Methods and systems for conducting a session over audible and visual interfaces

1. A server comprising:

a communication interface for communication with a first primarily audible electronic device and a second electronic device having a visual output device;

a processor coupled to the communication interface; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the server to:

conduct a user session as an audible-only session via an audible interface provided by the first electronic device;

determine whether an interaction during the user session is a complex interaction that satisfies a complexity criteria by applying a complexity-determining rule to the interaction, where applying the complexity-determining rule comprises calculating a complexity metric for the interaction and comparing the complexity metric to a complexity threshold;

when the interaction is not determined to be the complex interaction, continue the audible-only session via the audible interface;

when the interaction is determined to be the complex interaction, map the interaction to a mapped visual interface; and

generate and send a first signal via the communication interface to the second electronic device, the first signal pushing the mapped visual interface, to enable at least the interaction of the user session to be carried out via the second electronic device.

2. The server of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the server to determine that the interaction satisfies the complexity criteria by applying a-more than one complexity-determining rule to the interaction.

3. The server of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the server to map the interaction to the mapped visual interface by generating the mapped visual interface.

4. The server of claim 3 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the server to generate the mapped visual interface based on one or more contextual factors.

5. The server of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the server to:

conduct the user session as an audible-visual session using both the audible interface and the mapped visual interface, wherein a current state of the visual interface and a current state of the audible interface are mapped to each other.

6. The server of claim 5 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the server to:

during the audible-visual session, receive a second signal from the first electronic device via the communication interface, the second signal including input data related to the visual interface; and

generate and send a third signal to the first electronic device or the second electronic device via the communication interface, the third signal including a response to the input data, the response being generated based on a context of the visual interface.

7. The server of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the server to:

transfer the user session to be conducted as a visual session on the second electronic device via the mapped visual interface.

8. The server of claim 7 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the server to transfer the user session by:

mapping a current audible interface state to one of a plurality of visual interface states defined for a visual interface; and

generate and send a fourth signal via the communication interface to the second electronic device, the fourth signal including a pushed mapped visual interface state, to enable the user session to be continued as a visual session on the second electronic device.

9. The server of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the server to:

after carrying out the interaction via the mapped visual interface, conducting the user session as an audible-only session via the audible interface on the first electronic device.

10. The server of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the server to, prior to conducting the user session as an audible-only session:

in response to receipt of a fifth signal including instructions to initiate the audible session on the first electronic device, authenticate the user by:

authenticating the second electronic device;

sending a sixth signal via the communication interface to the second electronic device, the sixth signal including a request to provide authentication data; and

receiving a seventh signal from the first or the second electronic device via the communication interface, the seventh signal including the authentication data.

11. The server of claim 1 , wherein the mapped visual interface comprises at least one of:

visual output data;

one or more input fields; and

visual output data generated from audible input data received via the audible interface.

12. The server of claim 1 , wherein the first signal pushing the mapped visual interface comprises a deep link to the mapped visual interface.

13. The server of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the server to:

detect availability of the second electronic device; and

send the first signal to the second electronic device after detecting the second electronic device is available.

14. The server of claim 1 , wherein the complexity metric is an expected time for a user to progress from one audible interface state to a next audible interface state, and the complexity threshold is a predetermined threshold time.

15. The server of claim 1 , wherein the expected time comprises an expected time to output an audible request from the audible interface and an expected time required for providing one or more expected audible responses.

16. A method for conducting a user session using at least two electronic devices, the method comprising:

conducting a user session as an audible-only session via an audible interface provided by a first electronic device;

determining whether an interaction during the user session is a complex interaction that satisfies a complexity criteria by applying a complexity-determining rule to the interaction, where applying the complexity-determining rule comprises calculating a complexity metric for the interaction and comparing the complexity metric to a complexity threshold;

when the interaction is not determined to be the complex interaction, continuing the audible-only session via the audible interface;

when the interaction is determined to be the complex interaction, mapping the interaction to a mapped visual interface; and

pushing the mapped visual interface to a second electronic device, to enable at least the interaction of the user session to be carried out via the second electronic device.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein determining that the interaction satisfies the complexity criteria comprises applying eri-e-ef more than one complexity-determining rule to the interaction.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

conducting the user session as an audible-visual session using both the audible interface and the mapped visual interface.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

during the audible-visual session, receiving, from the first electronic device, input data related to the visual interface; and

generating a response to be provided by first electronic device or the second electronic device, the response being generated based on a context of the visual interface.

20. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

transferring the user session to be conducted as a visual session on the second electronic device via the mapped visual interface, the transferring including:

mapping a current audible interface state to one of a plurality of visual interface states defined for a visual interface; and

pushing the mapped visual interface state to the second electronic device, to enable the user session to be continued as a visual session on the second electronic device.