Click-to-Call Web Interface for IVR Menu Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current IVR systems are inefficient and frustrating for users due to complex menus and unreliable voice recognition, leading to caller dissatisfaction and increased frustration.
Innovation Solution
A click-to-call web interface is introduced that allows users to interactively navigate IVR menus visually, enabling faster and more reliable selection of desired options by presenting a web menu corresponding to the IVR audio menu, with a click-to-call server setting up communication sessions between the user and the IVR system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional IVR systems use complex audio menus to guide callers, then the system can handle multiple communication destinations, but the caller experience becomes time-consuming and frustrating
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a visual copy of the IVR menu structure on a web page that mirrors the audio menu hierarchy. This visual representation allows users to navigate the same complex menu structure more easily by seeing the options laid out in advance, reducing the frustration of navigating complex IVR systems while maintaining the system's ability to handle multiple destinations.
Solution Approach 2:
The web page serves as an intermediary between the user and the traditional audio-based IVR system. It provides a visual interface that mediates the interaction, allowing users to understand and navigate the menu structure before initiating the call, thus improving ease of operation without changing the core IVR functionality.
2Extent of automation
If IVR systems use generic voice recognition to anticipate user requests, then the system can automatically route calls, but reliability decreases due to inability to handle various accents and pronunciations
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of relying on imperfect voice recognition to interpret user requests, the system provides a visual copy of the menu structure where users can explicitly select their desired destination. This eliminates the reliability issues of voice recognition while maintaining automation through the visual interface and structured selection process.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than having the system try to understand and interpret varied user speech patterns, the approach is inverted: the system presents structured visual options and waits for explicit user selection. This reverses the burden from the user (providing clear speech) to the system (providing clear visual options), thereby improving reliability.
3Reliability
If IVR systems repeatedly ask callers to repeat their requests when recognition fails, then the system can attempt to clarify the user's intent, but caller frustration increases
Solution Approach 1:
The visual menu structure on the web page provides a clear, static reference that eliminates the need for repeated requests. Users can see all available options and make explicit selections without the system needing to ask for clarification, thereby maintaining reliability while improving caller satisfaction.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by presenting the complete visual menu structure before the user initiates the call. This allows users to prepare their selection in advance without needing to repeat or clarify their requests during the call, eliminating frustration while maintaining accurate intent capture.
Data Source
AI summary
Described are a system and method for establishing a communication session between an end user and a communication destination of an interactive voice response (IVR) system. A click-to-call server transmits a web page over a network for display in a browser window at a client system. The web page presents a web menu corresponding to an IVR audio menu of the IVR system and has a link by which the end user of the client system can submit a click-to-call request. The click-to-call server receives a click-to-call request from the client system over the network in response to activation of the link in the web page. The click-to-call server sets up a communication session between a communication device identified by the end user and a communication destination of the IVR system in response to receiving the click-to-call request.