System and method for administering pluggable user interactive system applications

• US 20070044023A1
• Filed: 08/19/2005
• Published: 02/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intervoice Limited Partnership A Nevada Limited Partnership Composed of As Its SOLE Partner Intervoice GP Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Intervoice Limited Partnership
• Inventors: Carter, Joseph, Allan, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 7,797,636 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/727
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44526 Plug-ins; Add-ons

Abstract

Systems and methods are described that allow for multiple pluggable user interactive system (UIS) applications to be added or removed from a UIS system while maintaining controlled access by users to each currently available application. Users can access the system using multimedia connections, such as voice, text, video, web, etc., and users have access to certain subsets of the available applications depending on their identity. In addition, users can define their own preferences, which places restrictions on which applications they can access from which media. In operation, the system provides the access restrictions and navigation for the applications outside of the application structure.

Claims

1. A system for controlling user access and navigation for a plurality of pluggable applications;

said system comprising;

means for establishing a call type for each application;

means for assigning each system user a class of service (COS), said COS defining for said user the totality of available applications that said user can access; and

means for allowing said user to establish preferences from said totality of available applications as to the actual applications said user desires access to.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

means for enabling said user assigned COS to apply across all applications without regard to when each application is added to the system.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

means for enabling said user assigned COS to apply across all applications without regard to the designer of each said application.

4. The system of claim 1 further comprises:

means for allowing said user to establish preferences for call setup scripts.

5. The system of claim 4 further comprising:

means for enabling any user established preference across all applications available to said user.

6. The system of claim 5 further comprising:

means for statistically determining a user'"'"'s preference based on a history of said user across all media types used by said user.

7. The system of claim 4 further comprises:

means for allowing said user to establish preferences for call setup scripts.

8. The system of claim 4 further comprises:

means for allowing each said application to influence said user desired call setup scripts.

9. A user interactive system (UIS) comprising:

a navigation system for controlling operation of said UIS for a plurality of users in a plurality of media, said operation including establishing the order of prompts for each said user wherein said users can use multi-media prompts;

means for controlling said order of prompts individually for each said user; and

means for coordinating said prompts across said media such that if a user changes the order of a prompt in a first media corresponding prompts will appear in the changed order in a second media.

10. The system of claim 9 further comprising:

means operative from time to time for making different applications available to a particular user;

means for providing to said particular user only the prompts appropriate to the applications currently available to said user; and

wherein said coordinating means further comprise;

means for coordinating multimedia-based prompts such that if a user adds or subtracts an application while using a first media connection such that a prompt is added or subtracted from the prompts available to said user then the corresponding prompts in other medium accesses will similarly be added or subtracted.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein various ones of said different applications can be added or subtracted from time to time.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein said different applications can be designed by different application designers and can be added to the system at any time.

13. An user interactive system (UIS) comprising:

a pluggable control for allowing UIS applications to be added or removed from said UIS system, each such application requiring particular menus and grammars; and

a central navigation controller operable for determining if a user has access to a particular application, and if so, providing proper menus and grammars to said user of said particular application upon the addition of said particular application.

14. The UIS of claim 13 wherein said control navigation controller only presents the menus pertaining to certain ones of said applications to said user depending upon the class of service assigned to said user.

15. The UIS of claim 14 wherein a system administrator assigns said class of service on a user by user basis.

16. The UIS of claim 13 wherein each said user can select which menus it receives within each application available to said user.

17. An interactive control system serving a plurality of users, said system comprising:

a central core of applications for controlling user interactive functions;

a plug-in manager for registering a plurality of applications independent from each other;

a database for maintaining for each user information specific to said user, said information comprising at least a class of service of said user; and

control for allowing a user to have access to applications in accordance with said user'"'"'s class of service.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said control also establishes communications connections in support of said selected applications, said established communications using control applications in accordance with commands from said selected application.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein at least one of said functions is the use by any of said applications of information contained in said database pertaining to said user.

20. The system of claim 17 wherein said control allows said user to select portions of applications from different applications.

21. The system of claim 17 wherein at least one of said functions is the provision of interactive responses with said user in accordance with a common theme for such interactions across a plurality of said applications.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein at least one of said interactive responses is via a web-based system wherein said control directs said user to a web link.

23. A method for operating a user interactive system (UIS), said system comprising:

allowing a user to direct the control of a communication network by responses received from said user in response to prompts provided to said user, said control in accordance with system controlling applications;

accepting into said UIS applications from a plurality of different application vendors on a pluggable basis; and

providing to said user only the prompts appropriate to the applications currently available to said user, based upon the identity of said user.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein said providing comprises:

changing the grammars available to said user in accordance with the grammars necessary for the applications currently available to said user.

25. The method of claim 23 where said providing comprises:

changing the menus available to said user in accordance with the menus necessary for the applications currently available to said user.

26. The method of claim 23 wherein said providing comprises:

selecting said available applications based upon at least one of the following;

class of service, PIN, account parameter, business rules, administrator control, prior usage of each said user, statistical usage of like systems, statistical usage of said user, direction of said user.

27. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

allowing a system administrator to override said selection of said available applications.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein said override allows said system administrator to add prompts or other information to at least said user.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein said override allows said system administrator to add business rules to at least said user.

31. The method of claim 25 wherein at least one of said interactive functions is the use by any of said individually designed applications of information maintained for said user.

32. The method of claim 25 wherein said communication connections may be selected from portions of applications from different individually designed applications.

33. The method of claim 25 wherein at least one of said interactive functions is the provision of interactive responses with said user in accordance with a common theme for such interactions across a plurality of individually designed applications.

34. The method of claim 28 wherein at least one of said interactive responses is via a web-based interaction directed to a web link by a selected one of said individually designed applications.

35. The method of claim 25 further comprising:

billing for use of said applications by at least one of said central core of applications without regard to which application is selected by a user.

30. A method for controlling a user interactive system (UIS) serving a plurality of users, said method comprising:

controlling interactive setup functions using a central core of UIS applications;

registering a plurality of individually designed UIS applications, said applications not necessarily provided by a common entity;

maintaining for each user in a common data file information specific to said user;

allowing a user to select ones of said individually designed registered applications in accordance with permissions granted said user; and

establishing communications connections in support of said selected applications using said interactive functions from said control core of UIS applications in accordance with commands from user selected individually designed applications.

36. A user interactive system (UIS) comprising:

a navigation system for controlling operation of the UIS for a plurality of users in a plurality of media, said operation including establishing the order of prompts for each said user wherein said users can use multi-media prompts;

means for controlling said order of prompts individually for each said user; and

means for coordinating said prompts across said media such that if a user changes the order of a prompt in a first media corresponding prompts will appear in other medias.

37. The system of claim 36 further comprising:

means operative from time to time for making different applications available to a particular user;

means for providing to said particular user only the prompts appropriate to the applications currently available to said user; and

wherein said coordinating means further comprise;

means for coordinating both said voice-based prompts and said test-based prompts such that if a user adds or subtracts an application while using a voice connection such that a prompt is added or subtracted form the prompts available to that user then the corresponding text based prompts will similarly be added or subtracted.

38. A telecommunication call flow system comprising:

a set of call flow routines identified for a particular user, said call flow routines adapted to control calls with respect to a plurality of applications;

a set of preferences established by said particular user, said preferences being dependant upon the type of call being placed, and said preferences pertaining to the interactive aspects of call placements with respect to said user; and

means operable upon the placement of a call with respect to said particular user, and with respect to a selected application for controlling the interactive aspects of said call based upon said set of call routines and said set of preferences particular to said user without regard to the source of said selected application.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein said call placement is both inbound to said user and outbound from said user.

40. The system of claim 38 further comprising:

means for determining a connection type being placed to or from a user; and

means for performing connection setup based upon said determined connection type.

41. The system of claim 38 further comprising:

a plurality of applications, each application providing different interactive functions to said user; and

wherein said controlling means further comprises;

means for selecting one of said applications.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein said selecting means comprises:

means for running an application selection menu for said user'"'"'s selection.

43. A user interactive system (UIS) comprising:

an input for allowing users to interact with said system via a communication medium;

a framework for accepting from time to time a plurality of applications, each application operable after acceptance into said framework for allowing users to interact with the UIS system in a manner unique to said accepted application to perform an interactive function specific to said accepted application; and

a control environment connected to said framework, said control environment operable for allowing functions common to a plurality of said applications to be performed by one or more other applications without knowledge among said applications prior to the time said applications are accepted into said framework.

44. The system of claim 43 wherein said functions comprise:

sharing of data from one application to another.

45. The system of claim 44 wherein said shared data is selected from the list of:

state information pertaining to a user, speech navigation grammars, individual subscriber databases, personal preferences of a user.

46. The system of claim 45 wherein said state information is selected from the list of:

COS, preferences within a COS, address books, security.

47. The system of claim 44 wherein said shared data includes state information pertaining to an application.

48. The system of claim 43 wherein said functions comprise:

sharing of subscriber specific data.

49. The system of claim 48 wherein said specific subscriber data is selected from the list of:

user profiles, user preferences, user settings, user'"'"'s calendars, user'"'"'s personal voice dialer, user'"'"'s personal manager.

50. The system of claim 43 wherein said communication medium is selected from the list of:

telephone, Internet, data.

51. The system of claim 43 wherein said control environment is selected from the list of:

telephone network control, web based control.