Patent ID: 7283963

Claim:
A method for handling unregistered callers in a voice recognition framework, comprising: determining whether a user is registered; executing a registration process if it is determined that the user is not registered; and receiving and recognizing utterances representative of information from the user during the registration process, wherein the receiving is carried out utilizing an input device; wherein the information includes billing information; wherein the billing information is selected from the group consisting of a billing address and credit card data, where the billing address includes a city in which the user resides; wherein the information further includes at least one phone number of the user; wherein the determining whether a user is registered includes gathering information relating to the user from a first database and comparing the information against a second database of registered users; wherein directions are given to the user explaining the registration process and another process by which the user exits the registration process such that the user is capable of exiting the registration process at any time during the registration process upon receipt and detection of a predefined keyword uttered by the user; wherein the executing the registration process includes establishing a unique user account number for the user where the unique user account number is utilized for storing the information, and establishing a personal identification number for the user where the personal identification number is utilized for security purposes; wherein the registration process includes returning the user to a main menu after the registration process is complete or upon receipt and detection of the keyword; wherein the handling unregistered callers is managed by a platform including a presentation layer, an application logic layer, an information access services layer, and a telecom infrastructure; wherein the application logic layer includes a set of reusable application components and a software engine for the execution thereof, the application logic layer further including an application server, and a VoiceXML interpreter, the application server adapted for hosting logic of applications providing services, and the VoiceXML interpreter adapted for executing VoiceXML applications; wherein the presentation layer provides for communication with the user and includes a telephony server, a speech recognition server, and a text-to-speech server, the telephony server adapted for providing an interface for receiving voice streams from the user, the speech recognition server adapted for providing speech recognition of the voice streams provided by the telephony server, and the text-to-speech server adapted for transforming text input into audio output that is streamed through the telephony server to the user.