1. A method of colorizing a launderable retroreflective material comprising:
(a) providing a launderable retroreflective material suitable for colorizing, the retroreflective material having an outer retroreflective surface;
(b) coating the outer retroreflective surface with a light transmitting colorizing overlayer comprising:
1) an amount of a suitable pigment;
2) an amount of at least one species of polyurethane material; and
3) an amount of a silane material; and
(c) removing excess colorizing overlayer and forming a light transmitting overlayer on the retroreflective material to provide a launderable colorized retroreflective material with a post laundering reflectivity in excess of 100 cdluxm2.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising forcing said colorizing composition into said retroreflective material.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein said excess overlayer material is removed using a squeegee-type device.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said polyurethane materials are selected from the group consisting of water-based polyester-based, polyether-based and polycarbonate-based polyurethanes.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said silane is selected from the group consisting of an epoxide-functional, amine-functional silane and glycidoxy-functional silanes.
6. The method of claim 4 wherein said polyester-based polyurethanes comprise at least one crystalline and at least one amorphous polyester-based polyurethane material.
7. A method as in claim 6 wherein said crystalline and amorphous polyester-based polyurethanes are provided in generally equal amounts.
8. A method as in claim 1 wherein said pigment is contained in a pigmented ink.
9. A method as in claim 4 including a plurality of polyurethane materials.
10. A method as in claim 5 wherein said silane is a glycidoxy-functional silane.
10. A colorizing composition as in claim 9 wherein said pigment is contained in a pigmented ink.
11. A method as in claim 1 further comprising heat treating the colorizing coating composition.
12. A method as in claim 1 wherein said colorizing overlayer is applied as a heat transfer film.
13. A method as in claim 1 wherein said colorizing overlayer is heat treated after application.
14. A method as in claim 1 wherein the retroreflective material is segmented prior to application of the colorizing overlayer.
15. A method as in claim 1 wherein said retroreflective material is on material selected from laminated and unlaminated fabrics.
16. A method of colorizing retroreflective material on a fabric comprising:
(a) providing a launderable retroreflective material suitable for colorizing, the retroreflective material having an outer retroreflective surface of micro-reflective elements suitable for colorizing; and
(b) applying a substantially transparent colorizing overlayer composition to said outer retroreflective surface wherein said colorizing overlayer composition comprises:
1) an amount of a suitable pigment comprising an amount of a pigmented ink of selected hue;
2) an amount of at least one species of polyurethane material;
3) a minor amount of a silane material; and
(c) subjecting said colorizing overlayer composition to a heat treatment.
17. A method as in claim 16 wherein said colorizing overlayer is applied as a heat transfer film.
18. A method as in claim 16 wherein said colorizing overlayer is heat treated after application.
19. A method as in claim 18 wherein said retroreflective material is a laminated fabric.
20. A method as in claim 16 wherein the retroreflective material is segmented prior to application of the colorizing overlayer.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of handing over a communication from a first device to a second device, comprising:
enabling a speech recognition function;
using the speech recognition function to transcribe a portion of the communication to thereby generate a transcription, wherein the portion of the communication that is transcribed includes only speech input from a first call taker to the first device;
analyzing the transcription to identify words of importance by comparing the transcription with a vocabulary associated with the second device, wherein the words of importance are words that appear in both the transcription and the vocabulary;
displaying the transcription on the first device with the words of importance automatically and conspicuously identified in the display by one of highlighting, using a different color text, using a different size font, and using a different style font; and
sending the transcription with the words of importance identified to the second device when handing over the communication from the first device to the second device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the communication that is transcribed includes speech input from a caller that initiated the communication.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is a first call taker workstation associated with a call center and the second device is a second call taker workstation of the call center.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first call taker associated with the first call taker workstation provides a first level of assistance and a second call taker associated with the second call taker workstation provides a second level of assistance.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second level of assistance is more specialized than the first level of assistance.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the speech recognition function is trained based on speech input from the first call taker associated with the first device.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the speech recognition function makes use of a reduced size vocabulary of recognized words that are specific to communications typically handled by the first device.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of enabling the speech recognition function is performed automatically upon the occurrence of a triggering event.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the triggering event is receipt of the communication at the first device.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of enabling the speech recognition function is performed in response to a manual input from the first call taker associated with the first device.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
displaying the transcription on the second device after the transcription is received by the second device when handing over the communication from the first device to the second device.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device and the second device are provided by a same entity.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device and the second device are provided by different entities.
14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
analyzing the transcription to identify recommendations for handling the communication; and
providing the recommendations to one of the first device and the second device.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein analyzing the transcription includes performing data mining on the transcription.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein analyzing the transcription to identify recommendations for handling the communication includes using at least one of an expert system, a neural network, and a rule-based system to identify the recommendations.
17. An apparatus for handing over a communication from a first device to a second device, comprising:
a controller; and
an interface coupled to the controller, wherein the controller enables a speech recognition function, uses the speech recognition function to transcribe a portion of the communication to thereby generate a transcription, wherein the portion of the communication that is transcribed includes only speech input from a first call taker to the first device, analyzes the transcription to identify words of importance by comparing the transcription with a vocabulary associated with the second device, wherein the words of importance are words that appear in both the transcription and the vocabulary, displays the transcription on the first device with the words of importance automatically and conspicuously identified in the display by one of highlighting, using a different color text, using a different size font, and using a different style font, and sends the transcription with the words of importance identified via the interface to the second device when handing over the communication from the first device to the second device.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the portion of the communication that is transcribed includes speech input from a caller that initiated the communication.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first device is a first call taker workstation associated with a call center and the second device is a second call taker workstation of the call center.
20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first call taker associated with the first call taker workstation provides a first level of assistance and a second call taker associated with the second call taker workstation provides a second level of assistance.
21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the second level of assistance is more specialized then the first level of assistance.
22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the speech recognition function is trained based on speech input from the first call taker associated with the first device.
23. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the speech recognition function makes use of a reduced size vocabulary of recognized words that are specific to communications typically handled by the first device.
24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the controller enables the speech recognition function automatically upon the occurrence of a triggering event.
25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the triggering event is receipt of the communication at the first device.
26. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the controller enables the speech recognition function in response to a manual input from the first call taker associated with the first device.
27. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first device and the second device are provided by a same entity.
28. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the first device and the second device are provided by different entities.
29. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a transcription analysis device that analyzes the transcription to identify recommendations for handling the communication, wherein the transcription analysis device provides the recommendations to one of the first device and the second device.
30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the transcription analysis device analyzes the transcription using data mining on the transcription.
31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the transcription analysis device analyzes the transcription to identify recommendations for handling the communication using at least one of an expert system, a neural network, and a rule-based system to identify the recommendations.
32. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for handing over a communication from a first device to a second device, comprising:
first instructions for enabling a speech recognition function;
second instructions for using the speech recognition function to transcribe a portion of the communication to thereby generate a transcription, wherein the portion of the communication that is transcribed includes only speech input from a first call taker to the first device;
third instructions for analyzing to transcription to identify words of importance by comparing the transcription with a vocabulary associated with the second device, wherein the words of importance are words that appear in both the transcription and the vocabulary;
fourth instructions for displaying the transcription on the first device with the words of importance automatically and conspicuously identified in the display by one of highlighting, using a different color text, using a different size font, and using a different style font; and
fifth instructions for sending the transcription with the words of importance identified to the second device when handing over the communication from the first device to the second device.