Patent ID: 7623632

Claim:
A method for implementing an automated call routing application in a speech enabled call center environment, comprising: maintaining a communication connection with a user; comparing one or more characteristics of the user communication connection with a set of call center conditions; communicating a condition message to the user in response to a match between a characteristic of the user communication connection and at least one of the set of call center conditions; initiating a speak freely dialog module operable to receive and interpret natural language utterances from the user; eliciting a natural language utterance from the user indicating user selection of an available call center transaction; evaluating the natural language user utterance to identify its contents; if the natural language user utterance includes a second indication of an agent request, presenting to the user a transfer to agent message and transferring the user communication connection to a selected agent; if the natural language user utterance includes a first vague call center transaction selection, prompting for an additional natural language user utterance indicating selection of a call center transaction; if the natural language user utterance includes a second vague call center transaction selection, presenting a menu of options to the user to which the user may respond with a natural language utterance selection of a transaction from the menu of options; if the natural language user utterance includes a known action unknown object combination, initiating a dialog module operable to elicit from the user identification of an object associated with the known action; if the natural language user utterance includes a known object unknown action combination, initiating a dialog module operable to elicit from the user identification of an action associated with the known object; and upon identification of a known action-object combination, accessing a look-up table including routing destinations for service agents operable to service selected action-object combinations and routing the user to a destination associated with the known action-object combination.