Telephone intermediation program, apparatus, and method

Abstract

To provide a telephone intermediation program, apparatus, and method capable of automatically performing telephone intermediation through no person.SOLUTION: The telephone intermediation program causes a computer to execute: a voice recognition process which recognizes the voice of an incoming telephone call; an identification process which identifies an intermediation destination based on information obtained by the voice recognition; an originating source information providing process which provides originating source information of the incoming telephone call to the identified intermediation destination; and an intermediation process which when receiving an intermediation instruction from the intermediation destination, performs intermediation of a telephone call from the originating source.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a telephone call handling program, device and method that enables telephone calls to be automatically handled in a company or the like. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, when a user of a business phone system is away from the office for an extended period of time or goes out, they can make certain settings via their telephone terminal to take some kind of action, such as having the call recorded on an answering machine or automatically answering the call and transferring it to a pre-registered destination. On the other hand, when a call is not made to an individual phone number, but to the main phone number of a company or a main phone number of a department with multiple employees, someone will often answer the call first and then transfer the call to the person who wishes to speak. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] However, having people answer calls is time-consuming and reduces business efficiency. In addition, there is also the problem of the cost involved in assigning people to answer calls.

[0004] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT EMBODIMENT In view of the above-mentioned problems with the conventional technology, an object of the present invention is to provide a telephone handling program, device and method that can automatically handle telephone calls without human intervention. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present invention is a telephone relay program that causes a computer to execute a voice recognition process for performing voice recognition on an incoming call, a specification process for specifying a relay destination based on the voice recognized information, a caller information provision process for providing the caller information of the incoming call to the specified relay destination, and an intermediate process for relaying the call from the caller to the intermediate destination upon receiving an intermediate destination instruction.

[0006] Preferably, the computer is further made to execute a message sending step of, when the relay instruction is not received, receiving a message from a sender and notifying the relay destination of the message as a message.

[0007] Preferably, the computer is further made to execute an inquiry information identification step of identifying inquiry information from the caller based on the voice recognized information, and a reply step of, when it is possible to reply to the inquiry information identified in the inquiry information identification step, transmitting reply information corresponding to the inquiry information to the caller by voice.

[0008] Preferably, the computer is further caused to execute an inquiry relaying step of relaying the inquiry information to a predetermined relay destination when the inquiry information specified in the inquiry information specifying step cannot be answered.

[0009] Preferably, the computer is further made to execute an inquiry message sending step of notifying a predetermined person in charge of the inquiry information by a message when the inquiry information cannot be answered and a call back setting has been made.

[0010] Preferably, the intermediate destination identification process, based on the voice recognition information, queries the caller about at least one attribute of department, gender, position, or job function when there are multiple intermediate destinations with the same surname, and further uses the response to identify the intermediate destination.

[0011] Preferably, the computer further executes an attribute information notification step of inquiring of the source of the call for predetermined attribute information relating to the source of the call, and transmitting the attribute information acquired in response to the inquiry to the intermediate party by voice or message.

[0012] Preferably, the computer further executes a text conversion step of converting a voice call between the caller and the intermediate party into text data and transmitting the text data to the intermediate party. Preferably, when the relay instruction is not received, the relay destination receives text input or a message input by a specified operation, and outputs a voice corresponding to the message to the caller.

[0013] The present invention includes a computer-implemented voice recognition means for performing voice recognition on an incoming call, a determination means for determining a transfer destination based on information voice-recognized by the voice recognition means, a caller information providing means for providing caller information of the incoming call to the transfer destination determined by the determination means, and an intermediate means for intermediately transferring the call from the caller to the transfer destination upon receiving an intermediate instruction from the transfer destination.

[0014] The present invention includes a computer executed by a computer a voice recognition process for performing voice recognition on an incoming call, a specification process for specifying a transfer destination based on the voice recognized information, a caller information provision process for providing caller information of the incoming call to the specified transfer destination, and an intermediate process for intermediately transferring the call from the caller to the intermediate destination when an intermediate instruction is received from the intermediate destination. Effect of the Invention

[0015] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a telephone handling program, device, and method that can automatically handle telephone calls without human intervention. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an environment in which a call agency 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the telephone agency 1 shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the function of the call handling device 1. As shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram for explaining the call handling function of the call handling device 1. As shown in FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram for explaining the process of the call handling device 1 when a call is received at a dedicated call-back window. [Figure 6]FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a process performed by the telephone agency device 1 for handling an inquiry call for a simple question. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the person in charge database of this embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a conversation between a call originator and the telephone agency 1 by automated voice. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a conversation between a call originator and the telephone agency 1 by automated voice. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of the contents of a message sent from the telephone agency 1 to the employee terminal device 7. As shown in FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a setting screen for the lines to be replied to by the telephone agency 1 through voice. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] A telephone agency device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. This embodiment is an automated answering service that uses AI technology developed in-house based on voice technology to recognize the voice of the caller and handle the call.

[0018] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an environment in which a call agency 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, a telephone agency device 1 communicates with an external terminal device 5 outside a company and a person in charge terminal device 7 of a person in charge of a predetermined company via a network 3. The external terminal device 5 and the employee terminal device 7 are mobile terminal devices such as smartphones or fixed terminal devices such as PCs. The external terminal device 5 is used by customers or the like other than employees of the company in which the telephone handling device 1 is installed. The employee terminal device 7 is used by an employee of the company that has installed the telephone handling device 1.

[0019] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the telephone agency 1 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the telephone agency device 1 includes, for example, a communication unit 55, a memory 59, and a processing unit (CPU) 61.

[0020] The communication unit 55 communicates with the external terminal device 5 and the employee terminal device 7 shown in FIG. The communication unit 55 transmits a predetermined message or the like to the employee terminal device 7.

[0021] The memory 59 stores the program executed by the processing unit 61 . The processing unit 61 executes the program PRG1 stored in the memory 59 to perform the processing of the telephone agency 1 defined in this embodiment.

[0022] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the function of the call handling device 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the telephone handling device 1 has the functions of call-back hearing, designated transfer to a person in charge, automatic response, 24-hour support, handling of calls, sending emails, chat integration, and converting conversation contents into text.

[0023] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram for explaining the call handling function of the call handling device 1. As shown in FIG. STEP ST11: The telephone agency device 1 receives a call from an external terminal device 5 .

[0024] STEP ST12: The telephone relay device 1 performs voice recognition on the voice call data received from the external terminal device 5 to identify the name of the person in charge at the relay destination and the name of the caller. Furthermore, the call handling device 1 refers to the person in charge database to identify the identification information (telephone number and extension number) of the person in charge terminal device 7 associated with the identified person in charge name. In addition, the telephone agency device 1 transmits the automatic response voice data to the external terminal device 5.

[0025] STEP ST13: When the identification information of the employee terminal device 7 is specified in step ST12, the telephone relay device 1 starts a process of relaying the incoming call to the specified external terminal device 5 in step ST12.

[0026] STEP ST14: The telephone handling device 1 transmits an inquiry message as voice data asking whether or not to handle the call to the external terminal device 5. The message includes the name of the caller. When the telephone relay device 1 receives a voice instruction from the external terminal device 5 to relay the call, the external terminal device 5 and the person in charge terminal device 7 are enabled to communicate with each other.

[0027] STEP ST15: If the external terminal device 5 cannot receive the call, the telephone agency device 1 sends a message including the name of the caller via email or SNS.

[0028] In addition, if the name of the person in charge cannot be obtained, two scenarios can be selected: "Main telephone transfer (prevents missed calls)", which calls everyone who is available at once, and "Main telephone transfer (prevents sales calls)", which calls back the call. If you have a desk that receives calls from new customers, you can use "Prevent Missed Calls," while if you have a desk that is plagued by a large number of sales calls, you can use "Sales Call Suppression" to handle calls more efficiently.

[0029] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram for explaining the process of the call handling device 1 when a call is received at a dedicated call-back window. STEP ST21: The telephone agency device 1 receives a call from an external terminal device 5 .

[0030] STEP ST22: The telephone relay device 1 performs voice recognition on the voice call data received from the external terminal device 5 to identify the name of the person in charge at the relay destination and the name of the caller. In addition, the telephone handling device 1 refers to the person in charge database to confirm whether the specified person in charge is employed.

[0031] STEP ST23: If the identified person in charge is present, the telephone handling device 1 transmits a matter confirmation message as voice data to the external terminal device 5 that is the source of the call.

[0032] STEP ST24: When the call handling device 1 receives a message by voice from the external terminal device 5, it transmits a message including the name of the caller and the nature of the message to the person in charge terminal device 7 by email or SNS.

[0033] In this way, in the telephone relay device 1, the AI ​​asks the caller about the requirements and the caller's contact number, then ends the call. After that, it sends a summary of the conversation to the specified email address or chat system. There are two scenarios available: one in which the caller is asked about the name of the person who will call back, and one in which the name is not asked.

[0034] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a process performed by the telephone agency device 1 for handling an inquiry call for a simple question. AI will respond to general inquiries from customers over the phone. STEP ST31: The telephone agency device 1 receives a call from an external terminal device 5 .

[0035] STEP ST32: The telephone handling device 1 performs voice recognition on the inquiry voice call received from the external terminal device 5. The telephone handling device 1 judges whether or not an answer can be given to the inquiry content recognized by voice recognition. Specifically, the telephone handling device 1 judges whether or not an answer can be given based on whether or not the inquiry content is registered in a database that previously associates inquiry content with answer content.

[0036] STEP ST33: When the call forwarding is set to manned, the call handling device 1 notifies a predetermined person in charge by voice that there is an inquiry, and then forwards the call.

[0037] STEP ST34: If a call back is set, the telephone agency device 1 notifies the employee terminal device 7 by voice that the call will be returned. In addition, the telephone agency device 1 transmits a message including the name of the caller and the contents of the inquiry to a predetermined person in charge terminal device 7 by email or SNS.

[0038] By doing this, even if the inquiry is one that the AI ​​cannot answer, you can choose between "FAQ (respond to human when unknown)" which switches to human response, and "FAQ (call back when unknown)" where the AI ​​asks for the call back contact number and shares it via email or chat, making it possible to respond according to the situation and purpose of the telephone help desk. The FAQ contents can be edited directly. It is possible to respond quickly and flexibly to sudden operational changes and the addition of answers, improving the efficiency of telephone response work.

[0039] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the person in charge database of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the person in charge database associates each person with their name (employee name), department, and job.

[0040] 8 and 9 are diagrams for explaining conversation by automated voice between the caller and the call relay device 1. As shown in Fig. 8 and 9, when there are multiple employees with the same name, the call relay device 1 inquires the caller about the department to which the caller belongs, based on the person in charge database, to identify the employee.

[0041] The telephone relay device 1 may transmit a voice message to the external terminal device 5 of the caller to confirm the requirements, and may transmit the requirements obtained in response by voice to the external terminal device 5. This allows the employee of the external terminal device 5 to decide whether or not to relay the call.

[0042] In addition, the telephone agency device 1 can switch scenarios according to time using a single AI telephone number (050). For example, during business hours, the call will be transferred to a person in charge, and outside of business hours, the call will be returned and the contents will be sent via chat or email, making it possible to respond according to business hours 24 hours a day.

[0043] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of the contents of a message sent from the telephone agency 1 to the employee terminal device 7. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, the call handling device 1 sends the caller's name, phone number, call date and time, person in charge, subject matter, recorded data, and details of the call content to the person in charge at the employee terminal device 7 by email or SNS.

[0044] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a setting screen for the lines to be replied to by the telephone agency 1 through voice. The telephone agency device 1 allows the user to change the lines on the spot. At this time, a visually easy-to-understand setting screen is used as shown in FIG. Administrators can check the conversation flow in flowchart format. You can also change the dialogue and edit transfer settings on the same screen.

[0045] In addition, the telephone relay device 1 has a call history function that allows the person in charge to check the recorded and text-converted contents of the call from his / her own personal page. In addition, the system distinguishes between "message" calls that require a response and "general end" calls, making it possible to determine at a glance which conversations require a response and quickly call back to the customer.

[0046] In addition, in order to improve the accuracy of answers to questions, the telephone handling device 1 resets answers and response patterns for questions that have been answered in the past and for which a review of the answer is required, so as to improve the response accuracy.

[0047] Furthermore, the telephone agency device 1 allows the settings of tone of voice and speaking speed to be changed. The type of AI voice and speaking speed can be adjusted to suit the counter and task, allowing us to provide services that are tailored to the customer. For example, there are seven voice tones to choose from - three female and four male - allowing users to set the voice to suit their company's image, the services they provide, and the customers they are dealing with. In addition, the speed of speech is adjusted to suit the customer being served, and at counters that receive a lot of calls from elderly customers or foreign customers, the pace is slower, allowing for more courteous service.

[0048] As described above, the call handling device 1 can automatically handle calls without human intervention, thereby improving work efficiency and reducing labor costs.

[0049] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. In other words, those skilled in the art may make various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations, and substitutions of the components of the above-described embodiment within the technical scope of the present invention or an equivalent scope.

[0050] For example, in the case where there are similar pronunciations in the voice recognition, the telephone agency device 1 may specify several possibilities, or ones with high similarity, from a database prepared in advance. Furthermore, if the contents cannot be understood by voice recognition, prepared lines may be output by voice to enable understanding.

[0051] In addition, the telephone agency device 1 may check the pronunciation of the name of the person in charge based on a database prepared in advance for names that can be read in multiple ways. For example, if there is no one named "Nakashima," the device checks whether the name is "Nagajima."

[0052] The telephone handling device 1 may also determine candidates for the person in charge of handling the call and the order of confirmation based on the attribute information of the caller. In addition, weighting may be applied at this time. Furthermore, the telephone agency device 1 may verify the source of the call by checking against business card information acquired by the company.

[0053] In addition, when the telephone relaying device 1 does not receive a relaying instruction from the relaying destination, the relaying destination may input a message using text or a specified operation, and output the message as voice to the external terminal device 5 of the call originator using an AI function. [Industrial Applicability]

[0054] The present invention is applicable to a telephone handling system. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 1...Telephone answering device 5. External terminal device 7...Employee terminal device

Claims

1. a voice recognition step for voice-recognizing an incoming call; a step of identifying a destination based on the voice recognition information; a call origin information providing step of providing call origin information of the incoming call to the identified call forwarding destination; an intermediate step of intermediately transferring the call from the call originator to the intermediate destination when an intermediate instruction is received from the intermediate destination; A telephone answering program that causes a computer to execute the above.

2. a message receiving step for receiving a message from the sender when the relay instruction is not received, and notifying the message as a message to the relay destination; 2. The telephone handling program according to claim 1, further comprising:

3. an inquiry information identifying step of identifying inquiry information from the sender based on the voice recognized information; a reply step of transmitting reply information corresponding to the inquiry information by voice to the sender when the inquiry information identified in the inquiry information identifying step can be replied to; 3. The telephone handling program according to claim 2, further comprising:

4. an inquiry relay step of relaying the inquiry information to a predetermined relay destination when the inquiry information identified in the inquiry information identifying step cannot be answered; 4. The telephone handling program according to claim 3, further comprising:

5. If the inquiry cannot be answered and a call back is set, An inquiry message process for notifying a predetermined person in charge of the inquiry information by a message.

4. The telephone handling program according to claim 3, further comprising:

6. The intermediate destination specifying step, when there are a plurality of intermediate destinations with the same surname, queries the caller about at least one attribute of department, sex, position, and job, based on the speech recognition information, and further uses the response to specify the intermediate destination. The telephone handling program according to claim 1 .

7. an attribute information notifying step of inquiring of the sender about predetermined attribute information relating to the sender and informing the intermediate party of the attribute information acquired in response to the inquiry by voice or message; 2. The telephone handling program according to claim 1, further comprising:

8. a text conversion step of converting the voice communication between the caller and the intermediary into text data and transmitting the text data to the intermediary; 2. The telephone handling program according to claim 1, further comprising:

9. When the relay instruction is not received, a process is performed to receive a text input by the relay destination or a message by a specified operation, and to output a voice corresponding to the message to the caller.

3. The telephone handling program according to claim 2.

10. A voice recognition means for voice-recognizing an incoming call; A means for identifying a relay destination based on the information recognized by the voice recognition means; a caller information providing means for providing caller information of the incoming call to the transfer destination identified by the identifying means; When receiving an instruction to transfer from the transfer destination, the transfer means transfers the call from the call origin to the transfer destination. A telephone answering device in which a computer executes the above.

11. a voice recognition step for voice-recognizing an incoming call; a step of identifying a destination based on the voice recognition information; a call origin information providing step of providing call origin information of the incoming call to the identified call forwarding destination; an intermediate step of intermediately transferring the call from the call originator to the intermediate destination when an intermediate instruction is received from the intermediate destination; A telephone handling method implemented by a computer.

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