USING A COMPLEX EVENTS PROCESSOR (CEP) TO DIRECT THE HANDLING OF INDIVIDUAL CALL SESSIONS BY AN INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE (IVR) SYSTEM

• US 20100172480A1
• Filed: 01/07/2009
• Published: 07/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: MICHALEC, JARED M., MARTIN, DAVID D., MOORE, VICTOR S., NUSBICKEL, WENDI L., LYNCH, EDWARD M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,379,804 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/88.40
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence

Abstract

Event data messages can be provided by an interactive voice response (IVR) system to a complex events processor (CEP). The event data messages can include a Stream_ID and a series of textual elements. The Stream_ID can uniquely identify a call session between a caller and the IVR system. The series of textual elements can represent speech input provided by the caller. The CEP can create a text string from the series of textual elements of event data messages having the same Stream_ID. The text string can inherit the Stream_ID of the event data messages. The CEP can utilize user-defined business rules to process the text string. When the CEP issues an action message, the Stream_ID of the text string can be appended to the action message sent to the IVR system. The IVR system can modify the call session associated with the Stream_ID of the action message accordingly.

Claims

1. A method for managing individual call sessions of an interactive voice response (IVR) system comprising:

providing a plurality of event data messages in an event stream to a complex events processor (CEP) by an interactive voice response (IVR) system, wherein each event data message comprises at least a Stream_ID and an individual textual element from a series of textual elements, wherein the Stream_ID is a unique identifier that identifies a call session between a calling entity and the IVR system, and wherein the series of textual elements represents a unit of speech input provided by the calling entity converted to textual elements by the IVR system;

creating a text string from the textual elements of event data messages having identical Stream_IDs by the CEP, wherein the Stream_ID of the event data messages is associated with the created text string, and wherein said text string is a textual representation of the speech input provided by the calling entity;

processing the text string by the CEP, wherein the CEP utilizes a plurality of user-defined business rules;

when analysis of the text string requires an issuance of an action message by the CEP, appending the Stream_ID associated with the text string to the action message;

conveying the action message to the IVR system; and

modifying the call session associated with the Stream_ID of the action message by the IVR system in accordance with the action message, wherein other call sessions being handled by the IVR system are unaffected by said modification.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the plurality of event data messages further comprises:

initiating the call session for the calling entity;

creating the Stream_ID for the call session;

recording an association between the Stream_ID and the call session;

adding the Stream_ID to event data messages associated with the call session;

sequentially inserting the event data messages into the event stream, wherein insertion of the event data message coincides with an order of the textual elements within the series of textual elements, and, wherein the event stream comprises a plurality of event data messages having a plurality of Stream_IDs corresponding to a plurality of calling entities; and

conveying the event stream to the CEP.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the creating of the Stream_ID utilizes a unique call session identifier created by the IVR system for the call session of the calling entity.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the unique call session identifier corresponds to at least one of a Voice Extensible Markup Language (VXML) session identifier and a Call Control Extensible Markup Language (CCXML) session identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating of the text string by the CEP further comprises:

storing received event data messages in a repository;

identifying a termination of data for a specific Stream_ID;

retrieving event data messages from the repository having the specific Stream_ID; and

constructing the text string from the textual elements contained within the retrieved event data messages.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the CEP is provided by a WEBSPHERE BUSINESS EVENT (WBE) server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing of the plurality of event data messages utilizes a JAVA MESSAGING SERVICE (JMS).

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the issuance of the action message by the CEP occurs asynchronously from operation of the IVR system.

9. A system for managing individual call sessions of an interactive voice response (IVR) system comprising:

an interactive voice response (IVR) system configured to execute a plurality of interaction files for a call session corresponding to a calling entity in response to a unit of speech input provided by the calling entity, wherein the IVR system converts the unit of speech input into a series of textual elements contained within event data messages, wherein the event data messages are associated with the call session by a unique Stream_ID; and

a complex events processor (CEP) configured to dynamically modify the execution of the plurality of interaction files by the IVR system for the call session based on an analysis of the event data messages, wherein said modification is contained within an action message sent by the CEP to the IVR system, wherein the action message is identified with the Stream_ID corresponding to the analyzed the event data messages.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the IVR system further comprises:

a call session identification handler configured to correlate the Stream_ID contained within event data messages and the action message with the call session.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the call session identification handler further comprises:

a Stream_ID generator configured to create the Stream_ID for the call session; and

a Stream_ID reference table configured to store a relationship between the Stream_ID and the call session.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the Stream_ID generator utilizes a unique call session identifier created by the IVR system for the call session of the calling entity, wherein the unique call session identifier corresponds to at least one of a Voice Extensible Markup Language (VXML) session identifier and a Call Control Extensible Markup Language (CCXML) session identifier.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the CEP is provided by a WEBSPHERE BUSINESS EVENT (WBE) server.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the interaction files comprise at least one of a VXML document and a CCXML document.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the CEP further comprises:

a plurality of user-defined business rules defining conditions under which the CEP issues the action message to the IVR system;

a text string constructor configured to concatenate the textual elements contained within the event data messages into the text string upon which the CEP applies the plurality of user-defined business rules, wherein the text string is a textual representation of the unit of speech provided by the calling entity associated with the event data messages, and, wherein the Stream_ID of the event data messages is propagated to the text string;

a repository configured to store the event data messages prior to processing by the text string constructor; and

a Stream_ID handler configured to manage Stream_ID integrity between the text string being processed and the action message issued by the CEP.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein issuance of the action message by the CEP occurs asynchronously from operation of the IVR system.

17. A computer program product that manages individual call sessions of an interactive voice response (IVR) system comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code configured to create a text string from a series of textual elements contained within event data messages received from an interactive voice response (IVR) system, wherein a Stream_ID associated with each event data message is identical, wherein the Stream_ID is then associated with the text string, and wherein said text string is a textual representation of a unit of speech input provided to the IVR system by a calling entity associated with the Stream_ID;

computer usable program code configured to utilize a complex events processor (CEP) to process the text string using a plurality of user-defined business rules; and

computer usable program code configured, when indicated by analysis of the text string, to append the Stream_ID associated with the text string to an action message issued by the CEP prior to delivery of the action message to the IVR system.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to modify execution of a plurality of interaction files by the IVR system for the call session associated with the Stream_ID of the action message in accordance with the action message, wherein other call sessions being handled by the IVR system are unaffected by said modification.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the Stream_ID corresponds to a unique call session identifier created by the IVR system for a call session of the calling entity, wherein the unique call session identifier comprises at least one of a Voice Extensible Markup Language (VXML) session identifier and a Call Control Extensible Markup Language (CCXML) session identifier.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the creating of the text string, the processing of the text string, and the appending of the action message are performed by elements of a WEBSPHERE BUSINESS EVENTS (WBE) server.