Patent ID: 7720678

Claim:
A speech system, comprising: memory; a processor coupled to the memory for managing multiple speech-enabled applications; a speech engine configured to recognize commands from a user and make announcements to the user; a speech server having a speech server interface through which multiple speech-enabled applications communicate with the speech system, and a speech application programming interface through which the speech server communicates with the speech engine; wherein the speech server manages concurrent processing of interactions submitted by the speech-enabled applications while allowing each speech-enabled application to utilize a different speech recognition grammar; a master grammar table comprising a speech recognition grammar that is registered with the speech server by the speech-enabled applications; the speech server passing a recognition of a grammar upon receiving an indication that the recognition of the grammar occurred in a speech interaction to a corresponding speech-enabled application that registered the grammar; wherein when the corresponding speech-enabled application is unloaded and not running, the speech server automatically loads unloaded speech-enabled application in response to receiving a command included in the grammar used by the unloaded speech-enabled application; an interaction manager moves speech interactions that are considered a high priority to a beginning of an order to be processed, receiving a high priority speech interaction and interrupting a speech interaction that is being processed when the high priority speech interaction is received, while other speech interactions are processed as submitted, on a first-in-first-out basis, wherein the order to be processed is maintained in an interaction list by the interaction manager; and the interaction manager establishes a chain of interactions that constitutes a conversation, wherein the interaction manager waits during a pre-determined grace period or time out for a submission of a subsequent interaction in the conversation before processing a next interaction in the interaction list; wherein the speech server includes a self destruct flag that indicates a current interaction terminates when the interaction is interrupted.