Variable Volume Audio Prompt Handling for IVR Input Recognition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems face issues with user input recognition due to premature audio prompt halting or continuation, leading to confusion and inefficiency, and are limited by centralized architectures that are inflexible, costly, and lack personalization and security.
Innovation Solution
A Distributed Voice Application Execution System (DVAESA) architecture that allows voice applications to be executed on local devices connected to a data network, enabling speech recognition and voice applications without dedicated high-end computing, with features like varying audio prompt volumes and tones to guide user input, and eliminating the need for telephone carriers for service delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the audio prompt is halted as soon as the user begins speaking, then the system can immediately interpret the user's spoken input, but the user may be speaking for some purpose other than to provide input to the system, causing the system to misinterpret and delay the process
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by detecting user speech onset and preparing to interpret input before the audio prompt fully completes. The system halts the prompt early and begins speech recognition processing in advance, improving throughput while using contextual analysis to ensure the speech is actually user input rather than ambient conversation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback mechanisms to analyze the context and content of user speech in real-time. By evaluating speech patterns, timing, and relevance to the current prompt context, the system can distinguish between intentional user input and ambient speech, thereby improving recognition accuracy while maintaining fast processing speeds.
2Reliability
If the audio prompt continues to play as the user begins to speak, then the system can receive complete user input, but the audio prompt playing simultaneously can be confusing and disruptive to the user
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the audio prompt playback from simultaneous occurrence with user speech. When user speech is detected, the system stops or mutes the audio prompt, separating the prompt delivery phase from the speech recognition phase. This eliminates the confusing overlap of hearing both the prompt and user speech at the same time, improving user experience while ensuring complete input reception.
3Reliability
If the system waits for the audio prompt to completely play before receiving user input, then the user can provide input in response to the complete prompt, but this unnecessarily delays the process of receiving the user's input
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary speech detection and processing actions during the audio prompt playback. Instead of waiting for complete prompt playback, the system monitors for user speech onset and begins recognition processing while the prompt is still playing or has just completed, significantly reducing the time to receive user input while maintaining contextual accuracy through prompt state tracking.
4Reliability
If centralized high-end computing systems are used to provide voice services, then speech recognition and voice applications can be performed, but the systems are inflexible, costly, and lack personalization capability
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the voice service delivery architecture into distributed components. Instead of centralized high-end computing, speech recognition and voice applications are distributed to local devices such as set-top boxes, personal computers, or mobile devices. Each local device handles its own speech processing independently, eliminating the need for complex centralized infrastructure while maintaining recognition capability through standardized local engines.
Solution Approach 2:
Local devices perform self-service speech recognition and voice application processing without requiring centralized computing resources. Each device independently executes speech recognition algorithms and runs voice applications locally, enabling the system to scale without increasing central infrastructure complexity while providing personalized services tailored to individual users and devices.
Data Source
AI summary
A system plays audio prompts to a user as part of a voice application. If the user begins to provide input in response to the audio prompt before the audio prompt is finished playing, the volume of the audio prompt is reduced, but the audio prompt continues to play. If the user finishes providing his input and the system is able to interpret the input before the audio prompt finishes, the audio prompt will halt and the system will take further action in accordance with the user's input. If the user finishes providing his input while the audio prompt is still playing, and the system is unable to interpret the input, the volume of the audio prompt will increase back to the original volume level until either the audio prompt finishes playing, or the user again begins to provide input.