Voice service system and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A voice service system comprising:
- an interactive voice response unit for interactively dealing with a call from a human caller, an operator subsystem by which a human operator can verbally interact with the caller, and a transfer arrangement for transferring handling of the call at least in one direction between the operator subsystem and the voice response unit;
the operator subsystem including a masking arrangement for causing the operator'"'"'s verbal interaction with the caller to be done through a synthesised voice whereby to mask from the caller that they are talking to a human operator, the transfer arrangement being usable by the operator to have handling of a call transferred to the voice response unit.
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Abstract
A voice service system is provided with an interactive voice response unit for interactively dealing with a call from a human caller, an operator subsystem by which a human operator can verbally interact with the caller, and a routing manager for transferring handling of the call between the voice response unit and the operator subsystem. The operator'"'"'s verbal interaction with the caller is done through a synthesized voice in order to mask from the caller that they are now talking to a human operator. This permits the operator to return handling of a call back to the voice response unit without offending the caller.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A voice service system comprising:
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an interactive voice response unit for interactively dealing with a call from a human caller, an operator subsystem by which a human operator can verbally interact with the caller, and a transfer arrangement for transferring handling of the call at least in one direction between the operator subsystem and the voice response unit;
the operator subsystem including a masking arrangement for causing the operator'"'"'s verbal interaction with the caller to be done through a synthesised voice whereby to mask from the caller that they are talking to a human operator, the transfer arrangement being usable by the operator to have handling of a call transferred to the voice response unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A voice service system comprising an interactive voice response unit for interactively dealing with a call from a human caller, an operator subsystem by which a human operator can verbally interact with the caller, and transfer means for transferring handling of the call between the voice response unit and the operator subsystem;
- the voice service system having masking means for causing the operator'"'"'s verbal interaction with the caller to be done through a synthesised voice whereby to mask from the caller that they are now talking to a human operator, the transfer means being usable by the operator to have handling of a call transferred to the voice response unit.
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9. A method of providing voice services in respect of a call placed by a human caller, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) carrying out an verbal interaction between the caller and a human operator;
(b) at the instigation of the operator, transferring the call to an interactive voice response unit; and
(c) continuing verbal interaction with the caller through the voice response unit. the operator'"'"'s verbal interaction with the caller in step (a) being done through a synthesised voice whereby to mask from the caller that they are talking to a human operator. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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15. A method of providing voice services in respect of a call placed by a human caller, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) enabling voice interaction between the caller and a voice response unit;
(b) analysing the caller'"'"'s interaction with the voice response unit to determine whether the caller requires operator assistance;
(c) where this analysis indicates that operator assistance is required, transferring the call to a human operator; and
(d) carrying out a verbal interaction between the caller and a human operator, this interaction being done through a synthesized voice whereby to mask from the caller that they are talking to a human operator.
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Specification