Patent Document ID: 8095371
Application ID: 11673126

Base Claim:
1. A method for providing voice responses to spoken input items received from a user during a session between the user and a voice response system, comprising: providing computer recognition of spoken input items; providing system responses to spoken input items; storing, in a dialog history log, a record of recognized spoken input items and system responses thereto, said record representing a dialog history; responsive to a determination that the system cannot provide a valid system response to spoken input items, using a dialog state determination model to determine the current state of the dialog with the user based on the dialog history log and a dialog state diagram definition file defining each expected dialog state for the session; forwarding the determined current dialog state to a visual information display remote from the user for use by a human operator other than the user; and forwarding a dialog state diagram including a representation of each dialog state defined by the dialog state diagram definition file, including at least one dialog state, other than a transition between dialog states, not yet entered during the session, to the visual information display for use by the human operator.

---

Claim 3:
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the dialog state diagram definition file defines each expected dialog state and the format in which each dialog state and associated input information is to be displayed to the human operator.