Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080267365 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND SOFTWARE FOR A SPEECH-ENABLED CALL ROUTING APPLICATION USING AN ACTION-OBJECT MATRIX - A system, method and software for facilitating a speech-enabled call routing application using an action-object matrix is disclosed. In operation, a natural language user utterance may be evaluated to identify an action and object available in an action-object matrix indicating transactions or operations available to a user. Depending upon the contents of the natural language user utterance, additional prompts and/or a disambiguation dialogue may be effected to elicit an available action-object combination selection from the user. Following identification of an action-object combination from the natural language user utterance, the action-object matrix may cooperate with a look-up table to identify an appropriate use routing destination. Following identification of an appropriate routing destination, the user connection may be routed to a service agent or module configured to facilitate the user selected transaction as indicated by the action-object combination. | 10-30-2008 |
20080273687 | System and Method for Providing Customer Activities While in Queue - A system and method for providing customer activities while in queue allows for one or more customers to interact with one or more customer activities while waiting to speak with a live agent. The customers engage the customer activities while holding in a queue where the customer activities reduce the boredom, frustration, and perceived hold duration associated with holding to speak to a live agent. The customers are offered one or more options of the customer activities to interact with and the system and method monitors the customers' selections and interaction with the customer activities. As agents become available, each customer is transferred to an agent along with information regarding the customer's interaction with a selected customer activity. Upon completion of the interaction between the agent and the customer, the customer has the option to return to the selected customer activity and continue interacting with the selected customer activity. | 11-06-2008 |
20080313571 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATING THE CREATION OF CUSTOMER-CENTRIC INTERFACES - An interface is provided by creating prompts for the interface. The prompts represent tasks to be accomplished by a user and are obtained based on user input. The prompts are grouped according to relationships, obtained from the user input, among the tasks. The interface is updated based on user feedback. Each of the prompts is designated using user terminology obtained from the user input. | 12-18-2008 |
20090034697 | SEQUENTIAL PRESENTATION OF LONG INSTRUCTIONS IN AN INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE SYSTEM - A method of presenting instructions to a user sending an incoming communication to a service center includes presenting a menu to the user. The menu includes a plurality of procedure descriptors to the user. The user is presented, according to a selection of one of the procedure descriptors by the user, a sequence of instructions which enable completion of a procedure described by the selected procedure descriptor. The incoming communication is transferred at a position in the sequence of instructions to a representative. The incoming communication is also transferred back to the same position in the sequence of instructions. | 02-05-2009 |
20090067590 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF UTILIZING A HYBRID SEMANTIC MODEL FOR SPEECH RECOGNITION - A system includes a network interface, a speech input conversion component, and a routing module. Speech input is received in connection with a call. At least a segment of the speech input is transformed into a first textual format. A first list of entries is generated based, at least partially, on consideration of the first textual format. The first list includes at least one action with a corresponding confidence level and at least one object with another corresponding confidence level. An entry of the first list having a higher corresponding confidence level is selected, and a second textual format is output. A second list is generated based, at least partially, on consideration of the selected entry and the second textual format. A routing option is suggested based on the selected entry and a pairing entry in the second list. | 03-12-2009 |
20090074158 | METHOD FOR DESIGNING AN AUTOMATED SPEECH RECOGNITION (ASR) INTERFACE FOR A CUSTOMER CALL CENTER - A method of designing a customer interface for a service center, such as an automated speech recognition (ASR) self-service center. Customer activity to an existing service center is monitored, providing customer model, which includes a collection of customer tasks. These tasks are assigned to action-object pairs, which are further assigned to routing destinations. Dialog modules are designed, based on the customer model data, including disambiguation dialogs. | 03-19-2009 |
20090150225 | DEVELOPING INTERACTIVE CALL CENTER AGENT PERSONAS - A method, software and system of developing personalities for interactive and/or automated call center applications are provided. According to teachings of the present invention, sample population questionnaires and interviews may be used to identify key personality traits. The impact of the identified key personality traits are then empirically determined. Based on the empirical determination of the key personality traits' impact on customer satisfaction, a plurality of personality profiles may be generated for evaluation. A plurality of application types and voice talents may then be employed to evaluate the impact of each personality profile on customer satisfaction, for different user populations and different types of automated systems. The personality traits for each automated system are preferably rated and reviewed to ensure a system accurately represents the identified key personality traits. The various voice talents may also be evaluated to identify those traits best at conveying a desired personality. | 06-11-2009 |
20090177983 | METHOD FOR INTEGRATING USER MODELS TO INTERFACE DESIGN - Designing user interfaces for users in a user population includes modeling behaviorally distinct groups of the users and customizing the user interfaces based on either or both interactive testing by the users and modeling the behaviorally distinct groups of the users. The user population is categorized into the behaviorally distinct groups of the users based on predetermined characteristics and behaviors for the users. | 07-09-2009 |
20090287484 | System and Method for Targeted Tuning of a Speech Recognition System - A system and method of targeted tuning of a speech recognition system are disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a method includes determining a frequency of occurrence of a particular type of utterance method and includes determining whether the frequency of occurrence exceeds a threshold. The method further includes tuning a speech recognition system to improve recognition of the particular type of utterance when the frequency of occurrence of the particular type of utterance exceeds the threshold. | 11-19-2009 |
20100040207 | System and Method for Independently Recognizing and Selecting Actions and Objects in a Speech Recognition System - A system includes an acoustic input engine configured to accept a speech input, to recognize phonemes of the speech input, and to create word strings based on the recognized phonemes. The system includes a semantic engine coupled to the acoustic engine and operable to identify actions and to identify objects by parsing the word strings. The system also includes an action-object pairing system to identify a dominant entry from the identified actions and the identified objects, to select a complement to the dominant entry from the identified actions and the identified objects, and to form an action-object pair that includes the dominant entry and the complement. The system further includes an action-object routing table operable to provide a routing destination based on the action-object pair. The system also includes a call routing module to route a call to the routing destination. | 02-18-2010 |
20100054449 | System and Method of Determining Call Treatment of Repeat Calls - A method and system of handling a call received at a call center is disclosed. The method includes determining that the call is a repeat call. The method also includes determining whether the repeat call is to receive a first treatment type. The method further includes servicing the repeat call with the first treatment type when the repeat call is determined to receive the first treatment type. The method includes servicing the repeat call with a second treatment type when the repeat call is determined to not receive the first treatment type. The second treatment type includes providing access to a self-service automated system. | 03-04-2010 |
20100061544 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND SOFTWARE FOR TRANSITIONING BETWEEN SPEECH-ENABLED APPLICATIONS USING ACTION-OBJECT MATRICES - A system, method and software are described for facilitating transitions between speech-enabled applications employing action-object matrices. In an exemplary embodiment, an automatic call router determines a service agent destination by identifying an action-object combination included in a user utterance. In addition to forwarding the user to the service agent destination, the automatic call router sends one or more aspects of the user utterance to the service agent for use therewith. The service agent may then use aspects of the forwarded information to request further information from the user or to begin performance of a user desired transaction. | 03-11-2010 |
20100063800 | Method, System and Software for Implementing an Automated Call Routing Application in a Speech Enabled Call Center Environment - A system, method and software for implementing an automated call routing application in a speech enabled call center environment are provided. In operation, the invention provides for the identification of a call center transaction selection from a natural language user utterance and the invocation of one or more scripts operable to route the user to a call center service agent configured to service the selected transaction. In the event a transaction selection cannot be readily identified or can only be partially identified, the invention provides for the initiation of a dialog module or script directed to eliciting a discernable transaction selection and/or the presentation of one or more menus from which the user may select an available call center transaction. | 03-11-2010 |
20100088101 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING CALL ROUTING USING SPEECH RECOGNITION - A computer-implemented method is described for optimizing prompts for a speech-enabled application. The speech-enabled application is operable to receive communications from a number of users and communicate one or more prompts to each user to illicit a response from the user that indicates the purpose of the user's communication. The method includes determining a number of prompt alternatives (each including one or more prompts) to evaluate and determining an evaluation period for each prompt alternative. The method also includes automatically presenting each prompt alternative to users during the associated evaluation period and automatically recording the results of user responses to each prompt alternative. Furthermore, the method includes automatically analyzing the recorded results for each prompt alternative based on one or more performance criteria and automatically implementing one of the prompt alternatives based on the analysis of the recorded results. | 04-08-2010 |
20100091978 | CALL ROUTING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME - A particular method of using a call routing system includes generating a first action object identifier associated with a task, a first result identifier associated with the task, and a first reason identifier at a first module in response to a call using a processor of the call routing system. The first result identifier has a value that indicates a status of the task. The first reason identifier includes information related to the first result identifier. The method also includes routing the call from the first module to a second module using the processor, based at least in part on the first action object identifier, the first result identifier, and the first reason identifier. | 04-15-2010 |
20100232595 | System and Method for Speech-Enabled Call Routing - A method includes receiving speech of a call from a caller at a processor of a call routing system. The method includes using the processor to determine a first call destination for the call based on the speech. The method includes using the processor to determine whether the caller is in compliance with at least one business rule related to an account of the caller. The method includes routing the call to the first call destination when the caller is in compliance with the at least one business rule and routing the call to a second call destination when the caller is not in compliance with the at least one business rule. | 09-16-2010 |
20110022963 | METHOD FOR INTEGRATING USER MODELS TO INTERFACE DESIGN - Designing user interfaces includes categorizing users, by at least one processor, into a predetermined number of behaviorally distinct groups each specified by behavioral characteristics. The users are re-categorized, by the at least one processor, into the predetermined number of new behaviorally distinct groups each specified by revised behavioral characteristics. The user interfaces are designed, by the at least one processor, based on describing and modeling at least one of the re-categorized users and the new behaviorally distinct groups. | 01-27-2011 |
20110106586 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED CUSTOMER FEEDBACK - A system and method for automated customer feedback allows for automatically collecting and analyzing customer feedback data regarding customer satisfaction and customer task completion with respect to self-service applications and live agents. When contacting a customer service center, customers provide one or more customer tasks. The customers are routed within the customer service center based on the customer task and/or one or more customer characteristics. While interacting with the customer service center, the customers are automatically asked one or more specific survey questions relating to the customers' interaction with the customer service center and the customers' satisfaction levels. The customers provide one or more survey responses to the survey questions. The survey responses are recorded and analyzed in order to modify and update the customer service center and the survey questions in order to increase customer satisfaction and increase customer task completion. | 05-05-2011 |
20120269339 | System and Method for Providing Customer Activities While in Queue - A system and method for providing customer activities while in queue allows for one or more customers to interact with one or more customer activities while waiting to speak with a live agent. The customers engage the customer activities while holding in a queue where the customer activities reduce the boredom, frustration, and perceived hold duration associated with holding to speak to a live agent. The customers are offered one or more options of the customer activities to interact with and the system and method monitors the customers' selections and interaction with the customer activities. As agents become available, each customer is transferred to an agent along with information regarding the customer's interaction with a selected customer activity. Upon completion of the interaction between the agent and the customer, the customer has the option to return to the selected customer activity and continue interacting with the selected customer activity. | 10-25-2012 |
20120321067 | Call Routing System and Method of Using the Same - A method includes accessing information associated with a call at an attendant interaction module. The call is associated with a task. The information associated with the call includes a first action object identifier, a first result identifier, and a first reason identifier. The first action object identifier is associated with the task, the first result identifier indicates a status of the task, and the first reason identifier includes information related to the first result identifier. The method includes generating an attendant interaction signal subsequent to receiving the information associated with the call. | 12-20-2012 |
20130010947 | System and Method of Determining Call Treatment of Repeat Calls - A method is disclosed that includes retrieving first data associated with a call from an action-object table. The method further includes retrieving second data from a resolution table based on the first data. The second data indicates a treatment type to be provided to the call. The method further includes, in response to determining that the treatment type indicates a particular treatment type, servicing the call with the particular treatment type. The particular treatment type includes routing the call to a destination associated with a call center. | 01-10-2013 |
20130028406 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND SOFTWARE FOR A SPEECH-ENABLED CALL ROUTING APPLICATION USING AN ACTION-OBJECT MATRIX - A system, method and software for facilitating a speech-enabled call routing application using an action-object matrix is disclosed. In operation, a natural language user utterance may be evaluated to identify an action and object available in an action-object matrix indicating transactions or operations available to a user. Depending upon the contents of the natural language user utterance, additional prompts and/or a disambiguation dialogue may be effected to elicit an available action-object combination selection from the user. Following identification of an action-object combination from the natural language user utterance, the action-object matrix may cooperate with a look-up table to identify an appropriate use routing destination. Following identification of an appropriate routing destination, the user connection may be routed to a service agent or module configured to facilitate the user selected transaction as indicated by the action-object combination. | 01-31-2013 |
20130077770 | METHOD FOR DESIGNING AN AUTOMATED SPEECH RECOGNITION (ASR) INTERFACE FOR A CUSTOMER CALL CENTER - A method of designing a customer interface for a service center, such as an automated speech recognition (ASR) self-service center. Customer activity to an existing service center is monitored, providing customer model, which includes a collection of customer tasks. These tasks are assigned to action-object pairs, which are further assigned to routing destinations. Dialog modules are designed, based on the customer model data, including disambiguation dialogs. | 03-28-2013 |
20130094634 | Method, System and Software for Implementing an Automated Call Routing Application in a Speech Enabled Call Center Environment - A system, method and software for implementing an automated call routing application in a speech enabled call center environment are provided. In operation, the invention provides for the identification of a call center transaction selection from a natural language user utterance and the invocation of one or more scripts operable to route the user to a call center service agent configured to service the selected transaction. In the event a transaction selection cannot be readily identified or can only be partially identified, the invention provides for the initiation of a dialog module or script directed to eliciting a discernable transaction selection and/or the presentation of one or more menus from which the user may select an available call center transaction. | 04-18-2013 |
20130151253 | System and Method for Targeted Tuning of a Speech Recognition System - A system and method of targeted tuning of a speech recognition system are disclosed. A particular method includes detecting that a frequency of occurrence of a particular type of utterance satisfies a threshold. The method further includes tuning a speech recognition system with respect to the particular type of utterance. | 06-13-2013 |
20130230162 | System and Method of Automated Order Status Retrieval - A computer-readable storage device stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including prompting a caller during a call for an order identifier. The order identifier identifies a pending order. The operations also include prompting the caller to provide a reason for the call. The operations further include transferring the call to an automated check order status system in response to receiving an indication that the reason for the call is to obtain an order status associated with the pending order. The operations also include, in response to receiving an indication that the order status is not locatable, automatically transferring the call to a customer service agent. | 09-05-2013 |
20130294589 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND SOFTWARE FOR A SPEECH-ENABLED CALL ROUTING APPLICATION USING AN ACTION-OBJECT MATRIX - A system, method and software for facilitating a speech-enabled call routing application using an action-object matrix is disclosed. In operation, a natural language user utterance may be evaluated to identify an action and object available in an action-object matrix indicating transactions or operations available to a user. Depending upon the contents of the natural language user utterance, additional prompts and/or a disambiguation dialogue may be effected to elicit an available action-object combination selection from the user. Following identification of an action-object combination from the natural language user utterance, the action-object matrix may cooperate with a look-up table to identify an appropriate use routing destination. Following identification of an appropriate routing destination, the user connection may be routed to a service agent or module configured to facilitate the user selected transaction as indicated by the action-object combination. | 11-07-2013 |
20130294596 | System and Method for Speech-Enabled Call Routing - In a particular embodiment, a method includes receiving a communication from a source. The communication is associated with an account of the source. The method further includes determining, at a processor, whether a time period satisfies a threshold time period. The time period is associated with a voice message box having a particular status. The method further includes routing the communication to a first destination based on a determination that the time period satisfies the threshold time period. | 11-07-2013 |
20140219429 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED CUSTOMER FEEDBACK - A system and method for automated customer feedback allows for automatically collecting and analyzing customer feedback data regarding customer satisfaction and customer task completion with respect to self-service applications and live agents. When contacting a customer service center, customers provide one or more customer tasks. The customers are routed within the customer service center based on the customer task and/or one or more customer characteristics. While interacting with the customer service center, the customers are automatically asked one or more specific survey questions relating to the customers' interaction with the customer service center and the customers' satisfaction levels. The customers provide one or more survey responses to the survey questions. The survey responses are recorded and analyzed in order to modify and update the customer service center and the survey questions in order to increase customer satisfaction and increase customer task completion. | 08-07-2014 |
20140236599 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TARGETED TUNING OF A SPEECH RECOGNITION SYSTEM - A system and method of targeted tuning of a speech recognition system are disclosed. A particular method includes detecting that a frequency of occurrence of a particular type of utterance satisfies a threshold. The method further includes tuning a speech recognition system with respect to the particular type of utterance. | 08-21-2014 |
20140314228 | METHOD FOR DESIGNING AN AUTOMATED SPEECH RECOGNITION (ASR) INTERFACE FOR A CUSTOMER CALL CENTER - A method of designing a customer interface for a service center, such as an automated speech recognition (ASR) self-service center. Customer activity to an existing service center is monitored, providing customer model, which includes a collection of customer tasks. These tasks are assigned to action-object pairs, which are further assigned to routing destinations. Dialog modules are designed, based on the customer model data, including disambiguation dialogs. | 10-23-2014 |