Response control device and response control method

Abstract

This response control device comprises: a response method determination unit 14 that determines a scenario to be applied to a chatbot and a scheduled handling operator on the basis of the contents of an inquiry from a user, evaluation information about the response ability of an operator, and operating status information about the operator; a scenario response unit 11 that performs a chatbot process according to the scenario determined by the response method determination unit 14; and an operator connection unit 12 that performs a process to connect to the scheduled handling operator after the performing of the chatbot process. An appropriate combination of the scenario and the scheduled handling operator is identified in accordance not only with the operating status of the operator but also with the contents of the inquiry from the user, to execute an appropriate transition from the chatbot to the operator.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a response control device and a response control method, and more particularly, it is suitable for application to a response system configured such that after a chatbot responds to an inquiry from a user, an operator can continue to respond using the information collected by the chatbot.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, in systems such as call center systems and online customer service systems where an operator provides customer service online (on the Web) via the Internet, the introduction of chatbots that interact with users using voice, text, or option presentation has been promoted. For example, there is a system in which a chatbot first responds to a simple inquiry from a user, and then an operator can respond on behalf of the chatbot as needed.

[0003] When the chatbot responds on behalf of the operator, a waiting operator (an operator who is not currently responding to the inquiry) is searched from among multiple operators, and the searched operator is requested to take over the response. The operator who receives the request takes over the information collected by the chatbot from the chatbot and continues the response of the chatbot.

[0004] Conventionally, in this type of response system, many chatbots have responded according to a pre-designed fixed scenario. In this case, when the chatbot finishes executing the fixed scenario and tries to hand over to the operator, depending on the waiting status of the operator, the handover from the chatbot to the operator may not be smoothly performed.

[0005] On the other hand, there is known a dialogue system that selectively uses scenarios of different lengths according to the operating status of the operator (any of free status, in response, absent) (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the dialogue system described in this Patent Document 1, according to the operating status of the operator, the connection time required until the operator becomes connectable to the next user is specified, and a question scenario whose required time for executing the question scenario fits within the connection time is specified, and the chatbot uses the specified question scenario to ask one or more questions to the user.

[0006] According to the system described in Patent Document 1, when there is an operator who can respond early, the depth of the pre-question by the chatbot can be lowered (or no pre-question is made) to connect the user and the operator early. On the other hand, when there is no operator who can respond early, the time until connection to the operator can be effectively utilized to ask highly in-depth questions by the chatbot, and the number of questions from the operator after connection can be reduced. In this way, by determining the mode of the pre-question according to the operating status of the operator, the total response time of the user can be shortened, and the satisfaction of the user can be improved.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0007]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] However, in the dialogue system described in the above Patent Document 1, only the question scenario is changed according to the operating status of the operator. Therefore, there is a problem that it may not always be possible to transfer to an appropriate operator according to the content of the inquiry, and there is also a problem that it may not always be possible to transfer to the operator after sufficiently collecting information by the chatbot.

[0009] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object thereof is to enable appropriate handover from a chatbot to an operator according to not only the operation status of the operator but also the content of an inquiry from a user.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0010] In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, in a response system configured such that, after a chatbot responds to an inquiry from a user, an operator can continue to respond using information collected by the chatbot, when there is an inquiry from a user, based on the content of the inquiry, evaluation information regarding the response ability of the operator, and the operation status information of the operator, a response method including a scenario to be applied to the chatbot and an operator scheduled to respond after the response by the chatbot is determined.

Effects of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention configured as described above, since the scenario of the chatbot and the selection of the operator scheduled to respond are performed based on the operation status and response ability of the operator, not only the operation status of the operator but also an appropriate combination of the scenario and the operator scheduled to respond can be specified according to the content of the inquiry from the user, and appropriate handover from the chatbot to the operator can be performed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration example of a response system to which the response control device of this embodiment is applied. In the response system of this embodiment, after the response control device 1 responds to an inquiry from a user sent from the user terminal 2 with a chatbot, the information collected by the chatbot is provided to the operator terminal 3, and the operator can continue to respond using the collected information. The operator terminal 3 includes a plurality of operator terminals 3 used by a plurality of operators -1 ,3 -2 ,···,3 -n including.

[0014] The response control device 1 is a server group composed of one server or a plurality of servers connected to the user terminal 2 and the operator terminal 3 via a communication network 100 such as the Internet or a mobile phone network, and performs various processes necessary for the execution of the response by the chatbot and the response by the operator to an inquiry from the user. Here, the response control device 1 first executes the process of the chatbot according to the scenario, and then connects to any operator terminal 3 -i (i is any one of 1 to n) and provides the information collected by the chatbot.

[0015] The user terminal 2 is composed of, for example, a personal computer, a tablet, a smartphone, etc. The user terminal 2 is connected to the response control device 1 via the communication network 100, whereby the user can interact with the chatbot using text or voice. Also, the user terminal 2 is connected to the operator terminal 3 -i via the response control device 1, whereby the user can interact with the operator using text, voice or video.

[0016] The operator terminal 3 is composed of, for example, a personal computer, a tablet, a smartphone, etc. The operator terminal 3 is connected to the response control device 1 via the communication network 100 and provides the response control device 1 with information that can identify the operating status of the operator. Also, the operator terminal 3 is connected to the user terminal 2 via the response control device 1, whereby the operator can interact with the user using text, voice or video. Note that the communication network 100 connecting the response control device 1 and the operator terminal 3 may be a LAN (Local Area Network).

[0017] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of the response control device 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the response control device 1 of the present embodiment includes, as functional components, a scenario response unit 11, an operator connection unit 12, an operating status management unit 13, and a response method determination unit 14. The response method determination unit 14 includes, as specific functional components, an operator search unit 14A and a scenario identification unit 14B. Also, the response control device 1 of the present embodiment includes, as storage media, a scenario storage unit 21, a collected information storage unit 22, an evaluation information storage unit 23, and an operating status storage unit 24.

[0018] The above functional blocks 11 to 14 can be configured by any of hardware, DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or software. For example, when configured by software, the above functional blocks 11 to 14 are actually configured with a computer's CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and are realized by the operation of a program stored in a storage medium such as RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory. Note that it is not necessary for all of the functional blocks 11 to 14 to be provided by a single server, and they may be divided and provided by a plurality of servers.

[0019] The scenario storage unit 21 stores a plurality of scenarios applied to the chatbot. A scenario defines the content of the question-and-answer to be executed by the chatbot until it connects to the operator when there is an inquiry from the user, and includes one or more response texts (including at least one of greetings, questions, answers, statements, etc.).

[0020] Basically, the scenario is designed for the purpose of collecting information from the user by the chatbot until it connects to the operator. The response texts included in the scenario are roughly classified into deep response texts for collecting information directly related to the content of the inquiry from the user and surface response texts for collecting information not directly related to the content of the inquiry from the user. Deep response texts include, for example, response texts for extracting the problems the user has and response texts for collecting information necessary for problem-solving. On the other hand, surface response texts include, for example, response texts for confirming the field to which the content of the inquiry belongs and response texts for collecting formal information such as the user's name, age, and desired response. The response text for confirming the field of the inquiry is, for example, a question text including a plurality of field options, and is configured to allow the user to select any one of the options.

[0021] The scenario memory unit 21 stores scenarios including in-depth response texts (hereinafter referred to as in-depth scenarios), scenarios including response texts for confirming the field of inquiry (hereinafter referred to as field confirmation scenarios), and scenarios including response texts for collecting other formal information (hereinafter referred to as surface scenarios). Regarding in-depth scenarios, a plurality of scenarios are stored for each field of inquiry. Any type of scenario is designed to collect one or more pieces of information from the user by one or more response texts. Note that a scenario may be designed to collect one piece of information per one response text, or may be designed to collect a plurality of pieces of information per one response text.

[0022] The scenario response unit 11 executes the processing of the dialogue by the chatbot based on any one of the plurality of scenarios specified from among the scenarios stored in the scenario memory unit 21. When there is an inquiry from the user, the scenario response unit 11 executes a field confirmation scenario to confirm the field to which the content of the inquiry belongs. Thereafter, the scenario response unit 11 executes either an in-depth scenario corresponding to the confirmed field or a surface scenario irrelevant to the field. Which scenario to execute is determined by the response method determination unit 14 (details thereof will be described later).

[0023] The scenario response unit 11 stores the information collected from the user terminal 2 by executing the scenario by the chatbot in the collection information memory unit 22. That is, the scenario response unit 11 provides one response text to the user terminal 2 and stores the information obtained from the user terminal 2 as its reply in the collection information memory unit 22. The scenario response unit 11 sequentially stores the information obtained from the user terminal 2 in the collection information memory unit 22 by repeating the same processing for one or more response texts included in the scenario.

[0024] After the execution of the scenario by the scenario response unit 11 is completed, the operator connection unit 12 transmits the collection information stored in the collection information memory unit 22 during the execution of the scenario to the operator terminal 3 -i and then between the user terminal 2 and the operator terminal 3-i Connect them. A plurality of operator terminals 3 -1 , 3 -2 , ···, 3 -n Among them, which operator terminal 3 -i to connect to is determined by the response method determination unit 14 (details regarding this will be described later). As described above, the user of the user terminal 2 connected by the operator connection unit 12 and the operator of the operator terminal 3 -i can communicate with each other using text, voice, or video.

[0025] The evaluation information storage unit 23 stores in advance evaluation information regarding the response ability of each operator. The response ability of an operator indicates in which fields of inquiries the operator has sufficient information collection ability. The information collection ability includes a problem extraction ability and an ability to collect information necessary for problem solving. The evaluation information is information indicating the fields in which the operator is evaluated to have sufficient information collection ability. This evaluation is performed manually, and the evaluation result is stored in the evaluation information storage unit 23 as evaluation information. When there are multiple fields in which a single operator is evaluated to have sufficient information collection ability, information indicating the multiple fields is stored in the evaluation information storage unit 23 as the evaluation information of that operator.

[0026] The operation status storage unit 24 stores operation status information indicating the operation status of the operator regarding the conversation with the user. The operation status of the operator is, for example, either "responding" set when having a conversation with the user or "not responding" set when not having a conversation with the user. Note that the classification of the operation status is not limited to this. For example, it may be any of "responding" set when having a conversation with the user, "post-processing" set when performing post-processing related to the conversation with the user after the conversation ends, or "waiting" set when neither having a conversation with the user nor performing post-processing and being able to start responding immediately.

[0027] The operation status management unit 13 sequentially updates and manages the operation status information stored in the operation status storage unit 24 for each operator. For example, the operation status management unit 13 acquires information that can identify the operation status of an operator from the operator terminal 3, and updates the operation status information in the operation status storage unit 24 based on the acquired information. For example, it is possible to display a user interface on the operator terminal 3 that allows the classification of the operation status to be selected by an operator, and transmit the classification information selected through the operation on the user interface from the operator terminal 3 to the operation status management unit 13.

[0028] As another example, the operation status management unit 13 monitors the operation status of the operator connection unit 12, recognizes the operation status of the operator corresponding to the operator terminal 3 connected to the user terminal 2 by the operator connection unit 12 as "responding", and recognizes the operation status of the operator corresponding to the operator terminal 3 not connected to the user terminal 2 as "not responded". Also, the operation status of the operator corresponding to the operator terminal 3 within a predetermined time after the connection to the user terminal 2 is disconnected may be recognized as "under post-processing", and the operation status of the operator corresponding to the operator terminal 3 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the connection was disconnected may be recognized as "waiting".

[0029] When there is an inquiry from a user to the chatbot, the response method determination unit 14 determines a response method including the scenario to be applied to the chatbot and the operator (hereinafter referred to as the operator to be scheduled) who is scheduled to respond after the response in the chatbot based on the content of the inquiry (the field confirmed by the execution of the field confirmation scenario), the evaluation information of the operator stored in the evaluation information storage unit 23, and the operation status information of the operator stored in the operation status storage unit 24.

[0030] The response method determination unit 14 executes the processes of the operator search unit 14A and the scenario identification unit 14B to determine the response method. When there is an inquiry from a user, the operator search unit 14A searches for an operator who can handle it as a scheduled operator based on the operation status information of the operators stored in the operation status storage unit 24. An operator who can handle it means, for example, an operator who can respond in as short a time as possible from the end of the execution of the chatbot scenario. For example, the operator search unit 14A searches for an operator whose operation status is set to "unhandled" or "waiting" as an operator who can handle it. Note that this search may be performed after the field of the inquiry has been confirmed by the execution of the field confirmation scenario by the scenario response unit 11.

[0031] Here, when a plurality of operators corresponding to the above classification are searched, the operator search unit 14A selects any one of them. For example, it selects randomly. On the other hand, when no corresponding operator is searched, the operator search unit 14A searches for an operator whose operation status is set to "handling" or "post-processing" as a scheduled operator. In this case, after the execution of the chatbot scenario by the scenario response unit 11 is completed, the operator connection unit 12 waits until it can confirm that the operation status of the scheduled operator has changed to "unhandled" or "waiting", and then connects to the operator terminal 3 of the scheduled operator. -i to make a connection.

[0032] The scenario identification unit 14B identifies a scenario to be applied to the chatbot based on the content of the inquiry (the field confirmed by the execution of the field confirmation scenario) and the evaluation information of the scheduled operator searched by the operator search unit 14A. Here, the scenario identification unit 14B determines whether the scheduled operator can respond to the content of the inquiry based on the evaluation information of the scheduled operator. If it is determined that the operator can respond, it identifies a superficial scenario, while if it is determined that the operator cannot respond, it identifies a deep scenario.

[0033] That is, the scenario identification unit 14B determines whether the field of the inquiry confirmed by the execution of the field confirmation scenario matches the field indicated by the evaluation information of the operator scheduled to respond stored in the evaluation information storage unit 23. When the fields match, the scenario identification unit 14B identifies the superficial scenario on the assumption that the operator scheduled to respond has the ability to respond to the content of the inquiry from the user (has the ability to collect necessary and sufficient information). Since the time required to execute the superficial scenario is shorter than that of the deep scenario, it is possible to shorten the dialogue with the chatbot as much as possible and connect to an operator with sufficient response ability.

[0034] Note that when the fields match, the execution of the superficial scenario may also be skipped, and the operator terminal 3 of the operator scheduled to respond -i and the user terminal 2 may be connected by the operator connection unit 12. In this case, the operator of the operator terminal 3 -i collects formal information in addition to extracting issues and collecting information necessary for issue resolution through dialogue with the user.

[0035] On the other hand, when the fields do not match, the scenario identification unit 14B identifies the deep scenario on the assumption that the operator scheduled to respond does not have sufficient ability to respond to the content of the inquiry from the user. As described above, the deep scenario is a scenario including a response sentence for extracting issues that the user has, a response sentence for collecting information necessary for issue resolution, and the like. Since the information collected by the execution of this deep scenario is provided to the operator scheduled to respond, even an operator with low information collection ability in the relevant field can take over from the chatbot and respond.

[0036] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the response control device 1 according to the present embodiment configured as described above. The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 starts when an inquiry is made from the user terminal 2 to the chatbot of the response control device 1.

[0037] First, the operator search unit 14A searches for an operator who can handle the inquiry as the operator to be assigned based on the operation status information of the operators stored in the operation status storage unit 24 (step S1). Next, the scenario response unit 11 confirms the field to which the content of the inquiry belongs by executing the field confirmation scenario (step S2). That is, the scenario response unit 11 sends a response sentence for confirming the field of the inquiry to the user terminal 2 and obtains information indicating the field from the user terminal 2 as a reply. Note that the processes of step S1 and step S2 may be performed in reverse order.

[0038] Next, the scenario identification unit 14B determines whether the operator to be assigned can respond to the content of the inquiry from the user based on the field of the inquiry confirmed by executing the field confirmation scenario and the evaluation information of the operator to be assigned stored in the evaluation information storage unit 23 (the fields evaluated as having sufficient information collection ability) (step S3).

[0039] Here, when it is determined that the operator to be assigned can respond, the scenario identification unit 14B identifies the superficial scenario (step S4). On the other hand, when it is determined that the operator to be assigned cannot respond, the scenario identification unit 14B identifies the deep scenario (step S5). When the scenario is identified by the scenario identification unit 14B, the scenario response unit 11 executes the identified scenario (steps S6 to S9).

[0040] That is, the scenario response unit 11 sends the response sentences included in the identified scenario to the user terminal 2 (step S6), obtains the answer information from the user terminal 2 as a reply (step S7), and stores the obtained answer information in the collection information storage unit 22 (step S8). Then, the scenario response unit 11 determines whether all the response sentences included in the identified scenario have been sent to the user terminal 2 (step S9). If there are still unsent response sentences, it returns to step S6.

[0041] When all the response texts included in the specified scenario have been sent to the user terminal 2, that is, when the execution of the scenario has ended, the operator connection unit 12 determines whether it is possible to connect to the operator terminal 3 of the operator scheduled to respond searched in step S1 (step S10). Here, it is determined whether the operation status of the operator scheduled to respond is "unresponded" or "waiting". If the operation status is not "unresponded" or "waiting", the determination in step S10 is repeated until it becomes so. -i When the operator connection unit 12 determines that it is possible to connect to the operator terminal 3 of the operator scheduled to respond, the collected information stored in the collected information storage unit 22 during the execution of the scenario is sent to the operator terminal 3 of the operator scheduled to respond (step S11), and the user terminal 2 and the operator terminal 3

[0042] are connected (step S12). Thereby, the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 ends. Note that the connection between the user terminal 2 and the operator terminal 3 -i is disconnected by an operation of the user or the operator after the end of the dialogue. -i Note that the example in which the scenario specified by the scenario specifying unit 14B in step S4 or step S5 is executed to the end has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a loop process may be formed so as to return from step S9 to step S1, and each time one response text is sent to the user terminal 2 to obtain an answer, the search for the operator scheduled to respond and the specification of the scenario may be re-executed. Here, the process of step S2 is omitted in the loop process after the second time. -i Note that the example in which the scenario specified by the scenario specifying unit 14B in step S4 or step S5 is executed to the end has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a loop process may be formed so as to return from step S9 to step S1, and each time one response text is sent to the user terminal 2 to obtain an answer, the search for the operator scheduled to respond and the specification of the scenario may be re-executed. Here, the process of step S2 is omitted in the loop process after the second time. -i Note that the example in which the scenario specified by the scenario specifying unit 14B in step S4 or step S5 is executed to the end has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a loop process may be formed so as to return from step S9 to step S1, and each time one response text is sent to the user terminal 2 to obtain an answer, the search for the operator scheduled to respond and the specification of the scenario may be re-executed. Here, the process of step S2 is omitted in the loop process after the second time.

[0043] Note that the example in which the scenario specified by the scenario specifying unit 14B in step S4 or step S5 is executed to the end has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a loop process may be formed so as to return from step S9 to step S1, and each time one response text is sent to the user terminal 2 to obtain an answer, the search for the operator scheduled to respond and the specification of the scenario may be re-executed. Here, the process of step S2 is omitted in the loop process after the second time.

[0044] As described in detail above, in the present embodiment, in a response system configured such that after a chatbot responds to an inquiry from a user, an operator can continue to respond using the information collected by the chatbot, when there is an inquiry from a user, based on the content of the inquiry, evaluation information regarding the response ability of the operator, and the operating status information of the operator, a response method including a scenario to be applied to the chatbot and an operator scheduled to respond after the response by the chatbot is determined.

[0045] According to the present embodiment configured as described above, unlike the prior art in which long and short scenarios are selected based on the operating status of the operator, the scenario of the chatbot and the scheduled operator to respond are selected based on the operating status and response ability of the operator. Therefore, not only the operating status of the operator but also according to the content of the inquiry from the user, an appropriate combination of the scenario and the scheduled operator to respond can be specified, and the handover from the chatbot to the operator can be appropriately performed.

[0046] (First Modified Example) In the above embodiment, even when it is determined that the operator searched as the scheduled operator to respond by the operator search unit 14A is not able to respond to the content of the inquiry from the user, an example in which after executing the in-depth scenario, the scheduled operator continues to respond on behalf of the chatbot has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when it is determined that the scheduled operator is not able to respond to the content of the inquiry from the user, another operator who can respond (not necessarily an operator who can respond immediately depending on the operating status) may be searched again as the scheduled operator to respond.

[0047] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of the response control device 1' according to the first modification. In FIG. 4, components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 have the same functions, and thus duplicate explanations are omitted here. As shown in FIG. 4, the response control device 1' according to the first modification includes a response method determination unit 14' instead of the response method determination unit 14. The response method determination unit 14' includes an operator search unit 14A' and a scenario identification unit 14B' instead of the operator search unit 14A and the scenario identification unit 14B.

[0048] When there is an inquiry from the user, the operator search unit 14A' first searches for an operator who can handle it as a scheduled operator based on the operation status information of the operators stored in the operation status storage unit 24. This is the same as the operator search unit 14A described in the above embodiment. That is, the operator search unit 14A' searches for an operator whose operation status is set to "unhandled" or "waiting" as a scheduled operator.

[0049] Based on the content of the inquiry (the field confirmed by executing the field confirmation scenario) and the evaluation information of the scheduled operator searched by the operator search unit 14A', the scenario identification unit 14B' determines whether the scheduled operator can respond to the content of the inquiry. If it is determined that the operator can respond, a scenario with a small number of responses is identified. On the other hand, if it is determined that the operator cannot respond, a scenario with a large number of responses is identified.

[0050] Here, a scenario with a small number of responses is basically a superficial scenario, but among them, a scenario with a particularly small number of response sentences included in the scenario is identified. For example, a superficial scenario designed to collect multiple pieces of information per response sentence is a scenario with a smaller number of responses than a superficial scenario designed to collect one piece of information per response sentence. Note that even if it is a deep scenario, if the number of responses is small, it can be the target of identification here. Identifying a scenario with a small number of responses is to enable the switch from the chatbot to the operator to be made as soon as possible.

[0051] On the other hand, a scenario with a large number of responses is basically a deep scenario, but it is not necessarily a deep scenario. In the first modification example, since another operator who can respond to the user's inquiry is re-searched as the operator to be assigned, it is not essential to collect deep information with the chatbot. For example, a scenario identified by the scenario identification unit 14B' when it is determined that the operator to be assigned cannot respond to the content of the inquiry may be a superficial scenario with many response sentences included.

[0052] When the operator search unit 14A' is determined by the scenario identification unit 14B' that the operator to be assigned cannot respond to the inquiry, based on the content of the inquiry (the field confirmed by the execution of the field confirmation scenario) and the evaluation information of the operator stored in the evaluation information storage unit 23, it re-searches for an operator who can respond to the content of the inquiry as the operator to be assigned.

[0053] As described above, in this case, the scenario identification unit 14B' identifies a scenario with a large number of responses. The operator to be assigned re-searched from the perspective of response ability can respond to the user's inquiry, but there is a possibility that it cannot respond immediately from the perspective of the operating status. Identifying a scenario with a large number of responses is to make use of the time until the re-searched operator to be assigned becomes available.

[0054] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the response control device 1' according to the first modified example configured as described above. The flowchart shown in FIG. 5 starts when an inquiry is made to the chatbot of the response control device 1' from the user terminal 2. In addition, in FIG. 5, since the processes with the same step numbers as those shown in FIG. 3 are the same, duplicate explanations are omitted here.

[0055] In step S3 of FIG. 5, when it is determined by the scenario identification unit 14B' that the scheduled operator retrieved in step S1 is capable of responding to the inquiry from the user, the scenario identification unit 14B' identifies a scenario with a small number of responses (step S21).

[0056] On the other hand, when it is determined by the scenario identification unit 14B' that the scheduled operator retrieved in step S1 is not capable of responding to the inquiry from the user, the scenario identification unit 14B' identifies a scenario with a large number of responses (step S22). Further, the operator search unit 14A' re-searches for an operator capable of responding to the content of the inquiry as the scheduled operator based on the evaluation information of the operator stored in the evaluation information storage unit 23 (step S23).

[0057] After the process of step S21 or step S23 is executed, the processes of steps S6 to S12 are executed, and the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 ends. Note that a loop process may be formed to return from step S9 to step S1, and each time one response sentence is sent to the user terminal 2 to obtain an answer, the search for the scheduled operator and the identification of the scenario may be re-executed.

[0058] (Second Modified Example) In the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which when there is an inquiry from a user, first, an operator who can respond is searched from the perspective of the operating status of the operator, and then it is determined whether the operator scheduled to respond can respond to the content of the inquiry from the user. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when there is an inquiry from a user, first, an operator who can respond to the inquiry is searched from the perspective of the response ability of the operator, and then a scenario may be specified from the perspective of the operating status of the operator scheduled to respond that has been searched.

[0059] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of the response control device 1” according to the second modification. In this FIG. 6, those denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. 2 have the same functions, and thus redundant explanations are omitted here. As shown in FIG. 6, the response control device 1” according to the second modification includes a response method determination unit 14” instead of the response method determination unit 14. The response method determination unit 14” includes an operator search unit 14A”, a first response method specification unit 14C, and a second response method specification unit 14D instead of the operator search unit 14A and the scenario specification unit 14B.

[0060] When there is an inquiry from a user, the operator search unit 14A” searches for an operator who can respond to the content of the inquiry based on the content of the inquiry and the evaluation information of the operator stored in the evaluation information storage unit 23. That is, the operator search unit 14A” searches for an operator whose field of the inquiry confirmed by the execution of the field confirmation scenario matches the field indicated by the evaluation information stored in the evaluation information storage unit 23 as the operator scheduled to respond. Here, when a plurality of corresponding operators are searched, the operator search unit 14A” selects any one of them. For example, it selects randomly.

[0061] When the operator search unit 14A searches for an operator who can respond, the first response method specifying unit 14C determines whether it is possible to respond within a predetermined time based on the operation status information stored in the operation status storage unit 24 for the searched operator. If it is possible to respond, the searched operator is specified as the operator to be responded to, and a scenario with a small number of responses is specified.

[0062] For example, when the operation status of the operator is set to "unresponded" or "waiting", the first response method specifying unit 14C determines that it is possible to respond within a predetermined time. Alternatively, the operation status management unit 13 not only manages the operation status of each operator as the classification described above, but also manages the remaining estimated time required until the operator becomes able to respond, and determines that it is possible to respond when the remaining estimated time is equal to or less than the predetermined time.

[0063] The method of managing the remaining estimated time required until the operator becomes able to respond is arbitrary. For example, when the information collected by the chatbot is sent to the operator terminal 3 by the operator connection unit 12, a user interface that allows the operator to input the estimated time required for the operator to respond is displayed on the operator terminal 3, and the estimated time required input by the operator through the operation on the user interface is sent from the operator terminal 3 -i to the operation status management unit 13. The operator may check the information collected by the chatbot sent by the operator connection unit 12 and input the estimated time required until a series of responses to be made to the user are completed. Then, the operation status management unit 13 sequentially updates the remaining estimated time by sequentially subtracting the elapsed time from the estimated time required. -i from the operation status management unit 13. The operator may check the information collected by the chatbot sent by the operator connection unit 12 and input the estimated time required until a series of responses to be made to the user are completed. Then, the operation status management unit 13 sequentially updates the remaining estimated time by sequentially subtracting the elapsed time from the estimated time required.

[0064] As another example, a plurality of combinations of information collected by the chatbot and the actual time required for the operator's response are prepared as learning data, and using this learning data, a prediction model is generated such that a predicted time required is output when the collected information is input. The operation status management unit 13 may use the prediction model to obtain the predicted time required, and sequentially update the predicted remaining time until the operator becomes available by sequentially subtracting the elapsed time from the obtained predicted time required.

[0065] When the second response method specifying unit 14D fails to search for an operator who can respond by the operator search unit 14A", or when it is determined that the operator who can respond searched by the operator search unit 14A" cannot respond within a predetermined time, based on the operation status information of the operator stored in the operation status storage unit 24, another operator who can respond is searched as the operator scheduled to respond, and a deep scenario or a scenario with a large number of responses is specified. For example, when no operator who can respond is searched, the second response method specifying unit 14D specifies a deep scenario, and when it is determined that the operator who can respond cannot respond within a predetermined time, the second response method specifying unit 14D specifies a scenario with a large number of responses.

[0066] In the case of the second modification example, in the operator search unit 14A", the search for the operator scheduled to respond is performed from the viewpoint of response ability without considering the operation status of the operator. Therefore, it is basically not the case that no operator who can respond is searched. However, when classifications such as "away", "on break", and "holiday" are added and managed as operation status classifications, and operators with this classification are excluded from the search target, it is possible that no operator who can respond is searched.

[0067] If no operator capable of responding to the content of the inquiry is found, an operator with insufficient ability to respond to the content of the inquiry will respond in place of the chatbot. Therefore, in this case, a deep scenario is identified and the chatbot process is executed. On the other hand, if an operator capable of responding to the content of the inquiry is found but is determined not to be able to respond within a predetermined time, in order to gain time until the operator becomes available, a scenario with a large number of responses is identified and the chatbot process is executed.

[0068] Here, when a plurality of operators capable of responding to the content of the inquiry are retrieved by the operator retrieval unit 14A, an example of randomly selecting any one of them has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, based on the operation status information of the retrieved plurality of operators, an operator who can respond within a predetermined time may be selected. When an operator who can respond within a predetermined time can be selected, the first response method specifying unit 14C specifies the selected operator as the operator to be scheduled to respond and specifies a scenario with a small number of responses.

[0069] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the response control device 1 according to the second modification configured as described above. The flowchart shown in FIG. 7 starts when an inquiry is made from the user terminal 2 to the chatbot of the response control device 1. In FIG. 7, the processes with the same step numbers as those shown in FIG. 3 are the same, and thus redundant descriptions are omitted here.

[0070] First, the scenario response unit 11 confirms the field to which the content of the inquiry belongs by executing a field confirmation scenario (step S31). Next, the operator retrieval unit 14A retrieves an operator capable of responding to the content of the inquiry based on the content of the inquiry from the user (the field of the inquiry confirmed by executing the field confirmation scenario) and the evaluation information of the operator stored in the evaluation information storage unit 23 (step S32).

[0071] Here, the first response method specifying unit 14C determines whether an operator who can respond has been searched for by the operator search unit 14A (step S33). When an operator who can respond has been searched for, the first response method specifying unit 14C determines whether the searched operator can respond within a predetermined time based on the operation status information stored in the operation status storage unit 24 for the searched operator (step S34). Here, when it is determined that the searched operator can respond within a predetermined time, the first response method specifying unit 14C specifies the operator as the operator scheduled to respond and specifies a scenario with a small number of responses (step S35).

[0072] In step S33 above, when the first response method specifying unit 14C determines that an operator who can respond has not been searched for, or in step S34 above, when the first response method specifying unit 14C determines that the searched operator who can respond cannot respond within a predetermined time, the second response method specifying unit 14D searches for another operator who can respond as the operator scheduled to respond based on the operation status information of the operators stored in the operation status storage unit 24 (step S36), and specifies a deep scenario or a scenario with a large number of responses (step S37).

[0073] After the processing of step S35 or step S37 is executed, the processing of steps S6 to S12 is executed, and the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 ends. Note that a loop process may be formed so as to return from step S9 to step S31, and each time one response sentence is transmitted to the user terminal 2 to obtain an answer, the search for the operator scheduled to respond and the specification of the scenario may be re-executed.

[0074] In the above-described embodiments and each modification example, as evaluation information regarding the operator's response ability, an example has been described in which information indicating in which field inquiries can be answered with sufficient information collection ability, that is, information indicating the field in which the operator is evaluated as having sufficient information collection ability is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, evaluation information indicating whether the operator has high information collection ability regardless of the field may be used. For example, the result of evaluating the operator from the viewpoints of the ability to understand the other party's speech, the ability to ask questions to the other party, the amount of actual response experience, the amount of knowledge, etc. may be used as evaluation information. When such evaluation information is used, it is possible to omit the execution of the field confirmation scenario when there is an inquiry from the user.

[0075] Further, in the above-described embodiment, the remaining estimated time required until the specified operator to be responded to becomes capable of corresponding to the dialogue with the user may be managed, and a scenario having a required time close to the remaining estimated time may be specified.

[0076] In addition, each of the above-described embodiments and each modification example is merely an example of a specific implementation in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner by these. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist or the main features thereof.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0077] 1, 1’, 1” Response control device 2 User terminal 3 Operator terminal 11 Scenario response unit 12 Operator connection unit 13 Operation status management unit 14, 14’, 14” Response method determination unit 14A, 14A’, 14” Operator search unit 14B, 14B’ Scenario identification unit 14C First response method identification unit 14D Second response method identification unit 21 Scenario Memory Unit 22 Collected Information Memory Unit 23 Evaluation Information Memory Unit 24 Operating Status Memory Unit

Claims

1. A response control device applied to a response system in which, after a chatbot responds to an inquiry from a user, an operator can continue to respond using information collected by the chatbot, an evaluation information storage unit that stores evaluation information regarding the response ability of the operator for each of the operators in advance; an operation status management unit that sequentially updates and manages operation status information indicating an operation status of the operator for each of the operators; a response method determination unit that, when an inquiry is made from the user, determines a response method including a scenario to be applied to the chatbot and an operator scheduled to respond after a response by the chatbot based on the content of the inquiry, evaluation information of the operator, and operating status information of the operator, The response method determination unit is an operator search unit that searches for an available operator as a scheduled responding operator based on the operating status information of the operator when an inquiry is received from the user; a scenario specification unit that specifies a scenario to be applied to the chatbot based on the content of the inquiry and the evaluation information of the scheduled responding operator searched for by the operator search unit. A response control device comprising:

2. The response control device described in claim 1, characterized in that the scenario identification unit determines whether the operator scheduled to respond is able to respond to the content of the inquiry based on evaluation information of the operator scheduled to respond, and if it is determined that the operator is able to respond, identifies a superficial scenario for collecting superficial information regarding the inquiry from the user, while if it is determined that the operator is not able to respond, identifies a deep scenario for collecting deep information regarding the inquiry from the user.

3. The scenario identification unit determines whether the scheduled operator can respond to the content of the inquiry based on evaluation information of the scheduled operator, and if it is determined that the scheduled operator can respond, identifies a scenario with a small number of responses, whereas if it is determined that the scheduled operator cannot respond, identifies a scenario with a large number of responses; When the scenario identification unit determines that the operator is not capable of responding, the operator search unit searches again for an operator capable of responding to the content of the inquiry as the scheduled operator based on the evaluation information of the operator stored in the evaluation information storage unit.

2. The response control device according to claim 1,

4. A response control device applied to a response system in which, after a chatbot responds to an inquiry from a user, an operator can continue to respond using information collected by the chatbot, an evaluation information storage unit that stores evaluation information regarding the response ability of the operator for each of the operators in advance; an operation status management unit that sequentially updates and manages operation status information indicating an operation status of the operator for each of the operators; a response method determination unit that, when an inquiry is made from the user, determines a response method including a scenario to be applied to the chatbot and an operator scheduled to respond after a response by the chatbot based on the content of the inquiry, evaluation information of the operator, and operating status information of the operator, The response method determination unit is an operator search unit that searches for an operator who can respond to the content of an inquiry from the user based on the content of the inquiry and evaluation information of the operator; a first response method identification unit that, when the operator search unit has searched for the operator capable of responding, determines whether the searched operator is capable of responding within a predetermined time based on operating status information of the searched operator, and, if the operator is capable of responding, identifies the searched operator as an operator scheduled to respond, and also identifies a scenario with a small number of responses; and a second response method specification unit that, when the operator search unit does not search for an operator capable of responding, or when it is determined that the operator searched for by the operator search unit is not capable of responding within a predetermined time, searches for another operator capable of responding as the scheduled operator based on operating status information of the operator, and specifies a deep scenario for collecting deep information regarding the inquiry from the user or a scenario with a large number of responses. A response control device comprising:

5. A method for controlling a response in a response system in which a chatbot responds to an inquiry from a user and then an operator can continue to respond using information collected by the chatbot, comprising: A first step in which a response method determination unit of a response control device, when receiving an inquiry from the user, determines a response method including a scenario to be applied to the chatbot and an operator scheduled to respond after the response by the chatbot based on the content of the inquiry, evaluation information on the response ability of the operator, and operating status information indicating the operating status of the operator; A second step in which a scenario response unit of the response control device executes processing of the chatbot according to the scenario determined by the response method determination unit; and a third step in which an operator connection unit of the response control device executes a process of connecting to the operator determined by the response method determination unit after the scenario response unit executes the process of the chatbot, In the first step, the response method determination unit an operator search process for searching for an available operator as a scheduled operator based on the operating status information of the operator when an inquiry is received from the user; A scenario specification process is executed to specify a scenario to be applied to the chatbot based on the content of the inquiry and the evaluation information of the scheduled responding operator searched for by the operator search process. A response control method comprising:

6. A method for controlling responses in a response system in which, after a chatbot responds to an inquiry from a user, an operator can continue to respond using information collected by the chatbot, comprising: A first step in which a response method determination unit of a response control device, when receiving an inquiry from the user, determines a response method including a scenario to be applied to the chatbot and an operator scheduled to respond after the response by the chatbot based on the content of the inquiry, evaluation information on the response ability of the operator, and operating status information indicating the operating status of the operator; A second step in which a scenario response unit of the response control device executes processing of the chatbot according to the scenario determined by the response method determination unit; and a third step in which an operator connection unit of the response control device executes a process of connecting to the operator determined by the response method determination unit after the scenario response unit executes the process of the chatbot, In the first step, the response method determination unit an operator search process for searching for an operator who can respond to the content of an inquiry from the user based on the content of the inquiry and evaluation information of the operator; a first response method specification process for, when an operator capable of responding is searched for by the operator search process, judging whether or not the searched operator can respond within a predetermined time based on operating status information of the searched operator, and, if the operator can respond, specifying the searched operator as an operator scheduled to respond, and specifying a scenario with a small number of responses; When the operator search process does not find an operator capable of responding, or when the first response method specification process determines that the operator capable of responding searched for by the operator search process is not capable of responding within a predetermined time, a second response method specification process is executed to search for another operator capable of responding as the scheduled responding operator based on the operating status information of the operator, and to specify a deep scenario for collecting deep information regarding the inquiry from the user or a scenario with a large number of responses. A response control method comprising:

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