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
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-5 Prompts 
4
Prompts
The p romp ts used  in your ap p lic ation are one of the only forms of system 
interac tion with c allers.  For this reason, It is very imp ortant that you d esig n the 
ap plic ation p romp ts to fac ilitate a suc c essful interac tion.
Use the guid elines in this sec tion for promp t desig n.
Prompt Length
Make p romp ts as short as p ossib le while remaining  p olite and  informative.  Keep  
the p romp ts b rief, b ut not abrupt.  The more quic kly c allers c an d o what they 
c alled  to d o, the more satisfied  they will b e.  For examp le:
There are some trad e-offs when c onsid ering  p romp t leng th.  If you exp ec t to 
have a hig h p rop ortion of one-time or first-time c allers, you mig ht want to p rovid e 
more information in p romp ts and make the p romp ts long er.  Long er promp ts are 
ac c eptab le if you think your c allers will need  the extra information.  Inc lud e only 
help ful information and  exp ress it in a short, d irec t manner.
Use long er, more informative p romp ts if you are asking c allers to enter 
information in a way that may b e unfamiliar.  For instanc e, c onsid er a c aller 
entering  a d ate.  Most p eop le think of months by name.  For a touc h-tone 
ap plic ation, c allers are asked  to p ress the one- or two-d ig it numb er for the 
month.  For examp le, the month of Dec emb er would  b e     .  With WholeWord  
sp eec h rec og nition, the month of Dec emb er are rep resented  b y the word s “ one, 
two”  whic h c allers may say as “ twelve.”   Both of these examp les req uire that 
c allers think of the information in a way that is unusual, and  so p romp ts should  b e 
c lear enoug h for c allers to und erstand .  These long er p romp ts should  inc lud e 
examples, such as:
“ Next, enter the month listed  on your b ill.  Say two numb ers, suc h as ‘one, two’ for 
Dec emb er, or ‘zero, five’ for May.” Instead of prompting... prompt...
“ To listen to information on travel to 
California, say 1.”“ For California travel information, say 1.”
“ If you are c alling to reg ister for c lasses, 
p ress 3.”“ To reg ister for c lasses, p ress 3.”
12 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-6 Prompts 
4
How to Word Prompts
Use the following  the g uid elines when d etermining the word ing  of promp ts:
nPresent the op tion b efore the ac tion.
In menu p romp ts, always list the op tion first, and the ac tion sec ond .  For 
example:
When the op tion is listed  first, c allers only need  to listen to the one ac tion 
that p ertains to their c hoic e. When the ac tion is listed first, they must 
rememb er it until they hear the op tion and  d ec id e if it is the one they want. 
Listing  the op tion first will help b oth exp erienc ed  and  new c allers.
nUse the same struc ture for eac h op tion-ac tion p air in a menu p romp t.  This 
help s the c aller to know what to exp ec t. For examp le:
nMake the menu c hoic es c learly d ifferent.
Be sure the menu c hoic es are d ifferent from eac h other, so c allers c an 
d ec id e whic h op tion they want.  If c allers are c onfused  ab out whic h op tion 
they want, c onsid er rewording  the c hoic es.
nAvoid  jarg on and  ac ronyms.
Assume that c allers d o not use the same tec hnic al word s you d o.  Avoid  
ac ronyms and  ab b reviations that may c onfuse your c allers.  Speak out the 
c omp lete words.  Use word s that your typ ic al c allers will und erstand .  Use 
tec hnic al terms only if your aud ienc e is a small g roup  of p eop le who are 
trained  in your b usiness. Instead of prompting... prompt...
“ Say 2 to rec eive the information b y fax.” “ To rec eive the information b y fax, say 2.”
Instead of prompting... prompt...
“ To hear sales information, p ress 1.
For servic es, p ress 2. 
If you would  like to sp eak to an attend ant, 
p ress 0.”“ For sales, p ress 1.
For servic es, p ress 2.
For an attend ant, p ress 0.” 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-7 Announcements 
4
Announcements
As with p romp ts, it is very imp ortant that you d esig n the ap plic ation 
announc ements to fac ilitate a suc c essful interac tion with your c allers.  
Announc ements are used  to inform the c aller.  Be selec tive when d ec id ing  
whether or not and how many announc ements to inc lud e in your d esig n.
Use the guid elines in this sec tion for announc ement d esig n.
Feedback Announcements
Feed b ac k announc ements should  b e short and  c lear.  If you want to inc lud e 
“ p lease”  and  “ thank you,”  inc lud e them only oc c asionally so that c allers c an 
c omp lete the c all as q uic kly as possib le.
Avoid  referring  to the system as 
I or we.  If c allers think the system is a p erson, 
they may use more word s to make their answers more friend ly, and  thus make 
sp eec h rec og nition more d iffic ult. For examp le:
If a req uest will take more than two or three sec onds to fill, assure c allers that 
work is b eing  d one.  For examp le:
“ Looking  for your rec ord s.  Please wait.”
or
“ Please wait while your information is loc ated .”
Confirmation Announcements
There are times where you should  read  the entry b ac k and  allow the c aller to 
c onfirm it.  Other times, a feed b ac k announc ement (suc h as “ Please wait while 
your information is loc ated ” ) is more ap p rop riate than a c onfirmation 
announc ement.
Use the information in this sec tion to d etermine when you need  c onfirmation or 
not. Instead of prompting... prompt...
“ Please wait while I loc ate your rec ord s.” “ Please wait while your rec ord s are 
located .” 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-8 Announcements 
4
When You Need Confirmation
In c ases where a rec og nition error or c aller touc h-tone error would  have a 
sig nific ant imp ac t (like c redit c ard numb ers or c all d estinations), you should  give 
c allers an op p ortunity to c onfirm the entry.  To d o this, rep eat the entry and  
p romp t c allers to say “ yes”  or “ no”  to c onfirm it as in the following  examp les:
nWith WholeWord  sp eec h rec og nition:
“ What is your c ustomer numb er?”

“ Customer Numb er 432886.  Is this c orrec t?”
{p ause}
“ Please say yes or no, now.”
nWith FlexWord  sp eec h rec ognition:
“What department would you like?”

“ Calling  hard ware.  Yes or no?”
nWith touc h tones:
“ Please enter your customer number.”

“ 432886.  If this is c orrec t, p ress 1.  If not, p ress 2.
nWith dial p ulses
“ Please enter your customer number.”

“ 432886.  If this is c orrec t, enter 1.  If not, enter 2.
With Sc rip t Build er, you c an inc lude the Confirm ac tion step  in two different ways:
nUse the system Confirm when d efining  the orig inal Promp t & Collec t 
ac tion.
— When c ollec ting  c aller data with WholeWord  sp eec h rec og nition 
and  touc h-tone rec ognition, use the Confirm within the Promp t & 
Collect.
— When c ollec ting  c aller data with FlexWord  sp eec h rec ognition, use 
the Confirm within the Promp t & Collec t ac tion 
only if you have the 
US Eng lish versions of WholeWord  sp eec h rec og nition and  
Text-to-Sp eech installed  in the same system
. 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-9 Announcements 
4
nUse a sep arate Promp t & Collec t ac tion to d o the c onfirmation.
— When collec ting caller data with a WholeWord speech recognition 
lang uag e other than US Eng lish, you must c onfirm with a sep arate 
Promp t & Collec t ac tion.  A prerec ord ed sp eec h phrase for eac h 
digit, “yes,” and “no” is also needed.
— When c ollec ting  c aller data with FlexWord  sp eec h rec ognition, 
WholeWord  sp eec h rec og nition and  Text-to-Sp eec h software 
installed in the same system, c onfirm with a sep arate Promp t & 
Collec t ac tion.
Se e  Ta b l e  4 - 1
 for a summary of c onfirming  an entry within Sc rip t Build er.
Table 4-1. Confirming an Entry within Script Builder
Data collecting using... should be confirmed with...
Touc h-tone inp ut The Confirm within Prompt & Collec t ac tion
WholeWord  speec h rec ognition
US Eng lishThe Confirm within Prompt & Collec t ac tion
WholeWord  speec h rec ognition
nAustralian Eng lish
nBrazilian Portug uese
nCanadian Frenc h
nCastilian Sp anish
nDutc h
nFrenc h
nGerman
nJap anese
nLatin-Americ an Sp anish
nUK Eng lishA sep arate Confirm ac tion
FlexWord  sp eec h rec og nition
(with US Eng lish WholeWord  sp eec h 
recognition and US English 
Tex t-t o-Sp e ec h )The Confirm within Prompt & Collec t ac tion
Continued on next page 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-10 Announcements 
4
When You Do Not Need Confirmation
In c ases where a rec og nition error or a c aller touc h-tone error would  not c ause a 
b ig  p rob lem (that is, if it is easy for c allers to return to the p oint in the ap p lic ation 
where they really wanted  to g o), you may c hoose not to allow c allers to c onfirm 
an entry.  Also skipp ing  the c onfirmation of nonessential entries c an sp eed  the 
call.
Even if you d o not c onfirm an entry, it is still important to let c allers know how the 
recognizer interp reted  the inp ut.  To d o so, includ e context-relevant information in 
the next announc ement you p lay.  For examp le:
“ What month?”

“ Artists p erforming  at the Palac e Theater for Aug ust inc lud e...”
1. In cases where you d o not have the US English WholeWord  sp eec h recog nition software, 
you c ould  have the c aller c onfirm with touc h-tone inp ut.
FlexWord  sp eec h rec og nition
(with US Eng lish WholeWord  only)A sep arate Confirm ac tion and  rec ord ed  
p hrases for all word s
FlexWord  sp eec h rec og nition
(with Text-to-Speec h only)
1A sep arate Confirm ac tion and  a FlexWord  
yes/no word list
FlexWord  sp eec h rec og nition
(with no other p ac kages)
1A sep arate Confirm ac tion, rec ord ed  
p hrases for all word s, and  a FlexWord  
yes/no word list
Table 4-1. Confirming an Entry within Script Builder — Continued
Data collecting using... should be confirmed with...
Continued on next page 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-11 Menus 
4
Menus
Use the guid elines in this sec tion when d esig ning  your ap p lic ations with menus.
Number of Menu Choices
As mentioned  in “ Minimize Demand s on the Caller’s Memory,” too many menu 
c hoic es p resented  at onc e may c onfuse c allers.  In g eneral, d o not offer more 
than four or five c hoic es in a sing le menu.
If you have more than four or five c hoic es, sep arate them into small related  
g roup s and  p resent more than one menu.  For examp le, if you are g iving  
information on seven p arks, d o not list them all in one menu.  Your first menu 
c ould  sep arate them into g roup s, and say:
“ For p arks with c amp ing fac ilities, p ress 1.
For other p arks, p ress 2.”
If the caller presses 1:
“For Stony Ridge, press 1.
For Cantwell Cliffs, p ress 2.
For Old  Man’s Cave, p ress 3.”
If the caller presses 2:
“ For Senec a Roc ks, p ress 1.
For Rialto Beac h, p ress 2.
For Lug ano Falls, p ress 3.
For Monroe Bluff, p ress 4.”
In c ertain c ases, it mig ht b e ac c eptab le to p resent more than five menu c hoic es.  
If all c allers are trained , having  long er menus may save time as long  as you allow 
them to d ial throug h or b arg e-in to interrup t the menu p romp t.  See ‘‘Dial Through 
and Barge-in’’ b elow for more information.
Menu Choice Sequence
To d ec rease the c all leng th, p resent the most likely menu c hoic e first, the sec ond 
most likely sec ond , and  so on.  If you d o not know the p referred  order, make a 
g uess and  ad just if nec essary during  your testing .  See Chap ter 5, ‘‘Testing  and  
Using  a Voic e Resp onse Ap p lic ation Desig n,’’ for more information. 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-12 Menus 
4
Numbered Menu Options
When p resenting  menu op tions that a c aller c an c hoose b y numb er, p resent 
them in numeric al ord er.  Avoid  skip p ing  numb ers.
If you c hang e the seq uenc e of your menu to p resent the more likely c hoic es 
sooner, b e sure to c hang e the numb ers of the menu p romp ts so that the c aller 
c an c hoose the first op tion b y selec ting  1, the sec ond  b y selec ting  2, and  so on.
Keep in mind  that exp erienc ed  c allers, and  those with user g uid es, p rob ably d o 
not listen to all menu p romp ts.  When you c hang e one or more menus in your 
ap plic ation, c onsid er ad d ing  an announc ement d uring  the g reeting , suc h as 
“ The menu has c hang ed ; p lease listen c arefully.”   After some time, you c an 
remove this messag e.
Subdivided Menu Options
If your menu tree is c omp lex, or you think that c allers will want to g et information 
from many d ifferent menus, g ive c allers a c hoic e to move to a d ifferent menu. You 
c ould  ad d a c hoic e to allow c allers to g o b ac k to the p revious menu, or a c hoic e 
that would  allow c allers to g o to the top  of the menu tree.  For examp le:
“ For p arks with c amp ing fac ilities, p ress 1.
For other p arks, p ress 2.”

“For Stony Ridge, press 1.
For Cantwell Cliffs, p ress 2.
For Old  Man’s Cave, p ress 3.
For the p revious menu, p ress 4.”

“ Cantwell Cliffs offers 15 tent c amp ing  sites, eac h with a water sp ig ot.  Cooking  
fires are p ermitted .  Toilet and  shower fac ilities are availab le.  Reservations are 
ac c epted  from Ap ril first throug h Novemb er first.”
“ To make a reservation, p ress 1.
For directions, press 2.
For the p revious menu, p ress 3.
To start at the b eg inning , p ress 4.”
Althoug h the menu should  automatic ally rep eat if the c aller d oes not resp ond , 
you c ould  inc lud e an option like “ To rep eat the menu, p ress 9.” 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-13 Digit Input 
4
Digit Input
Use the guid elines in this sec tion as you d esig n your ap p lic ations with dig it  
input.
Constant-Length Digit Sequences
A c onstant-leng th d ig it seq uenc e is a series that always c ontains the same 
number of digits, for example a US Social Security number has nine digits. 
The system rec ognizes c onstant-leng th seq uenc es more ac c urately than 
variab le-leng th seq uenc es.  Whenever possible, sp ec ify the maximum leng th of 
the variab le-d igit seq uenc e to b e rec og nized , to inc rease rec og nition ac c urac y.
Variable-Length Digit Sequences
A variable-leng th dig it seq uenc e c an c ontain d ifferent numb ers of d ig its, for 
example a house number in a street address is a variable-length digit sequence.
If your ap p lic ation must ac c ep t a variab le-leng th d igit seq uenc e, you c an 
inc rease rec ognition ac c urac y b y using a two-step entry p roc ess.  First ask for 
the numb er of dig its, then ask for the d ig its.  The rec og nizer will know how many 
d ig its to exp ec t from the c aller.  For examp le:
“ How many d ig its are in the next c od e?”

“ Please say the three-dig it c od e now.”
If the d ig it seq uenc e c an have more than nine d ig its, remind  the c aller to say the 
numb er in d ig it format (“ one, two” ) rather than as a natural numb er (“ twelve” ).  
Se e  ‘‘Use Examples Within a Digit Entry Prompt’’
 below.
Different typ es of c redit c ard s may have d ifferent leng th numb ers.  If you allow 
c allers to use one of several typ es of c red it c ard s, use a menu to p romp t them for 
the type of c ard , then for the numb ers.  This lets you know how many numb ers to 
exp ec t from the c aller, so the rec og nizer will look for a c onstant-leng th numb er.  
For example:
“ What type of c red it c ard  will you b e using  tod ay?  Americ an Exp ress, Disc over, 
MasterCard, Visa, or Universal Card ?”

“ What are the first four d ig its on your Visa c ard ?” 
						

							INTUITY CONVERSANT System Version 6.0
Application Design Guidelines  
585-310-670  Issue 1.0
December 1996
Designing a Voice Response Application 
Page 4-14 Digit Input 
4
Entering Digit Sequences
For entry of seq uenc es of 10 or fewer d ig its, the system p rovid es c onstant-leng th 
g rammars.  For entry of seq uenc es g reater than 10 d ig its, it is rec ommend ed  that 
you use a c ustom g rammar.  Otherwise, c onsid er g roup ing  the inp ut.  That is, 
p romp t c allers to read  the series of d igits in seg ments (g roup s), then c onfirm 
eac h g roup  before g oing  to the next.  This tec hniq ue is esp ec ially useful if the 
d ig it seq uenc e c annot b e valid ated  with a c hec ksum, c ustom g rammar, or with a 
database, as described below in ‘‘Validate a Dig it Seq uenc e Entry.’’
  If the 
numb er alread y has natural g roup s like in a telep hone numb er, use those 
groups.  For example:
“ Please say the first four dig its of your 12-d ig it numb er.”

“ 4384.  Is that c orrec t?”   {p ause}  “ Please say yes or no.”

“ What are the next four d ig its?”

“ 9556.  Is that c orrec t?”

“ And  the next four d ig its?”

“ 883.  Is that c orrec t?”

“ Please rep eat the four d ig its.”

“ 8833.  Is that c orrec t?”

This c all is shorter if c allers are allowed  to b arg e-in d uring  the p romp t to answer 
the yes/no q uestions q uic kly.