US6941266B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Method and system for predicting problematic dialog situations in a task classification system
Assignee: Nuance Communications Inc
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Filing: 2000-11-15
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Granted: 2005-09-06
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Expires: 2020-11-15
Abstract
Abstract The invention concerns a system and method of predicting problematic dialogs in a task classification system based on the user's input communications. The method may include determining whether a task classification decision can be made based on a first automated dialog exchange with the user. As such, if the task classification decision cannot be made, the method may determine whether the probability of conducting a successful automated dialog with the user based on whether the first dialog exchange exceeds a first threshold. The successful dialog may be defined as a dialog exchange between an automated dialog system and the user that results in at least one of processing of the user's input communication and routing the user's input communication. The method may further operate such that if the first threshold is exceeded, further dialog is conducted with the user. Otherwise, the user may be directed to a human for assistance.
Inventors
- 👤 Allen Louis Gorin
- 👤 Irene Langkilde Geary
- 👤 Diane Judith Litman
- 👤 Marilyn Ann Walker
- 👤 Jeremy H. Wright
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 19:34
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/487; H04M3/493; H04M3/4936; G; G10; G10L; G10L15/00; G10L15/22; G10L15/08; G10L15/18; G10L15/1815
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
126 words
A method comprising: determining whether a task classification decision can be made based on a user's input communication, wherein if the task classification decision cannot be made, the method comprises: determining whether a probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds a first threshold, a successful dialog being a dialog exchange between an automated dialog system and the user that results in processing of an input communication of the user to a stage consistent with the user's intent, wherein if the first threshold is exceeded, further dialog is conducted with the user, and wherein the probability is determined using dialog training data stored in a dialog training database, the dialog training data including at least one of dialog classification models and extracted dialog features.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
126 words
A method comprising: determining whether a task classification decision can be made based on a user's input communication, wherein if the task classification decision cannot be made, the method comprises: determining whether a probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds a first threshold, a successful dialog being a dialog exchange between an automated dialog system and the user that results in processing of an input communication of the user to a stage consistent with the user's intent, wherein if the first threshold is exceeded, further dialog is conducted with the user, and wherein the probability is determined using dialog training data stored in a dialog training database, the dialog training data including at least one of dialog classification models and extracted dialog features.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein if the first threshold is not exceeded, the user is routed to a human for assistance.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining whether a probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds a second threshold, the second threshold being greater than the first threshold, wherein if the second threshold is exceeded, further dialog is conducted with the user using a current dialog strategy.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 3 , wherein If the second threshold is not exceeded, further dialog is conducted with the user using an adapted dialog strategy.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 4 , wherein the adapted dialog strategy includes one of prompting the user with choices and prompting the user to confirm the recognition and understanding data.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the users input communication includes at least of verbal and nonverbal communications.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 6 , wherein the nonverbal communications include at least one of gestures, body movements, head movements, non-responses, text, keyboard entries, keypad entries, mouse clicks, DTMF codes, pointers, stylus, cable set-top box entries, graphical user interface entries, and touchscreen entries.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is used for customer care purposes.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the probability is determined using recognition and understanding data derived from the users input communication.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the extracted dialog features are derived from recognition, understanding and dialog data.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein if the task classification decision can be made, the task is classified as one of a set of task objectives and the user's input communication is routed in accordance with the classified task objected.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 11 , further comprising: providing an input to the task classification decision based on applying a confidence function to the recognized portions of the user's input communication.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
181 words
A method comprising: determining whether a task classification decision can be made based on a user's first input communication, wherein if the task classification decision cannot be made, the method comprises: for the first input communication, determining whether a probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds a first threshold, a successful dialog being a dialog exchange between an automated dialog system and the user that results in processing of an input communication of the user to a stage consistent with the user's intent; if the first threshold is exceeded, storing a first dialog exchange in a dialog history database, wherein the first dialog exchange includes a first automated dialog output and the first input communication of the user and the further dialog conducted with the user results in a second dialog exchange, wherein the second dialog exchange includes a second dialog output and a second user's input communication of the user; and determining whether the probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds the first threshold using the first dialog exchange and the second dialog exchange.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
181 words
A method comprising: determining whether a task classification decision can be made based on a user's first input communication, wherein if the task classification decision cannot be made, the method comprises: for the first input communication, determining whether a probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds a first threshold, a successful dialog being a dialog exchange between an automated dialog system and the user that results in processing of an input communication of the user to a stage consistent with the user's intent; if the first threshold is exceeded, storing a first dialog exchange in a dialog history database, wherein the first dialog exchange includes a first automated dialog output and the first input communication of the user and the further dialog conducted with the user results in a second dialog exchange, wherein the second dialog exchange includes a second dialog output and a second user's input communication of the user; and determining whether the probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds the first threshold using the first dialog exchange and the second dialog exchange.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
161 words
An automated dialog problem prediction system comprising: a task classification processor that determines whether a task classification decision can be made based on the user's input communication; a dialog manager that outputs dialog to the user; a dialog predictor that, if the task classification processor determines that a task classification decision cannot be made, determines whether a probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds a first threshold, a successful dialog being a dialog exchange between an automated dialog system and the user that results in processing of an input communication of the user; wherein if the first threshold is exceeded, the dialog predictor prompts the dialog manager to conduct further dialog with the user; and a dialog training database for storing dialog training data, wherein the dialog predictor determines the probability using the dialog training data stored in a dialog training database, the dialog training data including at least one of dialog classification models and extracted dialog features.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
161 words
An automated dialog problem prediction system comprising: a task classification processor that determines whether a task classification decision can be made based on the user's input communication; a dialog manager that outputs dialog to the user; a dialog predictor that, if the task classification processor determines that a task classification decision cannot be made, determines whether a probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds a first threshold, a successful dialog being a dialog exchange between an automated dialog system and the user that results in processing of an input communication of the user; wherein if the first threshold is exceeded, the dialog predictor prompts the dialog manager to conduct further dialog with the user; and a dialog training database for storing dialog training data, wherein the dialog predictor determines the probability using the dialog training data stored in a dialog training database, the dialog training data including at least one of dialog classification models and extracted dialog features.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 14 , wherein if the first threshold is not exceeded, the dialog predictor prompts the dialog manager to route the user to a human for assistance.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
61 words
The system of claim 14 , wherein the dialog predictor determines whether a probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds a second threshold, the second threshold being greater than the first threshold, and if the second threshold is exceeded, the dialog predictor prompts the dialog manager to conduct further dialog with the user using a current dialog strategy.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 16 , wherein if the second threshold is not exceeded, the dialog predictor prompts the dialog manager to conduct further dialog with the user using an adapted dialog strategy.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 17 , wherein the adapted dialog strategy includes one of prompting the user with choices and prompting the user to confirm the recognition and understanding data.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 14 , wherein the user's input communication includes at least of one verbal and nonverbal communications.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of claim 14 , wherein the system is used for customer care purposes.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
42 words
The system of claim 14 , wherein the dialog predictor determines the probability using recognition data provided by a recognizer and understanding data provided by a language understanding unit, and the recognition and understanding data is derived from the user's input communication.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system of claim 14 , wherein the extracted dialog features are derived from recognition, understanding and dialog data.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
46 words
The system of claim 14 , wherein if the task classification processor can make a task classification decision, the task classification processor classifies the task as one of a set of task objectives and routes the user's input communication in accordance with the classified task objected.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
44 words
The system of claim 14 , further comprising: a recognizer that recognizes the user's input communication; and a language understanding unit that applies a confidence function to the recognized portions of the user's input communication and provides an input to the task classification processor.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 24 , wherein the dialog predictor determines the probability using recognition data from the recognizer and understanding data from the language understanding unit derived from the user's input communication.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
209 words
An automated dialog problem prediction system, comprising: a task classification processor that determines whether a task classification decision can be made based on the user's input communication; a dialog manager that outputs dialog to the user; a dialog predictor that, if the task classification processor determines that a task classification decision cannot be made, determines whether a probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds a first threshold, a successful dialog being a dialog exchange between an automated dialog system and the user that results in processing of an input communication of the user wherein if the first threshold is exceeded, the dialog predictor prompts the dialog manager to conduct further dialog with the user; and a dialog history database that stores a first dialog exchange, wherein the first dialog exchange includes a first automated dialog output and a first input communication of the user, and the further dialog conducted with the user results in a second dialog exchange, the second dialog exchange including a second dialog output and a second user's input communication of the user, and the dialog predictor determining whether the probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds the first threshold using the first dialog exchange and the second dialog exchange.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
209 words
An automated dialog problem prediction system, comprising: a task classification processor that determines whether a task classification decision can be made based on the user's input communication; a dialog manager that outputs dialog to the user; a dialog predictor that, if the task classification processor determines that a task classification decision cannot be made, determines whether a probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds a first threshold, a successful dialog being a dialog exchange between an automated dialog system and the user that results in processing of an input communication of the user wherein if the first threshold is exceeded, the dialog predictor prompts the dialog manager to conduct further dialog with the user; and a dialog history database that stores a first dialog exchange, wherein the first dialog exchange includes a first automated dialog output and a first input communication of the user, and the further dialog conducted with the user results in a second dialog exchange, the second dialog exchange including a second dialog output and a second user's input communication of the user, and the dialog predictor determining whether the probability of conducting a successful dialog with the user exceeds the first threshold using the first dialog exchange and the second dialog exchange.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2008-09-05 | 2009-03-07 | 2009-09-06 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2012-09-05 | 2013-03-07 | 2013-09-06 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2016-09-05 | 2017-03-07 | 2017-09-06 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |