Patent ID: 8874446

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of funneling user responses in a voice portal system to determine a desired item or service, the voice portal system implemented by one or more computing devices, the method comprising: receiving, by at least one of one or more computing devices, a selection of a vertical domain related to the desired item or service of interest to a user; querying, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, the user for a first attribute value associated with a first particular attribute of the desired item or service, the querying comprising: prompting, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, the user to supply the first attribute value associated with the first particular attribute; establishing, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, an attribute vocabulary set related to the first particular attribute of the desired item or service; and identifying, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, the first attribute value given by the user by comparing the first attribute value with the attribute vocabulary set; setting vertical preferences for the vertical domain based at least in part on the first attribute value; determining, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, if the first attribute value given by the user satisfies an end state, the end state comprising a point at which the desired item or service is found; and responsive to determining that said end state is not satisfied: querying, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, the user for a second attribute value associated with a second particular attribute of the desired item or service; and determining, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, if the second attribute value given by the user satisfies the end state.