[54] VOICE RESPONSE SYSTEM WITH AUTOMATED DATA TRANSFER
[75] Inventors: James Mitchell, Windham, N.H.;
Malcom B. Strandberg, Cambridge,
Mass.
[73] Assignee: Davox, Billerica, Mass.
[21] Appl. No.: 532,453
[22] Filed: Jun. 4, 1990
[51] Int. CI.5 H04M 1/64; H04M 3/50;
H04M 3/58.
[52] U.S. CI 379/88; 379/96;
379/97; 379/212; 379/218
[58] Field of Search 379/88, 67, 89, 84,
379/91, 97, 212, 214, 218, 96
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
4,071,698 1/1978 Barger, Jr. et al 379/84
4,763,353 8/1988 Canale et al 379/157
4,785.408 11/1988 Britton et al 364/513.5
4,797,911 1/1989 Szlam et al 379/67
4,817,130 3/1989 Frimmel, Jr 379/88
4,829,514 5/1989 Frimmel, Jr. et al 379/89 X
4,845,739 7/1989 Katz 379/92
4,908,850 3/1990 Masson et al 379/88
4,922,519 5/1990 Daudelin 379/67
4,926,462 5/1990 Ladd et al 379/67
OTHER PUBLICATIONS "Conversant 1 Voice Systems: Architecture and Appli
cations", R. J. Perdue et al., AT&T Tech. Journal, vol. 65, No. 5, Sep./Oct. 1986, pp. 34-47.
Primary Examiner—Thomas W. Brown
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Weingarten, Schurgin,
Gagnebin & Hayes
[57] ABSTRACT
A voice response system for providing interactive data exchange between an outside party, an operator and one .or more data bases wherein a voice path switch initially connects an outside party to a database through a voice response unit. The voice response unit provides digitized voice prompts and questions to the outside party. The outside party responds to the prompts by entering selected numbers on a telephone touchtone keypad. The voice response unit then converts data from the database to voice signals recognizable by the outside party. The voice response unit or the outside party may selectively transfer the transaction to a human operator. In addition to providing transfer of voice signals from the voice response system to an operator, the system provides the operator with a list of information transacted thus far between the outside party and the voice response unit. The system also includes a workstation programmable function feature which performs a selected task upon the occurrence of a predetermined event such as receiving data at the operator workstation or removing or replacing the operator telephone handset.
30 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets
