System and method for supporting contact center

Abstract

To provide technology for minimizing delay in communication such as a telephone conversation performed between an operator and a customer at a contact center and enabling execution of filtering of the communication in real time.SOLUTION: A contact center support system is a system for supporting a contact center, at least including a control unit that executes a plurality of types of processing on communication performed between an operator of the contact center and a customer. The communication includes a telephone conversation between the operator and the customer. The plurality of types of processing at least includes voice recognition processing of at least recognizing an utterance content of the customer from voice in the telephone conversation, feeling recognition processing of at least recognizing a feeling of the customer from the voice in the telephone conversation, and filter processing of performing filtering of an utterance content of the customer and / or the operator in the telephone conversation. The control unit executes each type of processing included in the plurality of types of processing simultaneously in parallel.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for supporting a contact center. [Background technology]

[0002] Today, many companies are opening various contact centers (hereinafter simply referred to as "contact centers"), including call centers, in order to improve the services they provide to their customers and to increase customer satisfaction.

[0003] The main role of this contact center is generally to accept inquiries, questions, requests, opinions, complaints, etc. from customers by means of telephone, e-mail, etc., and for operators to respond appropriately to various customer requests, such as by replying to the inquiries and questions from the customers and providing support for products and services.

[0004] Various techniques for appropriately operating such contact centers have been proposed (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-041443 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2015-141428 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Many operators who work in customer service at contact centers are exposed to a lot of stress every day due to being yelled at or subjected to insensitive remarks from the customers they deal with. As a result, there has long been a problem surrounding the operation of contact centers, where the turnover rate of operators is much higher than other occupations due to such a harsh working environment, making it difficult for operators to work stably for the long term.

[0007] In addition, there are various other issues surrounding the operation of this contact center, such as reducing the work burden on operators and the risk of information leaks when operators perform customer service tasks in remote environments such as at home or in co-working spaces.

[0008] One of the means for solving such problems surrounding the operation of contact centers is to filter various communications such as calls between operators and customers. However, it is difficult with existing technologies to apply various filter processes to communications between operators and customers in real time without delaying the communications at the contact center, and the development of new technologies has been awaited.

[0009] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a technology that can minimize delays in communications, such as phone calls, between operators and customers at a contact center and perform filtering on the communications in real time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] The contact center support system according to the present invention is a system for supporting a contact center, and includes a control unit that executes multiple processes for communications between an operator of the contact center and a customer, the communications including a telephone call between the operator and the customer, the multiple processes including at least a voice recognition process that recognizes at least the content of the customer's speech from the voice of the telephone call, an emotion recognition process that recognizes at least the emotion of the customer from the voice of the telephone call, and a filter process that filters the content of the customer's and / or the operator's speech during the telephone call, and the control unit executes each process included in the multiple processes in parallel simultaneously.

[0011] Other problems and solutions disclosed in the present application will be made clear in the section of the description of the invention and the drawings. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to minimize delays in communications such as phone calls between operators and customers at a contact center, and to implement filtering on the communications in real time. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an entire system including a contact center support system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a filter dictionary / rule storage database. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a response candidate generation data storage database. [Figure 4] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of a customer / operator voice detection unit. [Diagram 5] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of a voice recognition unit. [Figure 6] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of an emotion recognition unit. [Figure 7]13 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of a customer voice conversion unit. [Figure 8] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of an operator voice conversion unit. [Figure 9] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of a voice synthesis unit. [Figure 10] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of a filter unit. [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of a voice filter unit. [Figure 12] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of a response candidate generating unit. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of an operator screen control unit. [Figure 14] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of a customer / operator voice transmitting unit. [Figure 15] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the overall flow of processing executed by a control unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] In the following description, an "interface unit" may refer to one or more interface devices. The one or more interface devices may be at least one of the following: One or more I / O (Input / Output) interface devices. The I / O (Input / Output) interface devices are interface devices to at least one of the I / O devices and a remote display computer. The I / O interface device to the display computer may be a communications interface device. The at least one I / O device may be a user interface device, e.g., either an input interface device such as a keyboard and pointing device, or an output interface device such as a display device. One or more communication interface devices. The one or more communication interface devices may be one or more homogeneous communication interface devices (e.g., one or more NICs (Network Interface Cards)) or two or more heterogeneous communication interface devices (e.g., a NIC and an HBA (Host Bus Adapter)).

[0015] In the following description, a "memory" refers to one or more memory devices, which are an example of one or more storage devices, and may typically be a primary storage device. At least one memory device in the memory may be a volatile memory device or a non-volatile memory device.

[0016] In the following description, a "persistent storage device" may be one or more persistent storage devices, which are an example of one or more persistent storage devices. A persistent storage device may typically be a non-volatile storage device (e.g., an auxiliary storage device), and more specifically, may be, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a non-volatile memory express (NVME) drive, or a storage class memory (SCM).

[0017] Also, in the following description, "storage device" may be at least memory, including memory and persistent storage device.

[0018] Furthermore, in the following description, a "processor" may be one or more processor devices. The at least one processor device may typically be a microprocessor device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), but may also be other types of processor devices such as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The at least one processor device may be a single-core or multi-core. The at least one processor device may be a processor core. The at least one processor device may also be a broader processor device such as a circuit that is a collection of gate arrays written in a hardware description language that performs part or all of the processing (e.g., an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), a CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device), or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit)).

[0019] In the following description, functions may be described using the expression "xxx unit", but the functions may be realized by one or more computer programs being executed by a processor, or by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., FPGA or ASIC), or by a combination thereof. When a function is realized by a program being executed by a processor, the function may be at least a part of the processor, since the specified processing is performed using a storage device and / or an interface device, etc., as appropriate. Processing described with a function as the subject may be processing performed by a processor or a device having the processor. A program may be installed from a program source. The program source may be, for example, a program distribution computer or a computer-readable recording medium (e.g., a non-transitory recording medium). The description of each function is an example, and multiple functions may be combined into one function, or one function may be divided into multiple functions.

[0020] In the following description, information that provides an output for an input may be described using expressions such as "yyy table", but the information may be a table of any structure, or may be a neural network that generates an output for an input, or a learning model such as a genetic algorithm or random forest. Therefore, the "yyy table" may be called "yyy information". In the following description, the structure of each table is an example, and one table may be divided into two or more tables, or all or part of two or more tables may be one table.

[0021] In the following description, a process may be described with a "program" as the subject, but the process described with a program as the subject may be a process performed by a processor or a device having the processor. Two or more programs may be realized as one program, and one program may be realized as two or more programs.

[0022] Furthermore, in the following description, the "contact center support system" may be a system (e.g., a cloud computing system) realized on a group of physical computing resources (e.g., a cloud infrastructure), or a system (e.g., an on-premise system) composed of one or more physical computers. When the contact center support system "displays" display information, it may mean displaying the display information on a display device possessed by the computer, or it may mean that the computer transmits the display information to a display computer (in the latter case, the display information is displayed by the display computer).

[0023] Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0024] In the following description, the same or similar components will be denoted by common reference symbols, and redundant description may be omitted.

[0025] In addition, when there are multiple elements having the same or similar functions, the multiple elements may be described by using the same reference numerals with different subscripts in order to distinguish between them. On the other hand, when there is no need to distinguish between the multiple elements, the subscripts may be omitted.

[0026] <Configuration Example of Contact Center Support System 100> First, a configuration example of a contact center support system 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a system including the contact center support system 100.

[0027] (Example of the overall system configuration) The contact center support system 100 of this embodiment is a computer system capable of supporting various contact centers including call centers, and is realized by a computer device or a server device having the configurations described below.

[0028] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the contact center support system 100 is connected to terminals 10a, 10b, 10c, . . . 10n (hereinafter, collectively referred to as "operator terminals 10" when collectively referred to or when no particular distinction is made) used by operators of a contact center (hereinafter, also referred to as "the contact center") supported by the contact center support system 100, via an appropriate communication network (hereinafter, also simply referred to as "network") such as the Internet or a dedicated line, so that data can be communicated between them. The operator terminal 10 includes at least a microphone 11 as an input device. The operator terminal 10 also includes at least a speaker 12 and a display 13 as output devices. This allows the contact center support system 100 and the operator terminal 10 to perform voice communication with each other, for example, by VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

[0029] Similarly, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the contact center support system 100 is connected to terminals 20a, 20b, 20c,..., 20n (hereinafter collectively referred to as "customer terminals 20" when referring to them collectively or when no particular distinction is made) such as smartphones, tablets, and laptop PCs owned by customers who make various inquiries to the contact center, via an appropriate network such as the Internet or a dedicated line, so that data can be communicated between them. The customer terminal 20 includes at least a microphone 21 as an input device. The customer terminal 20 also includes at least a speaker 22 as an output device. This allows the contact center support system 100 and the customer terminal 20 to communicate with each other by voice, for example, using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

[0030] The contact center support system 100 and the operator terminal 10 are connected to the network via known communication devices (not shown), but may be connected wirelessly. The customer terminal 20 is connected to the network wirelessly, but may be connected to the network via a wire.

[0031] In the present embodiment, the contact center support system 100 has been described as being composed of one device as illustrated in Fig. 1. However, for example, the contact center support system 100 may be composed of a plurality of devices.

[0032] In the present embodiment, the contact center support system 100 and the operator terminal 10 are described as being separate devices, as illustrated in Fig. 1. However, the contact center support system 100 and the operator terminal 10 may be configured as the same device. In this case, the contact center support system may be configured as a system including the operator terminal 10, for example. Also, for example, the contact center support system may be configured to include some or all of the functions performed by the operator terminal 10.

[0033] Further, other computer devices, server devices, etc. (hereinafter also referred to as "other devices") may be connected to the contact center support system 100 via a network so as to be able to communicate data with each other. In this case, the other devices and the network may be connected via a wired connection or wireless connection via well-known communication equipment (not shown).

[0034] (Example of Hardware Configuration of Contact Center Support System 100) Next, an example of a hardware configuration of the contact center support system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described.

[0035] The contact center support system 100 of this embodiment is realized by one general-purpose computer device. In the following description, it is assumed that the contact center support system 100 is realized by one general-purpose computer device including one or more processors, one or more storage devices, one or more interface devices, and wired or wireless communication lines (none of which are shown) connecting them.

[0036] That is, the contact center support system 100 has a storage device consisting of a persistent storage device and a memory, an interface device, and a processor connected thereto.

[0037] The persistent storage device is an auxiliary storage device made up of a non-volatile storage element such as a flash memory. Specific examples of the persistent storage device include a solid state drive (SSD) and a hard disk drive (HDD). The persistent storage device stores at least a contact center support program. The contact center support program is a computer program for implementing functions required for the contact center support system 100.

[0038] That is, the contact center support program is executed by the processor, whereby various processes, which will be described later with reference to FIGS.

[0039] The contact center support program may be installed from a program source. The program source may be, for example, a program distribution computer or a computer-readable recording medium. The contact center support program may be composed of a device driver, an operating system, various application programs located at higher layers thereof, and a library that provides common functions to these programs. Furthermore, two or more programs may be realized as one contact center support program, and one contact center support program may be realized as two or more programs.

[0040] The memory is a primary storage device mainly composed of volatile storage elements such as RAM (Random Access Memory). The memory temporarily stores data representing various information read from a persistent storage device and various data acquired from the operator terminal 10 and / or the customer terminal 20.

[0041] The processor is a processor device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and various co-processors. This processor loads a contact center support program into a memory and executes it to generally control the contact center support system 100 itself, and also controls the control unit 110 that performs various processes such as calculation processing and judgment processing.

[0042] The interface apparatus includes a communication interface device that connects to a network and communicates with other apparatuses, terminals, etc., and an I / O interface device.

[0043] (Example of functional block of contact center support system 100) Next, an example of various functional blocks included in the contact center support system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Note that each block described below does not represent a hardware configuration but represents a functional block.

[0044] The contact center support system 100 includes the following functional blocks: a control unit 110, a storage unit 130, a communication unit (not shown), and a user interface unit (none of which are shown) made up of an input unit and an output unit.

[0045] The control unit 110 executes various data processing based on the programs and data stored in the storage unit 130 and the data acquired by the communication unit. The control unit 110 also functions as an interface between the storage unit 130 and the communication unit.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 110 has the following functional blocks: a voice recognition unit 111, a customer voice conversion unit 112, an operator voice conversion unit 113, an emotion recognition unit 114, a filter restoration unit 115, a filter unit 116, a voice filter unit (not shown), a response candidate generation unit 117, a voice synthesis unit 118, a customer voice detection unit 119, an operator voice transmission unit 120, an operator voice detection unit 121, a customer voice transmission unit 122 and an operator screen control unit 123.

[0047] The voice recognition unit 111 executes a process for recognizing the voice of a customer and / or an operator (hereinafter also referred to as a "voice recognition process") (described in detail later with reference to FIG. 5).

[0048] The customer voice conversion unit 112 executes a process for converting the customer's voice (described in detail below in conjunction with FIG. 7).

[0049] The operator voice conversion unit 113 executes a process of converting the voice of the operator (described in detail later with reference to FIG. 8).

[0050] The emotion recognition unit 114 executes a process for recognizing an emotion of a customer (hereinafter, also referred to as an "emotion recognition process") (described in detail later with reference to FIG. 6).

[0051] The filter restoration unit 115 executes a process of restoring the filter.

[0052] The filter unit 116 performs filtering (described in detail below in conjunction with FIG. 10).

[0053] The audio filter unit executes audio filtering (described in detail below with reference to FIG. 11).

[0054] The reply candidate generating unit 117 executes a process of generating reply candidates to a customer (described in detail later with reference to FIG. 12).

[0055] The voice synthesis unit 118 executes a process of synthesizing voice (described in detail below with reference to FIG. 9).

[0056] The customer voice detection unit 119 executes a process for detecting the voice of the customer (described in detail below with reference to FIG. 4).

[0057] The operator voice transmitting unit 120 executes a process for transmitting the operator's voice.

[0058] The operator voice detection unit 121 executes a process of detecting the voice of the operator (described in detail later with reference to FIG. 4).

[0059] The customer voice transmitting unit 122 executes a process for transmitting the voice of the customer (described in detail later with reference to FIG. 14).

[0060] The operator screen control unit 123 executes a process for controlling the display 13 of the operator terminal 10 (described in detail later with reference to FIG. 13).

[0061] The control unit 110 operates each of these functional blocks in parallel and independently (described in detail later with reference to FIG. 15). Note that the control unit 110 may execute the processes executed by each of these functional blocks as synchronous processes in which the processes are synchronized with each other, or may execute the processes as asynchronous processes in which the processes are not synchronized with each other.

[0062] The control unit 110 is configured using a processor, and can realize these functional blocks by executing a predetermined contact center support program. Note that instead of a processor, the control unit 110 may be configured using a logic circuit such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The control unit 110 may also be configured by combining a processor and a logic circuit.

[0063] The storage unit 130 is configured using a storage device consisting of, for example, a persistent storage device and a memory, and stores a program that supplies various processing commands to the control unit 110, and data representing various information used in the processing executed by the control unit 110.

[0064] The storage unit 130 has the following functional blocks: a filter dictionary / rule storage database 131 , a response candidate generation data storage database 132 , and a standby voice data storage database 133 .

[0065] The filter dictionary / rule storage database 131 is a database that stores filter dictionaries / rules. An example of the configuration of the filter dictionary / rule storage database 131 is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the filter dictionary / rule storage database 131 has a record for each rule. The record represents, for example, an individual specific word that is the target of the rule, and another general and abstract word (hereinafter also referred to as a "substitute word") that substitutes the word. That is, the filter dictionary / rule storage database 131 manages the filter dictionary and rules for each rule by linking and recording the word that is the target of the rule and the substitute word for the word for each record. According to the example shown in FIG. 2, the filter dictionary / rule storage database 131 records that the family name, surname, and last name included in a person's name such as "Tanaka" or "Suzuki" are substituted by the substitute word "<first name>".

[0066] The response candidate generation data storage database 132 is a database that stores response candidate generation data. An example of the configuration of the response candidate generation data storage database 132 is shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the response candidate generation data storage database 132 has a record for each question. The record represents, for example, a question corresponding to the content of a customer's inquiry and a response corresponding to the question, i.e., a response candidate for the customer. That is, the response candidate generation data storage database 132 manages response candidates for each question by recording a question and a response candidate for the question in association with each record. According to the example shown in FIG. 3, in the response candidate generation data storage database 132, when the content of a customer's inquiry corresponds to a question such as "Regarding mid-term cancellation of a fixed term deposit" or "If a fixed term deposit is cancelled mid-term," the response candidate for the customer is recorded as "A lower interest rate will be applied than initially."

[0067] The control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 may generate the response candidates stored in the response candidate generation data storage database 132 by using a neural network (NN), deep learning (DL), or the like.

[0068] The standby voice data storage database 133 is a database for storing standby voice data.

[0069] The control unit 110 can execute various processes by reading and writing this information in the storage unit 130.

[0070] The communication unit is responsible for communication processing with other devices such as the operator terminal 10 and the customer terminal 20 via the Internet (an example of a network). The communication unit is configured using, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card) or an HBA (Host Bus Adapter).

[0071] The user interface unit (not shown) includes functional blocks of an input unit and an output unit.

[0072] The input unit is responsible for input-related processes such as accepting input operations from the user among processes related to the user interface. The input unit is configured using, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device, a touch panel, etc., and detects various operations from the user.

[0073] The output unit is responsible for output-related processes such as displaying various screens on a display device, outputting audio, etc. The output unit is configured using, for example, a liquid crystal display, a touch screen, etc.

[0074] In other words, each component of the contact center support system 100 is realized by hardware including a processor, storage devices such as memory and persistent storage devices, wired or wireless communication lines and interface devices that connect them, and software that is stored in the storage devices and supplies processing instructions to the computing unit.

[0075] In this embodiment, the functions of the contact center support system 100 have been described as being realized integrally by one computer device. However, these functions may be realized by a plurality of computers or server devices connected to each other. In addition, the contact center support system 100 may be configured to include a general-purpose computer device such as a laptop PC and a web browser installed thereon, or may be configured to include a web server and various portable devices.

[0076] Furthermore, the above description of each function is merely an example, and multiple functions may be combined into one function, or one function may be divided into multiple functions.

[0077] Furthermore, the contact center support system 100 may have other functions in addition to the various functions described above. For example, the contact center support system 100 may be configured to include some of the various functions of the operator terminal 10.

[0078] <Example of Operation of Contact Center Support System 100> Next, an example of the operation of each functional unit of the contact center support system 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0079] (Example of operation of customer voice detection unit 119 / operator voice detection unit 121) Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the customer voice detection unit 119 and the operator voice detection unit 121. Note that the operation shown in Fig. 4 is performed in common by the customer voice detection unit 119 and the operator voice detection unit 121.

[0080] In step S401, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring voice frames for a certain period of time from the microphones (11, 21) using the customer voice detection unit 119 and / or the operator voice detection unit 121. As a result, voice frames for a certain period of time are acquired from the microphones (11, 21). When the process in step S401 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S402.

[0081] In step S402, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of determining whether or not the volume of the voice frame acquired in step S401 is equal to or higher than a certain level, using the customer voice detection unit 119 and / or the operator voice detection unit 121. If it is determined in step S402 that the volume of the voice frame is equal to or higher than a certain level (step S402: YES), the process proceeds to step S403 to transmit a voice frame message. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S402 that the volume of the voice frame is not equal to or higher than a certain level (step S402: NO), the process proceeds to step S404.

[0082] In step S403, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting a voice frame message for a voice frame for which the customer voice detection unit 119 and / or the operator voice detection unit 121 have determined in step S402 that the volume is not equal to or greater than a certain level (step S402: NO). As a result, a voice frame message is transmitted for the voice frame. When the process in step S403 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S404.

[0083] In step S404, when the process in step S403 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S402 again. Also, when it is determined in step S402 that the volume of the voice frame is not equal to or higher than a certain level (step S402: NO), the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S402 again.

[0084] (Example of operation of the voice recognition unit 111) FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the voice recognition unit 111.

[0085] In step S501, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring voice frames for a certain period of time by the voice recognition unit 111. As a result, voice frames for a certain period of time are acquired. When the process in step S501 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S502.

[0086] In step S502, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a speech recognition process on the speech frame acquired in step S501 by the speech recognition unit 111. This speech recognition process is a process of converting speech into text, and is executed by various conventional techniques. As a result, the speech recognition process is performed on the speech frame. When the process in step S502 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S503.

[0087] In step S503, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process in which the voice recognition unit 111 determines whether or not the result of the voice recognition process (hereinafter also referred to as "voice recognition result") for the voice frame that has been subjected to the voice recognition process in step S502 has been finalized. If it is determined in step S503 that the voice recognition result for the voice frame has been finalized (step S503: YES), the process proceeds to step S504 to transmit the voice recognition result as a voice recognition result message. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S503 that the voice recognition result for the voice frame has not been finalized (step S503: NO), the process proceeds to step S505.

[0088] In step S504, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the speech recognition result as a speech recognition result message for the speech frame for which the speech recognition unit 111 has determined that the speech recognition result has been finalized in step S503 (step S503: YES). As a result, the speech recognition result for the speech frame is transmitted as a speech recognition result message. When the process in step S504 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S505.

[0089] In step S505, when the process in step S504 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S502 again. Also, when it is determined in step S503 that the speech recognition result for the speech frame is not confirmed (step S503: NO), the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S502 again.

[0090] (Example of operation of emotion recognition unit 114) FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the emotion recognition unit 114.

[0091] In step S601, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring voice frames for a certain period of time by the emotion recognition unit 114. As a result, voice frames for a certain period of time are acquired. When the process in step S601 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S602.

[0092] In step S602, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes emotion recognition processing on the voice frame acquired in step S601 by the emotion recognition unit 114. This emotion recognition processing is processing for outputting emotion categories such as anger, joy, etc., in text, and is executed by various conventional techniques. In this way, the emotion recognition processing is performed on the voice frame. When the processing in step S602 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S603.

[0093] In step S603, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process in which the emotion recognition unit 114 determines whether or not the result of the emotion recognition process (hereinafter also referred to as "emotion recognition result") for the voice frame that was subjected to the emotion recognition process in step S602 has been finalized. If it is determined in step S603 that the emotion recognition result for the voice frame has been finalized (step S603: YES), the process proceeds to step S604 to transmit the emotion recognition result as an emotion recognition result message. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S603 that the emotion recognition result for the voice frame has not been finalized (step S603: NO), the process proceeds to step S605.

[0094] In step S604, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the emotion recognition result as an emotion recognition result message for the voice frame for which the emotion recognition unit 114 has determined that the emotion recognition result has been finalized in step S603 (step S603: YES). As a result, the emotion recognition result is transmitted as an emotion recognition result message for the voice frame. When the process in step S604 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S605.

[0095] In step S605, when the process in step S604 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S602 again. Also, when it is determined in step S603 that the emotion recognition result for the voice frame is not determined (step S603: NO), the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S602 again.

[0096] (Example of operation of customer voice conversion unit 112) FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the customer voice conversion unit 112.

[0097] In step S701, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring voice frames for a certain period of time by the customer voice conversion unit 112. As a result, voice frames for a certain period of time are acquired. When the process in step S701 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S702.

[0098] In step S702, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a voice conversion process on the voice frame acquired in step S701 by the customer voice conversion unit 112. This voice conversion process is various conversion processes such as flattening the volume and voice pitch, which are performed on the input voice of the customer in order to reduce the burden on the operator, and is performed by various conventional techniques. In this way, the voice conversion process is performed on the voice frame. As a result, even if the input voice related to the voice frame contains, for example, the customer's anger, the input voice is modulated so that the voice sounds to the operator in a mitigated form, so that the anger is not conveyed to the operator as it is, and the burden on the operator is reduced. Note that the content of this voice conversion process executed in step S702 is different from the content of the voice conversion process for the operator, which will be described later in relation to FIG. 8. When the process in step S702 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S703.

[0099] In step S703, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process in which the customer voice conversion unit 112 transmits the voice frame (hereinafter also referred to as the "voice frame after voice conversion") that has been subjected to the voice conversion process in step S802 as a voice conversion result message. As a result, the voice frame after voice conversion is transmitted as the voice conversion result message. When the process in step S703 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S704.

[0100] In step S704, when the process in step S703 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S702.

[0101] (Example of operation of the operator voice conversion unit 113) FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the operator voice conversion unit 113.

[0102] In step S801, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring voice frames for a certain period of time by the operator voice conversion unit 113. As a result, voice frames for a certain period of time are acquired. When the process in step S801 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S802.

[0103] In step S802, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a voice conversion process on the voice frame acquired in step S801 by the operator voice conversion unit 113. This voice conversion process is various conversion processes such as voice quality conversion that are performed on the input voice of the operator in order to make the input voice closer to the characteristics of the voice synthesis sound, and is performed by various conventional techniques. In this way, the voice conversion process is performed on the voice frame. As a result, the characteristics of the input voice related to the voice frame can be made closer to the characteristics of the voice synthesis sound. Note that the content of this voice conversion process executed in step S802 is different from the content of the voice conversion process for the customer described above with reference to FIG. 7. When the process in step S802 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S803.

[0104] In step S803, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process in which the operator voice conversion unit 113 transmits the voice frame that has been subjected to the voice conversion process in step S802, i.e., the post-voice conversion voice frame, as a voice conversion result message. As a result, the post-voice conversion voice frame is transmitted as a voice conversion result message. Note that this process executed in step S803 can be omitted as appropriate. When the process in step S803 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S804.

[0105] In step S804, when the process in step S803 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S802.

[0106] (Example of operation of the voice synthesis unit 118) FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the voice synthesis unit 118.

[0107] In step S901, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring text representing the contents of the utterance of the customer and / or the operator that has been converted into text by the voice recognition process using the voice synthesis unit 118. This acquires the text. When the process in step S901 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S902.

[0108] In step S902, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a voice synthesis process on the text acquired in step S901 by the voice synthesis unit 118. This voice synthesis process is a process of converting the text into voice frames again, and is executed by various conventional techniques. In this way, the voice synthesis process is performed on the text. As a result, the text is converted into voice frames again. The voice frames generated by this voice synthesis process are called synthetic voice frames. When the process in step S902 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S903.

[0109] In step S903, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the synthetic voice frame generated in step S902 as a message by the voice synthesis unit 118. As a result, the synthetic voice frame is transmitted as a message. When the process in step S903 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S904.

[0110] In step S904, when the process in step S903 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S902.

[0111] (Example of operation of filter unit 116) FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the filter unit 116.

[0112] In step S1001, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring a speech recognition result by the filter unit 116. As a result, the speech recognition result is acquired. When the process in step S1001 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1002.

[0113] As shown in step S1002, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 repeatedly executes the processes of steps S1002 to S1006 for all words included in the speech recognition result acquired in step S1001 by the filter unit 116. Each word is extracted from the speech recognition result by morphological analysis or the like. As a result, the processes of steps S1002 to S1006 are repeatedly executed until they are completed for all words included in the speech recognition result.

[0114] As shown in step S1003, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 causes the filter unit 116 to repeatedly execute the processes of steps S1003 to S1006 for all records in the filter dictionary / rule storage database 131. As a result, the processes of steps S1003 to S1006 are repeatedly executed for all records in the filter dictionary / rule storage database 131.

[0115] In step S1004, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process in which the filter unit 116 determines whether or not the word included in the speech recognition result acquired in step S1001 matches the rule of the record. If it is determined in step S1004 that the word matches the rule of the record (step S1004: YES), the process proceeds to step S1005 in order to add the substitute word of the record to the speech recognition result after the processing shown in FIG. 10 is performed by the filter unit 116 (hereinafter, also referred to as the "filtered speech recognition result"). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1004 that the word does not match the rule of the record (step S1004: NO), the process proceeds to step S1006 in order to add the word to the filtered speech recognition result.

[0116] As described above, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 causes the filter unit 116 to repeatedly execute the processes of steps S1003 to S1006 for all records in the filter dictionary / rule storage database 131 illustrated in Fig. 2. This causes the processes of steps S1003 to S1006 to be repeatedly executed for all records in the filter dictionary / rule storage database 131. When the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 completes the processes of steps S1003 to S1006 for all records in the filter dictionary / rule storage database 131, the control unit 110 proceeds to the next step.

[0117] As described above, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 repeatedly executes the processes of steps S1002 to S1006 for all words included in the speech recognition result acquired in step S1001 by the filter unit 116. As a result, the processes of steps S1002 to S1006 are repeatedly executed for all words included in the speech recognition result. When the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 completes the processes of steps S1002 to S1006 for all words included in the speech recognition result, the control unit 110 proceeds to step S1008.

[0118] In step S1007, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the filtered speech recognition result to which the substitute word for the record has been added in step S1005, or the filtered speech recognition result to which the word has been added in step S1006, by the filter unit 116. As a result, the filtered speech recognition result is transmitted. When the process in step S1007 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1008.

[0119] In step S1008, when the process in step S1007 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S1001.

[0120] (Example of operation of the audio filter section) FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the audio filter unit.

[0121] In step S1101, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring the filtered speech recognition result generated by the filter unit 116 through the speech filter unit. This acquires the filtered speech recognition result. When the process in step S1101 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1102.

[0122] In step S1102, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring the post-voice conversion voice frame generated by the customer voice conversion unit 112 and / or the operator voice conversion unit 113 using the voice filter unit. This acquires the post-voice conversion voice frame. When the process in step S1102 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1103.

[0123] As shown in step S1103, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 repeatedly executes the processes of steps S1103 to S1104 by the voice filter unit for all the substitute words included in the filtered voice recognition result acquired in step S1101. As a result, the processes of steps S1103 to S1104 are repeatedly executed until they are completed for all the substitute words included in the filtered voice recognition result.

[0124] In step S1104, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring the start position and end position corresponding to the substitute word for the post-speech conversion speech frame acquired in step S1102 by the speech filter unit. As a result, the start position and end position of the post-speech conversion speech frame corresponding to the substitute word are acquired.

[0125] As described above, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 repeatedly executes the processes of steps S1103 to S1104 for all the substitute words included in the filtered speech recognition result acquired in step S1101 by the voice filter unit. As a result, the processes of steps S1103 to S1104 are repeatedly executed until they are completed for all the substitute words included in the filtered speech recognition result. When the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 completes the processes of steps S1103 to S1104 for all the substitute words included in the filtered speech recognition result, the control unit 110 proceeds to step S1105.

[0126] In step S1105, when the process in step S1104 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S1102.

[0127] (Example of Operation of the Response Candidate Generation Unit 117) FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the response candidate generating unit 117.

[0128] In step S1201, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring a speech recognition result by the response candidate generation unit 117. As a result, the speech recognition result is acquired. When the process in step S1201 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1202.

[0129] As shown in step S1202, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 causes the answer candidate generating unit 117 to repeatedly execute the processes of steps S1202 to S1203 for all records in the answer candidate generation data storage database 132 illustrated in Fig. 3. As a result, the processes of steps S1202 to S1203 are repeatedly executed until they are completed for all records in the answer candidate generation data storage database 132.

[0130] In step S1203, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of calculating a similarity score between the question sentence of the record and the speech recognition result acquired in step S1201 by the answer candidate generation unit 117. As a result, a similarity score between the question sentence of the record and the speech recognition result is calculated. When the process in step S1203 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1204.

[0131] As described above, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 causes the response candidate generating unit 117 to repeatedly execute the processes of steps S1202 to S1203 for all records in the response candidate generation data storage database 132. As a result, the processes of steps S1202 to S1203 are repeatedly executed until they are completed for all records in the response candidate generation data storage database 132. When the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 completes the processes of steps S1202 to S1203 for all records in the response candidate generation data storage database 132, the control unit 110 proceeds to step S1204.

[0132] In step S1204, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of extracting the top three similarity scores using the answer candidate generation unit 117 and transmitting the answer candidates. As a result, the top three similarity scores are extracted and the answer candidates are transmitted. When the process in step S1204 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1205.

[0133] In step S1205, when the process in step S1204 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 returns to step S1202.

[0134] (Example of operation of operator screen control unit 123) FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the operator screen control unit 123.

[0135] In step S1301, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring the filtered speech recognition result, emotion recognition result, response candidates, and selected response candidates to be displayed on the display 13 of the operator terminal 10 by the operator screen control unit 123. These processes are performed in parallel. As a result, the filtered speech recognition result, emotion recognition result, response candidates, and selected response candidates are acquired. When the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 completes the process in step S1301, the control unit 110 proceeds to steps S1302 to S1305 depending on the content of the process to be executed.

[0136] In step S1302, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of causing the operator screen control unit 123 to display the filtered speech recognition result on the display 13 of the operator terminal 10. As a result, the filtered speech recognition result is displayed on the display 13 of the operator terminal 10. At this time, a voice is output to the speaker 12 of the operator terminal 10. When the process in step S1302 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1306.

[0137] In step S1303, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of causing the operator screen control unit 123 to display the emotion recognition result on the display 13 of the operator terminal 10. As a result, the emotion recognition result is displayed on the display 13 of the operator terminal 10. Upon completing the process in step S1303, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1306.

[0138] In step S1304, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of displaying the answer candidates on the display 13 of the operator terminal 10 by the operator screen control unit 123. As a result, the answer candidates are displayed on the display 13 of the operator terminal 10. When the process in step S1303 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1306.

[0139] In step S1305, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting a message indicating the result of the operator's selection operation on the answer candidates displayed on the display 13 of the operator terminal 10 (hereinafter also referred to as "answer candidate selection result") to the control unit 110 via the operator screen control unit 123. As a result, the answer candidate selection result is transmitted to the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100. Upon completing the process in step S1305, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1306.

[0140] In step S1306, when the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 completes the processes in steps S1302 to S1305, the process returns to step S1301.

[0141] (Example of Operation of Customer Voice Transmitting Unit 122) FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the customer voice transmitting unit 122.

[0142] In step S1401, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring a filtered voice frame by the customer voice transmission unit 122. This acquires the filtered voice frame. When the process in step S1401 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1402.

[0143] Even if the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 does not acquire a filtered voice frame in step S1401, if a predetermined time has passed since the last output from the speaker 22 of the customer terminal 20, for example, when the operator has difficulty in searching, the control unit 110 proceeds to step S1402.

[0144] In step S1402, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of determining whether or not a predetermined time has passed since the last output of the speaker 22 of the customer terminal 20 by the customer voice transmission unit 122. If it is determined in step S1402 that the predetermined time has passed since the last output of the speaker 22 of the customer terminal 20 (step S1402: YES), the process proceeds to step S1403 to break down the waiting voice data into frames and add them to the input buffer of the customer voice transmission unit 122. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1402 that the predetermined time has not yet passed since the last output of the speaker 22 of the customer terminal 20 (step S1402: NO), the process proceeds to step S1404 to output the voice to the speaker 22 of the customer terminal 20.

[0145] In step S1403, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of dividing the standby voice data into frames by the customer voice transmission unit 122 and adding the frames to the input buffer of the customer voice transmission unit 122. As a result, the standby voice data is divided into frames and added to the input buffer of the customer voice transmission unit 122. The customer voice transmission unit 122 may generate standby voice text instead of standby voice data and use voice data synthesized by the voice synthesis unit 118. In this case, the standby voice text generated may be a fixed phrase such as "Please wait a moment," or may receive the latest customer voice recognition result and use it as a confirmation response, for example, "Your question is (the latest customer voice recognition result), right?". When the process in step S1403 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1405.

[0146] In step S1404, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of outputting the voice to the speaker 22 of the customer terminal 20 by the customer voice transmitting unit 122. At this time, the customer voice transmitting unit 122 may transmit the voice in accordance with the standby voice data storage database 133. When the process in step S1404 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1405.

[0147] In step S1405, when the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 completes the process in step S1403 or the process in step S1404, the process returns to step S1202.

[0148] (Example of operation of control unit 110) FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the overall flow of processing executed by control unit 110.

[0149] As described above, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes each process shown in Fig. 15 as a multi-process process. That is, the control unit 110 operates each of the functional blocks of the voice recognition unit 111, the customer voice conversion unit 112, the operator voice conversion unit 113, the emotion recognition unit 114, the filter restoration unit 115, the filter unit 116, the response candidate generation unit 117, the voice synthesis unit 118, the customer voice detection unit 119, the operator voice transmission unit 120, the operator voice detection unit 121, the customer voice transmission unit 122, and the operator screen control unit 123 in parallel, independently of each other, without synchronizing with each other. In addition, the contact center support system 100 communicates with the operator terminal 10 and / or the customer terminal 20 by transmitting and receiving messages to and from each other.

[0150] In step S151, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 starts various processes to be executed mainly in response to receipt of a message. This starts various processes executed by the control unit 110. When the process in step S151 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S152.

[0151] In step S152, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of acquiring the message from the message queue. As a result, the message is acquired from the message queue. When the process in step S152 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S153.

[0152] In step S153, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of determining the type of the message acquired in step S152. Depending on the result of the determination process executed in step S153, the control unit 110 proceeds to any one of steps S1501 to S1591 shown in FIG.

[0153] (If the message is about a customer voice frame) In step S1501, if the message is related to a customer voice frame (hereinafter also simply referred to as a "voice frame"), the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the voice frame to the voice recognition unit 111. As a result, the voice frame is transmitted to the voice recognition unit 111. When the process in step S1501 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1502.

[0154] In step S1502, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the voice frame to the emotion recognition unit 114. As a result, the voice frame is transmitted to the emotion recognition unit 114. When the process in step S1502 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1503.

[0155] In step S1503, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the voice frame to the customer voice conversion unit 112. As a result, the voice frame is transmitted to the customer voice conversion unit 112. When the process in step S1503 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S154.

[0156] (If the message is about an operator voice frame) In step S1511, if the message is related to an operator voice frame (hereinafter also simply referred to as a "voice frame"), the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the voice frame to the voice recognition unit 111. As a result, the voice frame is transmitted to the voice recognition unit 111. When the process in step S1511 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S154.

[0157] (If the message is about voice recognition results) In step S1521, if the message is related to a speech recognition result, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the speech recognition result to the answer candidate generation unit 117. As a result, the speech recognition result is transmitted to the answer candidate generation unit 117. When the process in step S1521 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1522.

[0158] In step S1522, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the speech recognition result to the filter unit 116. As a result, the speech recognition result is transmitted to the filter unit 116. When the process in step S1522 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S154.

[0159] (If the message is about a possible response) In step S1531, if the message is related to a candidate reply, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the candidate reply to the operator screen control unit 123. As a result, the candidate reply is transmitted to the operator screen control unit 123. When the process in step S1531 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S154.

[0160] (If the message is about the result of selecting a response candidate) In step S1541, if the message is related to a response candidate selection result, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the response candidate selection result to the filter restoration unit 115. As a result, the response candidate selection result is transmitted to the filter restoration unit 115. When the process in step S1541 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S154.

[0161] (If the message is about the response candidate selection result after filter restoration) In step S1551, if the message is related to a post-filter restoration response candidate selection result, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the post-filter restoration response candidate selection result to the speech synthesis unit 118. As a result, the post-filter restoration response candidate selection result is transmitted to the speech synthesis unit 118. When the process in step S1551 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S154.

[0162] (If the message is about post-filter speech recognition results) In step S1561, if the message is related to the filtered speech recognition result, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the filtered speech recognition result to the operator screen control unit 123. As a result, the filtered speech recognition result is transmitted to the operator screen control unit 123. When the process in step S1561 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S1562.

[0163] In step S1562, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the filtered speech recognition result to the speech filter unit. As a result, the filtered speech recognition result is transmitted to the speech filter unit. When the process in step S1562 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S154.

[0164] (If the message is about emotion recognition results) In step S1571, if the message is related to an emotion recognition result, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the emotion recognition result to the operator screen control unit 123. As a result, the emotion recognition result is transmitted to the operator screen control unit 123. When the process in step S1571 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S154.

[0165] (If the message is about the voice conversion result) In step S1581, if the message is related to the voice conversion result, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting a voice frame after voice conversion representing the voice conversion result to the voice filter unit. As a result, the voice frame after voice conversion is transmitted to the voice filter unit. When the process in step S1581 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S154.

[0166] (if the message is about a voice frame after voice filtering) In step S1591, if the message is related to a voice-filtered voice frame, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes a process of transmitting the voice-filtered voice frame to the customer voice transmitting unit 122. As a result, the voice-filtered voice frame is transmitted to the customer voice transmitting unit 122. When the process in step S1591 is completed, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 proceeds to step S154.

[0167] In step S154, when the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 completes the processes in steps S1501 to S1591, the process returns to step S151 again.

[0168] The above-described embodiment of the present invention can be summarized as follows.

[0169] (1) The contact center support system 100 is a system for supporting a contact center, and includes a control unit 110 that executes a plurality of processes for communication between an operator of the contact center and a customer, the communication including a telephone call between the operator and the customer, the plurality of processes including at least a voice recognition process for recognizing at least the contents of the customer's speech from the voice of the telephone call, an emotion recognition process for recognizing at least the emotion of the customer from the voice of the telephone call, and a filter process for filtering the contents of the customer's and / or the operator's speech in the telephone call, and the control unit 110 executes each process included in the plurality of processes in parallel at the same time. As a result, the contact center support system 100 can execute the operation of each functional block included in the control unit 110, i.e., the plurality of processes, as parallel processes, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 15. 10 by the filter unit 116, the control unit 110 of the contact center support system 100 executes the loop process after subdividing each record in the filter dictionary / rule storage database 131 and each word included in the voice recognition result. As a result, the contact center support system 100 can minimize delays in communication such as calls between an operator and a customer at the contact center and execute filtering on the communication in real time.

[0170] (2) The response to the customer in the call is made by a voicebot that speaks the contents of the text entered by the operator or by the speech of the operator, and the control unit 110 plays a standby voice if the input of text or voice by the operator is not detected for a predetermined time during the call. In this way, the contact center support system 100 can significantly shorten the standby time on the customer side in the call. As a result, the customer's dissatisfaction in the call can be resolved or alleviated.

[0171] (3) The customer's response to the call is made by the voice bot speaking, and the voice bot's speech is subjected to voice synthesis processing so that it has the same tone as the standby voice and is played back immediately after the standby voice is played back.

[0172] (4) The customer is responded to during the call by the operator, and the operator's speech is subjected to voice synthesis processing and / or voice quality conversion processing so that it has the same tone as the standby voice, and is played back immediately after the standby voice is played back.

[0173] (5) The voice recognition process includes a process of converting the customer's speech during the call into text, and the filtering process further includes a masking process that, when a specific word is included in the text, converts the word into another word and presents the text to the operator with the content expressed by the word concealed. When the control unit 110 responds to the customer by using the voice bot's speech, if the text entered by the operator contains the other word, it restores the word to the word before conversion by the masking process.

[0174] (6) The control unit 110 executes a plurality of processes as synchronous processes.

[0175] (7) The control unit 110 executes a plurality of processes as asynchronous processes.

[0176] (8) The contact center support system 100 is a system that supports a contact center and includes a control unit 110 that executes multiple processes for communication between an operator of the contact center and a customer, the communication including a telephone call between the operator and the customer, the multiple processes including at least a voice recognition process that recognizes at least the content of the customer's speech from the voice of the telephone call, an emotion recognition process that recognizes at least the emotion of the customer from the voice of the telephone call, and an emotion synthesis process that analyzes the voice of the telephone call and relaxes or disables parameters that determine the emotion of the customer in the voice and resynthesizes the voice, the parameters including at least the pitch of the voice representing the tone of the customer's speech or the volume of the voice representing the volume of the customer's voice, and the control unit 110 executes each process included in the multiple processes in parallel at the same time.

[0177] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented using any components without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0178] The above-mentioned embodiments, examples, and modifications are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these contents as long as the characteristics of the invention are not impaired. In addition, although various embodiments, examples, and modifications have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these contents. Other aspects that are conceivable within the scope of the technical idea of ​​the present invention are also included in the scope of the present invention.

[0179] In the above figures, the control lines and information lines are shown as those considered necessary for the explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines in the actual implementation. For example, it may be considered that almost all the components are actually connected to each other.

[0180] The above-described arrangement of the functional units of the contact center support system 100 is merely an example. The arrangement of the functional units may be changed to an optimal arrangement in terms of the performance, processing efficiency, communication efficiency, and the like of the hardware and software included in the contact center support system 100. [Explanation of symbols]

[0181] 100: Contact center support system

Claims

1. A contact center support system that supports a contact center, comprising: a control unit that executes a plurality of processes for communication between an operator of the contact center and a customer; the communication includes a call between the operator and the customer; The plurality of processes include: A voice recognition process for recognizing at least the contents of the customer's speech from the voice of the call; An emotion recognition process for recognizing at least an emotion of the customer from the voice of the call; A filtering process for filtering the speech content of the customer and / or the operator in the call. At least The control unit executes each process included in the plurality of processes in parallel at the same time. Contact center support system.

2. A response to the customer in the call is made by a voice bot that speaks the contents of the text entered by the operator or by the operator's speech; The control unit plays a standby voice when no input of text or voice by the operator is detected for a predetermined time during the call. The contact center support system according to claim 1 .

3. A response to the customer in the call is made by the voicebot speaking; The voice of the voice bot is subjected to a voice synthesis process so that the voice has the same tone as the standby voice, and is played back after the standby voice is played back. The contact center support system according to claim 2 .

4. A response to the customer during the call is made by the operator's speech, The operator's speech is subjected to a voice synthesis process and / or a voice conversion process so that the speech has the same tone as the standby voice, and is reproduced continuously after the standby voice is reproduced. The contact center support system according to claim 2 .

5. The speech recognition process includes converting the customer's speech in the call into text; The filtering process further includes a masking process for, when a predetermined word is included in the description of the text, converting the word into another word to present the text to the operator in a form in which the content represented by the word is concealed; When the control unit responds to the customer by speech of the voicebot, if the other word is included in the text input by the operator, the control unit restores the word to the word before conversion by the masking process. The contact center support system according to claim 3.

6. The contact center support system according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit executes the plurality of processes as synchronous processes.

7. The contact center support system according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit executes the plurality of processes as asynchronous processes.

8. A contact center support system that supports a contact center, comprising: a control unit that executes a plurality of processes for communication between an operator of the contact center and a customer; the communication includes a call between the operator and the customer; The plurality of processes include: A voice recognition process for recognizing at least the contents of the customer's speech from the voice of the call; An emotion recognition process for recognizing at least an emotion of the customer from the voice of the call; an emotion synthesis process for analyzing the voice of the call and resynthesizing the voice by relaxing or disabling a parameter that defines the emotion of the customer; At least The parameters are: the pitch of the voice representative of the customer's speaking voice; or a volume of the voice representing the volume of the customer's voice; At least The control unit executes each process included in the plurality of processes in parallel at the same time. Contact center support system.

9. A response to the customer in the call is made by a voicebot that speaks the contents of the text entered by the operator or by the operator's speech; The control unit plays a standby voice when no input of text or voice by the operator is detected for a predetermined time during the call. The contact center support system according to claim 8.

10. A response to the customer in the call is made by the voicebot speaking; The voice of the voice bot is subjected to a voice synthesis process so that the voice has the same tone as the standby voice, and is played back after the standby voice is played back. The contact center support system according to claim 9.

11. A response to the customer during the call is made by the operator's speech, The operator's speech is subjected to a voice synthesis process and / or a voice conversion process so that the speech has the same tone as the standby voice, and is reproduced continuously after the standby voice is reproduced. The contact center support system according to claim 9.

12. The speech recognition process includes converting the customer's speech in the call into text; The filtering process further includes a masking process for, when a predetermined word is included in the description of the text, converting the word into another word to present the text to the operator in a form in which the content represented by the word is concealed; When the control unit responds to the customer by speech of the voicebot, if the other word is included in the text input by the operator, the control unit restores the word to the word before conversion by the masking process. The contact center support system according to claim 10.

13. The contact center support system according to claim 8 , wherein the control unit executes the plurality of processes as synchronous processes.

14. The contact center support system according to claim 8 , wherein the control unit executes the plurality of processes as asynchronous processes.

15. A contact center support method for supporting a contact center, comprising: A computer having at least a processor and a storage device, a control unit that executes a plurality of processes for communication between an operator of the contact center and a customer; the communication includes a call between the operator and the customer; The plurality of processes include: A voice recognition process for recognizing at least the contents of the customer's speech from the voice of the call; an emotion recognition process for recognizing at least the emotion of the customer from the voice of the call; Including, A filtering process for filtering the speech content of the customer and / or the operator in the call; an emotion synthesis process for analyzing the voice of the call and resynthesizing the voice by relaxing or disabling a parameter that defines the emotion of the customer; At least one of the following is included: The control unit executes each process included in the plurality of processes in parallel at the same time. A contact center support method.

Images