CONFIRMING IDENTITY OF TELEPHONE CALLER

摘要

The invention provides a distributed information processing system (10) for verifying the identities of telephone callers, in which data is stored in a first processing station (12) and signal processing is performed by one or more speaker verification units (22) located at one or more respective second, remote processing stations (14). The first processing station (12) is arranged for storing data corresponding to a signature and to caller identification information for respective users. The second processing station or stations (14) each include a speaker verification unit (22) and a processor (24). The speaker verification unit (22) is adapted for receiving, via the public telephone system, a voice and/or touch-tone signal representing a signature of a possible user,and for digitally signal processing the signal representing the signature. The processor (24) is connected to the speaker verification unit (22) and is adapted for connection to the first station (12) via a telephone line between the first and second stations.