Lucent Technologies INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0 Guide

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Planning a Voice Response Application 
Page 3-3 Plan Your Application Design 
3
Purchase Enhanced Basic Speech
The INTUITY CONVERSANT system p rofessionally rec ord ed  sp eec h, known as 
enhanc ed b asic  sp eec h in the following  languag es (the rec ord ed  voic e is female 
unless sep arate male and  female are ind ic ated ):
nAustralian Eng lish
nBrazilian Portug uese
nCanad ian Frenc h
nCantonese Chinese
nCastilian Sp anish
nDutch
nFren c h
nGerman
nHindi
nJap anese
nLatin-Americ an Sp anish
nMand arin Chinese
nUK English
nUS Eng lish (male and  female)
Luc ent Tec hnolog ies also offers p rofessional c ustom p hrase rec ord ing servic es.  
If you are interested  in p urc hasing  c ustom p hrases, c ontac t your Luc ent 
Tec hnolog ies rep resentative.
Contract a Professional Speaker
If you c hoose to c ontrac t a p rofessional sp eaker on your own, c onsid er the 
following  g uid elines:
nRec ord  the sp eaker’s voic e to ensure you like the way it sound s.  You may 
want to record several different speakers to compare the quality of their 
rec ord ed  voic es.
nMake sure the speaker can maintain a c onstant speaking rhythm and 
intonation throug hout the rec ord ing  session.
nMake sure the sp eaker c an maintain a c onstant, ac c ep tab le level of 
volume and d istanc e from the telep hone or mic rop hone while rec ord ing .
nMake sure the sp eaker’s p ronunc iation is c lear and  that word s are not 
over-enunc iated.
nMake sure the rec ord ing  environment is as q uiet as p ossib le.  A room with 
c arp eted  walls and  floor is usually suffic ient.
nPrep are the p hrases for the speaker in ad vanc e of the rec ord ing  session. 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Planning a Voice Response Application 
Page 3-4 Plan Your Application Design 
3
Offer a User Guide
If you know your c alling  p opulation, you c an take advantag e of this knowled g e 
and provide a user guide.  User guides can be very simple, providing just 
enough information so that c allers will not b e surp rised  b y the automated  
transac tion.  More d etailed  user g uid es c an inc lude all the p romp ts and  op tions, 
so c allers c an p rep are answers ahead  of time and b ec ome oriented  to the 
ap plic ation.
The nature of your ap p lic ation and  c alling  p op ulation will determine whether or 
not a user g uid e is ap p rop riate.  User guid es are most useful when you know and  
c an easily reac h the memb ers of your c alling  p op ulation.  Examp les of known 
c aller p op ulations inc lud e:
nSubsc rib ers to your servic e
nCustomers to whom you send bills
nStud ents, teac hers, and  p arents of the sc hool you serve
nEmp loyees in your c ompany
If you d istrib ute a user guid e and  exp ec t that most c allers will use it, you may b e 
ab le to p rovid e shorter and more c onc ise p romp ts than if c allers d o not have a 
g uid e.  Be aware, however, that shorter p romp ts may ad versely affec t c allers 
who forg et to use the g uid e.
Offer Caller Training
If you know that a p artic ular g roup  of c allers will use the ap p lic ation extensively, 
c onsid er offering  training  c lasses.  Training  is most ap prop riate when you have a 
limited  c alling  p op ulation, and/or a p otentially c omp lex or unusual ap p lic ation.  
The most useful training  c lasses allow c allers to c all in to the ap p lic ation and  use 
it.
Provide an Attendant
There will always b e c allers who need  extra assistanc e, esp ec ially those c alling  
for the first time.  Provide a p erson who c an hand le c allers having  troub le with the 
voic e resp onse ap plic ations.  As a g eneral rule, allow c allers to try to enter 
information only two or three times, then, if they are not suc c essful, transfer the 
c aller to an attend ant.  Allow c allers to sp eak with an attend ant b y using a key 
p ress (like zero), or b y sp eaking  a key word  (like “ attendant,”  “ op erator,”  or 
“ help ” ). 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Planning a Voice Response Application 
Page 3-5 Plan Your Application Design 
3
Diagram Your Application Design
When p lanning your ap p lic ation, c reate a d iag ram of how you want the 
ap plic ation to ap p ear to c allers.  A d iag ram is help ful to d ep ic t the struc ture of 
the app lic ation.  The d iag ram also allows you to p lan what to d o when errors 
oc c ur, an asp ec t of ap p lic ations that is freq uently overlooked .  If the same 
p erson or team is not the ap plic ation d esig ner and  d evelop er,  a thoroug h 
d iag ram is a very valuab le c ommunic ation tool.  Even when one p erson or team 
is b oth d esig ning  and  develop ing  the ap p lic ation, the d iag ram will help  to 
sep arate the tasks, so that eac h task c an rec eive ad eq uate attention.
Flowc harts and  outlines are two ways to d iagram the ap p lic ation.  If you alread y 
have a way to c ommunic ate the struc ture of the ap p lic ation that works for you, 
use it.  Whatever method you choose, plan your application carefully before 
imp lementing  it.
Be sure to list all p romp ts and  announc ements to b e p layed  to c allers.  Make 
sure you show what should  hap p en eac h time you expec t c aller inp ut.  Inc lud e 
what should  hap p en when c allers g ive c orrec t (valid ) inp ut.
Error c ases are also important.  What hap p ens if c allers g ive inc orrec t (invalid ) 
inp ut?  How many times will you rep romp t after hearing  inc orrec t inp ut?  Will the 
c all b e transferred  to an attend ant?  What if c allers d o not resp ond ?  How many 
times will you rep romp t after hearing no response?  A g ood  flowc hart or outline 
will cover all p ossib le cases.
Use Flowcharts
Flowc harts are more formal and  sp ec ialized , b ut they are a g ood  way to show the 
ap plic ation in a d iagram.  As shown in Fi g u re  3 -1
, flowc harts use a few simp le 
symb ols to rep resent p rompts, announc ements, and  d ec ision p oints within the 
ap plic ation, and  arrows to show the p ath from one to another.  Id entify the 
symb ols you use so that peop le c an easily und erstand  them. 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Planning a Voice Response Application 
Page 3-6 Plan Your Application Design 
3
Figure 3-1. Sample Application Flowchart 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Planning a Voice Response Application 
Page 3-7 Plan Your Application Design 
3
Use Outlines
Another way to d iag ram the ap p lic ation is an outline, as shown b elow.  Outlines 
are easier for some p eop le b ec ause they only use word s, not symb ols.
Samp le outline:
Caller d ials in.
Prompted with:“ You have reac hed  Hig h Tec hnolog ies, Inc orp orated .”
1: “ Please say the first and  last names of the p erson you want.”
2:  (listen for four sec ond s; listen for anything  on Wordlist 1,
that c ontains all names).
If there is no c aller resp onse or silenc e:
Promp t with: “ Please rep eat the name.”
Go to 2.
If the c aller resp onse matc hes the word “ help :”
Promp t with:  “ You c an reac h anyone at our loc ation b y saying
their first and  last names.  If you need further assistanc e, say
‘op erator’ when asked  for a name.”
Go to 1.
If the c aller resp onse matc hes the word “ op erator:”
Promp t with:  “ Transferring .”
Transfer the c all to the op erator’s extension.
Finished .
If the c aller resp onse matc hes a name on the word list:
“ Calling  {first name, last name.}  To c anc el, say ‘no.’”
(listen for two sec ond s; listen for “ yes”  or “ no” ).
If matc h the word  “ no:”
Promp t with “ Call c anc eled .”
Go to 1.
If matc h the word  “ yes”  or nothing  (no c aller resp onse
or silenc e):
Promp t with:  “ Transferring .”
Transfer the c all to the named  p erson’s extension.
Finished . 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Planning a Voice Response Application 
Page 3-8 Plan Your Application Design 
3 
						

							Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-1 Overview 
4
INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
4
4Designing a Voice Response 
Application
Overview
This c hap ter d esc rib es sp ec ific  g uid elines to use when d esig ning  your voic e 
response ap p lic ations.  Many of the guid elines in this c hapter are sp ec ific  and  
d irec tly related  to one or more of the I
NTUITY™ C ON VERSAN T®  s y st e m  
ad vanc ed  tec hnolog ies d esc rib ed  in Chap ter 2, ‘‘Voic e Response Ad vanc ed 
Te c h n o l o g i e s . ’ ’
Purpose
The p urp ose of this c hap ter is to p rovid e sp ec ific  g uidelines to help  you d esig n 
rob ust and  useful ap p lic ations. 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-2 Application Design Research 
4
Application Design Research
In order to d esign the most suc c essful ap p lic ation p ossib le, it is a g ood  id ea to 
research some basic design principles.  Human factors experts call these 
usab ility p rinc ip les, sinc e they are c ritic al to d esig ning  a usab le ap p lic ation.
Bec ause of exp erienc es with poorly d esig ned  ap p lic ations, some c allers are 
wary of all voic e resp onse systems.  Be c areful that 
your ap plic ation d oes not 
alienate your c ustomers.  Your g oal is to make an automated  transac tion at least 
as attrac tive and  effic ient as interac ting  with an attend ant, if not more.
Know Your Callers
Choic es you make in the ap p lic ation d esign will affec t those who the ap p lic ation 
will serve.  Find  out as muc h as you c an ab out the peop le who will c all the 
system, and  use the information when d esig ning  your ap p lic ations.
Relevant information to g ather inc ludes the following :
nWho are your c allers?
Your c allers have p ersonal attrib utes that affec t how they will interac t with 
the app lic ation you are d esig ning .
— What lang uag e d o they speak?  If you exp ec t that many c allers will 
have an ac c ent that is d ifferent than what the sp eec h rec og nition 
p ac kag e you are using  exp ec ts, c onsid er offering  a b iling ual 
servic e.  If you are offering  servic e in only one lang uag e, b ut 
antic ip ate having  many c allers with ac c ents, you may want to use 
DPR or a c omb ination of DPR and  sp eec h rec og nition, sinc e 
ac c ented  sp eec h may not b e rec og nized  as ac c urately as 
nonac c ented  sp eec h.
— How old  are they?  If you exp ec t that a hig h p erc entage of c allers 
may b e c hild ren, you should  use simp le lang uag e and  very short 
menus.  Also, sinc e sp eec h rec og nition works b est with deep er 
voic es, you may wish to use touc h-tone inp ut or d ial-p ulse 
rec ognition only.  If you exp ec t that many of your c allers are over 
the age of 65, you mig ht want to allow them more time to resp ond .  
Make sure to reduc e c onfusion b y making  the transac tion as simp le 
as possible.
— Are they employees of your c ompany?  You may want a sc ript 
d esig ned  for in-house use to app ear and  perform d ifferently than 
one d esig ned  for your c ustomers.  For examp le, if you provid e 
training  c lasses and /or user g uid es, you c an p robab ly use shorter 
and  more c onc ise p romp ts.  Jarg on and  tec hnic al terms may b e 
ap prop riate for emp loyees, if you c an assume that they all will know 
the terms. 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-3 Application Design Research 
4
Note any other p ersonal attrib utes that c ould affec t how c allers will interac t 
with your ap p lic ation, and  work to make sure that your ap p lic ation serves 
all callers well.
nHow often d o they c all?
Some ap p lic ations are meant to b e used  only one time, while others c an 
b e used  more often.  Callers may even ac c ess some ap p lic ations several 
times a day.
If you exp ec t c allers to use the ap p lic ation rarely, your p romp ts and  
announc ements may need to c ontain exp lic it information and instruc tions.  
Promp ts for ap plic ations used  very often c an b e mad e extremely short, 
sinc e most c allers will likely b e exp erienc ed .  If you exp ec t your c allers to 
b e mixed in their exp erienc e levels, make it p ossib le for the more 
exp erienc ed  c allers to d ial throug h or b arg e-in d uring  p romp ts.
nHow well d o they know the sub jec t matter?
If you exp ec t that most of your c allers will b e unfamiliar with the sub jec t 
matter (for examp le, if you are desc rib ing  a new servic e or p rod uc t), you 
should  take sp ec ial c are in struc turing  and  p resenting  the information so 
that your aud ienc e c an und erstand  it.
Use Simple and Natural Dialogue
Learning  as muc h as you c an ab out c allers will allow you to d etermine what is 
“ simp le and  natural”  for them.  Design unc omp lic ated , straig htforward  
ap plic ations that use terms familiar to the c allers.
Minimize Demands on the Caller ’s Memory
Psyc holog ic al researc h has shown that a c aller’s short-term memory c an hold  no 
more than five to nine sep arate p iec es of information at one time.  For eac h menu 
item you p resent to c allers, two d ifferent p iec es of information must b e 
rememb ered :  the op tion (“ For loan rate information...” ) and  the ac tion req uired  to 
c hoose the op tion (“ p ress 2.” )  Menus should  offer no more than four or five items 
at onc e, sinc e c allers c annot rememb er them all.
The fewer items c allers have to rememb er, the more likely it is that they will 
rememb er them.  Try to make the interac tion easy for the c allers.  Keep  menus 
short, and  avoid  word y p romp ts and  announc ements.
Be Consistent
Consistenc y in the struc ture of menu c hoic es and in the p resentation of 
information help s p revent c allers from bec oming c onfused .   By using c onsistent 
lang uag e and  req uesting  c onsistent ac tion of c allers, you simp lify the interac tion 
and reduce demands on memory. 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-4 Application Design Research 
4
Provide Feedback
Whenever c allers p ress touc h tones or sp eak in response to a p romp t, let them 
know how the resp onse was interpreted .  This c larifies the transac tion for c allers.  
For instanc e, if c allers p ress zero for an attend ant, the ap p lic ation c ould say 
“ Please hold for an attendant.”   Although the application does not explicitly state 
that it heard  the c aller p ress zero, the interp retation of the key p ress is imp lic it in 
the announc ement that follows.
Provide Easy Exits
To p revent c allers from getting  trap p ed  in an ap p lic ation sc rip t, tell them how to 
reac h an attend ant, end a transac tion, or return to the main menu.  You c an g ive 
this information at the b eg inning  of the transac tion.  Provid e these typ es of 
esc ap es within your ap p lic ation so that c allers c an always return to a p lac e they 
know or ob tain help  as nec essary.  This g ives your c allers more c ontrol over the 
interac tion, and  makes them feel as if they are not p owerless in the fac e of 
automation.
Offer Shortcuts
If you exp ec t some c allers to c all often enoug h to b ec ome exp erts, p rovid e ways 
to shorten their interac tion with the ap p lic ation.  For examp le, allow them to 
respond  before the end  of a promp t so that they c an move throug h the interac tion 
at a p ac e that is c omfortab le for them.  You may want to c onsid er p rovid ing  
sep arate sc rip ts (or sep arate b ranc hes of a sing le sc rip t) for novic e and  exp ert 
callers.
Prevent Errors
By following  the ab ove p rinc ip les, and  the sp ec ific  rec ommend ations this 
c hap ter, you c an p revent errors from hap p ening .  Well d esig ned ap p lic ations 
take into account the strengths and weaknesses of both the callers and the 
technologies.