KR20010069793A - Method for providing interactive voice response(IVR) service by converting wireless application protocol(WAP)-based contents for wireless internet into voice extensible markup language(VXML)-based contents and system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method and a system for providing a voice information service by converting WAP service contents for a wireless Internet into VXML based contents are provided to offer a voice information service by converting wireless markup language(WML) based contents into voice extensible markup language(VXML) based contents for a voice information service. CONSTITUTION: In a system including a server(450a) on the Internet having WAP service contents for a wireless Internet, a telephone network connection server(450c) performing a user interface through a telephone network, and a conversion server(450d) providing a service for converting the WAP service contents into a VXML based contents, a voice information service are provided by converting the WAP service contents for a wireless Internet into VXML based contents. The processes are described in detail, as follows. A user's input is received through a telephone network in a telephone network connection server. The WAP service contents responded to the received user's input are converted into the VXML based contents. A voice output executed by interpreting the VXML based contents in the telephone network connection server is provided to a user through the telephone network.

Description

Method for providing interactive voice response (IVR) service by converting wireless application protocol (WAP) -based by converting content for WAP service for wireless internet into VX-based content contents for wireless internet into voice extensible markup language (VXML) -based contents and system therefor}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to voice information services over a telephone network, and in particular, content for a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) service for wireless Internet, for example, content based on Wireless Markup Language (WML), and VXML (VoiceXML; Voice eXtensible Markup Language). The present invention relates to a method for providing a voice information service by converting the content into content based on the content, and interpreting / executing the VXML content.

Modern society is constantly producing various and complex information, and various efforts are being made to deliver the flood of information systematically and efficiently. In addition, in the modern society, as mobility is increased due to the characteristics of a business, it is necessary to diversify channels for accessing information. That is, anytime, anywhere, there is a demand to receive the desired information through any information terminal.

In order to realize such a request, a WAP for a method of accessing various information on the Internet through a mobile communication terminal, that is, a method of using the mobile communication terminal as an Internet access means (hereinafter referred to as wireless Internet), Wireless Application Protocol technology has been born, and many companies now employ WAP technology to provide information based on text (including some graphic information) through mobile communication terminals. However, the information acquisition in the mobile communication terminal is very inconvenient due to the limited nature of the device, and thus is rarely used except for a young new generation.

In contrast, the voice-based information providing system is easily accessible to general users, and is currently used in many fields (eg, securities, cards, distribution, etc.), and its users can be viewed as broad. . In this regard, Voice eXtensible Markup Language (VXML) technology, which can provide various types of information on the Internet in the form of voices, has been born. .

VXML technology was developed by three companies, AT & T, Lucent Technologies, and Motorola, and is a voice-based technology that can retrieve various information on the Internet through telephone and voice recognition software. VXML is a technology that enables users to search the contents of the Internet such as e-mail, weather information, traffic information, and the like, and to load various voice information on a web page without using an internet connection device such as a PC or a laptop. At the present time when technologies such as speech synthesis, recognition, and authentication are put into practical use, voice information services using VXML technology are spreading.

However, considering that many enterprises or Internet sites (service providers) have already built contents for wireless Internet services, developing and deploying voice information services is very burdensome in terms of cost and management. Therefore, if the contents built for the existing wireless Internet can be used as the voice information service, it will be able to greatly reduce the cost and increase the management efficiency.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to solve the above problems, WAP service for wireless Internet content, for example, Wireless Markup Language (WML) based content to the VXML-based content for voice information service online The present invention provides a method and system for providing a voice information service by automatically converting.

1 is a diagram illustrating a general web service method on the Internet.

2 is a diagram illustrating a web service and a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) service together.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a voice information service based on VoiceXML (VoiceXML; Voice eXtensible Markup Language) with a web service and a WAP service.

4 schematically illustrates a system configuration for providing a voice information service by converting content for a WAP service for wireless Internet into a VXML-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a voice information service by converting content for a WAP service for wireless Internet into a VXML-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 illustrates an example of a method of converting a WML (Wireless Markup Language) document into a VXML document according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the voice information service providing method according to an aspect of the present invention,

System configuration including a server on the Internet having content for WAP services for wireless Internet, a telephone network access server performing a user interface over a telephone network, and a conversion server providing a service for converting content for WAP services into VXML-based content In a method for providing a voice information service by converting the content for the WAP service for the wireless Internet to VXML-based content,

(a) receiving a user input through a telephone network at the telephone network access server;

(b) converting, in the conversion server, content for WAP service corresponding to the user input received in step (a) into content based on VXML in a predetermined manner; And

and (c) providing a voice output to the user through a telephone network by analyzing the VXML-based content in the telephone network access server.

Also, before the step (a),

(a0) When the telephone network access server receives a call from the user through the telephone network, the method may further include providing a voice output through the telephone network through the VXML-based content corresponding to the initial homepage. .

In addition, the step (b),

(b1) transmitting, by the telephone network access server, a service request according to the user input received in step (a) to the conversion server;

(b2) requesting and receiving a WAP service content corresponding to the user input from the conversion server to a server on the Internet; And

(b3) preferably, converting the WAP service content received in step (b2) into a VXML-based content in a predetermined manner and providing the WAP service content to the telephone network access server.

Voice information service providing method according to another aspect of the present invention,

A method of providing a voice information service by converting the content for the WAP service for the wireless Internet to VXML-based content,

(a) receiving a user input via a telephone network;

(b) converting the content for the WAP service corresponding to the user input received in step (a) into VXML-based content in a predetermined manner; And

and (c) providing the user with a voice output through the telephone network by analyzing and executing the VXML based content.

In addition, the user input in the step (a) is preferably a key input or a voice input.

In order to solve the other technical problem, the voice information service providing system according to an aspect of the present invention,

A telephone network access server performing a user interface through a telephone network; And

It includes a conversion server that provides a service for converting the content for WAP services to VXML-based content,

When the telephone network access server receives a user input through a telephone network, the conversion server converts the WAP service content corresponding to the user input into a VXML-based content in a predetermined manner in response to a request of the telephone network access server.

The telephone network access server is characterized by providing a voice output to the user through the telephone network by interpreting the VXML-based content.

When the telephone network access server receives a call from the user through the telephone network, the telephone network access server provides the user with a voice output through the telephone network by analyzing and executing the VXML-based content corresponding to the initial homepage.

In addition, the voice information service providing system,

Further comprising a server on the Internet having content for WAP services for the wireless Internet,

When the telephone network access server receives a user input through a telephone network, the service request according to the user input is sent to the conversion server,

The conversion server requests and receives the WAP service content corresponding to the user input from the server on the Internet, and then converts the received WAP service content into VXML-based content in a predetermined manner and provides it to the telephone network access server. This is preferable.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the configuration and operation of the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating a general web service method on the Internet.

A user runs a web browser on his computer 100 and accesses the web server 150a of the service provider 150 through the Internet to use a web service. In this case, the web server 150a responds to the user's request in the form of an HTML document, which is output by the web browser on the user computer 100. To this end, the service provider 150 is provided with an HTML document for the web service. In addition, the service provider 150 generally establishes a separate DB server 150b in order to store and manage various kinds of information.

2 is a diagram illustrating a case where a web service and a WAP service are provided together.

The process of a user running a web browser on his computer 200 and accessing the web server 250a of the service provider 250 through the Internet to use a web service is as shown in FIG. 1. In the case of FIG. 2, the user may use the wireless Internet through the user terminal (mobile communication terminal) 210. To this end, unlike in FIG. 1, the service provider 250 includes a WAP service document for the wireless Internet, for example, a document in the form of a Wireless Markup Language (WML), in addition to an HTML document for a web service. In addition, it is common that the service provider 250 constructs a separate DB server 250b for storing and managing various types of information.

In the case of the wireless Internet, as shown in FIG. 2, a WAP gateway is generally present between the mobile communication terminal 210 and the web server 250a. The WAP gateway performs a function of interworking between WAP, a protocol used for the wireless Internet, and the HTTP protocol on the Internet. Here, the web server 250a may be called a WAP server or a web / WAP server to indicate that it supports the WAP service.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a case where a voice information service based on VoiceXML (VoiceXML; Voice eXtensible Markup Language) is provided together with a web service and a WAP service.

A user runs a web browser on his or her computer 300, accesses a web server 350a of a service provider 350 through the Internet, uses a web service, and uses a wireless Internet through a mobile communication terminal 310. The process is as in FIG. In addition, it is common that the service provider 350 constructs a separate DB server 350b for storing and managing various types of information.

In the case of FIG. 3, in order to provide the VXML-based voice information service in addition to the web service and the WAP service, the service provider 350 may include an HTML document for the web service and a document for the WAP service for the wireless Internet (for example, WML document) along with VXML based document for voice information service.

In the case of the voice information service, the user connects to the telephone network access server 350c of the service provider 350 by a telephone connection method through the wired telephone 320a or the mobile communication terminal 320b. The telephone network access server 350c has a VXML engine that can interpret and execute a VXML document, and has a software for voice output and speech recognition. When the telephone network access server 350c receives a service request from a user through a telephone network through a key input or voice input method, the telephone network access server 350c requests the web server 350a for the corresponding service, and the VXML provided by the web server 350a. Provides the user with voice output after parsing the document.

FIG. 3 illustrates a case in which a separate VXML-based content is constructed in a web server 250a for voice information service, but the present invention uses a VXML-based content for wireless Internet, which is already built according to the WAP standard in an enterprise or an Internet site. In this paper, we propose a method that can be used for voice information service. To this end, WAP2VXML Gateway is introduced to convert WAP service contents into VXML-based contents automatically.

4 schematically illustrates a system configuration for providing a voice information service by converting content for a WAP service for wireless Internet into a VXML-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A user runs a web browser on his or her computer 400, accesses a web server 450a of a service provider 450 through the Internet, uses a web service, and uses a wireless Internet through a mobile communication terminal 410. The process is the same as in FIGS. 2 and 3. However, since the present invention implements a function of automatically converting a WAP service document for wireless Internet into a VXML document online, the web server 450a does not necessarily have to provide an HTML document and provide a web service. In this case, the term WAP server would be more appropriate than the term web server.

In addition, although WML has been described as an example of a document form for the wireless Internet, it is common knowledge in the art that other document forms such as HDML (Handheld Device Markup Language) may be used. Those who have it will understand.

In addition, in the voice information service, a user interface side view in a manner in which a user connects to the telephone network access server 450c of the service provider 450 by telephone connection through a wired telephone 420a or a mobile communication terminal 420b. Similar to Of course, the telephone network access server 450c includes a VXML engine capable of interpreting and executing a VXML document, and includes a S / W for voice output and voice recognition. In addition, it is common that the service provider 450 constructs a separate DB server 450b for storing and managing various pieces of information.

As shown in FIG. 4, the service provider 450 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a telephone network access server 450c that performs a user interface through a telephone network for voice information service, and content for WAP service for wireless Internet. In addition to the web server 450a provided, the WAP2VXML gateway 450d, which is a conversion server that performs a function of converting content for WAP service into VXML-based content, is included.

In FIG. 4, for convenience of description, the service provider 450 includes all of these components. However, a component directly related to the voice information service according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a telephone network including a VXML engine. Connection server 450c and conversion server 450d, and web server 450a is a general wireless Internet server. In the present invention, the service provider 450, specifically the web server 450a, need not be provided with a VXML based document for the voice information service.

In addition, although FIG. 4 separately illustrates the web server 450a, the telephone network access server 450c, and the conversion server 450d, this is for emphasizing the function of each server, and these servers are necessarily separate computers. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not meant to be physically separate.

The conversion server 450d requests and receives a WAP service document corresponding to a user input through the telephone network from the web server 450a according to a request of the telephone network access server 450c. The conversion server 450d converts the document into a VXML-based document. It is provided to the access server 450c, the telephone network access server 450c is to interpret / execute the VXML-based document to provide the voice output to the user through the telephone network, the specific operation of the present invention in the system configuration of FIG. The method will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a voice information service by converting content for a WAP service for wireless Internet into a VXML-based content according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, a WAP document must be provided on the web server (step 500). Here, the web server may be any server that provides a WAP service for the wireless Internet. However, we have already seen that the HTML document for the web service is not necessarily provided. In addition, the document form for the wireless Internet may be used in addition to the WML form, HDML form and the like.

When the user connects to the telephone network access server through the telephone network, the telephone network access server receives the telephone call (step 510). When the call is connected, the telephone network access server operates according to the basic VXML scenario, and interprets / executes the VXML document corresponding to the initial homepage to provide a voice output to the user through the telephone network (step 520). Here, the telephone network access server may be provided with the initial homepage VXML document itself, but it will be common to receive and execute the initial homepage VXML document through the steps 540 to 590 described below.

When the telephone network access server receives a user input (service request) through a key input method or a voice input method (step 530), it transmits a service request (defined in a VXML document) according to the user input to a WAP2WXML gateway which is a conversion server ( Step 540).

Next, the WAP2WXML gateway requests the corresponding web server a document for the WAP service corresponding to the user input (step 550). In this process, the operation of resetting the URL included in the service request in step 540 to the URL of the corresponding web server and other administrative tasks may be performed.

If the web server provides the WAP document requested in step 550 to the WAP2VXML gateway (step 560), the WAP2VXML gateway converts the WAP document into a WXML document (step 570). The specific method of converting a WAP document into a WXML document may vary depending on the application. 1 illustrates an example of a tag conversion rule in a process of converting a WML-based document into a VXML-based document, and FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a method of converting a WML document into a VXML document.

WML VoiceXML Contents TAG Contents TAG phrase <p> </ p> Voice messages <prompt> </ prompt> Style text <b> </ b>, <I> </ i>, etc. remove Line break <br/> remove Navigation links <a> </a> Navigation links <menu> </ menu> Navigation link (two or more) <a> </a> <a> </a>… Select to create a menu <menu> </ menu> Screen graphics <img /> Expressed as "picture" <prompt> Picture </ prompt> … … … …

Next, the WAP2VXML gateway provides the converted VXML document to the telephone network access server (step 580), and the telephone network access server provides the user with the voice output after interpreting and executing the VXML document (step 590).

Subsequently, when a new input of the user is received, the process of steps 530 to 590 is repeated.

Embodiments of the present invention can be written as a program executable in a computer system. In addition, the program can be read from a computer readable recording medium having recorded such a program and executed in a general-purpose digital computer system. Such recording media include magnetic storage media (e.g., ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), optical reading media (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD, etc.) and carrier waves (e.g., transmission over the Internet). Media is included.

So far, the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment (s). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The scope of the present invention is shown in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

According to the present invention, by automatically converting content for WAP service for wireless Internet into VXML-based content for voice information service online, it is possible to easily build a VXML-based voice information service by utilizing existing content for WAP service. Will be. In other words, it is not necessary to re-develo the VXML-based content for the voice information service, and thus it is possible to construct the voice information service at low cost.

In addition, the maintenance for the voice information service is automatically performed only by the maintenance of the contents for the wireless Internet, so that a separate maintenance cost for the voice information service is hardly incurred. In addition, there is an effect that can easily maintain the functional consistency between the Internet, wireless Internet and voice information service.

Claims (10)

System configuration including a server on the Internet having content for WAP services for wireless Internet, a telephone network access server performing a user interface over a telephone network, and a conversion server providing a service for converting content for WAP services into VXML-based content In a method for providing a voice information service by converting the content for the WAP service for the wireless Internet to VXML-based content, (a) receiving a user input through a telephone network at the telephone network access server; (b) converting, in the conversion server, content for WAP service corresponding to the user input received in step (a) into content based on VXML in a predetermined manner; And and (c) providing a voice output to the user through a telephone network through the telephone network access server, by interpreting and executing the VXML-based content. According to claim 1, Before the step (a), (a0) when the telephone network access server receives a call from the user through the telephone network, further comprising providing the user with a voice output through the telephone network by analyzing and executing the VXML-based content corresponding to the initial homepage. Voice information service providing method. According to claim 1, wherein step (b), (b1) transmitting, by the telephone network access server, a service request according to the user input received in step (a) to the conversion server; (b2) requesting and receiving a WAP service content corresponding to the user input from the conversion server to a server on the Internet; And (b3) providing, by the conversion server, the WAP service contents received in the step (b2) to be converted into VXML based contents in a predetermined manner and provided to the telephone network access server. Way. A telephone network access server performing a user interface through a telephone network; And It includes a conversion server that provides a service for converting the content for WAP services to VXML-based content, When the telephone network access server receives a user input through a telephone network, the conversion server converts the WAP service content corresponding to the user input into a VXML-based content in a predetermined manner in response to a request of the telephone network access server. The telephone network access server, the voice information service providing system, characterized in that for providing the user with a voice output through the telephone network by interpreting the VXML-based content. The method of claim 4, wherein The telephone network access server, when receiving a call from the user through the telephone network, the voice information service providing system, characterized in that to provide the user with a voice output through the telephone network to analyze and execute the VXML-based content corresponding to the initial home page. The method of claim 4, wherein Further comprising a server on the Internet having content for WAP services for the wireless Internet, When the telephone network access server receives a user input through a telephone network, the service request according to the user input is sent to the conversion server, The conversion server requests and receives the WAP service content corresponding to the user input from the server on the Internet, and then converts the received WAP service content into VXML-based content in a predetermined manner and provides it to the telephone network access server. Voice information service providing system, characterized in that. A method of providing a voice information service by converting the content for the WAP service for the wireless Internet to VXML-based content, (a) receiving a user input via a telephone network; (b) converting the content for the WAP service corresponding to the user input received in step (a) into VXML-based content in a predetermined manner; And and (c) providing the user with a voice output through the telephone network by analyzing and executing the VXML-based content. The method of claim 7, wherein before step (a), (a0) A method of providing a voice information service, further comprising the step of providing content for a WAP service for the wireless Internet. The method of claim 7, wherein before step (a), (a0) When receiving a call from the user through the telephone network, providing a voice information service to the user via the telephone network through the output of the voice to analyze the VXML-based content corresponding to the initial home page provided Way. The method of claim 7, wherein The user input in the step (a) is a voice information service providing method characterized in that the key input or voice input.