Method, system and apparatus for providing an adaptive persona in speech-based interactive voice response systems

Abstract

A method, system and apparatus are provided for conducting a dialog exchange between an interactive voice response (IVR) system and a user. In general, the dialog exchange between the user and the IVR system is effected by the persona of the IVR system. The persona is selected from a library of personas in accordance with the user's personality or demeanor. To determine the user's personality or demeanor, the IVR system monitors the user's responses, verbal or otherwise, to system prompts and adjusts the IVR system's persona in response to changes in the user's personality or demeanor.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of operating an interactive voice response (IVR) system comprising: 
 establishing a communication connection with a user;    generating a first prompt, the first prompt operable to elicit a response;    communicating the first prompt to the user;    awaiting a response from the user to the first prompt;    analyzing at least one aspect of the response to identify at least one characteristic relevant to IVR system persona selection;    interrogating a library of personas to identify a persona which comports with the at least one identified characteristic;    selecting the identified persona from the library of personas;    activating the selected persona, the selected persona operable to generate and communicate one or more subsequent IVR system prompts directed to continuing a desired user transaction;    monitoring responses from the user to the subsequent IVR system prompts;    analyzing at least one user response to the subsequent prompts to identify a change in a user characteristic relevant to IVR system persona selection; and    modifying a style of the selected person in response to the identified change in the user characteristic relevant to IVR system persona selection.    
     
     
         2 . A method for conducting a dialog exchange between an interactive voice response (IVR) system and a user comprising: 
 identifying at least one user personality trait;    selecting an IVR system persona based on the identified user personality trait; and    activating the selected IVR system persona.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 generating, by the IVR system, a first prompt requesting a user response; and    communicating the first prompt to the user.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising generating the first prompt based on at least one call characteristic.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising identifying the user personality trait based on the user response to the first prompt.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising identifying the user personality trait from at least one speech characteristic associated with a user's verbal response to the first prompt.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising: 
 generating, in accordance with one or more IVR system persona parameters, at least one additional prompt, the additional prompt associated with continuing a desired user transaction; and    communicating the additional prompt to the user.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising: 
 analyzing at least one aspect of a user response to the additional prompt; and    determining from the at least one aspect of the user response, whether a user personality trait associated with the user response suggests a change for the selected persona.    
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising automatically selecting a new style for the selected persona in response to determining that the user personality train suggests a change for the selected persona.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising automatically selecting a new IVR system persona in response to determining that the user personality trait suggests a change for the selected persona.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising repeating the analyzing and determining steps during the prompt and response dialog exchange such that a new IVR system persona may be selected in response to an identified change in a user personality trait.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising selecting the IVR system persona from a library of personas operably associated with the interactive voice response system.  
     
     
         13 . An interactive voice response (IVR) system comprising: 
 at least one processor;    memory operably coupled to the processor; and    a program of instructions storable in the memory and executable in the processor, the program of instructions operable to generate and exchange dialog with a user in accordance with an IVR system persona selected from a library of personas and wherein the persona is selected according to at least one personality characteristic of the user.    
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , further comprising: 
 a communications interface; and    the program of instructions further operable to select a first prompt based on at least one call characteristic, the first prompt operable to request a response from the user, and communicate the first prompt to the user via the communications interface.    
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising the program of instructions further operable to identify the at least one personality characteristic of the user from the user response to the first prompt.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , further comprising the program of instructions further operable to identify at least one speech parameter of a verbal user response to the first prompt and determine the at least one personality characteristic of the user from the identified speech parameter.  
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , further comprising the program of instructions further operable to identify a desired user transaction, generate at least one additional prompt directed to completion of the desired user transaction and communicate the at least one additional prompt to the user.  
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising the program of instructions further operable to interrogate a user response to the additional prompt and determine, based on the interrogation, whether the user response to the additional prompt suggests a need for an IVR system persona change.  
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , further comprising the program of instructions further operable to select a new IVR system persona in response to the suggestion of a need for a new IVR system persona and activate the new IVR system persona.  
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , further comprising the program of instructions further operable to automatically select a new style for the selected persona in response to determining that the user personality characteristic suggests a change for the selected persona.  
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 13 , further comprising: 
 a component systems interface operably coupled to the processor;    at least one component storage system operably coupled to the component systems interface; and    the library of personas stored on the at least one component storage system.    
     
     
         22 . A dialog exchange system comprising: 
 at least one processor;    memory operably coupled to the processor;    a communications interface operably coupled to the processor, the communications interface operable to communicate dialog between a user and the system via a communications link;    a component systems interface operably coupled to the processor, the component systems interface operable to transmit information to and receive information from at least one storage device;    a library of personas stored on the at least one storage device, each persona in the library corresponding to one or more user personality traits; and    a program of instructions storable in the memory and executable in the processor, the program of instructions operable to identify at least one user personality trait and activate a dialog exchange system persona selected from the library of personas according to the at least one identified user personality trait.    
     
     
         23 . The dialog exchange system of  claim 22 , further comprising the program of instructions further operable to generate one or more prompts directed to completing a desired user transaction and analyze one or more selected user responses to the one or more prompts to determine whether the selected dialog exchange system persona should be changed.  
     
     
         24 . The dialog exchange system of  claim 23 , further comprising the program of instructions further operable to change the dialog exchange system persona in response to a determination that the selected dialog exchange system persona should be changed, and monitor user responses to prompts generated in accordance with the changed dialog exchange system persona such that a determination may be made as to the need for yet another change to the dialog exchange system persona.  
     
     
         25 . A computer readable medium encoding a program of instructions, the program of instructions operable to: 
 select an interactive voice response (IVR) system persona based on at least one personality trait identified in a user response; and    conduct a dialog exchange in accordance with the selected IVR system persona.    
     
     
         26 . The computer readable medium of  claim 25 , wherein the program of instructions is further operable to select the IVR system persona from a library of personas.  
     
     
         27 . The computer readable medium of  claim 25 , wherein the program of instructions is further operable to create a user persona from a plurality of IVR system persona characteristics.  
     
     
         28 . The computer readable medium of  claim 25 , wherein the program of instructions is further operable to monitor user responses to subsequent IVR system prompts to determine whether a change in one or more user personality traits suggests a need for changing the selected IVR system persona.  
     
     
         29 . The computer readable medium of  claim 28 , wherein the program of instructions is further operable to: 
 select a new IVR system persona in response to the suggestion of a need; and    conduct a dialog exchange directed to completing a user desired transaction in accordance with the newly selected IVR system.    
     
     
         30 . The computer readable medium of  claim 28 , wherein the program of instructions is further operable to automatically select a new style for the selected persona in response to detecting the need for changing the selected IVR system persona.  
     
     
         31 . The computer readable medium of  claim 25 , wherein the program of instructions is further operable to select an IVR system persona from a plurality of user personality traits identified in a verbal user response.