Speech recognition method of and system for determining the status of an answered telephone during the course of an outbound telephone call

1. A method of determining the status of an answered telephone during the course of an outbound telephone call comprising:

(A) placing, with an automated calling system, a telephone call to a location having a telephone number at which a target person is listed;

(B1) upon said telephone call being answered, initiating a prerecorded greeting which asks for the target person;

(B2) while the prerecorded greeting is being played, attempting to detect a spoken response that is longer than a predetermined time;

(C) based on detecting that the spoken response is not longer than the predetermined time, determining that a spoken response has been received from an answering person;

(D) performing a speech recognition analysis on said spoken response to determine a status of said answering person; and

(E) upon said speech recognition analysis determining that said answering person is said target person, initiating a speech recognition application with said target person, wherein the speech recognition application comprises a consumer survey application, an educational application, a learning and lesson application, a testing application, a test results application, or a compliance application.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein, in step D, if said speech recognition analysis determines that said spoken response indicates that said answering person is not said target person, a next step comprises initiating a prerecorded query asking for said target person.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein, upon said target person answering said telephone call, said method further comprises initiating a speech recognition application with said target person.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein, in step D, if said speech recognition analysis determines that said spoken response indicates that said target person is not present at said location, a next step comprises initiating a prerecorded query asking to leave a message for said target person.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising a step of providing a prerecorded message to said answering person.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein, in step D, if said speech recognition analysis determines that said spoken response is a hold request, a next step comprises entering a wait state to wait for said target person to provide a spoken response to said telephone call.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein, upon said target person providing a spoken response to said telephone call, said method further comprises initiating a speech recognition application with said target person.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein, in step D, if said speech recognition analysis determines that said spoken response is a request for the identity of the entity responsible for the calling system, the method further comprises initiating a prerecorded response indicating the identity of the calling party, repeating said prerecorded greeting which asks for the target person, and repeating step C through step E.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein, in step D, if said speech recognition analysis determines that said spoken response indicates that said telephone number is not the correct number for the target person, the method further comprises initiating a prerecorded apology message and terminating said telephone call.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein, in step D, if said speech recognition analysis cannot determine a status of said spoken response, said method further comprises repeating said prerecorded greeting which asks for the target person, and repeating step C through step E.

11. A system for determining the status of an answered telephone during the course of an outbound telephone call comprising:

an automated telephone calling device for placing a telephone call to a location having a telephone number at which a target person is listed; and

a speech recognition device which, upon said telephone call being answered, initiates a prerecorded greeting which asks for the target person, receives a spoken response from an answering person and performs a speech recognition analysis on said spoken response to determine a status of said answering person;

wherein the speech recognition device is configured to, while the prerecorded greeting is being played, attempt to detect a spoken response that is longer than a predetermined time;

wherein the speech recognition device is further configured to, based on detecting that the spoken response is not longer than the predetermined time, determine that a spoken response has been received from the answering person;

wherein, upon said speech recognition device determining that said answering person is said target person, said speech recognition device initiates a speech recognition application with said target person, wherein the speech recognition application comprises a consumer survey application, an educational application, a learning and lesson application, a testing application, a test results application, or a compliance application.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein, if said speech recognition device determines that said spoken response indicates that said answering person is not said target person, said speech recognition system instructs said automated telephone calling device to initiate a prerecorded query asking for said target person.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein, upon said target person answering said telephone call, said speech recognition system initiates a speech recognition application with said target person.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein, if said speech recognition device determines that said spoken response indicates that said target person is not present at said location, said speech recognition system instructs said automated telephone calling device to initiate a prerecorded query asking to leave a message for said target person.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein said automated telephone calling device provides a prerecorded message to said answering person.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein, if said speech recognition device determines that said spoken response is a hold request, said speech recognition enters a wait state to wait for said target person to provide a spoken response to said telephone call.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein, when said speech recognition device determines that said target person has provided a spoken response to said telephone call, said speech recognition device initiates a speech recognition application with said target person.

18. The system of claim 11 wherein, if said speech recognition device determines that said spoken response is a request for the identity of the entity responsible for the automated calling device, the speech recognition system instructs said automated telephone calling device to initiate a prerecorded response indicating the identity of the entity and to repeat said prerecorded greeting which asks for the target person;

wherein, upon receiving a spoken response from the answering person, said speech recognition device performs a speech recognition analysis on said spoken response to determine the status of said spoken response.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein, if said speech recognition device determines that said spoken response indicates that said telephone number is not the correct number for the target person, said speech recognition system instructs said automated telephone calling device to initiate a prerecorded apology message and to terminate said telephone call.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein, if said speech recognition device cannot determine a status of said spoken response, said speech recognition system instructs said automated telephone calling device to repeat said prerecorded greeting which asks for the target person;

wherein, upon receiving a spoken response from the answering person, said speech recognition device performs a speech recognition analysis on said spoken response to determine the status of said spoken response.