Method and computer program product for providing a response to a statement of a user

1. A method of operating a computer to provide a response to a received user input, the method comprising:

automatically with the computer:

(a) in response to receiving, from a user's device, a partial user input signifying a portion of an answerable statement, before receiving a complete user input representing the entire answerable statement, calculating for each of a plurality of predefined answerable statements, a metric that is, at least in part, based on a frequency with which the predefined answerable statement had been selected by previous users;

(b) if the metric for none of the predefined answerable statements exceeds a threshold, sending, to the user's device, information representing a selected plurality of the predefined answerable statements, which predefined answerable statements are selected based on the respective associated metrics; and

(c) if the metric for one of the predefined answerable statements exceeds the threshold and not otherwise, sending, to the user's device, information representing a response associated with said one of the predefined answerable statements.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, if the metric for one of the predefined answerable statements exceeds the threshold, also sending, to the user's device, said one of the predefined answerable statements.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the information in part (b) comprises alternative suggestions for completing the partial user input.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising thereafter automatically with the computer, in response to receiving, from the user's device, an additional user input representative of a further portion of the complete user input, repeating parts (a) through (c) with the additional user input being included in the partial user input.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising, if part (b) applies, automatically with the computer, in response to receiving, from the user's device, information indicative of a user's acceptance of one of the selected plurality of the predefined answerable statements in part (b), sending, to the user's device, information representing a response associated with said accepted one of the plurality of the predefined answerable statements.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising, if part (b) applies, automatically with the computer, in response to receiving, from the user's device, information indicative of a user's acceptance of one of the selected plurality of the predefined answerable statements in part (b), sending, to the user's device, information representing a response associated with said accepted one of the plurality of the predefined answerable statements.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein part (b) further comprises sending, to the user's device, information representing the metric corresponding to each of the selected predefined answerable statements.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising, if no metric exceeds a second threshold, which second threshold is lower than the threshold of part (b), automatically with the computer sending, to the user's device, information indicating that the computer is unable to provide a response to the partial user input.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising, if no metric exceeds a second threshold, which second threshold is lower than the threshold of part (b), automatically with the computer sending, to the user's device, a question asking for clarification of the answerable statement intended by the user.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein part (b) further comprising sending, to the user's device, the selected predefined answerable statements if and only if each of their respective metrics exceed a second threshold, which second threshold is lower than the threshold in part (b).

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the selecting of the predetermined answerable statements based on the respective associated metrics includes accessing, automatically with the computer, data reflecting frequencies with which a plurality of previous users have presented the predefined answerable statements.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the information sent to the user's device in part (b) consists of the selected plurality of predefined answerable statements ranked in order of their respective metrics.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the metric is calculated based on the frequency with which previous users who inputted an input corresponding to the partial user input had selected the predefined answerable statement.

14. A data processing system having at least one processor capable of providing an automatic response to a received user input, the system being programmed to automatically:

(a) in response to receiving, from a user's device, a partial user input signifying a portion of an answerable statement, before receiving a complete user input representing the entire answerable statement, calculate for each of a plurality of predefined answerable statements, a metric that is, at least in part, based on a frequency with which the predefined answerable statement had been selected by previous users;

(b) if the metric for none of the predefined answerable statements exceeds a threshold, send, to the user's device, information representing a selected plurality of the predefined answerable statements, which predefined answerable statements are selected based on the respective associated metrics; and

(c) if the metric for one of the predefined answerable statements exceeds a threshold and not otherwise, send, to the user's device, information representing a response associated with said one of the predefined answerable statements.

15. The data processing system of claim 14 wherein the system is further programmed, if the metric for one of the predefined answerable statements exceeds the threshold, also to send, to the user's device, said one of the predefined answerable statements.

16. The data processing system of claim 14 wherein the information in part (b) comprises alternative suggestions for completing the partial user input.

17. The data processing system of claim 14 wherein the system is further programmed, thereafter, in response to receiving, from the user's device, an additional user input representative of a further portion of the complete user input, to automatically repeat parts (a) through (c) with the additional user input being included in the partial user input.

18. The data processing system of claim 14 wherein the system is further programmed, if part (b) applies, in response to receiving, from the user's device, information indicative of a user's acceptance of one of the selected plurality of the predefined answerable statements in part (b), to automatically send, to the user's device, information representing a response associated with said accepted one of the plurality of the predefined answerable statements.

19. The data processing system of claim 14 wherein the system is further programmed, if no metric exceeds a second threshold, which second threshold is lower than the threshold of part (b), to automatically send, to the user's device, information indicating that the computer is unable to provide a response to the partial user input.

20. The data processing system of claim 14 wherein the system is further programmed, to automatically send, to the user's device, the selected predefined answerable statement if and only if each of their respective metrics exceed a second threshold, which second threshold is lower than the threshold of part (b).

21. The data processing system of claim 14 wherein the selecting of the predetermined answerable statements based on the respective associated metrics includes automatically accessing stored computer data reflecting frequencies with which a plurality of previous users have presented the predefined answerable statements.

22. The data processing system of claim 14 wherein the information sent to the user's device in part (b) consists of the selected plurality of predefined answerable statements ranked in order of their respective metrics.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of computer instructions to provide a response to a received user input, wherein the set of computer instructions, when executed on a computer, causes the computer, automatically:

(a) in response to receiving, from a user's device, a partial user input signifying a portion of an answerable statement, before receiving a complete user input representing the entire answerable statement, to calculate for each of a plurality of predefined answerable statements, a metric that is, at least in part, based on a frequency with which the predefined answerable statement had been selected by previous users;

(b) if the metric for none of the predefined answerable statements exceeds a threshold, to send, to the user's device, information representing a selected plurality of the predefined answerable statements, which predefined answerable statements are selected based on the respective associated metrics; and

(c) if the metric for one of the predefined answerable statements exceeds a threshold and not otherwise, to send, to the user's device, information representing a response associated with said one of the predefined answerable statements.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein, further, the set of computer instructions, when executed on the computer, causes the computer, if the metric for one of the predefined answerable statements exceeds the threshold, also to send, to the user's device, said one of the predefined answerable statements.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the information in part (b) comprises alternative suggestions for completing the partial user input.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein, further, the set of computer instructions, when executed on the computer, causes the computer, thereafter, in response to receiving, from the user's device, an additional user input representative of a further portion of the full user input, to automatically repeat parts (a) through (c) with the additional user input being included in the partial user input.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein, further, the set of computer instructions, when executed on the computer, causes the computer, if part (b) applies, in response to receiving, from the user's device, information indicative of a user's acceptance of one of the selected plurality of the predefined answerable statements in part (b), to automatically send, to the user's device, information representing a response associated with said accepted one of the plurality of the predefined answerable statements.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein, further, the set of computer instructions, when executed on the computer, causes the computer, if no metric exceeds a second threshold, which second threshold is lower than the threshold of part (b), to automatically send, to the user's device, information indicating that the computer is unable to provide a response to the partial user input.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein, further, the set of computer instructions, when executed on the computer, causes the computer, to send, to the user's device, the selected predefined answerable statements if and only if each of their respective metrics exceed a second threshold, which second threshold is lower than the threshold in part (b).

30. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 wherein the selecting of the predetermined answerable statements based on the respective associated metrics includes automatically accessing stored computer data reflecting frequencies with which a plurality of previous users have presented the predefined answerable statements.