Method and apparatus for dynamically navigating a dialog communication system

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, and systems for dynamically navigating an interactive communication system are described. An exemplary method may include receiving acoustic or voice information from a user device indicating a request to initiate an interactive communication session with a claimant or merchant's communication system, interpreting the intent of the communication session and an identity of the claimant or merchant based on the acoustic or voice information, obtaining a predefined interaction coding associated with the claimant or merchant, and initiating an interactive communication session with the claimant or merchant's communication system based on the predefined interaction coding.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Exemplary embodiments generally relate to electronic communication technologies, particularly related to virtual assistants, conversational artificial intelligence, and / or chatbots.

Background Art

[0002] In various applications, a user may interact with an interactive communication system (e.g., a claimant or vendor communication system), for example, to obtain information, pay a bill, or resolve a service issue. In one example, an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system is an automated telephone system that provides auditory prompts (e.g., words, tones, numbers, etc.) that a caller can select using their touch-tone phone or by voice. The IVR system can then interpret the caller's input regarding the prompt and route the call through the IVR system to a desired destination (e.g., an automated payment processing center, a manned call center, an automated account status message, etc.). The IVR system can sometimes respond to a caller's spoken question or comment with a voice response by initiating a callback, sending an email, etc. Some IVR systems include or are linked to a chatbot as described above that can generate responses to a caller's questions, sometimes based on a static database of questions and answers and sometimes based on the caller's account information. A chatbot is an interactive conversational software configured to ask a user questions and convey responses to the user. Chatbots are often used by companies to communicate with users on their websites based on a set list of common questions and corresponding answers extracted from its static database and / or sometimes based on the user's account information or personally provided information.

[0003] Conventional systems, methods, and apparatuses incorporating an interactive communication system (e.g., a billing payment system or a banking system) typically require a user to hold and enter authentication evidence or enter personal information before initiating a payment. In other examples, in some conventional techniques, in order to initiate or complete a secure payment or transaction, a user needs to enter some or all of their relevant personally identifying information (PII), billing or account information, transaction information, and payment details (e.g., the name on the user's payment card, payment card number, billing address associated with the user's payment card, expiration date of the user's payment card, card verification value (CVV) printed on the user's payment card, etc.).

[0004] Therefore, interacting with such an interactive communication system (e.g., a chatbot or an IVR system) can be time-consuming and cumbersome for the user. For example, the user may have to respond to multiple prompts and / or questions presented by the interactive communication system to solve a problem, make a payment, contact a human agent, or obtain information. This can lead to a long and costly conversation, increasing the likelihood that the communication session will fail (e.g., the user cannot solve the problem, cannot make the payment, cannot obtain the information, etc.).

[0005] The inventors of the present invention disclosed herein have identified these and other technical problems and developed the solutions described and disclosed herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

[0006] Accordingly, according to an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a method, an apparatus, a system, and a computer program product for implementing, for example, dynamically navigating an interactive response system using a virtual assistant, a conversational artificial intelligence, and / or a chatbot. **Means for Solving the Problem**

[0007] According to a first embodiment, a method is provided. The method includes receiving, from a user device, sound wave or voice information indicating a request to initiate an interactive communication session with a claimant or vendor's communication system; interpreting, based on the sound wave or voice information, the intent of the communication session and the identification information of the claimant or vendor; obtaining a predetermined dialogue coding associated with the claimant or vendor; and initiating, based on the predetermined dialogue coding, an interactive communication session with the claimant or vendor's communication system.

[0008] In some embodiments, the method may further include obtaining, from a database of claimant or vendor dialogue coding information, a predetermined dialogue coding associated with the claimant or vendor based on the intent of the communication session and the identification information of the claimant or vendor.

[0009] In some embodiments, the method may further include obtaining a dialogue map associated with the claimant or vendor, and determining, from the dialogue map, a predetermined dialogue coding based on the intent of the communication session.

[0010] In some embodiments, the method may further include generating, based on the predetermined dialogue coding, one or more tones associated with one or more values from the predetermined dialogue coding, and determining, based on an auditory response from the claimant or vendor's interactive communication system, that the claimant or vendor is ready to communicate directly with the user of the user device.

[0011] In some embodiments, the method can further include providing the user, via the user device, with a notification that an interactive communication session with the claimant or vendor has been initiated.

[0012] In some embodiments, the method includes presenting, on the user device or another user device, an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request to invite the user to participate in a communication session if it is determined that the claimant's or vendor's interactive communication system is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another user device; determining, from the user's response, contact, gesture, or interaction with the user device or another user device, whether the user intends to participate in the interactive communication session; and if it is determined that the user intends to participate in the interactive communication session, permitting the user to participate in the interactive communication session between the user device and the claimant's or vendor's interactive communication system on the user device or another user device.

[0013] In some embodiments, the method can further include receiving a prompt and, based on syntactic analysis of the prompt, providing a tonal or auditory response to the prompt to navigate the interactive communication system based on the intent.

[0014] In some embodiments, the method includes providing an interface that allows the claimant or vendor to make updates and additions, which can be applied to but are not limited to, predetermined dialogue codings, prompts, and intents, to the dialogue map; and confirming to the vendor or claimant, by a confirmation message, of which one possible embodiment is a confirmation email, that the updates and additions were successful.

[0015] In some embodiments, the method can further include, when it is determined that the claimant or vendor is not ready to communicate with the user, determining that a predetermined dialogue coding is incorrect, initiating a second call with the claimant or vendor, dynamically navigating the claimant's or vendor's dialogue map based on the intent, correcting the predetermined dialogue coding based on the dynamic navigation of the dialogue map, and saving the corrected predetermined dialogue coding to the dialogue map.

[0016] In some embodiments, the method can further include, when it is determined that the claimant or vendor is not ready to communicate with the user, determining whether there is no predetermined dialogue coding stored in a database associated with the claimant / vendor, or whether all predetermined dialogue codings stored in the database and associated with the claimant / vendor are assigned to a different intent other than the intent of the communication session, dynamically navigating the claimant's / vendor's interactive communication system based on the intent, generating a new predetermined dialogue coding based on the dynamic navigation of the interactive communication system, and saving the new predetermined dialogue coding to the claimant's / vendor's database.

[0017] In some embodiments, the method can further include providing an auditory response associated with a value from the predetermined dialogue coding based on the predetermined dialogue coding, and determining that an intent-based action was successful based on a response from the claimant's or vendor's interactive communication system.

[0018] According to the second embodiment, a system for dynamically navigating an interactive communication system is provided. The system can include a computing device comprising at least one processor, a user device, and an external computing device. The system receives, by the computing device, sound wave or voice information indicating a request to initiate a communication session with a claimant's or vendor's communication system from the user device, transmits, by the computing device, the sound wave or voice information to the external computing device, identifies, by the external computing device, the intention of the call and the identification information of the vendor or claimant based on the interpretation of the sound wave or voice information, obtains, by the external computing device, an interactive mapping character string associated with the intention of the call, transmits, by the external computing device, the interactive mapping character string to the computing device, receives, by the computing device, the interactive mapping character string, and is configured, by the computing device, to initiate a communication session with the claimant's or vendor's communication system based on the interactive mapping character string.

[0019] In some embodiments, the computing device is further configured to dynamically communicate with the claimant's or vendor's communication system based on the interactive mapping character string.

[0020] In some embodiments, at least one of the computing device, the user device, and the external computing device comprises one or more chatbots.

[0021] In some embodiments, the computing device determines that the communication system is ready to communicate with a user of the user device or another user device, and causes the user device or another user device to present an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request to ask the user to participate in a communication session. When it is determined that the user intends to participate in the communication session, the user device or another user device is further configured to permit the user to participate in a call between the user device and the communication system of the claimant or the seller.

[0022] In some embodiments, the interactive mapping string includes a predetermined dialogue coding that defines a predetermined text response or an auditory response to a prompt received from the communication system of the claimant or the seller.

[0023] In some embodiments, the computing device is further configured to update or modify the dialogue mapping string based on the communication session.

[0024] In some embodiments, the computing device is further configured to update or modify the dialogue mapping string by updating a database associated with the claimant or the seller.

[0025] According to a third embodiment, a method is provided. In some embodiments, the method includes receiving, from a user device, a sound wave or voice information indicating a request to initiate a call with an interactive voice response (IVR) system of a claimant or a seller, interpreting, based on the sound wave or voice information, an intention of the call and identification information of the claimant or the seller, obtaining an IVR string associated with the claimant or the seller, and initiating, based on the IVR string, a call with the IVR system of the claimant or the seller.

[0026] In some embodiments, the method may further include obtaining, from a database of claimant or vendor IVR information, an IVR string associated with the claimant or vendor based on the intent of the call and the identification information of the claimant or vendor.

[0027] In some embodiments, the method may further include obtaining an IVR tree associated with the claimant or vendor and determining an IVR string from the IVR tree based on the intent of the call.

[0028] In some embodiments, the method may further include generating, based on the IVR string, one or more tones associated with one or more values from the IVR string and determining that the claimant or vendor is ready to communicate directly with the user of the user device based on an auditory response from the claimant or vendor's IVR system.

[0029] In some embodiments, the method may further include providing, via the user device, a notification to the user that a call with the claimant or vendor has been initiated.

[0030] In some embodiments, if it is determined that the claimant or vendor's IVR system is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another user device, the method may further include presenting, on the user device or another user device, an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request for the user to participate in the call, determining, from the user's response, contact, gesture, or interaction with the user device or another user device, whether the user intends to participate in the call, and, if it is determined that the user intends to participate in the call, permitting the user to participate in the call between the user device and the claimant or vendor's IVR system on the user device or another user device.

[0031] In some embodiments, the method can further include receiving an IVR prompt and providing a tone response or an audible response to the IVR prompt based on parsing the IVR prompt to navigate the IVR system based on the intent.

[0032] In some embodiments, the method can further include providing an interface by which a claimant or a vendor can make updates and additions to an IVR tree, such as, but not limited to, IVR strings, IVR prompts, and intents, and confirming to the vendor or claimant, by a confirmation message, of which one possible embodiment is a confirmation email, that the updates and additions were successful.

[0033] In some embodiments, the method can further include determining that the IVR string is incorrect and initiating a second call with the claimant or vendor when the claimant or vendor determines that they are not ready to communicate with the user, dynamically navigating the claimant's or vendor's IVR tree based on the intent, correcting the IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR tree, and saving the corrected IVR string to the IVR tree.

[0034] In some embodiments, the method can further include determining that there is no IVR string stored in a database associated with the claimant or vendor, or that all IVR strings stored in the database and associated with the claimant or vendor are assigned to a different intent other than the intent of the call, when the claimant or vendor determines that they are not ready to communicate with the user, dynamically navigating the claimant's or vendor's IVR system based on the intent, generating a new IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR system, and saving the new IVR string to the claimant's or vendor's IVR database.

[0035] In some embodiments, the method may further include inputting a plurality of tones associated with values from the IVR string based on the IVR string, and determining that an intent-based action has been successful based on an auditory response from the claimant's or vendor's IVR system.

[0036] According to a fourth embodiment, another method is provided. The method includes receiving, at a user device, sound waves or voice information indicating a request to initiate a call with an interactive voice response (IVR) system of a claimant or vendor, transmitting the sound waves or voice information to an external computing device configured to interpret the intent of the call and the identification information of the claimant or vendor from the sound waves or voice information, receiving, from the external computing device, an IVR string associated with the claimant's or vendor's IVR system, and initiating a call with the claimant's or vendor's IVR system based on the IVR string.

[0037] In some embodiments, the IVR string associated with the claimant or vendor may be stored in a claimant or vendor IVR database.

[0038] In some embodiments, the method may further include obtaining an IVR system mapping or IVR tree associated with the claimant's or vendor's IVR system, and determining an IVR string from the IVR system mapping or IVR tree based on the intent of the call.

[0039] In some embodiments, the method may further include generating one or more tones associated with one or more values from the IVR string based on the IVR string, and determining that the claimant or vendor is ready to communicate directly with the user of the user device based on an auditory response from the claimant's or vendor's IVR system.

[0040] In some embodiments, the method can further include providing the user, via the user device, a notification that a call with the claimant or vendor has been initiated.

[0041] In some embodiments, the method can further include, when it is determined, via the user device or another user device, that the claimant's or vendor's IVR system is ready to communicate with the user, presenting, on the user device or another user device, an audio or visual prompt indicating a request for the user to participate in the call; determining, from the user's response, contact, gesture, or interaction with the user device or another user device, whether the user intends to participate in the call; and, when it is determined that the user intends to participate in the call, permitting the user to participate in the call between the user device and the claimant's or vendor's IVR system on the user device or another user device.

[0042] In some embodiments, the method can further include receiving an IVR prompt and, based on parsing the IVR prompt, providing a tonal response to the IVR prompt and navigating an IVR tree based on the intent.

[0043] In some embodiments, the method can further include providing an interface that enables the claimant or vendor to perform updates and additions, such as, but not limited to, IVR strings, IVR prompts, and intents, to the IVR tree; and confirming to the claimant or vendor, via a confirmation message, such as, but not limited to, a confirmation email, that the updates and additions were successful.

[0044] In some embodiments, the method may further include, when it is determined that the claimant or vendor is not ready to communicate with the user, determining that the IVR string is incorrect and initiating a second call with the claimant or vendor; dynamically navigating the claimant's or vendor's IVR tree based on the intent; correcting the IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR tree; and saving the corrected IVR string to the IVR tree.

[0045] In some embodiments, the method may further include, when it is determined that the claimant or vendor is not ready to communicate with the user, determining whether there is no IVR string stored in the database associated with the claimant / vendor, or whether all IVR strings stored in the database and associated with the claimant / vendor are assigned to a different intent other than the intent of the call; dynamically navigating the claimant's / vendor's IVR system based on the intent; generating a new IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR system; and saving the new IVR string to the claimant's / vendor's IVR database.

[0046] In some embodiments, the method may further include inputting a plurality of tones associated with values from the IVR string based on the IVR string, and determining that the intent-based action was successful based on the auditory response from the claimant's or vendor's IVR system.

[0047] According to the fifth embodiment, an apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory storing program code. The memory and the program code, together with the processor, are configured to at least receive, in a user device, sound waves or voice information indicating a request to initiate a call with an interactive voice response (IVR) system of a claimant or a vendor, interpret the call intent and the identification information of the claimant or the vendor based on the sound waves or voice information, obtain an IVR string associated with the claimant or the vendor, and initiate a call with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor based on the IVR string.

[0048] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, may be further configured to obtain, from a database of claimant or vendor IVR information, an IVR string associated with the claimant or the vendor based on the call intent and the identification information of the claimant or the vendor.

[0049] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, may be further configured to obtain an IVR tree associated with the claimant or the vendor and determine an IVR string based on the call intent from the IVR tree.

[0050] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, may be further configured to input at least one tone associated with one or more values from the IVR string based on the IVR string and determine that the claimant or the vendor is ready to communicate directly with the user of the user device based on an auditory response from the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor.

[0051] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, may be further configured to provide a notification to the user that a call with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor has been initiated via the user device.

[0052] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, is further configured to cause a user device or another user device to present an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request to ask the user to participate in a call, at least when it is determined that an IVR system of the claimant or vendor is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another user device, determine whether the user intends to participate in the call from the user's response, contact, gesture, or interaction with the user device or another user device, and, when it is determined that the user intends to participate in the call, further permit the user to participate in a call between the user device and the IVR system of the claimant or vendor on the user device or another user device.

[0053] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, is further configured to receive an IVR prompt and provide a tone response to the IVR prompt based on syntactic analysis of the IVR prompt and, based on the intent, further navigate an IVR tree.

[0054] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, is further configured to provide an interface through which a claimant or vendor can perform updates and additions, which may be applied to, but are not limited to, IVR strings, IVR prompts, and intents, to an IVR tree and further confirm to the claimant, by a confirmation message, of which one possible embodiment is a confirmation email, that the updates and additions were successful.

[0055] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to at least determine that the IVR string is incorrect if the claimant or vendor is determined to not be ready to communicate with the user, initiate a second call with the claimant / vendor, dynamically navigate the claimant's or vendor's IVR tree based on the intent, correct the IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR tree, and store the corrected IVR string in the IVR tree.

[0056] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to at least determine that if the claimant or vendor is determined to not be ready to communicate with the user, there is no IVR string stored in a database associated with the claimant / vendor, or that all IVR strings stored in the database and associated with the claimant / vendor are assigned to a different intent other than the intent of the call, dynamically navigate the claimant's or vendor's IVR system based on the intent, generate a new IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR system, and store the new IVR string in the claimant's or vendor's IVR database.

[0057] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to at least input a plurality of tones associated with values from the IVR string based on the IVR string, and determine that an intent-based action was successful based on an auditory response from the claimant's or vendor's IVR system.

[0058] According to a sixth embodiment, an apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory that stores program code. The memory and the program code, in conjunction with the processor, are configured to at least receive, at a user device, sound waves or voice information indicating a request to initiate a call with an interactive voice response (IVR) system of a claimant or a vendor, interpret call intent and identification information of the claimant or the vendor from the sound waves or voice information, transmit the sound waves or voice information to an external computing device configured to interpret the call intent and the identification information of the claimant or the vendor from the sound waves or voice information, receive, from the external computing device, an IVR string associated with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor, and initiate a call with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor based on the IVR string.

[0059] In some embodiments, at least one processor, in conjunction with a memory that stores program code, is further configured to at least obtain an IVR system mapping or an IVR tree associated with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor, and determine an IVR string based on the call intent from the IVR system mapping or the IVR tree.

[0060] In some embodiments, at least one processor, in conjunction with a memory that stores program code, is further configured to at least input, based on the IVR string, one or more tones associated with one or more values from the IVR string, and determine, based on an auditory response from the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor, that the claimant or the vendor is ready to communicate directly with a user of the user device.

[0061] In some embodiments, at least one processor, in conjunction with a memory that stores program code, is further configured to at least provide, via the user device, a notification to the user that a call with the claimant or the vendor has been initiated.

[0062] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, is configured to at least present, on a user device or another user device, an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request to ask the user to participate in a call when it is determined that an IVR system of a claimant or a vendor is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another user device, determine whether the user intends to participate in the call from the user's response, contact, gesture, or interaction with the user device or another user device, and further configure the user device or another user device to permit the user to participate in a call between the user device and the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor when it is determined that the user intends to participate in the call.

[0063] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, is configured to at least receive an IVR prompt and, based on syntax analysis of the IVR prompt, provide a tonal response to the IVR prompt and further navigate an IVR tree based on intent.

[0064] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, is configured to at least provide an interface by which a claimant or a vendor can perform updates and additions, which may be applied to but are not limited to IVR strings, IVR prompts, and intents, to an IVR tree and further configure to confirm to the claimant, by a confirmation message, of which one possible embodiment is a confirmation email, that the updates and additions were successful.

[0065] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to at least determine that the IVR string is incorrect if the claimant or vendor is determined to be unprepared to communicate with the user, initiate a second call with the claimant / vendor, dynamically navigate the claimant / vendor's IVR tree based on the intent, correct the IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR tree, and store the corrected IVR string in the IVR tree.

[0066] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to at least determine that if the claimant or vendor is determined to be unprepared to communicate with the user, whether there is no IVR string stored in a database associated with the claimant / vendor, or whether all IVR strings stored in the database and associated with the claimant / vendor are assigned to a different intent other than the intent of the call, dynamically navigate the claimant / vendor's IVR system based on the intent, generate a new IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR system, and store the new IVR string in the claimant / vendor's IVR database.

[0067] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to at least input a plurality of tones associated with values from the IVR string based on the IVR string, and determine that an intent-based action has succeeded based on an auditory response from the claimant or vendor's IVR system.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0068]

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[0069] Next, some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show some, but not all, embodiments of the present disclosure. In fact, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy the applicable legal requirements. Throughout, like reference numerals refer to like elements. As used herein, the terms "data," "content," "information," and similar terms may be used interchangeably to refer to data that can be transmitted, received, and / or stored according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the use of such terms should not be construed as limiting the spirit and scope of embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0070] Furthermore, as used herein, the term "circuit" refers to (a) a hardware-only circuit implementation (e.g., implementation in analog and / or digital circuitry), (b) a combination of a circuit that cooperates to cause a device to perform one or more functions described herein, and a computer program product that includes software and / or firmware instructions stored in one or more computer-readable memories, and (c) a circuit such as, for example, a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor that requires software or firmware for operation even if the software or firmware is not physically present. This definition of "circuit" applies to all uses of this term in this specification, including any claims. As a further example, the term "circuit" as used herein also includes implementations that include one or more processors and / or portions thereof, and associated software and / or firmware. As another example, the term "circuit" as used herein includes, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or an application processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone, or a similar integrated circuit within a server, a cellular network device, other network devices (such as a core network device), a field programmable gate array, and / or other computing devices.

[0071] As defined herein, "computer-readable storage medium" refers to a physical storage medium (e.g., a volatile or non-volatile memory device) and can be distinguished from a "computer-readable transmission medium" that refers to an electromagnetic signal.

[0072] Embodiments described herein generally relate to systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for dynamically navigating an interactive communication system using, for example, a virtual assistant, conversational artificial intelligence, a chatbot, and the like.

[0073] Referring now to FIG. 1, an apparatus 100 for communicating with a user and initiating a user session with an API and / or another network entity is shown. The apparatus receives acoustic or voice information indicative of a request to initiate a call with an interactive voice response (IVR) system and can initiate a call to the IVR system of the claimant or vendor. The apparatus 100 can comprise a computing device 102 including at least one of a processor 104 and one or both of a non-volatile memory 106 and a volatile memory 108. In some embodiments, the computing device 102 can be configured such that the processor 104 is operatively coupled to or otherwise in communication with one or both of the non-volatile memory 106 and the volatile memory 108. In some embodiments, the computing device 102 can include a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a cloud computing device, a server, a network, a handheld computer, a mobile computing device, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a tablet computer, any combination thereof, and the like.

[0074] In some embodiments, the processor 104 can comprise any electronic circuit configured to execute operations on a memory such as the non-volatile memory 106 or the volatile memory 108. In some embodiments, the processor 104 can comprise a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a vision processing unit, a tensor processing unit, a neural processing unit, a digital signal processor, an image signal processor, a multiplicative processing element, a field programmable gate array, a sound chip, and the like. In some embodiments, the processor 104 can comprise an arithmetic logic unit (not shown), a control unit (not shown), a speed clock (not shown), and the like. In some embodiments, the processor 104 can comprise one or more processing chips, a microcontroller, an integrated chip, a socket, a system on chip (SoC), an array processor, a vector processor, peripheral processing components, and the like.

[0075] In some embodiments, the non-volatile memory 106 can include any computer memory or memory device that can retain stored information even when not powered, such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, magnetic computer storage devices such as hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic tapes, optical disks, FeRAM, CBRAM, PRAM, SONOS, RRAM, racetrack memory, NRAM, millipede, combinations thereof, and the like.

[0076] In some embodiments, the volatile memory 108 can comprise any computer memory or memory device that requires power to maintain stored information, such as static random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM, Z-RAM, TTRAM, A-RAM, ETA RAM, any combination thereof, and the like.

[0077] In some embodiments, the processor 104, or another such component of the computing device 102, can be configured to perform a process or method based on computer program instructions 110. In some embodiments, the computer program instructions 110 can be stored in one of the non-volatile memory 106 and the volatile memory 108. In some embodiments, the computer program instructions 110 can be operable to cause the processor 104 to perform any of the methods, techniques, processes, etc. disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the computer program instructions 110 can include computer-readable instructions, computer code, encoded applications, and the like.

[0078] In device 100, processor 104 (and / or a coprocessor, or any other circuitry that supports or otherwise relates to processor 104) may be in communication with memory 106 or memory 108 via a bus to transfer information between components of device 100. The memory device may include, for example, one or more volatile and / or non-volatile memories. In other words, for example, the memory device may be an electronic storage device (e.g., a computer-readable storage medium) comprising gates configured to store data (e.g., bits) that may be retrievable by a machine (e.g., a computing device such as processor 104). The memory device may be configured to store information, data, content, applications, instructions, etc. for enabling the device to perform various functions according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the memory device may be configured to buffer input data for processing by processor 104. Additionally or alternatively, the memory device may be configured to store instructions executed by processor 104, such as storing messages to be displayed on a user interface executed by processor 104.

[0079] In some embodiments, device 100 may be embodied in various computing devices as described above. However, in some embodiments, the device may be embodied as a chip or a chipset. In other words, the device may comprise one or more physical packages (e.g., chips) including materials, components, and / or wires on a structural assembly (e.g., a substrate). The structural assembly may provide physical strength, size maintenance, and / or limitation of electrical interaction for the component circuits included thereon. Thus, in some cases, the device may be configured to implement embodiments of the present disclosure on a single chip or as a single "system on a chip". Thus, in some cases, the chip or chipset may constitute means for performing one or more operations for realizing the functionality described herein.

[0080] Processor 104 may be embodied in several different ways. For example, processor 104 may be embodied as one or more of various hardware processing means such as a coprocessor, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP), a processing element with an accompanying DSP, or a processing element without an accompanying DSP, or various other circuits including integrated circuits such as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a hardware accelerator, a dedicated computer chip, etc. Thus, in some embodiments, processor 104 may include one or more processing cores configured to execute independently. A multi-core processor 104 may enable multi-processing within a single physical package. Additionally or alternatively, processor 104 may include one or more processors 104 configured in series via a bus to enable independent execution of instructions, pipelining, and / or multi-threading.

[0081] In an exemplary embodiment, processor 104 may be configured to execute instructions stored in memory 106 or 108 or instructions otherwise accessible to processor 104. Alternatively or additionally, processor 104 may be configured to execute hard-coded functionality. Thus, whether configured by a hardware approach, a software approach, or a combination thereof, processor 104 may represent an entity that is configured in an appropriate manner and capable of performing operations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure (e.g., physically embodied in a circuit). Thus, for example, if processor 104 is embodied as an ASIC, FPGA, etc., processor 104 may be hardware specifically configured to perform the operations described herein. As another example, if processor 104 is embodied as an instruction executor, the instructions may in particular configure processor 104 to perform the algorithms and / or operations described herein when the instructions are executed. However, in some cases, processor 104 may be the processor 104 of a particular device (e.g., an encoder and / or decoder) configured to adopt an embodiment of the present disclosure by further configuring processor 104 with instructions for performing the algorithms and / or operations described herein. Processor 104 may include, among other things, a clock, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), and logic gates configured to support the operation of processor 104.

[0082] In some embodiments, apparatus 100 can further include a communication interface. In some embodiments, the communication interface can be any means, such as a device or circuit embodied in either hardware or a combination of hardware and software, configured to receive and / or transmit data between the network and / or a wireless local area network (WLAN), a core network, a database, or any other device or module in communication with apparatus 100, such as another storage device. In this regard, the communication interface can include, for example, an antenna (or antennas) and support hardware and / or software for enabling communication with a wireless communication network. Additionally or alternatively, the communication interface can include circuitry for interacting with the antenna to transmit signals via the antenna or to handle reception of signals received via the antenna. In some environments, the communication interface can alternatively or additionally support wired communication. Thus, for example, the communication interface can include a communication modem and / or other hardware / software for supporting communication via a cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), universal serial bus (USB), or other mechanism.

[0083] In some embodiments, the apparatus 100 can further include a user interface 112 configured to enable a user or viewer to input data, information, requests, commands, etc. into the computing device 102 via any suitable input method. For example, in some embodiments, a user or viewer can input commands or other suitable inputs verbally, in text, digitally via any suitable computer language, visually, via signals such as optical or electrical signals, or combinations thereof. Accordingly, the user interface 112 can include any of a variety of input devices suitable for capturing a user or viewer input. Some, but not all, suitable input devices include a video camera, a microphone, a digital pointing device such as a mouse or touchpad, an interactive touch screen, a virtual reality environment, an augmented reality environment, one or more sensors configured to sense gestures made by the user or viewer, and combinations thereof.

[0084] In some embodiments, the processor 104 can be operably coupled to the user interface 112 or otherwise in communication with the user interface 112 such that a user or viewer can input data, information, requests, commands, etc. into the computing device 102 via any suitable input method. By way of example only, in some embodiments, the user interface 112 can include a video camera configured to capture video of the user or viewer, a microphone configured to capture audio from the user or viewer, and an audio / video processing unit configured to interpret gestures, audio, or other types of input from the user or viewer and interpret the input as a command, question, data entry, etc.

[0085] In some embodiments, the apparatus 100 can further include a display 114 configured to present media content to a user or viewer. In some embodiments, the display 114 may be operably coupled to the processor 104 or another such component of the computing device 102, or otherwise in communication therewith. In some embodiments, the display 114 can be coupled or integrated with the same hardware device as the user interface 112 such that while the same user or viewer can send an input to the computing device 102, the computing device 102 can send media content to the display 114 to present the media content to the user or viewer or cause the display 114 to present the media content. By way of example only, such an integrated hardware device comprising the user interface 112 and the display 114 can be an interactive display or monitor, a computer screen, a touch-sensitive display, a head-mounted display, a display having an integrated video camera and / or microphone, a display having an integrated sensor, or a display configured to otherwise capture input information (e.g., sound waves, voice information, commands, data, questions, comments, etc.) from the user or viewer.

[0086] In some embodiments, the apparatus 100 can be either a server-side device or a user device. In some embodiments, the apparatus 100 or its components can be configured to communicate, either wired or wirelessly, with a network, a server, a telecommunications device, a user device, another computing device, another processor, another memory device, and / or a mobile device such as a cellular phone or a tablet.

[0087] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus 100 or its components may be part of the system 200 and may be in communication with user equipment 202, originator equipment 204, etc. via the network 210. In some embodiments, the system 200 or its components, such as the network 210, may be stored, hosted, and accessible or transmitted through a cloud computing environment, a server, etc. In some embodiments, the user equipment 202 can be a user's computer such as a laptop computer or a desktop computer, a mobile phone, a PDA, etc. In some embodiments, the originator equipment 204 can be any suitable device, apparatus, or system that operates on behalf of or in place of the payee that presents an interactive billing to the payer (the user or viewer of the apparatus 100). In some embodiments, the originator equipment 204 can comprise a computing device as described above with respect to the apparatus 100, such as a telephone like a mobile phone, and / or a computing device that performs Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communication. In some embodiments, the originator equipment 204 can comprise a smart device such as a virtual assistant that is operated, stored, and / or accessed by a smart speaker and / or another suitable playback device or communication device. In some embodiments, the smart speaker can be configured to be in an always-listening mode or in a sleep mode that performs low-power non-recording listening in the background so that the smart speaker can be woken up using a trigger word or a wake-up word. In some embodiments, when the smart speaker hears the wake-up word, the smart speaker can switch to an active listening mode.In the active listening mode, the user may make a comment or ask a question, and the smart speaker may capture sound waves or voice information via any suitable microphone or sensor, and may convert the sound waves or voice information into text, which identifies the intent regarding the captured sound waves or voice information and can be used to perform actions such as starting a communication session (e.g., a call) with an interactive communication system (e.g., an IVR system) of the claimant or seller.

[0088] In some embodiments, some aspects or components of system 200 may be similar or identical to the corresponding aspects or components of device 100 and thus will not be described in further detail here. However, it should be noted that any of the circuits, components, communication devices, processors, memories, etc. described above may be the same as or similar to those described above with respect to device 100.

[0089] In some embodiments, system 200 can include a chatbot stored in device 100 and / or network 210. In some embodiments, the chatbot may be configured to capture / listen to ambient audio around the computing device in which the chatbot is stored. In some embodiments, the computing device configured to store and operate the chatbot further includes a sensor or a microphone. In some embodiments, the sensor or the microphone can be configured to operate in two or more states, such as a sleep mode, a low power mode, a passive listening mode, an active listening mode, etc. In some embodiments, the sensor or the microphone typically operates in a sleep mode, or in another suitable mode that listens for a wake word or another suitable trigger word that can transition the sensor or the microphone from the sleep mode to the active listening mode or another suitable mode. In some embodiments, in the sleep mode, the microphone senses all local ambient sounds and transfers that local ambient sound to a processor configured to determine whether the ambient sound includes a trigger word. In some embodiments, the processor may convert the sound wave or voice information (e.g., ambient sound) into text, then analyze the text into words, and perform a search for the trigger word. In some embodiments, such a search by the processor can include the use of natural language processing, etc. In some embodiments, if the processor determines that the trigger word has not been uttered, segments of the ambient audio sensed by the sensor or the microphone can be discarded. In some embodiments, if the processor determines that the trigger word has been spoken, the processor can operate the microphone in the active listening mode, initiate a chatbot, etc., and identify the intent of a question or command based on an analysis of the spoken words from the audio for a certain period after the detection of the trigger word.

[0090] Natural language processing (NLP) is a field of computer science, artificial intelligence, and linguistics related to interactions between computers and human (natural) languages. Natural language processing includes natural language understanding (NLU) and natural language generation (NLG). NLU deals with machine reading comprehension and enables a computer to derive meaning from inputs that include natural language. NLG deals with the conversion of computer-based information representations into natural language and enables a computer to generate natural language from a machine representation system. In fact, NLU and NLG are inverse processes. NLU translates natural language into meaning in a machine representation system, and NLG translates meaning in a machine representation system into natural language.

[0091] Devices that utilize speech processing may provide unique NLU responses personalized for one or more specific users. Specifically, when natural language understanding (also referred to as NLU processing) is performed to resolve the meaning of a user's utterance, personalized vocabulary unique to the user and knowledge related to the device being addressed in particular may be used to resolve ambiguity and interpret the meaning.

[0092] In some embodiments, when a processor initiates a chatbot, the processor may also initiate a user session that is a log entry of a specific interaction with a user via a specific device (e.g., a mobile phone, a smart speaker, etc.). In some embodiments, the user session can include all conversation elements from the point in time when the processor determines that the user spoke a trigger word until the point in time when the processor determines that the user ended the conversation, based on the user ending the conversation, or the user being unresponsive to a specific prompt or conversation element from the processor (e.g., via a speaker, etc.) based on a silence period threshold.

[0093] In some embodiments, the processor may be configured to initiate a chatbot software program stored in a local memory device and / or a remote memory device. In some embodiments, the local smart device may include a processor such as a processor configured to only relay a microphone, a sensor, and / or audio sensed from the microphone or the sensor to a remote processor configured to determine whether the audio was spoken by a trigger word or by the user.

[0094] For example, a user may use a trigger word to activate a smart device and then request to initiate a communication session or call. In response, the smart device may interpret the intent of the call and the identification information of the claimant or vendor. As an example, the smart device may determine that the intent of the call is to inquire about the account balance of a first bank. In response, the smart device may call a chatbot associated with the first bank by sending a connection request to a network entity associated with the first bank. In some embodiments, the first bank may have a pre-established relationship with the user's smart device such that the connection request is recognized as being associated with the user by the network entity of the first bank. In such a case, the network entity of the first bank may initiate a chatbot associated with the first bank and directly establish a connection between the smart device and the chatbot of the first bank. In such a case, the smart device may act as a relay between the chatbot of the first bank and the user. For example, the smart device may simply relay the voice captured by the sensors or microphone of the smart device to the chatbot associated with the first bank. On the other hand, the smart device may be provided with a processor configured to convert voice to text such that the smart device can simply relay the text transcription of the analyzed text of the smart device or the partial text transcription of the user-side conversation to the chatbot. The chatbot may then interpret the questions or comments from the user about the intent and generate a suitable text response based on the information provided in the account file associated with the user's account at the first bank and also based on a database of relevant information and general information such as questions and possible related answers.When a text response to a user's comment or question is generated by a chatbot, the chatbot can send the text response to a smart device that can generate a natural language voice format based on the text response, or the chatbot can directly generate a natural language voice format from the text format and relay that natural language voice format to the smart device. The smart device can then cause a speaker or the like to send the generated response in the natural language voice format to the user. In some embodiments, the smart device may obtain a dialogue map or IVR information from a claimant or vendor database. In some examples, the smart device may obtain an IVR string, IVR information, etc. from a claimant or vendor database that includes IVR system information. In some embodiments, the smart device may initiate a communication session (e.g., a call) with a claimant's or vendor's interactive communication system (e.g., an IVR system) based on a predetermined dialogue coding or IVR string.

[0095] In some embodiments, during the same user session, before starting a communication session or call with an interactive communication system or IVR system of the claimant or vendor, and / or while the smart device is establishing a connection with the chatbot of the first bank, the smart device may obtain a dialogue map or IVR information from, for example, a database, such as the database of the claimant or vendor, based on the intention of the call and the identification information of the claimant or vendor, a predetermined dialogue coding or IVR string associated with the claimant or vendor. The smart device inputs a plurality of tones associated with values from the predetermined dialogue coding or IVR string based on the predetermined dialogue coding or IVR string, and may determine that the claimant or vendor is ready to communicate directly with the user of the smart device based on a response (e.g., an auditory response) from the interactive communication system or IVR system of the claimant or vendor. In some embodiments, the smart device may provide the user with a notification that a communication session or call with the claimant or vendor has been started via the smart device. In some embodiments, a notification that a communication session or call with the claimant or vendor has been started is provided to the user via the user device. In some embodiments, if the IVR system of the claimant or vendor determines that it is ready to communicate with the user, the smart device may cause a voice prompt or visual prompt indicating a request for the user to participate in the communication session or call to be presented on the user device or another user device. In some embodiments, the smart device may determine whether the user intends to participate in an interactive communication session or call based on the user's response, contact, gesture, or dialogue with the user device or another user device. If it is determined that the user intends to participate in the communication session or call, the smart device may cause the user device to be permitted to participate in the communication session or call between the user device and the interactive communication system or IVR system of the claimant or vendor.In some examples, after receiving a prompt (e.g., an IVR prompt), the smart device may provide a tone response to the prompt based on the syntactic analysis of the prompt, and navigate a dialogue map or an IVR tree based on the intent. In some embodiments, the smart device may provide an interface that allows the claimant or vendor to perform updates and additions, which may be applicable but not limited to, a predetermined dialogue coding, an IVR string, a prompt, and an intent, to the dialogue map or the IVR tree. In some embodiments, the smart device may confirm to the claimant, by a confirmation message which may be a confirmation email, that the updates and additions were successful. In some embodiments, if it is determined that the claimant or vendor is not ready to communicate with the user, the smart device may determine that a predetermined dialogue coding or an IVR string is incorrect, and may restart a communication session or call with the claimant / vendor. In some embodiments, the smart device may dynamically navigate the claimant / vendor's dialogue map or IVR tree based on the intent. In some embodiments, the smart device may correct a predetermined dialogue coding or an IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the dialogue map or the IVR tree, and store the corrected predetermined dialogue coding or IVR string in the dialogue map or the IVR tree. In some embodiments, if it is determined that the claimant or vendor is not ready to communicate with the user, the smart device may determine that there is no predetermined dialogue coding or IVR string stored in the database associated with the claimant / vendor, or that all the predetermined dialogue codings or IVR strings stored in the database and associated with the claimant / vendor are assigned to a different intent other than the call of the communication session. In some embodiments, the smart device may generate a new predetermined dialogue coding or an IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the interactive communication system or the IVR system, and store the new predetermined dialogue coding or IVR string in the database of the claimant / vendor.

[0096] In some embodiments, the chatbot may implement a response module, such as a computer program, to execute queries against a database associated with a particular network entity, enterprise, organization, etc. In some embodiments, the response module can include an artificial intelligence program, such as a neural network. In some embodiments, the response module may dynamically learn information, data, and knowledge and add them to the database so that the range of questions, comments, tasks, etc. that can be handled by the chatbot using the response module increases over time. In some embodiments, conversational exchanges can be carried out to answer a series of questions, such as facts, definitions, how questions, why questions, hypothetical questions, semantically constrained questions, and cross-lingual questions. Further, the artificial intelligence program used for natural language processing and the generation of chatbot responses can learn the user's preferences, build a user-specific profile that can be considered when generating a response to that user, learn the semantic and linguistic characteristics specific to the user, and / or create a directory of various other chatbots associated with the user's smart device and / or other chatbots with which the communication is established and / or third-party organizations associated therewith.

[0097] In some embodiments, the chatbot may include at least one of a messaging chatbot, an audio chatbot, a visual chatbot, an audio-visual chatbot, a holographic chatbot, an augmented reality chatbot, a virtual reality chatbot, variations thereof, etc. In some embodiments, the chatbot may be configured to receive from the user commands associated with an account, product, service, or any other suitable interaction the user may have with the chatbot.

[0098] In some embodiments, before establishing a conversation with the user's device, a chatbot, the device running the chatbot, or a third - party system may take security measures such as requiring a password, PIN number, fingerprint, iris scan, face recognition, voiceprint, a related phone number, all or part of a social security number, an account number, two - factor authentication, etc., by means of a mobile phone, application email, SMS message, public - key infrastructure, combinations thereof, etc.

[0099] In one embodiment, when a user starts a user session with a smart device, the smart device may call a chatbot, and the chatbot can start and lead a conversation with the user via the smart device, and can identify the intent of sound wave or voice information using, for example, artificial intelligence. The chatbot may start a call with an interactive communication system (e.g., the IVR system of the claimant or the seller) based on the intent of the sound wave or voice information. In some examples, the smart device may obtain a predetermined conversation coding or conversation map based on the intent, and start a communication session with the interactive communication system based on the predetermined conversation coding or conversation map. The predetermined conversation coding may define a plurality of conditional parameters for cooperation with the interactive communication system.

[0100] In some embodiments, the chatbot may be configured to establish a secure connection to various network entities, such as elements of network 210. In some embodiments, the chatbot may be configured to initiate a communication session or call with an interactive communication system or IVR system of the claimant or vendor based on an intent determined from sonic or voice information. In some embodiments, the smart device may be a smart speaker, smartphone, etc., and may include a processor configured to execute a computer process stored in a memory device. In some embodiments, the smart device may cause the processor to initiate a computer program capable of establishing a secure connection to various network entities, such as companies, vendors, organizations, etc. In some embodiments, the smart device or chatbot may access an application programming interface (API) or data exchange configured to obtain information from one or more databases or network entities. Put another way, the smart device or chatbot may establish a secure connection to the network or database of a particular company or organization based on sonic or voice information, the intent of a request asking to initiate a communication session or call, and, depending on the interpretation, initiate a communication session with the chatbot or a call with an interactive communication system or IVR system.

[0101] In some embodiments, the chatbot can be hosted by or used in conjunction with a data exchange API. In some embodiments, the data exchange API can be used to request, transfer, store, recall, exchange, or otherwise process the user's data and / or data associated with various other chatbots configured for connection to or communication with a smart device or the chatbot. For example, such a system 300 is shown in FIG. 3. In some embodiments, a user device 302, such as a smart device, can be configured to be in communication with an API 304. In some embodiments, the API 304 can be configured to be in communication with one or more network entities 306, such as the networks or databases of various organizations or enterprises. In some embodiments, each of the user device 302, the API 304, and the network entity 306 can be configured to be connected to a network 308, such as the Internet, so that the communication is secure and can be routed along conventional channels of communication between network entities and between smart devices. By way of example only, the network 308 can include a distributed mobile network or a public land mobile network (PLMN) so that the user device 302 (e.g., a smart device) can directly establish an association or connection to any of the API 304, the network entity 306, etc. via the network 308. Other suitable networks and communication technologies are described elsewhere in this specification, and other known network types and communication technologies not disclosed herein are also contemplated.

[0102] Referring now to FIG. 4, a similar automated system 400 is configured to use such an API 404 to initiate a call (e.g., as Voice over Internet Protocol communication) between a user device 402 (e.g., a smart device or chatbot) and an interactive voice response (IVR) system, such as IVR system 406 (the IVR system may be similar to an IVR system typically used to provide prompts to a caller, where the prompts encourage the caller to provide a voice response to the prompt, thereby helping the IVR system route the caller to a desired destination within the IVR system). In other words, a user may request the user device 402 (e.g., their smart device) to initiate a call with a particular service provider 410, and the user device 402 may request the API 404 to route a VoIP call to the IVR system 406 of the service provider 410, and the IVR system may be in communication with the network or database 412 of the service provider 410. In some cases, instead of communicating directly with the service provider 410, the IVR system 406 may communicate with a network entity 408 associated with or in communication with the service provider 410.

[0103] As a mere example, a user may request their smart device to call the bank of which they are a customer and request a transfer of funds from their account to another account. The smart device may interpret the intent of the user's command based on the analysis of sonic or voice information (i.e., based on the user's command). In some embodiments, the smart device may request additional information (e.g., authentication information) from the user, and the user may provide the requested additional information (e.g., authentication information) to the service provider via the network. Further, the smart device may obtain a predetermined dialogue coding (e.g., an IVR string) associated with the claimant or the vendor (e.g., from the bank's database). In some embodiments, the predetermined dialogue coding or IVR string may be stored locally by the smart device or provided by another computing entity and / or database that communicates electronically with the smart device and the service provider. The smart device can then initiate a communication session such as a VoIP call with an interactive communication session or an IVR system associated with the bank, such as by transferring the call to a predetermined hotline phone number or toll-free number pre-determined by the smart device to be associated with the bank. Alternatively, the hotline number or toll-free number may be provided upon the user's request or in response to the smart device's request for the same information. In another embodiment, the smart device may not recognize or obtain a predetermined hotline number or toll-free number associated with the bank and instead may perform a search for the hotline number or toll-free number, for example, using the Internet. However, the smart device may identify or receive a relevant phone number or routing address (such as an HTTP address, an IP address, etc.) associated with the interactive communication system or the IVR system, and then the smart device can initiate the communication session or start a communication system or call to that interactive communication system or IVR system.When an IVR system receives a call from a smart device (or in some cases, an API), the IVR system will provide a series of prompts associated with a dialogue map or IVR tree that can be in the form of numbers, tones, alphabets, or any other format, and each prompt is associated with a specific department, problem, question, user type, etc. The series of prompts can be presented continuously, which means the series of prompts are presented in chronological order. In some examples, the IVR system can present a first prompt and then wait for a binary response (e.g., approval or rejection) from the smart device, or conversely, the IVR system can present successive prompts and leave sufficient time between each prompt so that the smart device can send a single approval response when it reaches the desired prompt. In some embodiments, a call to the IVR system may require multiple prompts before the caller is properly routed to the desired destination within the IVR system. In such cases, the interaction between the IVR system and the smart device may be carried out without the user's knowledge or input for properly routing the user's call to the IVR system. Thus, the smart device operates to intelligently and dynamically navigate an interactive communication system or an IVR system based on the intent of the call. In some embodiments, the smart device may be able to access such information in advance so that it can provide user-provided information such as payment information, user identification information, etc. when prompted by an interactive communication system or an IVR system.

[0104] Returning to the foregoing example of a user asking their smart device to call the bank where the user is a customer, the smart device may thus manage some or all of the IVR routing process in the background with little or no input from the user and transfer the call to the user if the desired destination or intent of the call requires a human-to-human conversation or if the smart device cannot provide all of the information required to reach the desired destination within the IVR system. Alternatively, if the smart device cannot provide all of the information required by the IVR system to reach the user's desired destination within the IVR system, the smart device may simply request input from the user, listen for the user's input or feedback, and then relay this information to the IVR system as an audio recording or convert this audio recording to a transcription or other type of data format before relaying the information to the IVR system. In some embodiments, when reaching the destination within the IVR system, the smart device may transfer the call to the user, and the user may complete the call directly with the IVR system, a call center agent, etc. by speaking to their smart device. If the user wishes to end the call, the user may simply instruct the smart device to end the call, or press a button, or perform some other such gesture input suitable for communicating that the call should be ended, to their smart device.

[0105] When a user calls an IVR system, especially when the destination is a switch, a call center, a live answering line, etc., the user may need to wait for a certain period until they can continue the call. In some embodiments where the user requests a smart device to initiate a call to an IVR system of a company or organization (e.g., a bank), the smart device may detect that it has reached the desired destination and the call is on hold for a certain period or in a queue. If a call initiated and / or processed by the smart device is in a queue or on hold for later processing, the smart device can delay delivering the call to the user until an agent answers the call.

[0106] As described above, the smart device may receive sound waves or voice information (e.g., a prompt or a command) from the user indicating a request to initiate a call. The smart device may interpret the intent of the call and the identification information of the claimant or vendor based on the sound waves or voice information. As a mere example, the smart device may interpret / determine that the intent of the call is to initiate a call to the user's bank to transfer funds between accounts. After interpreting the intent of the call, the smart device may subsequently obtain an IVR string associated with the claimant or vendor based on the intent of the call. The IVR string may be or include a series of values (e.g., alphanumeric inputs, tones, combinations thereof, etc.) associated with a specific path of an interactive mapping such as an IVR tree. As a mere example, the IVR string may be "18001111111 <phone number of the claimant / vendor>, 3 <first prompt selection>, 4111XXXXXXXXXXXX <account number>, 1 <second prompt selection>…".

[0107] After obtaining the IVR string, the smart device may then initiate a call with the claimant or the vendor. In some embodiments, the smart device may provide the user with a notification (e.g., via the user device) that a call with the claimant or the vendor has been initiated. Once the call is initiated, the claimant or the vendor may initiate the IVR system / process using the smart device. For example, the IVR system may provide the smart device with prompts for making a selection between two or more options (e.g., levels of the IVR tree) from the IVR tree. By way of example, the IVR system may provide the smart device with a prompt for selecting either (a) commercial banking or (b) retail banking. In response thereto, the smart device may relay a response (i.e., based on the intent of the call and the IVR string) for selecting retail banking. For example, the smart device may input or provide one or more tones associated with the values from the IVR string. In one example, where the IVR prompt indicates "press '1' for commercial banking and '2' for retail banking", the smart device may generate an auditory response or tone corresponding to the value "2". After responding to the IVR prompt, the smart device may wait for a second prompt from the IVR system to further navigate the IVR tree.

[0108] After that, the IVR system may provide a second prompt to navigate to the second level of the IVR tree. For example, the IVR system may provide a prompt to the smart device for selecting (a) checking account balance, (b) reporting fraud on an account, (c) opening a new account, (d) paying a bill, (e) transferring funds between accounts, (f) initiating a wire transfer, (g) changing contact information, (h) searching for the location of the nearest bank or ATM, etc. Since the user has communicated to the smart device in their initial request that their intention is to request a transfer of funds from their account to another account, the smart device can relay the selection result of option (e) in response to the IVR system's prompt for navigating to the second level of the IVR tree. For example, the smart device may provide an auditory response associated with one or more values at the second level of the IVR tree, or may input one or more tones. In one example, if the IVR prompt indicates "Press '5' to transfer funds between accounts", the smart device may generate an auditory response or tone corresponding to the value '5'. Thus, the smart device may repeatedly provide auditory or tone responses in response to multiple IVR prompts (e.g., based on syntactic analysis of the IVR prompts) to dynamically navigate the IVR tree based on the intent of the call.

[0109] In some embodiments, if the smart device is unsure whether the funds transfer is a wire transfer or an electronic funds transfer within the same bank based on insufficient information from the user, for example, when it is unsure whether to select option (e) or option (f), the smart device may simply pause the IVR system and ask the user for an explanation as to whether to make the funds transfer an electronic transfer or a wire transfer. In some embodiments, the smart device may be configured to determine probabilities based on semantic analysis of the user's initial request or other such input in order to calculate the probabilities between two or more options from a list of prompts, and instead of asking the user for further information, or based on other information such as payee routing information or account information, it may decide to select the option with the highest probability. When the smart device identifies the intent of the call and the IVR system receives the selection result (e) from the second level of the IVR tree, the IVR system may request funds transfer details (e.g., the amount to be transferred, the sender's account number, the recipient's account number, the routing number, etc.) as an attempt to at least semi-automate the funds transfer process. In some embodiments, the IVR system may first request authentication evidence from the smart device. If the smart device has authentication evidence readily available, the smart device can provide the authentication evidence and proceed to the IVR system's request for funds transfer details. In some embodiments, for example, if the user provides some or all of the funds transfer details in the initial request or subsequent input, the smart device may provide the available funds transfer details to the IVR system. If the smart device cannot access some or all of the funds transfer details or the authentication evidence, or if it is not yet available, the smart device may request the missing funds transfer details or authentication evidence from the user and then relay the missing funds transfer details or authentication evidence to the IVR system to continue with at least a semi-automatic funds transfer.If the user or the smart device cannot access or is unaware of at least one fund transfer detail required by the IVR system, the smart device may request the IVR system to search for and provide the missing fund transfer details, or the smart device may escalate the call within the IVR system and contact a person who can investigate or provide the missing fund transfer details. In some embodiments, the smart device may provide a prompt to the user to participate in the call based on the intent of the call and / or if human interaction is required to advance the user's request. For example, if the IVR system of the claimant or seller determines that it is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another device, the smart device may cause the user device or another device to present an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request to the user to participate in the call. In response, the user may provide an indication (e.g., an auditory response, a gesture, a prompt, a dialogue, etc.) indicating that the user intends to participate in the call. In one example, the smart device may cause the user device to present selectable objects for the user to select to indicate that the user intends to participate in the call. Such interactions between the user, the smart device, and the network entity according to a particular embodiment are outlined in FIG. 5.

[0110] In some embodiments, if the IVR string is determined to be incorrect, the smart device may restart the call with the claimant or vendor. The smart device can provide an interface that allows the claimant or vendor to update the IVR tree (which may be stored in a claimant or vendor database accessible by the smart device) to correct / update the IVR string, IVR prompt, and intent. In some examples, the update may be confirmed through various techniques and methods such as providing instructions to the smart device, sending a confirmation message or email, etc. In some cases, the smart device may correct the IVR string based on dynamic navigation of the IVR tree and save the corrected IVR string to the IVR tree. In various examples, the corrected IVR string and / or the associated IVR tree may be stored locally by the smart device, provided to the claimant or vendor IVR database, a combination thereof, etc.

[0111] In some embodiments, the smart device may determine that the intent of the call has been satisfied or was successful. In such examples, the smart device may provide an indication to the user device that the intent of the call has been satisfied, and the method may end. By way of example, the smart device may provide an instruction or notification to the user device to confirm that an email was successfully sent, an outstanding bill or statement balance was paid, funds were successfully transferred, etc. In some cases, the smart device may provide an audio or visual prompt indicating that the intent of the call has been satisfied and may provide the requested information, etc.

[0112] In some embodiments, such an interaction between a user's smart device and, for example, the IVR system of the user's bank may require the user's smart device to obtain information from another IVR system or another company or organization, rather than from the company or organization that hosts and manages the primary IVR system. In such embodiments, the smart device may initiate a second call, such as a VoIP call, using a secondary IVR system. For example, continuing with the above embodiment where the smart device attempts to automatically transfer funds between accounts by initiating a call to the user's bank's IVR, the other account to which the user is attempting to transfer funds may be the user's account at another bank, another payee account at the same bank, or an account at another type of organization or financial institution that is not a bank. In such a situation, if the smart device does not know the account details of the other account at the other bank, the smart device may initiate a parallel call to the IVR system of the other bank to obtain the relevant missing account details associated with the other account at the other bank.

[0113] In some embodiments, context information (information regarding the reason for the call, the type of caller, the type of account, the user identification number, etc.) may be relayed to the IVR system at the beginning of the call in order to directly transfer the call to a specific point within an IVR call tree (the structure of the IVR system through which the IVR system prompts the caller to reach the desired destination). For example, in the context of the present disclosure, the smart device may communicate context information to the IVR system in order to indicate to the IVR system a specific point lower in the call tree to which the call is to be transferred. In some embodiments, the smart device may store information related to past similar calls, such that when the user instructs the smart device to make such a call to the same IVR system in the future, the smart device can recall the structure of the call tree and attempt to jump to at least some lower point or level within the call tree, eliminating the need for the back-and-forth between the IVR system and the smart device.

[0114] In some embodiments, the user may request to initiate a call to an IVR system from their smart device, and then the user may need to leave the location of their smart device or may become unreachable for other reasons. As a mere example, the smart device may be a smart home device such as an Amazon (registered trademark) Alexa device configured to remain in a relatively fixed location during use rather than a mobile device (e.g., it may require a direct power connection to a power outlet in the user's home). In such embodiments, the user may need to leave their home after requesting to initiate a call to the IVR system from the smart device. Thus, in response to the user indicating that they need to go out during a call to the IVR system, the smart device may operate in the background and, after the user has gone out, be configured to transfer the call to another user device (such as a mobile phone, smartphone, landline, etc.) based on a contemporaneous user instruction or the user's ongoing preferences. By doing so, the smart device can wait until the call reaches the desired destination and then transfer the call to another device of the user, such that the user can be connected to the IVR system and end the call. Similarly, the smart device may conduct the call without user input to navigate the IVR system call tree, and then, if user input is required at some point during the call, the smart device may contact the user via another device of the user and receive further input that the user needs to complete the call to the IVR system.Continuing with the above example where the user is requested by the smart device to initiate a funds transfer from their bank account, the smart device may initiate a call, conduct most of the call without user input, and then reach a point where user authentication evidence is required. In that case, the user can be called on the user's mobile phone to perform voiceprint authentication, or the user can be enabled to enter their PIN using a touch-tone keypad, or the user can be prompted to provide their fingerprint by pushing a request through an application stored on the user's smartphone, or by any other suitable means.

[0115] Referring now to FIG. 6, a schematic diagram showing an IVR tree 600 of an IVR system is provided. The IVR tree 600 may be or include a data object that describes the architecture or layout of the IVR system. In some embodiments, the IVR tree 600 may be a data object stored in a claimant's or vendor's database. In various examples, the IVR tree 600 may be accessed by a smart device, virtual assistant, chatbot, etc. For example, the smart device may communicate operably with the claimant's or vendor's database and obtain / request or otherwise access the IVR tree 600 associated with the claimant or vendor. As depicted in FIG. 6, the IVR tree 600 may include multiple levels. As shown, the IVR tree 600 includes a first level 601, a second level 603, and a third level 605. As an example, the smart device may initiate a call with the claimant's or vendor's IVR system. Following the initiation of the call with the claimant's or vendor's IVR system, the smart device may receive a first IVR prompt associated with the first level of the IVR tree 600. For example, the smart device may receive a first IVR prompt that provides options for navigating to another level of the IVR tree 600. For example, the first IVR prompt may indicate that the smart device can select (a) business hours 602, (b) account settings 604, or (c) others 606. In response to the first IVR prompt, the smart device may provide an auditory response or tone response corresponding to one of the provided options based on the intent of the call (in some examples, based on syntactic analysis of the IVR prompt). For example, the smart device may input one or more tones corresponding to (c) others 606 based on the intent of the call. In response to the tone provided / input by the smart device, the IVR system may navigate to the second level 603 of the IVR tree 600 and provide a second IVR prompt corresponding to the second level 603 of the IVR tree 600.For example, the second IVR prompt may indicate that the smart device can select (d) adding or changing a service 608, (e) technical support 610, or (f) paying a bill 612. In response to the second IVR prompt, the smart device may provide an auditory response or a tone response corresponding to one of the provided options (in some examples, based on syntactic analysis of the IVR prompt) based on the intent of the call. For example, the smart device may input one or more tones corresponding to (d) adding or changing a service 608, or (e) technical support 610 based on the intent of the call. In response to the auditory response or tone provided / input by the smart device, the IVR system may, in some examples, perform a specific action, provide the requested information, connect the smart device to a human agent, etc. In some cases, the IVR system may navigate to the third level 605 of the IVR tree 600 or return to the first level 601 of the IVR tree based on the auditory response or tone provided by the smart device. If the smart device inputs or provides an auditory response or tone corresponding to (e) technical support 610, the IVR system may navigate to the third level 605 of the IVR tree 600 and provide a third IVR prompt corresponding to the third level of the IVR tree. For example, the third IVR prompt may indicate that the smart device can select (g) remote assistance 614, or (h) scheduling a visit 616. In response to the third IVR prompt, the smart device may provide an auditory response or a tone response corresponding to one of the provided options (in some examples, based on syntactic analysis of the IVR prompt) based on the intent of the call. For example, if the intent of the call is to receive remote assistance, the smart device may input one or more tones corresponding to (g) remote assistance 614. In some examples, the smart device can determine that the IVR system (or other communication system) is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another user device.In such an example, the smart device can cause the user device or another user device to present an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request for the user to participate in a call or communication session, such as by providing a response, contact, gesture, dialogue, etc. indicating that the user intends to participate in the call. Thereafter, the smart device may permit the user device or other device to allow the user to participate in a call or communication session between the smart device and the claimant's or seller's IVR system (or other communication system).

[0116] The above example is described in the context of an IVR system, but the present disclosure is not limited to such embodiments. In various examples, the smart device may be configured to dynamically navigate other types of interactive communication systems and communication sessions, including but not limited to conversation-based systems, text-based communication systems (e.g., via a chatbot), etc. For example, the smart device may dynamically navigate the claimant's or seller's communication system based on a dialogue map different from the IVR tree. An exemplary dialogue map may include a predetermined dialogue coding that defines a predetermined text or auditory response to a prompt received from the claimant's or seller's communication system. The smart device may, in some cases, update or modify the IVR tree or dialogue map based on a particular communication session. In some examples, the smart device can update or modify a dialogue mapping string associated with a dialogue map stored in a database (e.g., the claimant's or seller's database). For example, the smart device may determine that the returned IVR string is incorrect and initiate correction of the IVR string.

[0117] Referring now to Figure 7, a method 700 for a dynamic navigation and interactive communication system (e.g., by a smart device) is provided. In some embodiments, the method includes, at 702, receiving acoustic or voice information from a user device, the acoustic or voice information indicating a request to initiate a call with an interactive voice response (IVR) system of a claimant or a vendor. In some embodiments, the method further includes, at 704, interpreting the intent of the call and the identification information of the claimant or the vendor based on the acoustic or voice information. In some embodiments, the method further includes, at 706, obtaining an IVR string associated with the claimant or the vendor. In some embodiments, the method further includes, at 708, initiating a call with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor based on the IVR string. In some embodiments, the method further includes, at 710, generating one or more tones associated with one or more values from the IVR string. In some embodiments, the method further includes, at 712, determining, based on an auditory response from the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor, that the claimant or the vendor is ready to communicate directly with the user of the user device. In some embodiments, the method further includes, at 714, presenting (e.g., on the user device or another user device) an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request for the user to participate in the call. In some embodiments, the method further includes, at 716, determining whether the user intends to participate in the call from the user's response, contact, gesture, or interaction with the user device or another user device, and, if it is determined that the user intends to participate in the call, permitting the user to participate in the call on the user device or another user device.

[0118] In some embodiments, the blocks of the flowchart support a combination of means for performing the specified function and a combination of operations for performing the specified function for performing the specified function. It will also be understood that one or more blocks of the flowchart, and combinations of blocks within the flowchart, may be implemented by a dedicated hardware-based computer system for performing the specified function, or by a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0119] In some embodiments, certain ones of the above operations may be modified or further extended. Further, in some embodiments, additional optional operations may be included. Modifications, additions, or extensions to the above operations may be performed in any order and in any combination.

[0120] Accordingly, according to an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a method, an apparatus, and a system for realizing, for example, dynamically navigating an interactive transaction of an interactive communication system using a virtual assistant, a conversational artificial intelligence, and / or a chatbot.

[0121] According to a first embodiment, a method is provided. The method can include receiving, from a user device, sound wave or voice information indicating a request to initiate an interactive communication session with a claimant's or merchant's communication system; interpreting, based on the sound wave or voice information, the intent of the communication session and the identification information of the claimant or merchant; obtaining a predetermined dialogue coding associated with the claimant or merchant; and initiating, based on the predetermined dialogue coding, an interactive communication session with the claimant's or merchant's communication system.

[0122] In some embodiments, the method can further include obtaining, from a database of claimant or merchant dialogue coding information, a predetermined dialogue coding associated with the claimant or merchant based on the intent of the communication session and the identification information of the claimant or merchant.

[0123] In some embodiments, the method can further include obtaining an interaction map associated with a claimant or a vendor, and determining a predetermined interaction coding based on the intent of a communication session from the interaction map.

[0124] In some embodiments, the method can further include generating one or more tones associated with one or more values from the predetermined interaction coding based on the predetermined interaction coding, and determining that the claimant or the vendor is ready to communicate directly with a user of the user device based on an auditory response from the claimant's or vendor's interactive communication system.

[0125] In some embodiments, the method can further include providing the user with a notification that an interactive communication session with the claimant or the vendor has been initiated via the user device.

[0126] In some embodiments, when it is determined that the claimant's or vendor's interactive communication system is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another user device, the method can further include causing a voice prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request to invite the user to participate in the communication session to be presented on the user device or another user device, determining whether the user intends to participate in the interactive communication session from the user's response, contact, gesture, or interaction with the user device or another user device, and, when it is determined that the user intends to participate in the interactive communication session, causing the user device or another user device to permit the user to participate in the interactive communication session between the user device and the claimant's or vendor's interactive communication system.

[0127] In some embodiments, the method can further include receiving a prompt and providing a tonal or auditory response to the prompt based on syntactic analysis of the prompt to navigate an interactive communication system based on an intent.

[0128] In some embodiments, the method can further include providing an interface that allows a claimant or vendor to perform updates and additions, which can be applied to, but are not limited to, a dialogue map, predetermined dialogue codings, prompts, and intents, and confirming to the vendor or claimant, by a confirmation message, of which a possible embodiment is a confirmation email, that the updates and additions were successful.

[0129] In some embodiments, the method can further include, if the claimant or vendor determines that they are not ready to communicate with the user, determining that a predetermined dialogue coding is incorrect and initiating a second call with the claimant or vendor, dynamically navigating the claimant's or vendor's dialogue map based on the intent, correcting the predetermined dialogue coding based on the dynamic navigation of the dialogue map, and saving the corrected predetermined dialogue coding to the dialogue map.

[0130] In some embodiments, the method can further include, if the claimant or vendor determines that they are not ready to communicate with the user, determining whether there is no predetermined dialogue coding stored in a database associated with the claimant / vendor or whether all of the predetermined dialogue codings stored in the database and associated with the claimant / vendor are assigned to a different intent that is different from the intent of the communication session, dynamically navigating the claimant's / vendor's interactive communication system based on the intent, generating a new predetermined dialogue coding based on the dynamic navigation of the interactive communication system, and saving the new predetermined dialogue coding to the claimant's / vendor's database.

[0131] In some embodiments, the method can further include providing an auditory response associated with a value from a predetermined dialog coding based on the predetermined dialog coding, and determining that an intent-based action has succeeded based on a response from an interactive communication system of the claimant or vendor.

[0132] According to a second embodiment, a system for dynamically navigating an interactive communication system is provided. The system can include a computing device having at least one processor, a user device, and an external computing device. The system can receive, by the computing device, sound waves or voice information indicating a request to initiate a communication session with a communication system of the claimant or vendor from the user device, transmit, by the computing device, the sound waves or voice information to the external computing device, identify, by the external computing device, an intent to communicate and identification information of the vendor or claimant based on an interpretation of the sound waves or voice information, obtain, by the external computing device, an interactive mapping character string associated with the intent to communicate, transmit, by the external computing device, the interactive mapping character string to the computing device, receive, by the computing device, the interactive mapping character string, and be configured to initiate a communication session with a communication system of the claimant or vendor based on the interactive mapping character string by the computing device.

[0133] In some embodiments, the computing device is further configured to dynamically communicate with a communication system of the claimant or vendor based on the interactive mapping character string.

[0134] In some embodiments, at least one of the computing device, the user device, and the external computing device includes one or more chatbots.

[0135] In some embodiments, the computing device determines that the communication system is ready to communicate with a user of the user device or another user device, and causes the user device or another user device to present an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request to ask the user to participate in a communication session. When it is determined that the user intends to participate in the communication session, the user device or another user device is further configured to permit the user to participate in a call between the user device and the communication system of the claimant or the vendor.

[0136] In some embodiments, the interactive mapping string includes a predetermined dialogue coding that defines a predetermined text response or an auditory response to a prompt received from the communication system of the claimant or the vendor.

[0137] In some embodiments, the computing device is further configured to update or modify the dialogue mapping string based on the communication session.

[0138] In some embodiments, the computing device is further configured to update or modify the dialogue mapping string by updating a database associated with the claimant or the vendor.

[0139] According to a third embodiment, a method is provided. In some embodiments, the method includes receiving, from a user device, a sound wave or voice information indicating a request to initiate a call with an interactive voice response (IVR) system of a claimant or a vendor, interpreting, based on the sound wave or voice information, an intention of the call and identification information of the claimant or the vendor, obtaining an IVR string associated with the claimant or the vendor, and initiating, based on the IVR string, a call with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor.

[0140] In some embodiments, the method can further include obtaining an IVR string associated with the claimant or vendor from a database of claimant or vendor IVR information based on the intent of the call and the identification information of the claimant or vendor.

[0141] In some embodiments, the method can further include obtaining an IVR tree associated with the claimant or vendor and determining an IVR string from the IVR tree based on the intent of the call.

[0142] In some embodiments, the method can further include generating one or more tones associated with one or more values from the IVR string based on the IVR string and determining that the claimant or vendor is ready to communicate directly with the user of the user device based on an auditory response from the claimant or vendor's IVR system.

[0143] In some embodiments, the method can further include providing the user with a notification that a call with the claimant or vendor has been initiated via the user device.

[0144] In some embodiments, when it is determined that the claimant or vendor's IVR system is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another user device, the method can further include presenting, on the user device or another user device, an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request to ask the user to participate in the call, determining whether the user intends to participate in the call from the user's response, contact, gesture, or interaction with the user device or another user device, and, when it is determined that the user intends to participate in the call, permitting the user to participate in the call between the user device and the claimant or vendor's IVR system on the user device or another user device.

[0145] In some embodiments, the method may further include receiving an IVR prompt and providing a tone response or an auditory response to the IVR prompt based on syntactic analysis of the IVR prompt to navigate the IVR system based on the intent.

[0146] In some embodiments, the method may further include providing an interface by which a claimant or a vendor can perform updates and additions, which may be applicable to, but not limited to, IVR strings, IVR prompts, and intents, to the IVR tree, and confirming to the vendor or the claimant, by a confirmation message, of which one possible embodiment is a confirmation email, that the updates and additions have been successful.

[0147] In some embodiments, the method may further include determining that the IVR string is incorrect and initiating a second call with the claimant or the vendor if the claimant or the vendor determines that they are not ready to communicate with the user, dynamically navigating the claimant's or the vendor's IVR tree based on the intent, correcting the IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR tree, and saving the corrected IVR string to the IVR tree.

[0148] In some embodiments, the method may further include determining that there is no IVR string stored in a database associated with the claimant or the vendor, or that all IVR strings stored in the database and associated with the claimant or the vendor are assigned to a different intent other than the intent of the call, if the claimant or the vendor determines that they are not ready to communicate with the user, dynamically navigating the claimant's or the vendor's IVR system based on the intent, generating a new IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR system, and saving the new IVR string to the claimant's or the vendor's IVR database.

[0149] In some embodiments, the method can further include inputting a plurality of tones associated with values from the IVR string based on the IVR string, and determining that an intent-based action has been successful based on an auditory response from the claimant's or vendor's IVR system.

[0150] According to a fourth embodiment, another method is provided. The method includes receiving, at a user device, sound waves or voice information indicative of a request to initiate a call with an interactive voice response (IVR) system of a claimant or vendor; transmitting the sound waves or voice information to an external computing device configured to interpret the intent of the call and the identification information of the claimant or vendor from the sound waves or voice information; receiving, from the external computing device, an IVR string associated with the claimant's or vendor's IVR system; and initiating a call with the claimant's or vendor's IVR system based on the IVR string.

[0151] In some embodiments, the IVR string associated with the claimant or vendor can be stored in a claimant or vendor IVR database.

[0152] In some embodiments, the method can further include obtaining an IVR system mapping or IVR tree associated with the claimant's or vendor's IVR system, and determining an IVR string based on the intent of the call from the IVR system mapping or IVR tree.

[0153] In some embodiments, the method can further include generating one or more tones associated with one or more values from the IVR string based on the IVR string, and determining that the claimant or vendor is ready to communicate directly with the user of the user device based on an auditory response from the claimant's or vendor's IVR system.

[0154] In some embodiments, the method can further include providing the user, via the user device, a notification that a call with the claimant or the vendor has been initiated.

[0155] In some embodiments, the method includes presenting, on the user device or another user device, an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request to ask the user to participate in the call when it is determined that the claimant's or vendor's IVR system is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another user device; determining whether the user intends to participate in the call based on the user's response, contact, gesture, or interaction with the user device or another user device; and, when it is determined that the user intends to participate in the call, permitting the user to participate in the call between the user device and the claimant's or vendor's IVR system on the user device or another user device.

[0156] In some embodiments, the method can further include receiving an IVR prompt and, based on syntactic analysis of the IVR prompt, providing a tonal response to the IVR prompt and navigating an IVR tree based on the intent.

[0157] In some embodiments, the method includes providing an interface that allows the claimant or the vendor to perform updates and additions, such as, but not limited to, IVR strings, IVR prompts, and intents, to the IVR tree; and confirming to the claimant or the vendor, by a confirmation message, of which one possible embodiment is a confirmation email, that the updates and additions were successful.

[0158] In some embodiments, the method can further include, when it is determined that the claimant or vendor is not ready to communicate with the user, determining that the IVR string is incorrect and initiating a second call with the claimant or vendor; dynamically navigating the claimant's or vendor's IVR tree based on the intent; correcting the IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR tree; and saving the corrected IVR string to the IVR tree.

[0159] In some embodiments, the method can further include, when it is determined that the claimant or vendor is not ready to communicate with the user, determining whether there is no IVR string stored in the database associated with the claimant / vendor, or whether all IVR strings stored in the database and associated with the claimant / vendor are assigned to a different intent other than the intent of the call; dynamically navigating the claimant's / vendor's IVR system based on the intent; generating a new IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR system; and saving the new IVR string to the claimant's / vendor's IVR database.

[0160] In some embodiments, the method can further include entering a plurality of tones associated with values from the IVR string based on the IVR string, and determining that the intent-based action was successful based on an auditory response from the claimant's or vendor's IVR system.

[0161] According to the fifth embodiment, an apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory storing program code. The memory and the program code, together with the processor, are configured to at least receive, in a user device, sound waves or voice information indicating a request to initiate a call with an interactive voice response (IVR) system of a claimant or a vendor, interpret the intent of the call and the identification information of the claimant or the vendor based on the sound waves or voice information, obtain an IVR string associated with the claimant or the vendor, and be configured to initiate a call with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor based on the IVR string.

[0162] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, may be further configured to obtain, at least from a database of claimant or vendor IVR information, an IVR string associated with the claimant or the vendor based on the intent of the call and the identification information of the claimant or the vendor.

[0163] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, may be further configured to obtain an IVR tree associated with the claimant or the vendor and determine an IVR string based on the intent of the call from the IVR tree.

[0164] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, is configured to at least input, based on the IVR string, one or more tones associated with one or more values from the IVR string and, based on an auditory response from the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor, be further configured to determine that the claimant or the vendor is ready to communicate directly with the user of the user device.

[0165] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, may be further configured to provide, at least via the user device, a notification to the user that a call with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor has been initiated.

[0166] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is configured to at least cause a user device or another user device to present an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request asking the user to participate in a call when it is determined that the claimant's or vendor's IVR system is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another user device, determine whether the user intends to participate in the call based on the user's response, contact, gesture, or interaction with the user device or another user device, and, when it is determined that the user intends to participate in the call, further cause the user device or another user device to permit the user to participate in the call between the user device and the claimant's or vendor's IVR system.

[0167] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is configured to at least receive an IVR prompt and, based on syntactic analysis of the IVR prompt, provide a tonal response to the IVR prompt and further navigate an IVR tree based on intent.

[0168] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is configured to at least provide an interface by which a claimant or vendor can perform updates and additions, which may include but are not limited to IVR strings, IVR prompts, and intents, to an IVR tree and further cause a confirmation message, one possible embodiment of which is a confirmation email, to confirm to the claimant that the updates and additions were successful.

[0169] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to at least determine that the IVR string is incorrect if the claimant or vendor is determined to be unprepared to communicate with the user, initiate a second call with the claimant / vendor, dynamically navigate the claimant's or vendor's IVR tree based on the intent, correct the IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR tree, and store the corrected IVR string in the IVR tree.

[0170] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to at least determine, if the claimant or vendor is determined to be unprepared to communicate with the user, whether there is no IVR string stored in a database associated with the claimant / vendor, or whether all IVR strings stored in the database and associated with the claimant / vendor are assigned to a different intent other than the intent of the call, dynamically navigate the claimant's / vendor's IVR system based on the intent, generate a new IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR system, and store the new IVR string in the claimant's / vendor's IVR database.

[0171] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to at least input a plurality of tones associated with a value from the IVR string based on the IVR string, and determine that the intent-based action has succeeded based on an auditory response from the claimant's or vendor's IVR system.

[0172] According to a sixth embodiment, an apparatus is provided that includes a processor and a memory storing program code. The memory and the program code, together with the processor, are configured to at least receive, at a user device, sound waves or voice information indicating a request to initiate a call with an interactive voice response (IVR) system of a claimant or a vendor, interpret the call intent and the identification information of the claimant or the vendor from the sound waves or voice information, transmit the sound waves or voice information to an external computing device configured to interpret the call intent and the identification information of the claimant or the vendor from the sound waves or voice information, receive, from the external computing device, an IVR string associated with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor, and initiate a call with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor based on the IVR string.

[0173] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, may be further configured to at least obtain an IVR system mapping or an IVR tree associated with the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor, and determine an IVR string based on the call intent from the IVR system mapping or the IVR tree.

[0174] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, may be further configured to at least input, based on the IVR string, one or more tones associated with one or more values from the IVR string, and determine, based on an auditory response from the IVR system of the claimant or the vendor, that the claimant or the vendor is ready to communicate directly with a user of the user device.

[0175] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, may be further configured to at least provide, via the user device, a notification to the user that a call with the claimant or the vendor has been initiated.

[0176] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, is configured to at least present, at a user device or another user device, an audio prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request to ask the user to participate in a call when it is determined that an IVR system of the claimant or vendor is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another user device, determine whether the user intends to participate in the call from the user's response, contact, gesture, or interaction with the user device or another user device, and further configure the user device or another user device to permit the user to participate in a call between the user device and the IVR system of the claimant or vendor when it is determined that the user intends to participate in the call.

[0177] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, is configured to at least receive an IVR prompt and, based on syntactic analysis of the IVR prompt, provide a tonal response to the IVR prompt and further navigate an IVR tree based on intent.

[0178] In some embodiments, at least one processor, together with a memory storing program code, is configured to at least provide an interface by which a claimant or vendor can perform updates and additions, which may include, but are not limited to, IVR strings, IVR prompts, and intents, to an IVR tree, and further configure to confirm to the claimant, by a confirmation message, of which one possible embodiment is a confirmation email, that the updates and additions were successful.

[0179] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to, at least when it determines that the claimant or vendor is not ready to communicate with the user, determine that the IVR string is incorrect, initiate a second call with the claimant / vendor, dynamically navigate the claimant / vendor's IVR tree based on the intent, correct the IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR tree, and store the corrected IVR string in the IVR tree.

[0180] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to, at least when it determines that the claimant or vendor is not ready to communicate with the user, determine whether there is no IVR string stored in the database associated with the claimant / vendor, or whether all IVR strings stored in the database and associated with the claimant / vendor are assigned to a different intent other than the intent of the call, dynamically navigate the claimant / vendor's IVR system based on the intent, generate a new IVR string based on the dynamic navigation of the IVR system, and store the new IVR string in the claimant / vendor's IVR database.

[0181] In some embodiments, at least one processor, along with a memory storing program code, is further configured to, at least based on the IVR string, input a plurality of tones associated with the value from the IVR string, and based on the auditory response from the claimant or vendor's IVR system, determine that the action based on the intent has been successful.

[0182] Those skilled in the art related to these inventions who enjoy the benefits of the teachings presented in the foregoing description and the related drawings will likely envision many modifications and other embodiments of the invention described herein. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, but rather that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Further, the foregoing description and the related drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments in the context of specific exemplary combinations of elements and / or functions, but it is to be understood that alternative embodiments may provide different combinations of elements and / or functions without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In this regard, for example, combinations of elements and / or functions different from those explicitly described above are also contemplated, as may be described in part in the appended claims. Although specific terms are used herein, they are used only in a general and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation.

[0183] Specific exemplary embodiments have been described for the purpose of providing a general understanding. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the systems, devices, and methods described herein may be adapted and modified to provide systems, devices, and methods for other suitable applications, and that other additional and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the systems, devices, and methods described herein.

[0184] Although the embodiments described in this specification have been specifically illustrated and described, it will be understood that various changes may be made in form and detail. Unless otherwise specified, the illustrated embodiments can be understood as providing exemplary features of various details of a particular embodiment, and thus, unless otherwise specified, the features, components, modules, and / or aspects shown can be combined, separated, exchanged, and / or rearranged in another way without departing from the disclosed system or method. Furthermore, the shape and size of the components are also exemplary and can be changed without affecting the scope of the disclosed exemplary system, apparatus, or method of the present disclosure, unless otherwise specified.

[0185] In this specification, conventional terms in the fields of telecommunications, IoT devices, payment services, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are used. These terms are known in the art and are provided only as non-limiting examples for convenience. Thus, unless otherwise stated, the interpretation of the corresponding terms in the claims is not limited to any specific definition. Therefore, the terms used in the claims should be given the broadest reasonable interpretation.

[0186] Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described in this specification, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that any configuration adapted to achieve the same purpose can replace the specific illustrated embodiments. Many adaptations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, this application is intended to cover any adaptation or variation.

[0187] The embodiments for carrying out the above invention include references to the accompanying drawings that form part of the embodiments for carrying out the invention. The drawings show, by way of example, specific embodiments that can be practiced. These embodiments are also referred to herein as "examples". Such examples may include elements in addition to those illustrated or described. However, the inventors also contemplate examples in which only the illustrated or described elements are provided. Further, the inventors contemplate examples that use any combination or substitution of the illustrated or described elements, with respect to the specific examples (or one or more aspects thereof) illustrated or described herein or with respect to other examples (or one or more aspects thereof).

[0188] All publications, patents, and patent documents referred to in this document are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as if individually incorporated by reference. If there is a conflict in usage between this document and the documents so incorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated reference should be regarded as supplementing the usage in this document, and in case of conflicting inconsistencies, the usage in this document shall govern.

[0189] In this document, the terms "a" or "an" are used to include one or more, regardless of any other instances or uses of "at least one" or "one or more", as is common in patent documents. In this document, the term "or" is used to refer to a non-exclusive "or", unless otherwise specified, such that "A or B" includes "A but not B", "B but not A", and "A and B". In this document, the terms "including" and "in which" are used as the plain English equivalents of the respective terms "comprising" and "wherein". Also, in the following claims, the terms "including" and "comprising" are open-ended, i.e., a system, device, article, or process that includes elements in addition to those listed after such terms in the claims is also considered to be within the scope of those claims. Further, in the following claims, terms such as "first", "second", and "third" are used merely as labels and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on, or to establish a relative order of, operations or arrangements for their objects.

[0190] The above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. For example, the examples described above (or one or more aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Other embodiments may be used by those skilled in the art upon consideration of the above description. The abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b) so as to enable the reader to quickly grasp the nature of the technical disclosure and is submitted with the understanding that it is not to be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning in the claims.

[0191] In the embodiments for carrying out the present invention, various features may be grouped in order to rationalize the disclosure. This should not be construed as intending that the disclosed features not claimed are essential to any of the claims. Rather, the subject matter of the invention is not necessarily in all of the features of the specific embodiments disclosed. Accordingly, the following claims are incorporated into the embodiments for carrying out the invention, and each claim exists independently as a separate embodiment, and it is contemplated that such embodiments may be combined with each other in various combinations or permutations. The scope of the embodiments should be determined with reference to the appended claims and the full scope of equivalents to which rights are granted under such claims.

Claims

1. Receiving, from a user device, acoustic or voice information indicative of a request by a user to initiate an interactive communication session with a communication system of a claimant or a seller; Interpreting, based on the acoustic or voice information, at least one intention of the at least one user associated with the interactive communication session and identification information of the claimant or the seller; Obtaining, based at least on the identification information of at least the claimant or the seller, an interaction map of the communication system of the claimant or the seller; Determining, based at least on the interaction map and the intention of the user, one or more interaction destinations within the interaction map that are associated with at least one intention of the at least one user associated with the interactive communication session; Initiating the interactive communication session with the communication system of the claimant or the seller by transmitting a connection request directed to a network entity associated with the claimant or the seller, the connection request including an indication of the one or more interaction destinations within the interaction map; A method comprising: The indication of the interaction destination includes at least one predetermined interaction coding associated with one or more of the interaction destinations within the interaction map; The predetermined interaction coding includes at least one initial interaction destination within the interaction map and one optimal path for navigating the interaction map to reach the initial interaction destination within the interaction map.

2. The predetermined interaction coding further defines a plurality of condition parameters for participating in the communication system. The method according to claim 1.

3. The step of initiating the interactive communication session includes initiating a chatbot stored in the user device or a remote device. The method according to claim 1.

4. Generating at least one text response or voice response based at least in part on the intention and voice request of the user; Communicating with the network entity of the claimant or the seller using the at least one text response or voice response using the chatbot; Further comprising: The method according to claim 3. Step of obtaining user account information associated with the claimant or the seller from a remote database, Step of communicating with the network entity, at least partially based on the user account information, The method according to claim 4, further comprising: The method according to claim 4, further comprising: Step of generating a user profile including settings specific to the user, Step of storing user information related to the interactive communication session, The method according to claim 4, further comprising: The method according to claim 4, further comprising: The chatbot includes a neural network machine learning model, The method according to claim 4,

8. The obtaining step includes obtaining the predetermined dialogue coding associated with one or more of the dialogue destinations in the dialogue map based on the intention of the user associated with the interactive communication session from a database of dialogue coding information of the claimant or the seller. The method according to claim 1,

9. Step of generating one or more tones associated with one or more values from the predetermined dialogue coding based on the predetermined dialogue coding, Step of determining that the claimant or the seller is ready to communicate directly with the user of the user device based on the auditory response from the communication system of the claimant or the seller, The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing the user via the user device with a notification that the interactive communication session with the claimant or the seller has been started. The method according to claim 1,

11. When it is determined that the communication system of the claimant or the seller is ready to communicate with the user via the user device or another user device, presenting a voice prompt or a visual prompt indicating a request for the user to participate in the interactive communication session on the user device or the other user device, Step of determining whether the user intends to participate in the interactive communication session based on the user's response, contact, gesture, or dialogue with the user device or another user device, When it is determined that the user intends to participate in the interactive communication session, permitting the user to participate in the interactive communication session between the user device and the communication system of the claimant or the seller on the user device or another user device; further comprising The method according to claim 1.

12. Further comprising providing a tone response or an auditory response to the prompt based on a syntactic analysis of the prompt received from the user device and navigating the communication system based on the intention. The method according to claim 1.

13. Dynamically navigating the dialogue map of the claimant or the seller to define an optimal route to a first destination via the dialogue map based on the intention of the user; correcting the predetermined dialogue coding to include an indication of the optimal route based on the dynamic navigation of the dialogue map; saving the corrected predetermined dialogue coding to the dialogue map; further comprising The method according to claim 1.

14. at least one processor; at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 13; An apparatus comprising.

15. Determining an ambient sound signal from a user captured by a computing device in a passive listening state; responsive to identifying a predetermined trigger word from the ambient sound signal, transitioning the computing device from the passive listening state to an active listening state; receiving a voice request from the user to initiate an interactive communication session with a communication system of a claimant or seller while the computing device is in the active listening state; determining the intention of the user associated with the voice request based at least in part on an analysis of the voice request from the user; obtaining a dialogue map associated with the communication system of the claimant or the seller; determining a predetermined dialogue coding associated with the communication system of the claimant or the seller based at least on the dialogue map and the intention of the user; Sending a connection request to a network entity in the communication system of the applicant or the seller; Starting the interactive communication session with the communication system of the applicant or the seller using the predetermined dialogue coding via a chatbot; Generating at least one text response or voice response based at least in part on the user's intention and the voice request; Communicating with the network entity of the applicant or the seller using at least one of the text responses or the voice responses using the chatbot; A method comprising. **Claim 16**: The predetermined dialogue coding includes an initial dialogue destination in the dialogue map of the communication system of the applicant or the seller, and an optimal path for navigating the dialogue map to reach the initial dialogue destination in the dialogue map of the communication system of the applicant or the seller. The method according to claim 15. **Claim 17**: The predetermined dialogue coding further defines a plurality of condition parameters for participating with the communication system of the applicant or the seller. The method according to claim 15. **Claim 18**: Obtaining, by one or more processors, user account information for the account of the applicant or the seller, the user account information associated with the user, from a remote database; Further comprising, by the one or more processors, communicating with the network entity in the communication system of the applicant or the seller based at least in part on the user account information. The method according to claim 15. **Claim 19**: Generating, by one or more processors, a user profile including user-specific settings for the user; Further comprising, by the one or more processors, storing user information related to the interactive communication session. The method according to claim 15. **Claim 20**: The chatbot includes a neural network machine learning model. The method according to claim 15. **Claim 21**: At least one processor; At least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to execute the method according to any one of claims 15 to 20. An apparatus comprising

22. The apparatus according to claim 21, including a user device or a remote device The apparatus according to claim 21.

23. The chatbot is stored on the apparatus or on a server configured to communicate operably with the apparatus The apparatus according to claim 21.

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