Granted Patent B2

US 8,687,793 · App. 13/826,149 · Granted Apr 1, 2014

Abstract

Claims (43)

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for selecting an interface presented to a caller during an interaction between the caller and an interactive voice response system, wherein the computer executable instructions comprise:

(a) one or more detection modules operable to determine one or more outputs associated with the interaction;

(b) a selection logic operable to select one of a plurality of available interfaces; and

(c) an interface selection engine in communication with the one or more detection modules and the selection logic, wherein the interface selection engine is operable to switch the interface presented to the caller to the one of the plurality of available interfaces based on the one or more outputs provided by the detection modules and the selection logic;

wherein:

(A) the selection logic is operable to repeatedly select between the plurality of available interfaces during the interaction;

(B) the interface selection engine is operable to repeatedly switch the interface presented to the caller during the interaction;

(C) initially switching the interface presented to the caller comprises switching the interface presented to the caller from a first interface to a second interface;

(D) a repeated selection between the plurality of available interfaces comprises selecting a third interface from the plurality of available interfaces;

(E) a repeated switching the interface presented to the caller comprises switching from the second interface to the third interface automatically during the interaction; and

(F) the first interface, the second interface, and the third interface are each interfaces to the interactive voice response system.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the one or more detection modules further comprise a security detection module, wherein the security detection module is operable to determine whether to employ an interface having increased security.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the interface selection engine communicates with the one or more detection modules and the selection logic during the interaction and automatically switches the interface in real time to the one of the plurality of available interfaces.

4. A system for automatically switching an interface associated with an interactive voice response system comprising:

(a) an interface selection engine;

(b) a selection logic; and

(c) a usage detection module, wherein the usage detection module produces one or more outputs relating to a caller's usage that are accepted by the interface selection engine;

wherein the interface selection engine comprises a software module operable to select one of a plurality of available interfaces according to the one or more outputs and the selection logic; and

wherein the interface selection engine is configured to automatically switch the interface to the one of a plurality of available interfaces selected;

wherein:

(A) the system is operable to repeatedly select between the plurality of available interfaces during an interaction with the interactive voice response system;

(B) the system is operable to repeatedly automatically switch the interface during the interaction;

(C) initially automatically switching the interface comprises automatically switching the interface from a first interface to a second interface;

(D) a repeated selection between the available interfaces comprises selecting a third interface from the plurality of available interfaces;

(E) a repeated automatically switching the interface comprises switching from the second interface to the third interface during the interaction; and

(F) the first interface, the second interface, and the third interface are each interfaces to the interactive voice response system which are presented to a caller during the interaction.

5. The system according to claim 4 operable with a multimodal interface system.

6. A method in a computer system for selecting an interface presented to a caller during an interaction between the caller and an interactive voice response system, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

(a) determining one or more outputs associated with the interaction;

(b) selecting one of a plurality of available interfaces according to the one or more outputs associated with the interaction; and

(c) switching the interface presented to the caller to the one of the plurality of available interfaces selected, wherein the switching occurs automatically during the interaction, and is based on the one or more outputs; and

wherein each interface from the plurality of available interfaces is an interface to the interactive voice response system;

wherein:

(i) steps (a) through (c) are repeated at least once during the interaction;

(ii) initial step (c) comprises switching the interface presented to the caller from a first interface to a second interface;

(iii) repeated step (b) comprises selecting a third interface from the plurality of interfaces;

(iv) repeated step (c) comprises switching the second interface to the third interface automatically during the interaction; and

(v) the first interface, the second interface, and the third interface are each interfaces to the interactive voice response system.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more outputs include a user level, wherein the available interfaces include:

(a) a standard interface; and

(b) a specialized interface; and

(c) a robust interface.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the user level is determined based on members selected from the group consisting of a time to reach a specified marker during the interaction, a time spent on one or more dialogs within a call script during the interaction, a number of failures during the interaction, one or more unspecified commands provided by the caller, one or more terse responses provided by the caller, and combinations thereof.

Assignments (9)