IVR Mashup System for Simultaneous Multi-Provider Call Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current IVR systems for multiple service providers result in poor user experience due to long hold times, redundant information repetition, inability to connect to the service provider with the least wait time, and inefficiencies in accessing services over the telephone channel, as users must sequentially dial multiple providers and endure irrelevant hold music and advertisements.
Innovation Solution
An IVR mashup system that allows simultaneous connection to multiple service providers, calculates wait times, and relays personalized promotional content, enabling automatic transaction completion on behalf of the user and providing services from various providers in a single call.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users sequentially dial multiple service providers to access services, then they can eventually find an available provider, but the user experience deteriorates due to long hold times and redundant information repetition
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple service provider interfaces into a single unified IVR system. The mashup server aggregates service availability information from multiple providers and presents a consolidated interface to the user, eliminating the need to sequentially dial multiple numbers and reducing total hold time while maintaining service availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-fetching and caching service availability information from multiple providers before the user makes a request. This allows the IVR system to immediately connect users to available services without requiring sequential dialing and waiting, thereby reducing hold time while ensuring service availability.
2Loss of information
If users sequentially connect to multiple service operators, then they can gather information from various providers, but the process becomes inefficient requiring multiple calls and repeated information provision
Solution Approach 1:
The mashup server merges information retrieval from multiple service providers into a single unified query process. The system simultaneously gathers service information, availability status, and pricing from multiple providers through one interface, completing information collection in a single interaction rather than requiring multiple sequential calls.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified IVR system performs multiple functions simultaneously: it queries multiple service providers, compares availability and pricing, and presents options to the user all through a single interface. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for users to repeatedly provide information to different operators while ensuring complete information gathering.
3Speed
If the system connects users to service providers with the least wait time, then service access speed improves, but the system complexity increases due to simultaneous call management
Solution Approach 1:
The mashup server acts as an intermediary between users and multiple service providers. It manages simultaneous connections to multiple providers, monitors their availability and wait times, and automatically routes users to the most appropriate provider. This intermediary layer handles the complexity of simultaneous call management while presenting a simple interface to users and maintaining fast service access.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention proposes a system and a method to enable an IVR mashup interface to ease the selection of services over a communication device and enhances the caller experience by ways of personalizing the call and making effective use of the call hold time. The said system and method as implemented by the mashup server automatically connects the caller to the most immediate service offering service provider after simultaneously placing of the call to various service providers. In the mean time, the mashup server simultaneously calculates the wait time to get connected to service provider after a call is made to mashup service and relays appropriate promotional content to the caller based on such wait time and the profile of the user. Further the system and method as proposed is capable of representing a user and transact on behalf of the user by talking to the live agents or interacting with the automated IVR systems representing the service providers.