Dispatch System Using Speech Recognition Intermediary
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current service vehicle dispatch systems, such as those using automated speech recognition and SMS, face limitations due to noise corruption in audio channels and rigid structures, as well as customer inconvenience in composing text messages, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a cellular telephone to receive and digitize spoken utterances for service vehicle dispatch, transmitting them to a speech recognition system for accurate location identification, and then to a dispatch system for vehicle matching and assignment, allowing for confirmation and correction by the customer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If automated speech recognition is used to eliminate telephonists, then labor cost is reduced, but speech recognition accuracy deteriorates due to noise corruption in audio channels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a telephonist as an intermediary between the customer and the automated speech recognition system. The telephonist handles complex or noisy audio interactions manually, while the automated system handles routine requests, thereby maintaining both labor cost efficiency and speech recognition accuracy through selective mediation.
2Ease of operation
If conventional audio telephone channel is used for speech input, then ease of operation is improved, but speech recognition accuracy deteriorates due to arbitrary noise and dropouts
Solution Approach 1:
The telephonist serves as an intermediary who can manually transcribe or clarify the pickup address when audio quality is poor, ensuring accurate address identification while maintaining the convenience of voice input for customers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the telephonist or automated system can request clarification or confirmation of the pickup address when noise or dropouts occur, ensuring accurate identification while maintaining operational ease.
3Device complexity
If rigid computer system structure is used for automation, then device complexity is reduced, but adaptability deteriorates due to limited predefined commands
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic system structure where the telephonist can adaptively switch between handling automated routine requests and managing complex or unusual customer requests, allowing the system to maintain simplicity for common tasks while providing flexibility for exceptional cases.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method are provided for improving efficiency of operation and convenience of access to a fleet of taxis, or other service vehicles, requiring rapid, on-demand dispatch to customer-determined locations. Automatic speech recognition (ASR) and/or radiolocation technology are used to automate the entry of the customer pickup location, and optionally the dropoff location and other relevant information as well. A customer speaks the pickup location into a cellular telephone which then digitizes and transmits it as a data communication to an ASR system. The ASR system decodes the digitized utterance into a pickup location which is passed to a vehicle matching and dispatch system. The vehicle matching and dispatch system matches a taxi and dispatches it to the pickup location. In one embodiment, the identified pickup location is transmitted to the customer's cellular telephone for confirmation or correction, before dispatch of the requested taxi.