Evaluation of voice communications

Abstract

One-to-many comparisons of callers' words and/or voice prints with known words and/or voice prints to identify any substantial matches between them. When a customer communicates with a particular entity, such as a customer service center, the system makes a recording of the real-time call including both the customer's and agent's voices. The system segments the recording to extract different words, such as words of anger. The system may also segment at least a portion of the customer's voice to create a tone profile, and it formats the segmented words and tone profiles for network transmission to a server. The server compares the customer's words and/or tone profiles with multiple known words and/or tone profiles stored on a database to determine any substantial matches. The identification of any matches may be used for a variety of purposes, such as providing representative feedback or customer follow-up.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . An authentication method, comprising:
 receiving, by a computing system, an electronic representation of a voice communication of a user;   extracting, by the computing system, a first use of a word and a second use of the word spoken by the user from the electronic representation of the voice communication;   determining, by the computing system, a first tone profile associated with the first use of the word and a second tone profile associated with the second use of the word;   classifying, by the computing system, the first use of the word and the second use of the word into different categories based on the first tone profile and the second tone profile; and   initiating, by the computing system, an action associated with the voice communication based on classification of at least one of the first use of the word or the second use of the word.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the word is “no,” the first tone profile is higher than the second tone profile, a category for the first use of the word is a negative reaction, and a category for the second use of the word is a responsive reaction. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising updating one or more associations between word classifications and tone profiles based on a response of the user to a survey. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the classifying is further based on comparing the word with a stored word. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the action includes at least one of: scheduling a follow-up communication with the user, asserting a signal to indicate that the voice communication is becoming negative in tone, or rating a customer service representative involved in the voice communication. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the action includes outputting at least one of: a screen change, an audible signal, an electronic signal, or a print message. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising identifying the user based on the electronic representation of the voice communication. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising determining whether one or more survey answers from the user match classifications of the first and second uses of the word. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the classifying is further based on comparing the first tone profile and the second tone profile with stored tone profiles. 
     
     
         30 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by a computing device to perform operations during authentication comprising:
 receiving an electronic representation of a voice communication of a user;   extracting a first use of a word and a second use of the word spoken by the user from the electronic representation of the voice communication;   determining a first tone profile associated with the first use of the word and a second tone profile associated with the second use of the word;   classifying the first use of the word and the second use of the word into different categories based on the first tone profile and the second tone profile; and   initiating an action associated with the voice communication based on classification of at least one of the first use of the word or the second use of the word.   
     
     
         31 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 30 , wherein the word is “no,” the a category for the first use of the word is negative and a category for the second use of the word is responsive. 
     
     
         32 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 30 , wherein the operations further comprise changing one or more emotions corresponding to stored words and stored tone profiles based on a response of the user to a survey. 
     
     
         33 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 30 , wherein the operations further comprise determining that the word matches a stored word and wherein the classifying is based on information associated with the stored word. 
     
     
         34 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 30 , wherein the action includes asserting a signal to indicate a status of the voice communication. 
     
     
         35 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 30 , wherein the action includes outputting at least one of: a screen change, an audible signal, an electronic signal, or a print message. 
     
     
         36 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 30 , wherein the action includes assigning a rating to a customer service representative involved in the voice communication. 
     
     
         37 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 30 , wherein the action includes scheduling a follow-up communication with the user. 
     
     
         38 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 30 , wherein the operations further comprise identifying the user based on the electronic representation of the voice communication. 
     
     
         39 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 30 , wherein the operations further comprise determining whether one or more survey answers from the user match classifications of the first and second uses of the word. 
     
     
         40 . An apparatus for authentication, comprising:
 one or more processing elements; and   one or more memories having program instructions stored thereon that are executable by the one or more processing elements to perform operations comprising:
 receiving an electronic representation of a voice communication of a user; 
 extracting a first use of a word and a second use of the word spoken by the user from the electronic representation of the voice communication; 
 determining a first tone profile associated with the first use of the word and a second tone profile associated with the second use of the word; 
 classifying the first use of the word and the second use of the word into different categories based on the first tone profile and the second tone profile; and 
 initiating an action associated with the voice communication based on classification of at least one of the first use of the word or the second use of the word.