Systems and methods for self-service automated dial-out and call-in surveys

• US 9,294,623 B2
• Filed: 09/16/2010
• Issued: 03/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SurveyMonkey (Momentive Global, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SurveyMonkey.com, LLC (Momentive Global, Inc.)
• Inventors: Oberoi, Gaurav, Groom, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Phan, Joseph T
• Application Number:
  US12/883,865
• Publication Number:
  US 20120069977A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,014 Days
• Field of Search: 379/69
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/493 Interactive information services, e.g. directory enquiries ; Arrangements therefor, e.g. interactive voice response [IVR] systems or voice portals
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5158 in combination with automated outdialling systems devices for signalling identity of wanted subscriber H04M1/26

Abstract

A poll definition comprising a plurality of poll questions and a phone list comprising a plurality of phone list entries is received over the network from a user. Each phone list entry comprises a phone number for one of a first plurality of poll targets. A first poll run is conducted as a dial-out poll run using the poll definition and the phone list, such that a first set of answers to the plurality of poll questions is received from at least some of the first plurality of poll targets. A second poll run is conducted as a call-in poll run, using the poll definition, such that a second set of answers to the plurality of poll questions is received from a second plurality of poll targets. A third poll run is conducted as a web survey, using the poll definition, such that a third set of answers to the plurality of poll questions is received from a third plurality of poll targets.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

selecting, by a computing device, a plurality of phone list entries from a phone list, each phone list entry comprising a target phone number;

for each of the plurality of phone list entries;

calling, by the computing device over a voice network, the target phone number of the respective phone list entry;

if the call is answered,

the computing device conducting a voice response survey using a poll definition comprising at least one question, such that a voice capability of the computing device asks a person responding to the call the at least one question;

the computing device receiving, over the voice network, an answer to the at least one question; and

the computing device storing, the answer to the at least one question to a poll answers database.

2. The method of claim 1, such that each phone list entry additionally comprises at least one user demographic, such that each answer is stored to the poll answers database in association with the at least one user demographic.

3. The method of claim 2, such that the at least one user demographic in the phone list is used to weight each answer stored on the poll answers database.

5. The method of claim 1, such that the at least one question has at least two versions, such that, for each of the plurality of phone list entries, one of the at least two versions of the at least one question is randomly selected and the respective person is asked the one of the at least two versions of the at least one question.

6. The method of claim 1, such that the poll comprises at least two questions, such that at least a first one of the at least two questions has at least two versions, such that one of the at least two versions of the at least one question is selected based on an answer to a second one of the at least two questions.

7. The method of claim 5, such that the at least one question is a multiple choice question comprising a plurality of multiple choice options, and each of the at least two versions of the at least one question orders the plurality of multiple choice options in manner different that the remaining versions of the question.

8. The method of claim 5, such that the each of the at least two versions of the at least one question phrases the question in manner different that the remaining questions.

9. The method of claim 2 additionally comprising displaying, on a display device, a representation of the answers stored on the poll answers database, such that the representation of the answers stored on the poll answers database is provided for each of the at least one questions and comprises a crosstab of the at least one user demographic and answers to the at least one questions.

11. The method of claim 1, such that the plurality of phone list entries are selected at random from the phone list.

12. The method of claim 1, such that the phone number of each of the plurality of phone list entries is retried a fixed number of times if there is no answer.

13. The method of claim 1, such that if an answering machine pickup is detected for a call made to a target phone number, the call is hung-up, and the call to the target phone number is treated as if the call was not answered.

14. The method of claim 1, such that if an answering machine pickup is detected for a call made to a target phone number, a message is left on the answering machine, and the call to the target phone number is treated as complete.

15. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, poll run completion criteria, such that if the poll run completion criteria are satisfied before all of the plurality of phone list entries have been called, the poll run is stopped, and no more calls are made.

16. The method of claim 15, such that poll completion criteria comprises the completion of a predetermined number of polls.

17. The method of claim 15, such that poll completion criteria comprises the completion of predetermined number of polls by a defined demographic group.

18. The method of claim 15, such that poll completion criteria comprises a predetermined date and time.

19. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, at least one poll run option.

20. The method of claim 19, such that the at least one poll run option indicates that target phone numbers which have been called within a fixed number of days prior to the current date should not be called.

21. The method of claim 19, such that the at least one poll run option indicates certain dates and times in which target phone numbers may be called.

22. The method of claim 19, such that the at least one poll run option is an outbound caller ID which is used for making phone calls to target phone numbers.

23. The method of claim 19, such that the poll run option is an outbound caller ID is for a phone number for a dial-in voice response survey that uses the poll definition.

24. The method of claim 19, such that the at least one poll run option specifies an outbound call rate for calls made to target phone numbers.

25. The method of claim 1, such that if an answer to the at least one question is a voice message, the voice message is automatically transcribed, using the computing device, to a text representation, and the text representation is stored on the poll answers database.

26. The method of claim 1, additionally comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, an indication that calling target phone numbers is to be paused, such that target phone numbers are not called until an indication is received that calling target phone numbers is to be resumed.

4. A method comprising:

selecting, by a computing device, a plurality of phone list entries from a phone list, each phone list entry comprising a target phone number;

for each of the plurality of phone list entries;

calling, by the computing device over a voice network, the target phone number of the respective phone list entry;

if the call is answered,

conducting, by the computing device, a voice response survey using a poll definition comprising at least one question, such that a person responding to the call is asked the at least one question using a voice capability provided via the computing device;

receiving, by the computing device over the voice network, an answer to the at least one question; and

storing, by the computing device, the answer to a poll answers database,

such that each phone list entry additionally comprises at least one user demographic, such that each answer is stored to the poll answers database in association with the at least one user demographic, such that the at least one user demographic in the phone list is used to weight each answer stored on the poll answers database, such that weighting comprises;

determining, by the computing device, a baseline for expected poll demographics using the phone list; and

weighting, by the computing device, each answer stored to the poll answers database using the baseline for expected poll demographics and the at least one user demographic for the respective answer.

10. A method comprising:

selecting, by a computing device, a plurality of phone list entries from a phone list, each phone list entry comprising a target phone number;

for each of the plurality of phone list entries;

calling, by the computing device over a voice network, the target phone number of the respective phone list entry;

if the call is answered,

conducting, by the computing device, a voice response survey using a poll definition comprising at least one question, such that a person responding to the call is asked the at least one question using a voice capability provided via the computing device;

receiving, by the computing device over the voice network, an answer to the at least one question; and

storing, by the computing device, the answer to a poll answers database, such that each phone list entry additionally comprises at least one user demographic, such that each phone list entry additionally comprises at least one user demographic, such that each answer is stored to the poll answers database in association with the at least one user demographic, and

displaying, on a display device, a representation of the answers stored on the poll answers database, such that the representation of the answers stored on the poll answers database is provided for each of the at least one questions and comprises a crosstab of the at least one user demographic and answers to the at least one questions, such that the representation of the answers stored on the poll answers database is displayed before all of the plurality of phone numbers are called, and the display of the representation of the answers stored on the poll answers database changes dynamically as the additional phone numbers from the plurality of phone numbers are called.

27. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for tangibly storing thereon computer readable instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising:

selecting a plurality of phone list entries from a phone list, each phone list entry comprising a target phone number;

for each of the plurality of phone list entries;

calling, over a voice network, the target phone number of a respective phone list entry;

if the call is answered,

conducting a voice response survey using a poll definition comprising at least one question, such that a person responding to the call is asked the at least one question using a voice capability provided via the computing device;

receiving, over the voice network, an answer to the at least one question; and

storing the answer to a poll answers database.

28. A computing device comprising:

a processor memory;

a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising;

logic configured to cause a computing device to select a plurality of phone list entries from a phone list, each phone list entry comprising a target phone number;

logic configured to cause the computing device, for each of the plurality of phone list entries;

to call, over a voice network, the target phone number of a respective phone list entry;

logic configured to cause the computing device to, if the call is answered,

conduct a voice response survey using a poll definition comprising at least one question, such that a person responding to the call is asked the at least one question using a voice capability provided via the computing device;

receive, over the voice network, an answer to the at least one question; and

store the answer to a poll answers database.

29. A method comprising:

for each of a plurality of in-bound calls associated with respective phone numbers;

receiving, over a voice network by a computing device, a voice call from one of the respective phone numbers;

conducting, by the computing device, a previously-created voice response survey using a poll definition comprising at least one question, such that a person making the inbound call is asked the at least one question using a voice capability provided via the computing device;

receiving, over the voice network by the computing device, an answer to the at least one question;

storing, by the computing device, the answer to a poll answers database;

receiving, over the voice network by the computing device, a second call from the respective phone number; and

replacing, by the computing device, the answer with an answer to the at least one question received via the second call.

30. The method of claim 29, such that the at least one question has at least two versions, such that, for each inbound call, one of the at least two versions of the at least one question is randomly selected and the respective person is asked the one of the at least two versions of the at least one question.

32. The method of claim 30, such that the at least one question is a multiple choice question comprising a plurality of multiple choice options, and each of the at least two versions of the at least one question orders the plurality of multiple choice options in manner different that the remaining versions of the question.

33. The method of claim 30, such that the each of the at least two versions of the at least one question phrases the question in manner different that the remaining questions.

34. The method of claim 29 such that the poll definition comprises at least two questions, the method additionally comprising:

displaying, on a display device, a representation of the answers stored on the poll answers database, such that the representation of the answers is provided for each of the at least two questions and comprises a crosstab of the answers to the at least two questions.

35. The method of claim 29 additionally comprising:

receiving, via the voice call, a poll code, such that the poll code is used to identify the poll definition used to conduct the voice response survey.

36. The method of claim 29 additionally comprising:

sending, via a network, a poll notification message to a plurality of poll targets, the poll notification message comprising a notification that a poll has been initiated.

37. The method of claim 36 such that the poll notification comprises a dial-in phone number for the voice response survey.

38. The method of claim 36 such that the network is the voice network, and the poll notification message is sent to the plurality of poll targets as an SMS message.

39. The method of claim 36 such that the poll notification message is sent to the plurality of poll targets as an email.

40. The method of claim 36 such that the poll notification message is posted to a social networking account for each of the plurality of poll targets.

41. The method of claim 36 such that the poll notification message is posted to a social networking account for an entity interested in the results of the poll.

31. A method comprising:

for each of a plurality of in-bound calls associated with respective phone numbers;

receiving, over a voice network by a computing device, a voice call from one of the respective phone numbers;

conducting, by the computing device, a voice response survey using a poll definition comprising at least one question, such that a person making the inbound call is asked the at least one question using a voice capability provided via the computing device;

receiving, over the voice network by the computing device, an answer to the at least one question;

storing, by the computing device, the answer to a poll answers database;

receiving, over the voice network by the computing device, a second call from the respective phone number; and

replacing, by the computing device, the answer with an answer to the at least one question received via the second call, such that the at least one question has at least two versions, such that, for each inbound call, one of the at least two versions of the at least one question is randomly selected and the respective person is asked the one of the at least two versions of the at least one question,

such that the poll comprises at least two questions, such that at least a first one of the at least two questions has at least two versions, such that one of the at least two versions of the at least one question is selected based on an answer to a second one of the at least two questions.

42. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for tangibly storing thereon computer readable instructions for a method executed by a computing device, the method comprising:

for each of a plurality of in-bound calls associated with respective phone numbers;

receiving, over a voice network , a voice call from one of the respective phone numbers;

conducting a previously-created voice response survey using a poll definition comprising at least one question, such that a person making the inbound call is asked the at least one question using a voice capability provided via the computing device;

receiving an answer to the at least one question;

storing the answer to a poll answers database;

receiving a second call from the respective phone number; and

replacing the answer with an answer to the at least one question received in the second call.

43. A computing device comprising:

a processor;

a processor memory;

a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising;

logic for;

for each of a plurality of in-bound calls associated with respective phone numbers;

receiving, over a voice network, a voice call from the respective phone number;

conducting a previously-created voice response survey using a poll definition comprising at least one question, such that a person making the inbound call is asked the at least one question using a voice capability provided via the computing device;

receiving, over the voice network, an answer to the at least one question;

storing the answer to a poll answers database receiving, over the voice network, a second call from the respective phone number; and

replacing the answer with an answer to the at least one question received in the second call.

44. A method comprising:

calling, over a voice network by a computing device, a target phone number using an outbound caller ID number;

the computing device receiving, over a voice, a voice call from the target phone number at a number corresponding to the outbound caller ID number;

the computing device conducting a first voice response survey using a poll definition comprising at least one question, such that a voice capability of the computing device asks a person making the voice call the at least one question;

the computing device receiving, over the voice network, a first answer to the at least one question;

the computing device storing, the first answer to the poll answers database;

the computing device receiving, over the voice network, a second call from the target phone number; and

the computing device replacing, over the voice network, the first answer with a second answer to the at least one question received via the second call.