing the table 300. Thls representation is convenient, in that the deale- can (by manipulation of the pointing device 175b) move the screen viewpoin, towards the information provider representation 310 without losing sight of the _epresentation of the table 300 and vice versa.
In -hls embodiment, a graphical workstation 17i may be in commur_cation with a plurality of different cor.t_ol devices 60 definl-g dlfferent "vir.ual dealing roors" (i.e. di~ferent groups o- dealers). In this case, convenlentl-.~, each is represented by a different three dimensional representation of a dea ing table, as disclosed above, and the aealer may select between the different tables by manipu'ating his pointing aevice 175b to navigate his viewDoint ~owards a desired representation.
When a dealer wishes to join a vlrtual dealing room (group of dealers) initially, data definirg his identity (and including a representation of his face) is transmitted to the control aevice 60 via the communications link, from whence it is re-dis_ributed to each OL the graphics workstations 171 participa-ing in the virtual dealing roo~.;, upon whi~h each three dimensional graphics processor 2C1 adds the new facial sub image 302 to the display shown on the VDU 172. In like fashion, a dealer may withdraw from the virtual dealing room, causing ris facial sub image 302 to be deleted from the screens o- the workstations of other dealers.

Thus, this embodiment provides a virtual dealing room within which elements o~ human-to-human interaction are retained by the steps of:
1. Displaying a common graphical representation of the participants, in which the deals in progress are visible to all participants;
2. Retaining visual images of the personnel;
3. Maintaining the possi~ility of audio and/or video con~erencing; and 4. At the same time, providing for the display of private data not available to other dealers at each workstation.
Naturally, these imp-ovements may be used separately of each other, and separateiy of various aspects of tne first embodiment. Although a central control device 60 has been described, it would eoually be possible for the same functions to be performed by one o- the workstati.ons, or by all the workstations operating in a distributed processing fashion.
Although a wide area network has been described, it would of course be possible ~o opera.e through a local area network, or via the _~ternet for example.
Rather .han providins central voice recoGnition and voice storage uni.s as in the irst embodimen., voice recognition and voice storage may be provided at each of the worksta.ions 171.
Third Embodiment In a third embodiment of the invention, communication is further imp-oved relative to the first embodiment by the provision o~ improved handsets. The handsets of the third embodiment are usable independently of the first embodiment, and for applica.ions other than dealing transactions.
Referring to Figures 13 and 14, in this embodimen. the telephone 80 and dealer terminals 70 of the first embodiment are replaced by a cordless telephore 380 which includes a visual display. In greater detail, the handset 380 comprises an earpiece portion 381 and a display por.ion 382. The earpiece portion includes a loudspeaker 383 which is arranged to be positioned next to tne ear of the operator to couple sound thereto. It also mounts an antenna 38a for RF
communication.
The display portion carries a visual display 385, and display controls 386a-386c for, respectively, contrast;
brightnessi and colour. Also provided is a microphone 387 which, in this case, comprises a pair or microphones 387a, 387b mounted on opposite faces of the display portion for reasons which will be discussed below. Finally, the display portion carries a keypad 388 on the other ace thereof to the display 385.
The display portion 382 is hingedly connected to the earpiece po-tion 381 so as to be moveable between the open, or use, position of Figure 13 and the closed, or non use, position of Figure 14. The earpiece portion comprises a yoke consisting of a pair of arms 38~a, 389b, to which the display portion 382 is hinged at a pair of hinge points 388a, 388b (not showr) so as to pivot about the axis X-X.
Refe_ring to Fiqu-e 15, the handset 380 comprises an air inter ace comprising the antenna 38~ and ~ transceive~ 390 (comprising convention modulator/demodulat~r components); an audio prccessing circuit 391 comprising, ,~o- example a GSM
digital ceilular chip set, to which a~e connected the loudspeaker 383 and microphones 387a, 387~; a video decoaer 39~ (such as an X261 or X320 videophone c;~-p set) connected to supply a video driving signal to the cisplay 385; and a data dis?lay circuit 396 (comprlsins ror example a microcont-oller) arranged to receive data and to generate a bar chart or like graphical display of the data on the screen 385. Cor.trolling the operation of the ha~dset is a control circuit 398, which is arranged to receive input from the keypad 388.
Conveniently, the display 385 is a tr. r. film transistor (TFT) colour liquid crystal display or the like.
In operation, the handset is held so that the display 385 is visible to the dealer whilst the earpiece is adjacent to his ear; it may be held with the display 385 directly in front o, the dealers eyes in the manner of a head-up display, but , it wlll more usually be held at a lower angle so as to provide visibility above the display portion 382.
In operation, the audio circuit 382 functions as a convention digital cellular telephone. The presence or two microphones 387a, 387b permits, in this embodiment, the use of noise cancellation processing, in which the signal from one microphone is used to estimate background noise to process the signal from the other.
Additionally, howeve-, the handset is arranged to receive a low bit rate videophone signal to be decoded by the video decoder 394 and displayed on the display 385. The video bitstream may be used to conduct vldeo telephony, but in this embodimen', it is employed to receive a signal which includes a display of share price or like commodity aata from the local switching centre (which in this case is a wi eless PABX).
Additionally, the data display device 3~6 is programmed to displav particular pre-forrnatted data displays (such 2s bar charts, pie charts or the like) representing particular commodity prices or other quantitative data, and to receive updated data _rom the area interface 390 to modify the display. Th-s permits the use or a lower ba~dwidth connection than the use of a video decode_ 394.
Dif~erent displays may be selected (a~.d other aspects of the opera~ion of the phone may be con.roiled) by either:
1. Providing that the screen 385 is toucA sensitive, and providing displayed "soft buttons" to which the control unit 398 is responsive to modi y the displayed aata by control of the data aisplay circuit 396 and/or video decoder 394;
2. The control circuit 398 may include a voice recognition unit, by which the display may be controlledi or 3. The keypad 388 may be manipulated to switch between displays (ror example, in accordance with many options displayed in a portion of the display 385).
It will be clear that the handset according to this embodiment advantageously improves the operation of the first embodiment in the following respect:
1. Because it is cordless, it permits the dealer greater freedom in negotiating whilst initiating communication with his client or other called parties.
2. Because it includes a data display, it enables the dealer to constantly review changing data such as commodity prices whilst negotiating, without having to look down at a screen.
3. Finally, because the display is close to the dealers eyes, greater privacy and security is provided if the dealer wishes to view private information.
It will be clear from the foregoing that various ~m~n~ments or substitutions may be made to the above described embodiment.
For example, whilst operation with a radio air interface has been described, the aerial 384 and air interface circuit 390 could be replaced by an infrared signalling circuit comprising an optoelectrical and electrooptical transceiver (e.g. a photodiode and photoelectric cell) communicating at, for example, infrared wavelengths.
This may be preferable under some circumstances in providing a higher degree of security against intercep.ion from ou~side the dealing room, and in providing the poten.ial for a wider bandwidth.
In this case, a separate infrared communications circuit may be provided on the ceiling of the dealing room, o- the display generator could additionally project the signals or communication to the handsets 380.
Whilst operation as a digital cellular telephone has been mentioned, other personal communication technology such as the DECT or CT2 cordless telephone s.andards could be employed, in which case the audio circuit 392 comprises the appropriate chip set.
Whilst the handset has been described as including both a data display circuit 395 for receiving data (e.g. in tne form of datagram traffic) and generating therefrom a video display, and a video decoder circuit 394 for receiving a low bit rate video signal and generating an appropriate display, it will be clear that one or other of these could be omitted in this or other applications.

Natu ally, other physical arrangements than those described herein could be employed for mounting the display portion 382 to the earpiece portion 381, and they could be provided -n a fixed mounting, but it is preferred to provide a pivotir~ or folding mounting as illustrated in Fisures 13 and 14, since this provides additional protection to the display 385 when it is not in use and xeduces the overall m~n.cior.s of the handset.
In m.odifications of the above embodiment, it may be possible ~o use the handset as a conventional cordless telephone when it is in the folded position of Figure 14.
The handset 380 may include speech recognition and voice storage ~evices, thus obviating the need to proviae these centrally, as discussed above in relat:ion to the rirst embodimen_.
The ~-splay 385 may be arrangeà to generate a stereo appearancG; this is particularly possible since the display will norm_~ly be in a fixed physical relationship to the eyes of ~ uc-~
Many _ther aspects and embodiments of the invention will be apparcnt to the skilled persor from the fo-egoing.
Acco-dinc:y, the present invention s not intended to be limi.ed t- the above described embodimer.ts but to e~tend .o all modi-ica.ions thereo~ which will be apparent to the skilled r-aaer. Protection is sought for any and a'l novel subject ...at.er and combinations of such subject matte~
disciosec he-ein.

Claims (54)

1. A transaction support apparatus for use by one or more human transaction operators, each provided with a telephone, which apparatus comprises a speech recognition device having: a speech input coupled to receive a speech signal input to a said telephone by a human transaction operator, a speech recognition processor arranged to recognise predetermined transaction parameters within said speech signal; and a parameter output at which said speech recognition device is arranged to make values of said parameters thus recognised available.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, which further comprises speaker verification apparatus coupled to receive a speech signal from a said telephone and to verify that said speech signal originates from a genuine said human transaction operator.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, which further comprises a confirmatory output device coupled to said parameter output, to generate a confirmatory indiction, recognisable by a said human transaction operator, of values of said parameters thus recognised.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, which further comprises a confirmation input means for receiving, from said human transaction operator, a signal accepting or rejecting said confirmatory indication.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, in which said confirmation input means is provided by said speech recognition device.

6. Apparatus according to any of claims 2 to 5, in which said confirmatory output device comprises a speech synthesizer arranged to generate, from said parameter output values, a corresponding synthetic speech signal reciting said values.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, in which said speech synthesizer is coupled to said telephone to supply said synthetic speech signal to said human transaction operator via said telephone.

8. Apparatus according to any of claims 2 to 7, in which said confirmatory output device comprises a visual display.

9. A method of operating a transaction support apparatus for use by one or more transaction operators, the support apparatus comprising an electronic speech recognition device, the method comprising coupling the electronic speech recognition device to receive a speech signal including a confirmatory dialogue from a transaction operator to another party; recognising values of parameters of the transaction within the speech of the transaction operator utilising said electronic speech recogniser; and supplying data recording the results of said recognition in electronic form from said electronic speech recognising unit to an electronic transaction recording computer.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of operating said electronic speech recogniser to recognise whether the speech corresponds to a predetermined human transaction operator.

11. The method of claim 9 or claim 10, further comprising the step of outputting a confirmatory output indiction, recognisable by a said human transaction operator, of values of said parameters thus recognised.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of accepting, from said human transaction operation, a signal accepting or rejecting said confirmatory indication.

13. The method of claim 12, in which the step of accepting comprises the step of operating the electronic speech recognition device to recognise confirmation or rejection.

14. The method of any of claims 10 to 13, in which said step of generating a confirmatory indiction comprises operating an electronic speech synthesizer device to generate a corresponding synthetic speech signal.

15. The method of claim 14, in which said electronic speech synthesizer is coupled to said telephone to supply said synthetic speech signal via said telephone.

16. The method of any of claims 10 to 15, in which said step of generating a confirmatory output comprises generating a visual signal on a visual display unit.

17. The method of claim 12 or 13, or any of claims 14 to 16 when appended thereto, in which said recognised parameter values are not passed on to said computer until a signal is accepted which indicates acceptance of said confirmatory indication.

18. A transaction support apparatus for use by three or more human transaction operators, which comprises a display system, including display means and processing means operatively connected to the display means, arranged to generate a common display indicative of the status of transactions between the operators which is visible to all said human transaction operators.

19. Apparatus according to claim 18, in which the display system includes a single display surface positioned so as to be visible to said human transaction operators.

20. Apparatus according to claim 19, in which the display surface is comprised within a tabletop.

21. Apparatus according to claim 19 or claim 20, in which the display device comprises a projection system arranged to illuminate said display surface transversely thereof.

22. Apparatus according to any of claims 18 to 21, in which said common display is arranged to display graphical indicia of transactions between said human transaction operators.

23. Apparatus according to claim 22 in which said graphical indicia comprise elongate connection symbols connecting the human transaction operators involved in each transaction.

24. Apparatus according to claim 23 in which the display system is arranged to vary a visual attribute of the graphical indicia to indicate the status of the transaction.

25. Apparatus according to claim 23 or 24 in which the display system is arranged to vary a visual attribute of the graphical indicia to indicate a quantitative or qualitative parameter of the transaction.

26. Apparatus according to any of claims 18 to 25 in which the common display comprises a central common portion and peripheral portions each relating to a specific human transaction operator.

27. A transaction support apparatus according to any of claims 18 to 26 which comprises at least one display terminal on which said common display is displayed so as to be visible only to a specific human transaction operator.

28. Apparatus according to claim 27 comprising a plurality of said display terminals, in which each said human operator is provided with a said display terminal, said display terminals communicating via a communications network.

29. A terminal adapted to form part of apparatus according to claim 27 or 28 which comprises a three dimensional graphics processor and an input device, the three dimensional graphics processor being responsive to the input device to display a representation of said common display as a representation of a three dimensional object, and to alter the viewpoint of the display of said object.

30. A terminal according to claim 29 in which the three dimensional graphics processor is also arranged to display a three dimensional representation of private data, not forming part of said common display and being visible only to one or selected ones of said human transaction operators.

31. A terminal according to claim 29 or claim 30 in which the three dimensional graphics processor is arranged to display a representation of each of said human transaction operators in said common display, each said representation comprising a sub image of one of said human transaction operators.

32. A transaction support apparatus for use by a plurality of human transaction operators, comprising a three dimensional graphics terminal for use by each of said human transaction operators, said terminals being interconnected by a communications network, and being arranged to display data indicative of current transactions as a three dimensional graphic; to accept input of transaction instructions from a human transaction operator; and to transmit said transaction instructions to selected others of said terminals.

33. A transaction support apparatus for use by one or more human transaction operators, which comprises means for digitally recording data representing a speech signal from each transaction operator, and means for supplying said digitally recorded speech as a file of digital data to a transcription terminal comprising means for regenerating said recorded speech as an audible signal and means for entering data corresponding to said audible signal into a digital transaction record.

34. Apparatus according to claim 33, further comprising a speech recognition apparatus arranged to receive said speech signal, in which said digitally recorded speech is forwarded to said transcription terminal only where said speech recognition apparatus is not completely successful in recognising parameters of a transaction.

35. Apparatus according to claim 33 or 34, in which said speech file is transmitted together with data indicting values of parameters of a said transaction to which the speech signal relates.

36. Apparatus according to any of claims 33 to 35, in which said digital speech file is transmitted to a transaction recording computer, from whence it is subsequently transmitted to said transcription terminal.

37. A method of recording details of transactions between human operators, comprising the step of providing a digital recorder to record each confirmatory telephone call from a human transaction operator subsequent to a transaction, and subsequently replaying at least some of said recorded calls and inputting values of transaction parameters recited in said played calls into a transaction record computer.

38. A transaction support apparatus for use by a plurality of human transaction operators, each provided with a telephone, which apparatus comprises:
a speech recognition device having:
a speech input coupled to receive a speech signal input to a said telephone by a human transaction operator which is confirmatory of a transaction, a speech recognition processor arranged to recognise predetermined transaction parameters within said speech signal; and a parameter output at which said speech recognition device is arranged to make values of said parameters thus recognised available; and an electronic transaction recording means for recording the results of said recognition together with at least portions of the received speech signal.

39. Apparatus as in claim 38 which further comprises:
speaker verification apparatus coupled to receive a speech signal from a said telephone and to verify that said speech signal originates from a genuine said human transaction operator.

40. Apparatus as in claim 38 which further comprises:
a confirmatory output device coupled to said parameter output, to generate a confirmatory indication, recognisable by a said human transaction operator, of values of said parameters thus recognised.

41. Apparatus as in claim 40 which further comprises:
a confirmation input means for receiving from said human transaction operator, a signal accepting or rejecting said confirmatory indication.

42. Apparatus as in claim 41 in which said confirmation input means is provided by said speech recognition device.

43. Apparatus as in claim 40 in which said confirmatory output device comprises:
a speech synthesizer arranged to generator, from said parameter output values, a corresponding synthetic speech signal reciting said values.

44. Apparatus as in claim 43 in which said speech synthesizer is coupled to said telephone to supply said synthetic speech signal to said human transaction operator via said telephone.

45. Apparatus as in claim 40 in which said confirmatory output device comprises a visual display.

46. A method of operating a transaction support apparatus for use by one or more transaction operators, the support apparatus comprising an electronic speech recognition device, said method comprising:
coupling the electronic speech recognition device to receive a speech signal including a confirmatory dialogue from a transaction operator to another party;
recognising values of parameters of the transaction within the speech of the transaction operator utilizing said electronic speech recognises; and supplying data recording the results of said recognition in electronic form from said electronic speech recognising unit to an electronic transaction recording computer together with at least a portion of said received speech signal.

47. The method of claim 46 further comprising the step of:
operating said electronic speaker recognises to recognise whether the speech corresponds to a predetermined human transaction operator.

48. The method of claim 46 further comprising the step of:
generating a confirmatory output indication, recognisable by a said human transaction operator of values of said parameters thus recognised.

49. The method of claim 48 further comprising the step of:
accepting from said human transaction operation, a signal accepting or rejecting said confirmatory indication.

50. The method of claim 49 in which the step of accepting comprises the step of:
operating the electronic speech recognition device to recognise confirmation or rejection.

51. The method of claim 48 in which said step of generating a confirmatory indication comprises:
operating an electronic speech synthesizer device to generate a corresponding synthetic speech signal.

52. The method of claim 51 in which said electronic speech synthesizer is coupled to said telephone to supply said synthetic speech signal via said telephone.

53. The method of claim 48 in which said step of generating a confirmatory output comprises:
generating a visual signal on a visual display unit.

54. The method of claim 12 in which:
said recognised parameter values are not passed on to said computer until a signal is accepted which indicates acceptance of said confirmatory indication.