Patent US7606714B2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US7606714B2
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Natural language classification within an automated response system
Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC
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Filing: 2004-09-10
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Granted: 2009-10-20
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Expires: 2024-09-10
Abstract
Abstract An automated response system (e.g., an automated voice response system) may employ learning strategies to develop or improve automated response capabilities. Learning strategies may include using communications(e.g., utterances, text messages, etc.) of one party in a conversation (e.g., a customer service agent) to identify and categorize communications of another party in the conversation (e.g., a caller). Classifiers can be build from the categorized communications. Classifiers can be used to identify common communications patterns of a party in a conversation (e.g., an agent). Learning strategies may also include selecting communications as learning opportunities to improve automated response capabilities based on selection criteria (e.g., selection criteria chosen to ensure that the system does not learn from unreliable or insignificant examples).
Inventors
- 👤 David R. Williams
- 👤 Jeffrey Hill
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 08:02
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04M; H04M7/00; H04M3/00; H04M3/42; H04M3/487; H04M3/493; G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/30; G06F16/33; G06F16/3331; G06F16/334; G06F16/3344; G10; G10L; G10L13/00; G10L13/02; G10L13/027; G10L15/00; G10L15/08; G10L15/18; G10L15/1822; H04M3/50; H04M3/51; H04M3/5166; G10L15/22
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 18
Claim 1
Independent Claim
171 words
A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a set of conversations between a member of a first party type and a member of a second party type, wherein each of the conversations includes a communication of a member of the first party type and a communication of a member of the second party type that is responsive to the communication of the member of the first party type; grouping the communications of members of the first party type into a first set of clusters; grouping the responsive communications of members of the second party type into a second set of clusters based upon the grouping of the communications of members of the first party type; and by machine, generating a set of agent type classifiers for one or more clusters in the second set of clusters, wherein generating is a step executed by a computer processor that is a functional component of the computer, said execution being part of execution, by the computer processor, of computer-readable instructions embedded on a computer-readable storage medium.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
171 words
A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a set of conversations between a member of a first party type and a member of a second party type, wherein each of the conversations includes a communication of a member of the first party type and a communication of a member of the second party type that is responsive to the communication of the member of the first party type; grouping the communications of members of the first party type into a first set of clusters; grouping the responsive communications of members of the second party type into a second set of clusters based upon the grouping of the communications of members of the first party type; and by machine, generating a set of agent type classifiers for one or more clusters in the second set of clusters, wherein generating is a step executed by a computer processor that is a functional component of the computer, said execution being part of execution, by the computer processor, of computer-readable instructions embedded on a computer-readable storage medium.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
10 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the communications comprise utterances.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
11 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the communications comprise text messages.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the communications of members of the first party type comprise communications of human customer service agents at a call center.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the communications of members of the first party type comprises communications of software agents configured to communicate with humans who contact a call center.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the communications of members of the second party comprise communications of humans who have contacted a call center.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the classifiers comprise support vector machines.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
11 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the classifiers comprise decision trees.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 1 wherein communications of members of a first party type are grouped into a first set of clusters using a computer.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 9 wherein grouping communications of members of a first party type into a first set of clusters comprises determining semantic features of the communications.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 1 wherein grouping communications of members of the first party type into a first set of clusters is based on a meaning of the communications of members of the first party type.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising: by machine, generating a set of agent type classifiers for one or more clusters in the first set of clusters.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 1 wherein grouping communications of members of the first party type into a first set of clusters comprises: grouping communications corresponding to requests for information from members of the first party type into a first set of clusters.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
63 words
The method of claim 13 wherein grouping responsive communications of members of the second party type into a second set of clusters based upon the grouping of the communications of members of the first party type comprises: grouping communications of members of the second party type into groups corresponding to responses to the requests for information from members of the first party type.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
107 words
The method of claim 12 wherein grouping responsive communications of members of the second party type into a second set of clusters based upon the grouping of the communications of members of the first party type comprises: using the first agent type classifiers to classify a communication of a member of the first party type into a cluster of the first party type; grouping a communication of a member of the second party type that is subsequent to the classified communication of the member of the first party type into a cluster of the second party type that relates to the cluster of the first party type.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of claim 15 wherein the cluster of the first party type relates to a request for information made by a member of the first party type and the cluster of the second party type relates to a response to the request for information given by a member of the second party type.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
106 words
The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving a second set of conversations between members of the first party type and members of the second party type, wherein each of the conversations includes a communication of a member of the first party type and a communication of a member of the second party type that is responsive to the communication of the member of the first party type; applying classifiers to group the communications of members of the second party type; by machine, regenerating agent type classifiers for a cluster in the second set of clusters using data relating to the communications grouped in the clusters.
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| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
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| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2012-10-19 | 2013-04-20 | 2013-10-20 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2016-10-19 | 2017-04-20 | 2017-10-20 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2020-10-19 | 2021-04-20 | 2021-10-20 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |