WO2006071087A1

WO2006071087A1 - Information providing system and method using real-time streaming transmission

Info

Publication number: WO2006071087A1
Application number: PCT/KR2005/004629
Authority: WO
Inventors: Do-Sung Kim; Dong-Soon Min; Kwan-Sik Yoo; Seung-Woo Chung
Original assignee: Sk Corporation
Priority date: 2004-12-31
Filing date: 2005-12-29
Publication date: 2006-07-06
Also published as: KR20060077795A; KR100699330B1

Abstract

Disclosed is an information providing system and method using real-time streaming transmission. In a system connected to a least one user terminal and a counselor terminal through a network, information is provided according to a request of the user terminal. That is, when an information providing request is provided through a user terminal, established guidance data are provided to the user terminal, a counselor terminal for responding to the user's information request is selected, and call data including the user's speech data provided by the user terminal according to the provision of guidance data are recorded. The recorded call data are transmitted to the selected counselor terminal so that the counselor may recognize the user's request contents. Response information according to the call data transmitted by the counselor terminal is provided to the user terminal.

Description

INFORMATION PROVIDING SYSTEM AND METHOD USING REAL-TIME STREAMING TRANSMISSION

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to an information providing system. More specifically, the present invention relates to an information providing system and method using real-time streaming transmission. Background Art

[2] In general, a system for providing predetermined information to users via telephones represents a client counseling system for providing many types of information according to the users' requests when the users are connected to the system through wired or wireless communication. The system can be classified as follows.

[3] When a client is connected to the conventional client counseling system through wired or wireless communication, the system connects the client to a predetermined counselor so that the client may receive desired information through a direct call between the client and the counselor. In this instance, the counselor searches the database of the system to find information desired by the client and provides corresponding information via a speech or data format.

[4] The system has advantages of higher service accuracies and clients' service satisfaction since the counselor listens to all the clients' requests and processes them, but the system has disadvantages of increasing costs caused by employment and management of the counselors since the counselors must directly process all the services.

[5] As to another client counselor system, when the client is connected to the system through wired or wireless communication, the system connects the client to an automatic response system (ARS), the ARS server provides service menus to the client for respective numbers, and the client presses a corresponding number of a desired service on a wired or wireless terminal so that the ARS server refers to corresponding information and notifies the client of the information.

[6] In this instance, the ARS server controls all the services so that costs such as personnel expenses are reduced, but the client must press the key of the terminal according to the guidance provided by the ARS server when he desires to use the service, and the system accordingly increases the risk of accidents when the client particularly manipulates the terminal while driving a vehicle. Also, the client has to listen to the guidance until he finds the desired service in the case of a large amount of categories and service menus. [7] Further, as to another counseling service system, the system has the same configuration as that of the above-noted ARS server-based service providing model but it analyzes speech and provides corresponding information when the client does not press a key button of a desired service menu on the terminal but rather requests the service menu via speech. In this instance, the client does not need to manipulate the terminal, but when much environmental noise such as noise generated while driving a car or noise generated under general conditions is generated, or when vibration is generated, the speech recognition rate by a speech recognition device is reduced so that no information desired by the client is transmitted to the client or the client is required to request information with a louder voice.

Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[8] It is an advantage of the present invention to provide an information providing system and method for controlling a client to request information more conveniently and for accurately providing information desired by the user with a lesser cost. Technical Solution

[9] In one aspect of the present invention, in a system connected to a least one user terminal and a counselor terminal through a network, a method for providing information according to a request provided by the user terminal includes a) the system providing established guidance data to the user terminal when an information providing request is provided through the user terminal; b) the system selecting a counselor terminal for responding to the user's information request; c) the system recording call data including the user's speech data provided by the user terminal according to provision of guidance data; d) the system transmitting the recorded call data to the selected counselor terminal; and e) the system transmitting response information following the call data provided by the counselor terminal to the user terminal.

[10] The step d) includes the system processing the recorded call data to be a streaming file, and transmitting the streaming file to the selected counselor terminal.

[11] In another aspect of the present invention, a system connected to a least one user terminal and a counselor terminal through a network and providing information according to a request provided by the user terminal includes an information providing server for storing various pieces of information; a counselor management server for selecting a counselor terminal for responding to the information providing request provided by the user terminal from among the counselor terminals; a response processing server for providing established guidance data to the user terminal and providing response information provided by the selected counselor terminal to the user terminal when the user's information providing request is provided by the user terminal; and a recording server for recording call data including the user's speech data provided by the user terminal according to the provision of guidance data. The recording server transmits the recorded call data to the selected counselor terminal according to the request of the response processing server so that the counselor may recognize the user's request contents. Brief Description of the Drawings

[12] FlG. 1 shows an information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[13] FlG. 2 shows a detailed schematic diagram of an information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[14] FlG. 3 shows a flowchart of an information providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[15] FlG. 4 shows an exemplified information providing method shown in FlG. 3.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[16] In the following detailed description, only the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by the inventor(s) of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not restrictive. To clarify the present invention, parts which are not described in the specification are omitted, and parts for which similar descriptions are provided have the same reference numerals.

[17] FlG. 1 shows an information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FlG. 2 shows a detailed schematic diagram of the information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[18] As shown in FlG. 1 and FlG. 2, the information providing system 100 is connected to a plurality of user terminals 300 through a network (any types of networks including a wired network, a wireless network, and a future network.)

[19] In this instance, the user terminal 300 represents a communication device accessible to the information providing system 100 through the network 200, and includes network accessible communication devices including a mobile communication terminal, a cable telephone, an Internet phone, a computer, and a TV set.

[20] The information providing system 100 connected to the user terminals 300 and providing information according to users' requests includes an exchange 10, a computer and telephony integration (CTI) server 20 for providing calls, at least one interactive voice response (FVR) server 30, at least one recording server 40 for recording speech generated with the user, a plurality of counselor terminals 50, a counselor management server 60 for managing counselor terminals for performing service requests of users, and an information providing server 70 for storing users' service histories, member information, and other types of information. In this instance, the counselor terminal 50 can be selectively included in the information providing system 100.

[21] The CΗ server 20 connects the user terminal 300 to one of IVR servers 30 when a call connection request is input from the user terminal 300, and the IVR server 30 provides speech guidance according to a predefined scenario of service to the user terminal 300 so that the user may request desired information.

[22] The IVR server 30 can also be referred to as a response processing server, and includes a message storage unit 31 for storing a plurality of guidance messages and speech information data which are spoken information to be provided, a message processor 32 for outputting the guidance message stored in the message storage unit 31 as speech data, a message start reporter 33 for reporting the start of the speech guidance message to the recording server 40 and the counselor management server 60, and a connection controller 34 for requesting the recording server 40 to provide data according to a report of a counselor connectability from the counselor management server. In particular, the message processor 32 finds corresponding speech information data from the message storage unit 31 based on the search result provided by the counselor terminal 50, and provides the search report via speech based on the speech information data. Further, the message processor 32 can process the search result into graphic data, text, or multimedia data, and provide the processed data to the user terminal 300.

[23] The recording server 40 includes a recorder 41 for recording speech data provided by the user terminal and guidance messages provided by the IVR server 30 according to a message start report provided by the IVR server 30, a storage unit 42 for storing the recorded data, and a data provider 43 for processing the recorded data into streaming data and providing the streaming data to the selected counselor terminal. The data provider 43 temporarily stores the recorded data in the storage unit 41 when no counselor terminal is selected, that is, when all the counselors are counseling other users, and the data provider 43 processes the recorded data stored in the storage unit 41 into streaming data and provides them to a connectable counselor terminal when a report of connectibility to a predetermined counselor terminal is provided from the counselor management server 60.

[24] The counselor management server 60 selects one of available terminals from among the counselor terminals 50 before the message is finished according to the message start report provided by the IVR server 30. That is, the counselor management server 60 checks counseling available states of respective counselor terminals to select one counselor terminal, and reports availability of the counselor's serving together with information on the selected counselor terminal to the IVR server 30.

[25] The counselor terminal 50 includes a data reproducer 51 for processing streaming data provided by the recording server 40 and reproducing the processed data in realtime, an interface 52 for interfacing with the counselor, an information searcher 53 for searching for information corresponding to the data from among various types of information stored in the information providing server 70 based on the data input through the interface 52, and an information provider 54 for providing results on the searched information.

[26] In this instance, the information provider 54 transmits the search result searched by the information searcher 53 to the IVR server 30 or transmits the search result selected by the counselor to the IVR server 30. In this instance, when the interface 52 displays the search result caused by the information searcher 53 and the counselor accordingly selects a predetermined search result, the information provider 54 transmits the selected search result to the IVR server 30. The transmitted search result is processed to be speech data and the speech data are provided to the user terminal 300, or the transmitted search result is processed to be graphic data, text, or multimedia data, and they are then provided to the user terminal 300.

[27] Here, the interface 52 includes interface devices including a signal input device s uch as a keyboard, a display for displaying searched information, and an earphone for receiving and processing the user's speech data.

[28] The information providing server 70 stores information on the users and any types of available information. For example, the information providing server 70 may include a client database for storing information on users registered as members, a service information database for storing information for a plurality of services, and a service history database for storing service history information provided to the users.

[29] Components of the servers and terminals 10 to 60 are illustrated to be operable in the corresponding server, and in addition, they may be realized as individual servers to thus process corresponding functions. Also, the components of the servers and terminals 10 to 60 and databases are classified according to their functions, and other embodiments may have different classifications.

[30] An information providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described based on the above-noted configuration.

[31] FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of an information providing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[32] A user inputs a predefined telephone number for access to the system 100 through the network 200 by using a terminal 10, or accesses the system 100 by pressing a hot key on the terminal to which a predefined telephone number is input. In this instance, the user terminal 300 is connected to the system 100 through an external exchange (not illustrated) of a mobile communication service provider or a cable communication service provider, and it is then connected to the exchange 10 of the system 100.

[33] As shown in FlG. 3, when connected to the exchange 10, the user terminal 300 is connected to the IVR server 30 by control of the CΗ server 20 in step SlOO. In this instance, the IVR server 30 can authenticate membership of the user who is registered as a member through the information providing server 70 by using the calling telephone number of the user (that is, the client) provided by the exchange 10. When the client is not a registered client according to the authentication result, the IVR server 30 provides a message that the client is not a registered client and a membership process message to the client, and terminates the service, and when the client is registered, the IVR server 30 can output a message that the service access is successful to the client.

[34] The message processor 32 of the IVR server 30 sequentially reads and processes the guidance message data stored in the message storage unit 31 and transmits them to the user terminal 300 according to a predetermined scenario in step SIlO when the message processor 32 is connected to the user terminal 300. When the guidance message starts to be output to the client, the message start reporter 33 reports the start of outputting the guidance message to the recording server 40 and requests a recording process therefrom in step S 120.

[35] The recorder 41 of the recording server 40 records the guidance message output by the IVR server 30 and the client's response provided by the user terminal 300. The recorded call data (the calling contents, such as the guidance message and the client's response, generated between the IVR server and the client) are stored in the storage unit 42.

[36] The message start reporter 33 of the IVR server 30 reports to the counselor management server 60 that the guidance message has started to be output, and requests a counselor connection in step S 130. When the start of the guidance message is reported, the counselor management server 60 finds an available counselor before a setting time when the guidance message is finished. For example, the counselor management server 60 finds an available counselor one second before the guidance message is finished. The counselor management server 60 records a counseling status of the counselor terminal into another storage unit, and finds an available counselor terminal based on the counseling states of the respective terminals recorded in the storage unit. In addition to this, the counselor management server 60 can find available counselors by checking the counseling states of the counselor terminals with various methods. [37] When an available counselor is found, the counselor management server 60 reports the counseling found state to the IVR server 30 together with ID information of the available counselor terminal 50 in step S 140 that the counselor is available.

[38] The connection controller 34 of the IVR server 30 provides ID information of a corresponding counselor terminal 50 to the recording server 40 and requests to transmit the recorded data to the counselor terminal in step S 150 when counselor connectability is reported from the counselor management server 60. In this instance, the connection controller 34 is realized to be included in the IVR server 30, and without being restricted to this, the connection controller 34 can be realized in the counselor management server 60 so that the counselor management server 60 may directly report the counselor connectability to the recording server 40.

[39] The recording server 40 processes call data stored in the storage unit 42 to be streaming data and transmits the streaming data to the counselor terminal 50 in step S 160 according to the report of connectability. In this instance, the operation of recording calls including speech messages and/or client's response by the recorder 41 is continued until the call with the user terminal is terminated.

[40] The data reproducer 51 of the counselor terminal 50 corresponding to the ID information receives streaming data from the recording server 40 and reproduces them in real-time, and the reproduced speech data are provided to the counselor through the interface 52. Therefore, the counselor can listen to the client's response to the guidance message and easily know what information is desired by the client, while the counselor is not directly connected to the client. In this instance, the counselor does not directly speak to the client but searches for the contents spoken by the client, and hence, the interface sensed by the client corresponds to the case in which the counselor directly serves the client.

[41] Response information found by the counselor is transmitted to the IVR server 30 and provided to the user terminal 300 in step S 180. In detail, when the counselor inputs a search word for finding information requested by the client through the interface 52, the information searcher 53 of the counselor terminal 50 searches for many types of information stored in the information providing server 70 to find information corresponding to the search word, and transmits it to the information provider 54. The information provider 54 transmits the search result to the IVR server 30 through the counselor management server 60. Here, the information provider 54 displays the search result through the interface 52 so that the counselor may check it, and then transmits the search result selected by the counselor to the IVR server 30. In this instance, the information search operation can be selectively performed again according to the counselor's request. In addition to this, the search result caused by the search word input through the interface 52 without the counselor's selection can be transmitted to the IVR server 30.

[42] When the information requested by the client is transmitted, the IVR server 30 processes the information transmitted through the message storage unit 31 into speech information data, and transmits the speech information data to the user terminal 300 so that the client may recognize it. That is, the message processor 32 of the IVR server 30 finds corresponding speech information data from the message storage unit 31 based on the search result provided by the counselor terminal 50 and provides the search result as speech so that the client may easily recognize the search result.

[43] The processes for recording the client's response to the guidance message, transmitting the recorded response as streaming data, searching for information by the counselor, and transmitting the information are repeated in steps S 190 and S200 until the call with the user terminal 300 is finished.

[44] An application of the information providing method according to the embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

[45] FlG. 4 shows a flowchart for applying the information providing method. In detail,

FlG. 4 shows an exemplified process for providing information when a client desires to search for a location and a telephone number of an agency of a communication service provider A near Kangnam District.

[46] As shown in FlG. 4, when the client accesses the system 100 by using a mobile terminal 300, a calling number of the mobile terminal is provided to the IVR server 30 connected by the CTI server 20, and the IVR server 30 selectively authenticates the client.

[47] The IVR server 30 outputs a guidance message such as "Hello. Communication service provider A. Please press number 1 if you wish the search service, and press number 2 if you wish company introduction, thank you" to the user terminal 300, and the client selects the number 1 according to the guidance message in steps S300 to S320. Next, another guidance message of "Please speak the area of the agency you wish to find," is output, and the client speaks the area "Kangnam." In this instance, the recording server 40 starts recording the call contents with the client, the counselor management server 60 finds a counselor who will recognize the client's speech one second before the guidance message finishes, and notifies the counselor terminal 50 of connection to the client in steps S330 and S340.

[48] The recording server 40 processes the recorded call contents of the client to be streaming data, and transmits the streaming data to the counselor terminal 50, and the counselor receives the last one-second part of the guidance message and the client's speech as a streaming file in steps S350 to S380. The streaming file is reproduced by the counselor terminal 50, and the counselor listens to the client's speech from the streaming file, finds information requested by the client from the information providing server and transmits the information to the IVR server 30, and the message processor 32 of the IVR server 30 finds speech information data corresponding to the information from the message storage unit 31 and provides the speech information data to the client in steps S390 and S400. For example, when two agencies are found in the Kangnam-Ku District from the searched information, the message processor 32 notifies the client in the speech of "Two agencies of the communication service provider A are found in the Kangnam-Ku District. Please say 'First' if you want the agency in Nonhyun-Dong area, and 'Second' if you want it in Apkujung-Dong area" in step S410. In this instance, the counselor is not directly connected to the client and does not serve him, but the counselor listens to the recorded client's speech and searches desired information.

[49] It then goes to the subsequent stage, and the information is provided in a like manner of the previous stages. When the client has spoken 'First' in steps S420 to S450, the counselor listens to the client's speech transmitted from the recording server 40 in the streaming file, and searches for detailed information on the first agency, that is, a location and a telephone number in steps S460 and S470. The searched information is transmitted to the IVR server 30, and the message processor 32 of the IVR server finds speech information data corresponding to the searched information, and outputs a speech such as "Go in the direction of the Hannam Bridge 20 meters from Nonhyun Station. The telephone number is 02-XXXX-OOOO." The speech data is transmitted to the client through the IVR server 30, and the call is terminated according to the client's selection in steps S480 to S510.

[50] A large amount of the counselor's serving time for each call can be reduced compared to the conventional call center since the counselor listens to the client's speech in the above-noted information providing method.

[51] The information providing method according to the embodiment of the present invention is not restricted to information provision in the mobile condition, and is variable and modifiable within the technical scope of the invention.

[52] While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

[53] As described, the counselor listens to the recorded client's speech and provides corresponding information to the client instead of directly communicating with the client, and hence, the client's speech quality maintains the same quality of the call state when the connection state between the client and the counselor does not follow the general method. [54] Also, the counselor listens to a needed part of the total call contents with the client, thereby substantially reducing the counseling time. Also, as the counseling time is reduced, costs for employing and managing counselors can be reduced. Further, accurate information is provided according to the user's requested contents since the counselor directly listens to the client's requests in speech. Therefore, information providing systems such as call centers may be appropriately managed.

[55]

[56]

Claims

[1] In a system connected to a least one user terminal and a counselor terminal through a network, a method for providing information according to a request provided by the user terminal, comprising: a) the system providing established guidance data to the user terminal when an information providing request is provided through the user terminal; b) the system selecting a counselor terminal for responding to the user's information request; c) the system recording call data including the user's speech data provided by the user terminal according to provision of guidance data; d) the system transmitting the recorded call data to the selected counselor terminal; and e) the system transmitting response information following the call data provided by the counselor terminal to the user terminal.

[2] The method of claim 1, wherein b) comprises selecting a counselor terminal for responding to the user's information request a predetermined established time before the provision of guidance data is finished.

[3] The method of claim 1, wherein e) comprises processing the response information to be speech data and providing the speech data to the user terminal.

[4] The method of claim 1, wherein e) comprises processing the response information to be at least one format of graphic data, text, and multimedia data and providing the processed data to the user terminal.

[5] The method of claim 1, wherein the counselor of the selected counselor terminal knows the user's request through the call data in which the user's speech is recorded.

[6] The method of one of claims 1 to 5, wherein d) comprises the system processing the recorded call data to be a streaming file, and transmitting the streaming file to the selected counselor terminal.

[7] In a system being connected to a least one user terminal and a counselor terminal through a network and providing information according to a request provided by the user terminal, the information providing system comprising: an information providing server for storing various pieces of information; a counselor management server for selecting a counselor terminal for responding to the information providing request provided by the user terminal from among the counselor terminals; a response processing server for providing established guidance data to the user terminal and providing response information provided by the selected counselor terminal to the user terminal when the user's information providing request is provided by the user terminal; and a recording server for recording call data including the user's speech data provided by the user terminal according to the provision of guidance data, and wherein the recording server transmits the recorded call data to the selected counselor terminal according to the request of the response processing server so that the counselor may recognize the user's request contents.

[8] The information providing system of claim 7, wherein the response processing server comprises: a message storage unit for storing a plurality of guidance data and speech information data to be provided; a message processor for outputting the guidance data stored in the message storage unit as speech data, finding speech information data corresponding to response information provided by the counselor terminal from the message storage unit, and providing the speech information data to the user terminal; and a message start reporter for reporting the message start caused by the guidance data to the recording server and the counselor management server.

[9] The information providing system of claim 7, wherein the recording server comprises: a recorder for recording call data including speech data provided by the user terminal according to the message start report provided by the response processing server and guidance data provided by the response processing server; a storage unit for storing the recorded call data; and a data provider for processing the recorded data to be streaming data and providing the streaming data to the selected counselor terminal.

[10] The information providing system of claim 8, wherein the counselor management server selects an available counselor terminal from among a plurality of counselor terminals an established time before the message is finished according to the message start report provided by the response processing server, and provides a counselor connectability report including identification information on the selected counselor terminal to the response processing server.

[11] The information providing system of claim 10, wherein the response processing server provides the identification information to the recording server according to the counselor connectability report provided by the counselor management server, and requests data provision to the selected counselor terminal therefrom.

[12] The information providing system of one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the counselor terminal comprises: a data reproducer for processing the streaming data provided by the recording server to reproduce them in real-time; an interface for interfacing the counselor; an information searcher for using data input through the interface and searching for information corresponding to the data from among many pieces of information stored in the information providing server; and an information provider for providing response information according to the searched information result to the user terminal.

[13] The information providing system of claim 12, wherein the data provider selects a search result from among the search results according to the counselor's selection input through the interface, transmits the search result to the response processing server so that the search result may be processed to be speech data and the speech data may be provided to the user terminal.

[14] The information providing system of one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the recording server records the call data until the connection to the user terminal is terminated.