System and method for call center dialog management

• US 20050094798A1
• Filed: 10/30/2003
• Published: 05/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Yacoub, Sherif
• Granted Patent: US 7,885,391 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/265.12
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/355 Interactive dialogue design tools, features or methods
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5166 in combination with interactive voice response systems or voice portals, e.g. as front-ends

Abstract

A system and method for call center dialog management is disclosed. The method discloses: presenting a contact with a first call center dialog segment having a current call center dialog property; receiving from the contact a contact dialog segment; identifying a dialog property keyword within the contact dialog segment; replacing the current call center dialog property with a new call center dialog property in response to the dialog property keyword; and presenting a second call center dialog segment having the new call center dialog property to the contact. The system of the present invention, discloses means for implementing the method.

Claims

1. A method for call center dialog management, comprising:

presenting a contact with a first call center dialog segment having a current call center dialog property;

receiving from the contact a contact dialog segment;

identifying a dialog property keyword within the contact dialog segment;

replacing the current call center dialog property with a new call center dialog property in response to the dialog property keyword; and

presenting a second call center dialog segment having the new call center dialog property to the contact.

2. The method of claim 1:

wherein the dialog property keyword indicates a dialog speed; and

wherein replacing includes replacing a first dialog speed with a second dialog speed.

3. The method of claim 1:

wherein the dialog property keywords indicates a dialog language; and

wherein replacing includes replacing a first dialog language with a second dialog language.

4. The method of claim 1:

wherein the dialog property keywords indicate a contact expertise level; and

wherein replacing includes replacing a first contact expertise level with a second contact expertise level.

5. The method of claim 1:

wherein the dialog property keywords indicates a contact help level; and

wherein replacing includes replacing a first contact help level with a second contact help level.

6. The method of claim 1:

wherein replacing includes replacing a first pre-recorded call center dialog segment having the current call center dialog property with a second pre-recorded dialog segment having the new center dialog property.

7. The method of claim 1:

wherein replacing includes adjusting a text-to-speech synthesizer from generating center dialog segments having the current call center dialog property toward generating center dialog segments having the new call center dialog property.

8. The method of claim 1:

wherein replacing includes adjusting a Voice-XML prosody tag from generating center dialog segments having the current call center dialog property toward generating center dialog segments having the new call center dialog property.

9. The method of claim 1;

wherein replacing includes adjusting a digital signal processor time-scale modification.

10. The method of claim 1:

further comprising,

generating a set of dialog metrics from the contact dialog segment; and

comparing the set of dialog metrics against a set of dialog metric thresholds; and

wherein replacing includes,

replacing the current call center dialog property with a second new call center dialog property, if no dialog property keyword is identified and the generated dialog metrics vary from the first set of thresholds by a first predetermined amount.

11. A method for call center dialog management, comprising:

presenting a contact with a first call center dialog segment having a current call center dialog property;

receiving from the contact a contact dialog segment;

generating a set of dialog metrics from the contact dialog segment;

comparing the set of dialog metrics against a set of dialog metric thresholds;

replacing the current call center dialog property with a new call center dialog property, if the generated dialog metrics vary from the set of thresholds by a predetermined amount; and

presenting a second call center dialog segment having the new call center dialog property to the contact.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein generating includes:

totaling a number of times the contact was asked to respond to the first call center dialog segment.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein generating includes:

totaling a number of times the contact requested help.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein generating includes:

calculating how poor the contact'"'"'s grammar is.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein replacing includes:

replacing a first dialog speed with a second dialog speed.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein replacing includes:

replacing a first dialog language with a second dialog language.

17. A method for call center dialog management, comprising:

presenting a contact with a first call center dialog segment having a current call center dialog property;

receiving from the contact a contact dialog segment;

identifying a dialog property keyword within the contact dialog segment;

generating a set of dialog metrics from the contact dialog segment;

comparing the set of dialog metrics against a set of dialog metric thresholds;

replacing the current call center dialog property with a new call center dialog property in response to the dialog property keyword;

replacing the current call center dialog property with a second new call center dialog property, if no dialog property keyword is identified and the generated dialog metrics vary from the set of thresholds by a first predetermined amount; and

presenting a second call center dialog segment having the new call center dialog property to the contact.

18. A computer-usable medium embodying computer program code for commanding a computer to effect call center dialog management, comprising:

presenting a contact with a first call center dialog segment having a current call center dialog property;

receiving from the contact a contact dialog segment;

identifying a dialog property keyword within the contact dialog segment;

replacing the current call center dialog property with a new call center dialog property in response to the dialog property keyword; and

presenting a second call center dialog segment having the new call center dialog property to the contact.

19. A computer-usable medium embodying computer program code for commanding a computer to effect call center dialog management, comprising:

presenting a contact with a first call center dialog segment having a current call center dialog property;

receiving from the contact a contact dialog segment;

generating a set of dialog metrics from the contact dialog segment;

comparing the set of dialog metrics against a set of dialog metric thresholds;

replacing the current call center dialog property with a new call center dialog property, if the generated dialog metrics vary from the set of thresholds by a predetermined amount; and

presenting a second call center dialog segment having the new call center dialog property to the contact.

20. A system for call center dialog management, comprising a:

means for presenting a contact with a first call center dialog segment having a current call center dialog property;

means for receiving from the contact a contact dialog segment;

means for identifying a dialog property keyword within the contact dialog segment;

means for replacing the current call center dialog property with a new call center dialog property in response to the dialog property keyword; and

means for presenting a second call center dialog segment having the new call center dialog property to the contact.

21. A system for call center dialog management, comprising a:

means for presenting a contact with a first call center dialog segment having a current call center dialog property;

means for receiving from the contact a contact dialog segment;

means for generating a set of dialog metrics from the contact dialog segment;

means for comparing the set of dialog metrics against a set of dialog metric thresholds;

means for replacing the current call center dialog property with a new call center dialog property, if the generated dialog metrics vary from the set of thresholds by a predetermined amount; and

means for presenting a second call center dialog segment having the new call center dialog property to the contact.

22. A system for call center dialog management, comprising:

an interactive voice response module for presenting a contact with a first call center dialog segment having a current call center dialog property and receiving from the contact a contact dialog segment;

a dialog analysis module for identifying a dialog property keyword within the contact dialog segment;

a dialog property controller for replacing the current call center dialog property with a new call center dialog property in response to the dialog property keyword; and

wherein the interactive voice response module then presents a second call center dialog segment having the new call center dialog property to the contact.