ABSTRACT
Embodiments of the invention provide a communication system that includes a processor and memory coupled to the processor. The memory may include a communication module with an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) database.
Herein, the database may include a list of telephone numbers associated with one or more destinations implementing one or more IVR menus. Further, the memory consists of an instructions set with one or more instructions executable by the processor for automatically interfacing with a user interface system comprising a voice-to-electronic signal subsystem. More specifically, the user’s voice request may be converted into digital form. Further, the instructions executable by the processor may initiate a search within the database following a voice command captured by the voice to the electronic signal subsystem. Furthermore, the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to initiate a voice call to a telephone number within the database according to the result of the search.
User interface system comprising voice-to-electronic signal subsystem
An Inventor: Dr. Tal Lavian
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, specifically to the visual selection of an IVR option from a caller device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology is generally used to detect voice and key inputs from a caller. The advent of interactive voice response (IVR) systems has reduced operating costs for many types of businesses that provide services.
Generally, IVR systems allow a user to interact with an audio or visual response system. The IVR systems can provide prompts to a user and receive touch tone and/or spoken responses to the prompts from the user. Through such IVR dialogue, the system collects sufficient information about the user to direct the call to the most appropriate resource, information processing system, or the like.
Generally, an automated audio IVR menu is played when the caller calls a destination, such as a bank. The audio IVR menu can contain instructions to provide instant services such as account balance inquiry when the destination is a bank. Further, the audio menu can provide options for the caller to connect to a desired end inside the destination. For example, the menu may direct the caller to press various keys on a telephone to connect to a particular department or agent. The audio IVR menu is designed specifically for a destination. Therefore, each destination or organization may have different audio IVR menus. Further, the IVR menu in an organization can be based on the type of departments, type of services, customer care executives or agents, and so forth. For example, an IVR menu of a bank may include options related to the account details of the caller, while an IVR menu of a pizzeria may contain options to order or select a pizza.
Typically, the caller calling the destination may have to listen and follow instructions on the menu to get a desired response or a function performed. Therefore, the process can be time-consuming. Moreover, the complete process may have to be repeated if the caller provides an incorrect input. Furthermore, the IVR menu for an organization may be updated or changed regularly. For example, extension numbers inside an organization may be changed, and the extension numbers associated with the IVR menu may be updated. As a result, a frequent caller may not be able to reach a desired end by remembering a combination of numbers. Furthermore, the dialed destination may include something other than the user’s desired information. In such a case, the user may have to call the destination again to retrieve the desired information. Therefore, the user may need more support with the IVR systems.
Usually, the IVR menus are the same for all the users. Therefore, the customer has to listen to them carefully to select the appropriate option. The user may have to wait for a long time to receive information while interacting with the IVR systems. Moreover, sometimes, the requested information might only be available later when the user calls the destination. Therefore, the user may have to wait a long time or call again later. For example, the user may want to talk to a customer care executive of the destination, who is busy during the call. Therefore, the user’s call may be put on hold or asked to call later.
Some prior art tries to address this problem by providing a visual form of IVR. These prior arts display the IVR menu graphically on a caller device. U.S. Pat. No. 7,215,743 assigned to International Business Machines Corporation and a published U.S. patent application with Ser. No. 11/957,605, filed Dec. 17, 2007, and assigned to Motorola Inc., provides the caller with the IVR menu of the destination in a visual form. The caller can select the options from the IVR menu without listening to the complete audio IVR menu. However, the IVR menu displayed on the caller device is stored on an IVR server at the destination end. As a result, the visual IVR menu is specific to the destination, and only the IVR of the destination dialed is displayed. These techniques, therefore, require each destination to set up hardware, software, and other facilities to be deployed to provide visual IVR servers.
A U.S. Pat. No. 7,460,652, assigned to AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., discloses call routing and communication techniques with a call originator. The call may be received at an automated call handling system. Thereafter, the call is evaluated based on a set of business rules and routed to an interactive voice response unit based on the evaluation. Further, the interactive voice response unit automatically schedules and sends an email to the call’s originator. However, email scheduling is performed after establishing communication with the automated call-handling system. Moreover, the scheduling is performed through the automated call-handling system.
Another existing technique, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,560,320, assigned to International Business Machines Corporation, enables an operator of the IVR to send customized signals to the caller to generate and display graphical elements on the caller’s device. After, the caller can respond by selecting options through the device’s touch-screen interface. Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) signals of the IVR. However, this technique requires a specifically configured device to interpret the codes sent as Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) signals for generating the graphics. Moreover, an operator is required to present the graphics to the caller. Furthermore, specialized software and hardware are needed for the operator to design and generate DTMF codes. Therefore, the technique faces various practical limitations.
Generally, the IVR menus of the organizations are in the form of an audible menu. Moreover, a large number of organizations use IVR menus. Therefore, converting the audible to visual IVR menus can be time-consuming—an existing technique, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,920,425, assigned to Nortel Networks Limited, discloses an automated script to convert audible to visual IVR menu scripts. However, the audible menu scripts must be available in a particular format to enable the conversion. Furthermore, the audio menu scripts must be available or downloadable for the program to function. As a result, only the available audio menu scripts can be converted to visual IVR menu scripts. Furthermore, the caller’s device must be designed or programmed to understand the visual IVR menu scripts.
Various organizations encourage customers to call them for information on their products or services or to help existing customers. Generally, a contact number is provided by the organizations on their website as a button. Therefore, when the customer presses the button, a form is displayed. The customer then enters his contact number, where an executive from the organization may call. However, this may take time for the customer. Moreover, the customer may only be able to talk to another executive during the call if the online executive can satisfy the customer. U.S. patent application with Ser. No. 12/049,021, filed Mar. 14, 2008, and assigned to Harprit Singh, provides methods and systems for displaying an IVR menu when the caller clicks a link on a webpage provided by the organization. However, the customer is still required to request the webpage with embedded information from a server of the organization. Moreover, the methods and systems are limited to the organizations that provide the required webpage to the customers. Other technologies include a U.S. patent application with Ser. No. 11/877,952 filed Oct. 24, 2007, and assigned to International Business Machine Corporation.
The effectiveness of providing the IVR in visual form is discussed in a technical paper titled, ‘The Benefits of Augmenting Telephone Voice Menu Navigation with Visual Browsing and Search’ by Min Yin et al. The paper discusses a setup where the visual content of the IVR is sent from a service provider to a computer connected to a mobile phone. However, the technique discussed in the paper is limited to the visual content provided by the service provider’s end after establishing the connection. Moreover, the providers are required to set up the hardware and services to provide visual content individually.
As discussed above, the existing technologies have various limitations. Hence, techniques are desired to provide enhanced telephony.
SUMMARY
An enhanced telephone system is provided. The telephone system comprises a database consisting of one or more phone numbers and one or more menus corresponding to the phone numbers, wherein the menus comprise one or more options for selection.
The telephone system comprises means for comparing a dialed number to the phone numbers in the database, means for displaying a menu based on the comparison result, means for enabling the selection of one or more options from the displayed menu, and means for establishing a connection with a destination of the dialed number based on the choice of the one or more options.
An enhanced telephone system is provided. The telephone system comprises a database comprising one or more phone numbers and one or more menus corresponding to the phone numbers, wherein the menus comprise one or more options for selection, means for comparing the received number of a received call to the phone numbers in the database; means for displaying a menu based on a result of the comparison; and means for enabling selection of the one or more options from the displayed menu.
Further, a method for providing enhanced telephony is provided. The method comprises identifying a number dialed from a telephone system comparing the dialed number to one or more phone numbers stored in a database, wherein the database comprises one or more menus corresponding to the phone numbers, and wherein the menus shall consist of one or more options for selection; and displaying on the telephone system a menu from the database based on a result of the comparison.
A caller may dial or select a phone number from a destination device. The phone number is detected by a Visuphone implemented on the device to display a visual IVR menu corresponding to the audible IVR menu of the destination. Visuphone may be hardware, an application stored as software or firmware on the device, or a combination thereof. Visuphone may include a database of visual IVR menus corresponding to audible IVR menus for various destinations. After that, the caller may interact with the visual IVR menu displayed on the device to establish a connection with the destination. Furthermore, Visuphone may detect and launch a VOIP application to establish the connection. Moreover, Visuphone may provide pre-recorded or computer-synthesized audio responses to the destination on behalf of the caller.
An aspect of the invention is to generate a database of visual IVR menus. Database generation could be done by successively calling the IVR and combining it with voice recognition. Calling the IVR systems can be done manually by operators who will listen to the options of the IVR and enter these options into the database. In this manual mode, the operator will dial IVR numbers from a list and, for each of them, will follow all the options in several levels and, in each level, enter the menu entries into the database. This can be done for many different IVR phone numbers by one or multiple operators. The voice menu can be recorded for analysis in a different process or at a different time.
Another aspect of the invention is to generate a database of visual IVR menus by a computer system. A combination of hardware and software that is connected to the phone system automatically dials the IVR phone numbers, records the different options of the voice menu, analyzes the voice menu, and generates and enters the other entries into the database. The system will generate the voice tone that simulates the relevant touchtone of a phone number pressed. This process will be done at several levels until all the entries are covered at all the levels of the specific IVR system. This process is done for all the IVR phone numbers in the list.
An additional alternative is to access the IVR internal database and download the menu. I think this approach requires collaboration with the IVR maker and at least permission from the IVR owner. Having both, a system could be built to access IVR using their maintenance port, which is often connected to the Internet. Accordingly, the system would access the IVR. Once authorized by the IVR owner it will download the internal file representing the IVR menu, which could be called the IVR customization record. The downloaded file would then be converted to a visual IVR menu by utility that could be designed according to the format the IVR maker could provide.
Another aspect of the invention is to provide a caller with a device with a visual IVR menu corresponding to an audible IVR menu of a destination.
Another aspect of the invention is enabling the caller to directly interact with the visual IVR menu without listening to the destination’s audible IVR menu.
Another aspect of the invention is to provide the caller with a visual IVR menu before establishing a connection between the device and the destination.
Another aspect of the invention is providing advertisements related to the destination or function dialed by the caller.
Yet another aspect of the invention is to provide a visual IVR menu of a destination according to the location of the caller’s communication device and/or the location of the dialed destination phone number.
Embodiments of the invention provide an enhanced communication device. The enhanced communication device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory comprises a database including one or more destination phone numbers and at least one property associated with the destination phone numbers Further, the memory comprises instructions executable by the processor for identifying a dialed phone number of a destination, determining a location code associated with a current location of the communication device, comparing the dialed phone number to one or more destination phone numbers stored in a database, and displaying at least one property associated with the one or more destination phone numbers based on the comparison.
Embodiments of the invention provide an enhanced communication device. The enhanced communication device comprises a database including one or more destination phone numbers and at least one property associated with the destination phone numbers. Further, the enhanced communication device comprises means for identifying a dialed phone number of a destination, means for determining a location code associated with a current location of the communication device, means for comparing the dialed phone number to one or more destination phone numbers stored in a database, and means for displaying at least one property associated with the one or more destination phone numbers based on the comparison.
Embodiments of the invention provide a method for providing enhanced telephony. The method includes identifying the phone number of a destination dialed from a communication device, determining a location code associated with the current location of the communication device, and comparing the dialed phone number to one or more destination phone numbers stored in a database. The database may include at least one property associated with the destination phone numbers. Further, the method comprises displaying at least one property associated with one or more destination phone numbers based on the comparison.
Embodiments of the invention provide an enhanced device. The enhanced device comprises a processor and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory comprises a database including one or more destination phone numbers and at least one property associated with the destination phone numbers Further, the memory comprises instructions executable by the processor for identifying a dialed phone number of a destination, determining a location code associated with a current location of the device, comparing the dialed phone number to one or more destination phone numbers stored in a database, and displaying at least one property associated with the one or more destination phone numbers based on the comparison.
Embodiments of the invention provide an enhanced device. The enhanced device comprises a database including one or more destination phone numbers and at least one property associated with the destination phone numbers. Further, the improved device includes means for identifying a dialed phone number of a destination, means for determining a location code associated with a current location of the device, means for comparing the dialed phone number to one or more destination phone numbers stored in a database, and means for displaying at least one property associated with the one or more destination phone numbers based on the comparison.
Embodiments of the invention provide a method for providing enhanced telephony. The method includes identifying the phone number of a destination dialed from a device, determining a location code associated with the device’s current location, and comparing the dialed phone number to one or more destination phone numbers stored in a database. The database may include at least one property associated with the destination phone numbers. Further, the method comprises displaying at least one property associated with one or more destination phone numbers based on the comparison.
Embodiments of the invention provide a device and a database with a plurality of visual IVR menus associated with a plurality of destinations. The device further comprises means for dialing a destination’s phone number, means for comparing the dialed phone number with phone numbers stored in the database, and means for displaying a form based on the comparison, wherein the form comprises one or more data request fields corresponding to a visual IVR menu associated with the dialed destination.
Embodiments of the invention provide a device comprising a processor. Further, the apparatus includes a memory consisting of a database. The database contains a plurality of visual IVR menus associated with various destinations. Further, the memory comprises instructions executable by the processor for dialing a phone number of a destination, comparing the dialed phone number with phone numbers stored in the database, and displaying a form based on the comparison, wherein the form comprises one or more data request fields corresponding to a visual IVR menu associated with the dialed destination.
Also, I’d like to point out that a method for providing enhanced telephony is explained. The method comprises dialing, at a device, the phone number of a destination. The apparatus includes a plurality of visual IVR menus associated with a plurality of destinations. Further, the method compares the dialed phone number with phone numbers stored in the device. Furthermore, the process displays, at the device, a form based on the comparison, wherein the form consists of one or more data request fields corresponding to a visual IVR menu associated with the dialed destination.
Embodiments of the invention provide a device for scheduling a call to a destination based on predefined calling information. The apparatus comprises a database comprising at least one visual IVR menu associated with each of a plurality of destinations. The device also comprises means for dialing a phone number of a destination of the plurality of destinations based on the predefined calling information, wherein the predefined calling information is selected from a visual IVR menu associated with the destination; means for receiving information from the dialed destination based on the predefined calling information; and means for displaying the received information.
Embodiments of the invention disclose a method for scheduling a call to a destination based on predefined calling information. The method comprises dialing a phone number of a destination of a plurality of destinations based on the predefined calling information, wherein the predefined calling information is selected from a visual IVR menu associated with the destination. Further, the method comprises receiving information from the dialed destination based on the predefined calling information. Furthermore, the method comprises displaying the received information.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a device. The device comprises a processor. Further, the device comprises a memory coupled to the processor. The memory is a database that has at least one IVR menu associated with one IVR system. Further, the memory comprises instructions executable by the processor for sending the first section of a data packet to a second communication device. The first section, comprising the first information, is sent based on a visual IVR menu associated with the second communication device. Further, the memory comprises instructions executable by the processor for receiving an acknowledgment message from the second communication device based on the first section of the data packet. Furthermore, the memory includes instructions executable by the processor for sending a second section of the data packet to the second communication device based on the acknowledgment message. The second section comprises more information.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for communicating among various communication devices. The method comprises sending, by a device, the first section of a data packet to a second communication device. The first section comprising first information is sent based on a visual Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menu associated with at least one IVR system. Further, the method comprises receiving, at the device, an acknowledgement message from the second communication device based on the first section of the data packet. Furthermore, the method comprises sending, by the device, a second section of the data packet to the second communication device based on the acknowledgement message. The second section comprises second information.
Embodiments of the invention provide a method for establishing a communication session in a communication network. The method comprises dialing the phone number of a second communication device, which includes an IVR system. Further, the method consists of detecting a data network. Furthermore, the process sends the first section of a data packet to the dialed second communication device when the data network is detected. The first section comprises first information.
Embodiments of the invention provide a communication device comprising a database comprising a plurality of visual Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menus associated with a plurality of destinations. The communication device further comprises means for dialing a destination’s phone number, means for comparing the dialed phone number with phone numbers stored in the database, and means for displaying a form based on the comparison, wherein the form comprises one or more data request fields corresponding to a visual IVR menu associated with the dialed destination.
A method for providing enhanced telephony is disclosed. The method comprises dialing, at a communication device, a phone number of a destination. The communication device comprises a plurality of visual IVR menus associated with a plurality of destinations. Further, the method comprises comparing the dialed phone number with phone numbers stored in the communication device. Furthermore, the method comprises displaying, at the communication device, a form based on the comparison, wherein the form comprises one or more data request fields corresponding to a visual IVR menu associated with the dialed destination.
An aspect of the invention is to provide updates to the visual IVR menus stored in the device.
An aspect of the invention is to provide the visual IVR menu when the call is forwarded from one destination to another.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for displaying, at a device, a visual IVR menu associated with a phone number of a calling device. Further, the method displays one or more communication options at the device.
Another aspect of the invention is to enable a device user to interact with the visual IVR menu of the calling first-party device without listening to the audible IVR menu of the first-party device.
Yet another aspect of the invention is enabling a portable device to connect to an external device with better display capabilities.
A further aspect of the invention is to provide the visual IVR menu of a first-party device to a device user before establishing a communication session between the device and the first-party device.
An additional aspect of the invention is automatic learning of caller choice, which is used to assist the caller in his future calls.
Further, embodiments of the invention provide a communication system including a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor. The memory may include a communication module with an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) database. Herein, the database may include a list of telephone numbers associated with one or more destinations implementing one or more IVR menus. Further, the memory includes instructions set having one or more instructions executable by the processor for automatically interfacing with a user interface system comprising voice to electronic signal subsystem. More specifically, the voice request of the user may be converted into digital form. Further, the instructions executable by the processor may initiate search within said database following a voice command captured by said voice to electronic signal subsystem. Furthermore, the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to initiate voice call to a telephone number within said database according to the result of said search.
Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may include a communication system consisting of a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising a communication module with an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) database. Herein, the database contains a list of telephone numbers associated with one or more destinations implementing one or more IVR menus, wherein said menu comprises a plurality of internal destinations with the associated internal dialing sequence. Further, the memory includes instructions executable by the processor for automatically interfacing with a user interface system comprising voice to electronic signal subsystem; and instructions executable by the processor to initiate search within said database following a voice command captured by said voice to electronic signal subsystem
Hereinabove, the automatically interfacing comprises using internet protocol. Further, the memory may further comprise instructions executable by the processor to initiate voice call to a telephone number within said database according to the result of said search. Further, said initiate voice call comprises using cellular network or public telephone network. Also, the initiated voice call is comprised of instructions to call the IVR internal destination and perform call monitoring to detect humans responding to the call. Moreover, said voice to electronic signal subsystem comprises voice recognition commercial system such as known by commercial names such as: Sin, Alexa, Cortana, and Google Assistant.
Dr. Tal Lavian offers insightful and decisive expertise as a telecommunications expert witness and network communications expert witness.