Abstract:
A system and method is provided for a computer-aided telephone interview system that includes a computer server operatively connected to an interviewer over a global telecommunications network, where the server is configured to transmit sound file prompts that can include pre-recorded questions and statements to a person being interviewed over a telephone network under the control of the interviewer in response to answers provided by the person being interviewed.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/375,677 filed Aug. 20, 2010, and hereby incorporates the same provisional application by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure is related to the field of telephone interview systems, in particular, computer-aided telephone interview (“CATI”) systems. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In a typical CATI system, if a remote interviewer is used, the remote interviewer would call a respondent interviewee directly or they would connect to a central telephone system that would then call the respondent and conference in the interviewer. In both cases, a phone connection is necessary from the interviewer to the respondent. This can be achieved using a traditional telephone system or a voice over internet protocol (“VOIP”) system. 
         [0004]    Computer-aided telephone interviews can occur when an interviewer signs into a CATI software system to complete telephone interviews by reading the script to the respondent interviewee and recording their responses into the CATI system. Traditionally, interviewers can travel to a central location call center where they are assigned a station that has a computer terminal or personal computer as well as a telephone. The dialing of the respondent can be either manual, where the interviewer reads the number off the computer screen and enters it into the phone keypad, or it can be automatic where the system dials and hangs up the phone automatically. In either case, the interviewer typically has a headset with a microphone to improve quality. 
         [0005]    In a remote CATI environment, the interviewer does not travel to a central call center; they can work from home or some other location. In this case, the interviewer can either dial the respondent directly or connect to a central phone system that does the dialing and conferencing of the interviewer into a separate call to the respondent. This later approach allows for better monitoring and recording of the call between the interviewer and the respondent. In either case, the interviewer needs to use a telephone to communicate with the respondent. 
         [0006]    The basic problem is how to make it cost effective to have interviewers located outside Canada or the US use a CATI system and deliver a service that is as good or better than using interviewers located in Canada or the US. One challenge with using with interviewers located in countries outside Canada or the US is that the telephone long distance charges are much higher than in Canada. Typically, long distance charges are typically $0.005 to $0.01 per minute in Canada while it would be over $0.10 per minute for most countries outside Canada and the US. The quality of the speech from interviewers located outside of Canada or the US is also typically lower than interviewers located in Canada or the US. This can be caused by the interviewers having strong accents and/or lower telephone line quality. 
         [0007]    It is, therefore, desirable to reduce the cost of the telephone charges to conduct telephone interviews, and to improve the quality of the speech that the respondent hears from an interviewer located outside of Canada or the US. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    A system and method for conducting a computer-aided telephone interview (“CATI”) is provided. In some embodiments, the need for a telephone phone connection between the interviewer and the respondent (also referred to herein as “interviewee”) who is to be interviewed can be eliminated. A telephone connection from a CATI system server to the respondent is still required. This method can be achieved by sending commands from an interviewer agent, specifically, commands from software on the agent&#39;s computer to the CATI system server to command the CATI system server to play prompts or sound files to the respondent, and to the interviewer at the same time. The responses from the respondent can then be received by the CATI system server. The CATI system server can then transmit the active speech to the agent computer. In some embodiments, the CATI system server can remove the silence when the respondent sound responses are played to the agent. 
         [0009]    Instead of having the interviewer read the prompts to the respondent, the interviewer agent can, instead, use their computer to select the sound file prompt to be played by the CATI system server to the respondent over the telephone connection between the CATI system server and the respondent. This can result in sound quality that is higher than typical interviewers as the telephone connection is just between the respondent and the CATI system server, which can be located in the same country as the respondent. A telephone connection to the interviewer agent, who can be located in another country, is not necessary. Accordingly, the telephone costs associated with a telephone connection with the interviewer agent can be reduced or eliminated altogether. 
         [0010]    In some embodiments, the system and method described herein can be commenced by an interviewer signing into a CATI system, and recording the respondent responses in the same way as a normal CATI system. However, rather than reading the script to the respondent, the interviewer can use a computer-aided interface to cause a central phone system operatively connected to the CATI system server to play pre-recorded sound file prompts to the respondent. The interviewer can still hear what the respondent is saying except that the agent can hear the response through their computer rather than through a telephone connection with the respondent. 
         [0011]    In some embodiments, the method can comprise of the following steps. First, the CATI system server can authenticate an interviewer. Once authenticated, the interviewer agent can select a project that has a list of respondents who are to be interviewed. In some embodiments of the system, all the pre-recorded sound prompt files can be transmitted to the client software located on the interviewer&#39;s computer. The CATI system can then dial respondents until a respondent answers the phone. The response from the respondent can be transmitted to the interviewer&#39;s computer where it can be played on the computer&#39;s speaker. In some embodiments, only the speech of the respondent is transmitted rather than the silence when the respondent is talking. Silence is not transmitted to minimize the bandwidth requirements and amount of data transmitted to the interviewer&#39;s computer from the CATI system server. If silence is detected, then white noise can be played on the interviewer&#39;s computer to indicate to the interviewer that the connection with the respondent is still active. 
         [0012]    At the start of the call, any recordings such as the name of the respondent or a date can be sent to the client software running on the interviewer&#39;s computer so that these recordings can be merged into the standard pre-recorded sound file prompts. After listening to the response of the respondent, the Interviewer can select the appropriate response from a list of pre-recorded sound file prompts and press the appropriate keys on their computer to notify the CATI system server which sound file prompt to play to the respondent. 
         [0013]    Once the interviewer has selected the sound file prompt, the CATI system server can play the sound file prompt to the respondent. At the same time, the client software running on the interviewer&#39;s computer that sent the command to the CATI system server can also play the prompt to the interviewer using their computer&#39;s speaker. The CATI system server can also record all the responses from the respondent and the commands from the interviewer&#39;s computer to start and stop the playing of pre-recorded sound file prompts. Complete recordings of the conversation can be generated for quality assurance and monitoring purposes. In addition to controlling the pre-recorded sound file prompts that are played to the respondent interviewee, the interviewer can also control the style of the sound file prompts. The style can include attributes such as the speed of the speech, the volume and the tone. Depending on the features required, this functionality can be achieved using multiple versions of the recordings or by modifying the sound file programmatically. In all cases, the information content can be essentially the same. 
         [0014]    Broadly stated, in some embodiments, a computer-aided telephone interview system is provided, comprising: a system server configured to establish a telecommunications link to an interviewee over a public switched telephone network; the system server configured to play at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt over the telecommunications link to the interviewee, and to receive responses from the interviewee over the telecommunications link; the system server operatively connected to an agent computer over a global telecommunications network, the system server configured to transmit responses received from the interviewee to the interviewer agent computer to be played to an interviewer; and the interviewer agent computer configured to transmit commands to the system server to play at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt to the interviewee. 
         [0015]    Broadly stated, in some embodiments, a method is provided for conducting a computer-aided telephone interview, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a connection between an interviewer agent computer to a system server over a global telecommunications network; establishing a telecommunications link between the system server and an interviewee over a public switched telephone network; transmitting a command from the interviewer agent computer to the system server to play at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt to the interviewee over the telecommunications link; and upon receiving a response from the interviewee to the at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt, transmitting the response from the system server to the interviewer agent computer. 
         [0016]    Broadly stated, in some embodiments, a system is provided for conducting a computer-aided telephone interview, comprising: means for establishing a connection between an interviewer agent computer to a system server over a global telecommunications network; means for establishing a telecommunications link between the system server and an interviewee over a public switched telephone network; means for transmitting a command from the interviewer agent computer to the system server to play at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt to the interviewee over the telecommunications link; and means for transmitting the response from the system server to the interviewer agent computer upon receiving a response from the interviewee to the at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt. 
         [0017]    Broadly stated, in some embodiments, a method is provided for conducting a computer-aided telephone interview, the method comprising the steps of: providing a system server configured to establish a telecommunications link to an interviewee over a public switched telephone network, the system server configured to play at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt over the telecommunications link to the interviewee and to receive responses from the interviewee over the telecommunication link; providing an interviewer agent computer, the interviewer agent computer operatively connected to the system server over a global telecommunications network, the system server configured to transmit responses received from the interviewee to the interviewer agent computer to be played to an interviewer; carrying out an agent session login process on the interviewer agent computer; carrying out a call setup process on the system server; and processing the call. 
         [0018]    Broadly stated, in some embodiments, a system is provided for conducting a computer-aided telephone interview, comprising: a system server configured to establish a telecommunications link to an interviewee over a public switched telephone network, the system server configured to play at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt over the telecommunications link to the interviewee and to receive responses from the interviewee over the telecommunication link; an interviewer agent computer, the interviewer agent computer operatively connected to the system server over a global telecommunications network, the system server configured to transmit responses received from the interviewee to the interviewer agent computer to be played to an interviewer; means for carrying out an agent session login process on the interviewer agent computer; means for carrying out a call setup process on the system server; and means for processing the call. 
         [0019]    Broadly stated, in some embodiments, a method is provided for conducting a computer-aided telephone interview on a system comprising a system server configured to establish a telecommunications link to an interviewee over a public switched telephone network, the system server configured to operatively connect to an interviewer agent computer over a global telecommunications network, the method being embodied on a computer-readable medium such that, when implemented on the system server, the method permits the conducting of the computer-aided telephone interview with the interviewee, the computer-readable medium comprising: a code segment that establishes a connection between the system server to the interviewer agent computer over the global telecommunications network; a code segment that establishes the telecommunications link between the system server and the interviewee over the public switched telephone network; a code segment that receives a command from the interviewer agent computer to play at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt to the interviewee over the telecommunications link; and a code segment that, upon the system server receiving a response from the interviewee to the at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt, transmits the response from the system server to the interviewer agent computer. In further embodiments, the computer-readable medium can further comprise a code segment that authenticates the interviewer agent computer. In further embodiments, the computer-readable medium can further comprise a code segment that selects a project comprising a list of interviewees to be interviewed. In further embodiments, the computer-readable medium can further comprise a code segment that plays another of the at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt to the interviewee over the telecommunications link after receiving the interviewee&#39;s response. In further embodiments, the computer-readable medium can further comprise a code segment that records at least one of the responses of the interviewee and at least one of the commands received from the interviewer agent computer to play the at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt. In further embodiments, the computer-readable medium can further comprise a code segment that controls at least one attribute of the at least one pre-recorded sound file prompt. 
         [0020]    Broadly stated, in some embodiments, a method is provided for conducting a computer-aided telephone interview on a system comprising a system server configured to establish a telecommunications link to an interviewee over a public switched telephone network, the system server configured to operatively connect to an interviewer agent computer over a global telecommunications network, the method being embodied on a computer-readable medium such that, when implemented on the system, the method permits the conducting of the computer-aided telephone interview with the interviewee, the computer-readable medium comprising: a code segment that carries out an interviewer agent login process; a code segment that carries out a call setup process; and a code segment that processes the call. In further embodiments, the computer-readable medium can further comprise code segments that authenticate the interviewer agent computer, display at least project comprising a list of interviewees to be interviewed; selects the at least one project, download one or more sound files associated with the at least one project from the system server to the interviewer agent computer, and notify the system server that the interviewer agent computer is ready to accept a call. In further embodiments, the computer-readable medium can further comprise a code segment that updates a list of valid project agents. In further embodiments, the computer-readable medium can further comprise code segments that obtains a project phone number, dials and makes a call to the project phone number, and if the call to the project phone number is answered, selects a valid interviewer agent to handle the call, and if the call is not answered, hangs up the call and obtains another project phone number. In further embodiments, the computer-readable medium can further comprise code segments that transmits sound received by the system server from the interviewee to the interviewer agent computer, sends a question specification to the interviewer agent computer, displays a question and the interviewee&#39;s response to the question on the interviewer agent computer, plays the sound on the interviewer agent computer, selects a question response to the interviewee&#39;s response, and sends a command to the system server to play a pre-recorded sound file prompt associated with the question response to the interviewee. In further embodiments, the computer-readable medium can further comprise a code segment that plays the pre-recorded sound file prompt on the interviewer agent computer. In further embodiments, the computer-readable medium can further comprise a code segment that repeats the foregoing steps until a survey with the interviewee has been completed and ends the call. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a computer-aided telephone interview system. 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram depicting another embodiment of a computer-aided telephone interview system. 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart depicting the steps of an agent session login process of a computer-aided telephone interview system. 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart depicting the steps of a call setup process of a computer-aided telephone interview system. 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart depicting the steps of a call processing process of a computer-aided telephone interview system. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , one embodiment of a basic CATI system is shown. In some embodiments, CATI system  10  can comprise server  12  operatively connected to interviewer or agent computer  14  and to interviewee or respondent telephone  16 . In some, embodiments, link  1  disposed between agent computer  14  and server  12  can be used to send commands from computer  14  to server  12  to control the pre-recorded sound file prompts transmitted to and played on respondent telephone  16  or to control the phone connection to respondent telephone  16  (for example: dial, hang up, transfer, etc). In some embodiments, agent compute  14  can comprise a general-purpose personal computer, as well known to those skilled in the art. Agent computer  14  can further comprise sound generation means, such as a sound card and speakers, to play back the pre-recorded sound file prompts, and the responses from the interviewees. Agent computer  14  can further comprise a microphone for the interviewer to speak to the interviewee. 
         [0027]    In some embodiments, link  2  disposed between agent computer  14  and server  12  can be used to transmit the sound from respondent telephone  16  to agent computer  14  when the responding is speaking. In some embodiments, link  2  does not transmit silence or an absence of sound or speech from respondent telephone  16 . 
         [0028]    In some embodiments, link  1  and link  2  can be disposed on an internet communications link between agent computer  14  and server  12 , as well known to those skilled in the art. 
         [0029]    In some embodiments, link  3  disposed between respondent telephone  16  and server  12  can be used to carry sound or speech transmitted from the respondent to server  12 . In some embodiments, link  4  disposed between respondent telephone  16  and server  12  can be used to carry sound or speech comprising of questions or statements transmitted to the respondent from server  12 . In some embodiments, link  3  and link  4  can be disposed on a telephone communication line between server  12  and respondent telephone  16 , such as those routed through a public switched telephone network as one example or its equivalent, as well known to those skilled in the art. 
         [0030]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , another embodiment of CATI system  10  is illustrated. In some embodiments, agent computer  14  can be in communication with CATI system server  12  via a global telecommunications network, such as the internet as shown as reference numeral  18  in  FIG. 2 . Server  12  can be operatively connected to session initiation proxy (“SIP) server  20  and SIP server  22 . SIP proxy server  18  and SIP server  22  can comprise Avaya SES Servers operating with software version 5.1.0.0-414.3f, as manufactured by Avaya Inc. of 211 Mt. Airy Road, Basking Ridge, N.J. 07920, U.S.A. 
         [0031]    In some embodiments, CATI system server  12  can be operatively connected to telephone switch or PBX  24  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ), which can be a private branch exchange (“PBX”) or a private automatic branch exchange (“PABX”) as well known to those skilled in the art. A representative example of PBX  24  can be the Avaya S8500 PBX, as manufactured by Avaya Inc. 
         [0032]    In some embodiments, PBX  24  can be operatively connected to a public switched telephone network or a public switched data network via digital communications link  28 . In a representative embodiment, communications link  28  can be a 1.544 Mb/s T-1 digital link connected to public switched data network (“PSDN”)  26  although it is obvious to those skilled in the art that communications link  28  can comprise any suitable digital data rate (e.g., E-1, T-2, T-3, T-4, etc.) and that PSDN  26  can comprise any suitable digital telephone switch that is connected to a public switched telephone network (“PSTN”), depending on the volume of calls that CATI system  10  is configured to handle and the communication protocols used in the PSTN in the country or geographical region where CATI system  10  is located or operating through. 
         [0033]    In some embodiments, respondent telephone  16  can be operatively connected to PSDN  26  via telecommunications link  30 . It is obvious to those skilled in the art that telecommunications link  30  can comprise any known telephone transmission equipment configured to provide plain old telephone service (“POTS”) to an end user&#39;s telephone. This equipment can comprise a twisted copper pair line running from respondent telephone  16  to a local central telephone office or the equipment can comprise a loop carrier system as well known to those skilled in the art to provide POTS to respondent telephone  16  from the nearest PSTN central office. 
         [0034]    In order for agent computer  14  to operate within CATI system  10  to carry out a computer-aided telephone interview, agent computer  14  can comprise computer software configured to enable this functionality. In some embodiments, the computer software disposed on agent computer  14  can be configured to carry out agent session login process  300 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . Process  300  can start with step  304 , where an agent can execute the Agent software on agent computer  14 . At step  308 , the agent can enter their username and password to authenticate the agent as an authorized user of CATI system  10 . The Agent software can send a command to server  12  that contains the username and password for the agent. At step  312 , server  12  responses with a success or failure to authenticate the agent. If the authentication step fails, process  300  ends at step  316 . If the Agent software is successful in authenticating, then a list of projects that this agent has access to can be sent from server  12  to the Agent software on agent computer  14  at step  320 . 
         [0035]    At step  324 , the Agent can select the project they would like to work on from a dropdown list. At step  328 , the Agent Software can send a command to server  12  to request the project sound files. In some embodiments, server  12  can send the sound files to the Agent software on agent computer  14 , whereby these sound files can be stored in memory rather than on a disk. At step  332 , the Agent software can send a command to server  12  to inform it that the Agent is ready to accept calls. At step  336 , server  12  can add the agent to the list of agents that can handle calls for this project. In some embodiments, server  12  can call phone numbers for this project as long as there are agents assigned to the project. At this point, a call setup process to connect the agent to an interviewee listed in the project can be commenced. 
         [0036]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , the steps of one embodiment of call setup process  400  is shown. At step  404 , server  12  can obtain an interviewee&#39;s telephone number to be dialed. The interviewee&#39;s telephone number is dialed at step  408 . At step  412 , server  12  can determine whether the interviewee answers the telephone call set up between PBX  24  and telephone  16 . If there is no answer, the call is terminated at step  416 , and process  400  can return to step  404  to select the telephone number of another interviewee listed in the project. If the interviewee answers the call, server  12  can select a valid agent to handle the call and send the sound of the respondent interviewee answering the call to the Agent at step  420 . Process  400  can then proceed, at step  424 , to call processing process  500  as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0037]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , server  12  can send sound or speech received from the respondent interviewee to agent computer  14  at step  504 . At step  508 , a question specification can be sent from server  12  to the Agent software on agent computer  14 . At step  512 , the Agent software can display a question with a list of responses for the question on agent computer  14 . At step  516 , the Agent software on agent computer  14  can play the sound of the respondent answering using the speakers of agent computer  14 . At step  520 , the Agent can then select a response to play to the respondent interviewee based on what the agent heard. At step  524 , a command can be sent from the Agent software on agent computer  14  to server  12  to play a specific sound file. At step  528 , server  12  can play the specific sound file to the respondent interviewee through the telephone connection to respondent telephone  16 . At the same time, the sound file played to the respondent is also played to the Agent using the local copy of the sound files stored in memory on agent computer  14 . 
         [0038]    At step  532 , process  500  can determine whether the survey of the respondent interviewee has been completed. If the survey is not complete, process  500  can return to step  504  to repeat steps  508  through  528  for a new question posed to the respondent interviewee. If the survey has been completed, process  500  ends the call processing process at step  536 . 
         [0039]    Although a few embodiments have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The terms and expressions used in the preceding specification have been used herein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the invention is defined and limited only by the claims that follow.