Automatic detection, summarization and reporting of business intelligence highlights from automated dialog systems

• US 8,086,462 B1
• Filed: 09/09/2004
• Issued: 12/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Alonso, Tirso M., Douglas, Shona, Rahim, Mazin G., Stern, Benjamin J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yen, Eric
• Application Number:
  US10/936,835
• Time in Patent Office: 2,665 Days
• Field of Search: 704/251, 704/270, 704/270.1, 704/275, 379/88.01
• US Class Current: 704/275
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A method and system for reporting data from a spoken dialog service is disclosed. The method comprises extracting data regarding user dialogs using a dialog logging module in the spoken dialog service, analyzing the data to identify trends and reporting the trends. The data may be presented in a visual form for easier consumption. The method may also relate to identifying data within the control or outside the control of a service provider that is used to adjust the spoken dialog service to maximize customer retention.

Claims

1. A method of reporting data from an automated spoken dialog service, the method comprising:

extracting data regarding user dialogs with the automated spoken dialog service, and not with a human agent, using a dialog logging module within the automated spoken dialog service;

analyzing the data to identify trends for at least one geographic area to yield identified trends;

comparing the identified trends for the at least one geographic area with an average in a wider geographical area containing the at least one geographic area;

modifying the automated spoken dialog service on a geographic basis according to the identified trends and comparison;

based on the analysis of the data and the comparison of the identified trends, generating top natural language headlines, each of which describes at least one identified trend; and

displaying the generated top headlines to a user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting a visual representation of the data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the data further comprises analyzing a time-sequence associated with the data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein extracting the data further comprises extracting the data according to a specified set of features.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein displaying the generated top headlines further comprises presenting a summary of the identified trends.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the identified trends relate to user patterns over time.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein displaying the generated top headlines further comprises generating an XML-based report.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein displaying the generated top headlines further comprises generating a web-based report.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein displaying the generated top headlines further comprises:

presenting a user with the option to drill down into the analyzed data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein presenting the user with the option to drill down into the analyzed data further comprises presenting the user with the option to hear user dialogs.

11. A system for reporting data generated from an automated spoken dialog service, the system comprising:

means for extracting from a dialog logging module data regarding user dialogs with the automated spoken dialog service and not with a human agent;

means for analyzing the data to identify trends for at least one geographic area to yield identified trends;

means for comparing the identified trends for the at least one geographical area with an average in a wider geographical area containing the at least one geographic area;

means for modifying the automated spoken dialog service on a geographic basis according to the identified trends and comparison;

means, based on the analysis of the data and the comparison of the identified trends, for generating top natural language headlines, each of which describes at least one identified trend; and

means for displaying the generated top headlines to a user.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising means for reporting trends and enabling a user to drill down into the analyzed data, wherein the user can choose to view the analyzed data and hear user dialogs.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions for controlling a computing device to report data generated from an automated spoken dialog service, wherein under the control of the instructions, the computing device performs the following steps:

extracting from a dialog logging module data regarding user dialogs with the automated spoken dialog service and not with a human agent;

analyzing the data to identify trends for a geographic area to yield identified trends;

comparing the identified trends for the geographical area with an average in a wider geographical area containing the geographic area;

modifying the automated spoken dialog service on a geographic basis according to the identified trends and comparison;

based on the analysis of the data and the comparison of the identified trends, generating top natural language headlines, each of which describes at least one identified trend; and

displaying the generated top headlines to a user.