IVR Selectable Controls Using On-Screen Transcribed Options
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Solution Overview
Problem
IVR systems present challenges for users with hearing impairments, speech impediments, or short-term memory issues due to complex audio menus that are difficult to navigate and understand.
Innovation Solution
A computing device provides selectable controls by transcribing and displaying text descriptions of IVR options during calls, allowing users to select options through graphical interfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If IVR systems use complex audio menus to segment and identify callers, then the system can handle multiple options and routing scenarios, but the menus become difficult for callers to understand, navigate, or remember
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a communication device as an intermediary between the caller and the IVR system. This device captures audio data from the IVR system, transcribes it to text, and presents it to the caller in a readable format. The device acts as a mediator that translates the complex audio menu into an accessible visual interface, allowing callers to navigate the IVR system more easily without directly interacting with the complex audio menus.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a textual copy of the IVR system's audio output. Instead of requiring callers to process and remember audio information, the system transcribes the audio menu options into text that can be displayed on a screen. This textual copy preserves all the information from the audio menu while making it accessible and easier to navigate, directly addressing the contradiction between comprehensive options and ease of navigation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If IVR systems present multiple selectable options through audio, then the system can provide comprehensive service options, but users with hearing impairments or speech impediments find it difficult or impossible to interact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the acoustic interaction mechanism with a visual display mechanism. Instead of requiring users to hear and speak to interact with the IVR system, the system captures the audio output, transcribes it to text, and displays it visually. Users can then interact by reading the text and providing input through the communication device's interface, substituting the audio-visual-speech mechanism with a visual-read-input mechanism that is accessible to users with hearing or speech impairments.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication device serves as an intermediary that adapts the IVR system's audio output into a format accessible to users with disabilities. By transcribing audio to text and displaying it, the device creates an accessible interface that preserves all service options while removing the barriers posed by audio-only interaction for users with hearing or speech impairments.
3Adaptability or versatility
If IVR systems provide detailed option lists, then the system can cover all necessary service categories, but users with short-term memory impairment cannot remember the options to provide responses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a persistent visual copy of the IVR menu options that remains displayed on the communication device's screen. Instead of relying on users to remember audio information that disappears after playback, the system transcribes the options into text and displays them continuously or until the user completes their selection. This visual copy allows users with short-term memory impairments to read, process, and reference the options at their own pace without needing to remember them.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions the IVR interaction from the temporal audio dimension to the spatial visual dimension. Audio menus are inherently temporal and disappear after playback, requiring users to remember the information. By transcribing and displaying the options as text, the system moves the information into a spatial dimension where it remains visible and accessible on the screen, allowing users to reference it repeatedly without needing to remember it.
4Ease of operation
If IVR systems use voice input for user responses, then the system can maintain natural interaction, but users with speech impediments or in noisy environments struggle to provide accurate responses
Solution Approach 1:
The communication device acts as an intermediary that captures the user's input through its microphone and transmission capabilities, rather than relying on the IVR system's voice recognition. This intermediary role allows the device to reliably capture user responses regardless of speech impediments or ambient noise, then transmit the input to the IVR system for processing, maintaining natural interaction while improving response accuracy.
Data Source
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AI summary
This document describes systems and techniques to enable selectable controls for interactive voice response (IVR) systems. The described systems and techniques can determine whether audio data associated with a voice or video call between a user of a computing device and a third party includes multiple selectable options. The third party audibly provides the selectable options during the call. In response to determining that the audio data includes the selectable options, the computing device can determine a text description of the multiple selectable options. The described systems and techniques can then display two or more selectable controls on a display. The user can select a selectable control to indicate a selected option of the multiple selectable options. In this way, the described systems and techniques can improve a user experience with voice calls and video calls by making IVR systems easier to navigate and understand.