Abstract:
A voice access system for a database having a management application which interacts with the database for accessing and/or modifying information contained in the database is provided. The voice access system including a voice portal for exchanging voice information with a human user, and an intermediary application in communication with the voice portal and a management application, the intermediary application creating one or more voice format documents populated by information from the database in response to queries from a human user.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119 of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/368,984, filed Apr. 2, 2002, the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The invention relates to a system for providing automated voice access to a database.  
           [0004]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0005]    Traditionally, access to a database, for example one in which information about cable service subscribers is stored, must be gained through a human operator who manually enters appropriate queries into a computer terminal. The queries are forwarded to managing software such as a Customer Relations Management (CRM) application which in turn queries the database and obtains the appropriate information therefrom.  
           [0006]    A field worker whose access is limited and who requires information from a database—for example a technician for a cable television service provider who is onsite and who must determine the exact nature of the connection and service to which a customer is entitled—such a field worker would have to telephone the human operator, who in turn would manually query the database as described above, receive the appropriate response, then, over the telephone, convey that response back to the field worker. This process is cumbersome and time consuming, as there may be a limited number of human operators, and a queue may need to be established, introducing delay and added expense into the service process.  
           [0007]    Accordingly, there is a long-felt need to automate the database access process, in order to reduce costs and delays associated with such access particulary from remote locations or onsite service operation.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    In accordance with the invention, a voice access system for a database having a management application which interacts with the database for accessing and/or modifying information contained in the database is provided. The voice access system includes a voice portal for exchanging voice information with a human user, and an intermediary application in communication with the voice portal and the management application, the intermediary application creating one or more voice format documents populated by information from the database in response to queries from the human user.  
           [0009]    Further in accordance with the invention, a method for providing voice access to a database having a management application which interacts with the database for accessing and/or modifying information contained in the database is disclosed. The method includes accessing the management application of the database, retrieving information from the database through the management application, generating voice format documents containing the retrieved information, and converting information in the voice format documents to human-intelligible speech.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)  
       [0010]    Many advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art with a reading of this specification in conjunction with the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals are applied to like elements.  
         [0011]    The drawing FIGURE is a schematic diagram illustrating the interactions of various components in accordance with the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]    The system of the invention allows the user to use a telephone to access, create and/or modify information in a database. With respect to an exemplary embodiment of a Customer Relations Management (CRM) application, the system allows a user to read and/or modify information in a CRM system. Information is accessed from a CRM system using the CRM system&#39;s dedicated application programming interface (referred to as API) and reformatting the data so it can be accessed using a telephone. This accessing method is implemented using the CRM software&#39;s normal workflow model and allows the workflow to know that the interface used to update the ticket was a voice interface.  
         [0013]    The drawing FIGURE schematically shows the system  100  of the invention, wherein a telephone  110 , such as a cellular telephone or a conventional landline telephone or other voice communication device, is in communication with voice portal  120 , which is in turn in communication with intermediary application  130 , for example via the Internet, a local or wide area network, or, conceivably, through a local bus if the two systems are in the same “box.” Intermediary application  130  communicates with CRM  140 , which, through the CRM API (application programming interface), has access to database  150 , for example via SQL-type queries. Data in CRM system  140  is stored as text, numerical data, or binary data. Disks  160  provide information storage capacity for the database.  
         [0014]    Intermediary application  130  communicates with the CRM software, creating human-to-computer dialog formatted into voiceXML. Intermediary application  130  operates as a bridge between the CRM system and voice portal  120 , running voice applications constructed with software enabling a user to read, create, modify and delete entries from the CRM system. The intermediary application  130  has a stored format for a voice application. A voice application created by the intermediary application consists of a combination of reading, creating, modifying and deleting entries from the CRM system. Raw information from the CRM system is analyzed and formatted according to a voice application. The intermediary application  130  translates the raw data into a vocal format more understandable for human user. This dialog is formatted into a voiceXML format and is sent to the voice portal  120 . The voice portal  120  interprets the voiceXML and may send additional requests to the intermediary software  130  for more voiceXML information.  
         [0015]    The voice portal  120  is a combination of hardware and software that allows interaction with telephone or other communication device  110 . It translates voiceXML information into vocal dialog which can be received and understood by a human, for example using Text-To-Speech (TTS) expedients, and translates voice information from a human to voiceXML data which is forwarded to the intermediary application  130  for processing.  
         [0016]    When a user, such as a field worker, calls a telephone number dedicated to use in accordance with the invention, the voiceXML software implemented in voice portal  120  will answer the telephone call, possibly applying a user verification method, and send a query to intermediary application  130  including the caller&#39;s telephone number. The intermediary application  130  sends a query to the CRM system  140  requesting data and fields information that are defined in the CRM system. The intermediary application  130  will format the data and field information and create one or more voiceXML documents. These VoiceXML documents will drive spoken conversation from a CRM server to the user, spoken conversation from the user to the server, and telephone number keystrokes the user enters into the telephone.  
         [0017]    The user initiates a dialog with the system using the telephone  110 . Voice portal  120 , sends a request to the intermediary application  130  for a voiceXML form with the identity of the user. The intermediary application  130  requests the CRM software for the format of the voice interface and data presented in the interface. Alternatively, this format can be stored in the database  150 , for example as separate tables, or in the software  130  itself, or anywhere in layers in the third, fourth or fifth layers discussed below. The CRM software has a special application created by the intermediary application  130  that stores the format of the voice interface. The CRM  140  returns the format and content of the voice interface. The CRM software populates a voiceXML document with the relevant queried information, and returns it to the voice portal  120 . The voice portal  120  uses text-to-speech (TTS) and speech recognition to communicate with the user based on the voiceXML document.  
         [0018]    The invention can be organized into six layers of interaction between the user and the system. These are:  
                                                       Layer 1:   Telephone           Layer 2:   Voice portal/VoiceXML           Layer 3:   Intermediary application           Layer 4:   CRM software           Layer 5:   Database           Layer 6:   Disk                      
 
         [0019]    Each layer preferably communicates only with the layer above and the layer below. VoiceXML will provide the voice driven interface. Acronyms and technical terms that cannot correctly be converted to clear sounding speech will be translated to clear sounding speech using phonetic substitution. A selected database of words will be replaced with phonetic string equivalents by the intermediary software. The creation of voice menus, the workflow, and the content of voice menus will be designed using the CRM software. The intermediary software will read, design, and lay out information stored in the CRM software and create all required voiceXML code.  
         [0020]    The above are exemplary modes of carrying out the invention and are not intended to be limiting. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that modifications thereto can be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.