JP2017017485A - Automatic voice response device and automatic voice response method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve an operation rate across a call center.SOLUTION: An automatic voice response device comprises: a speech acquisition unit; a calling list storage unit; a converting part; a callback request list generation unit; a calling request list generation unit; and a line connection unit. A speech acquisition unit acquires a voice that desires a callback from an originator of a calling phone from the line. The callback request list generation unit generates a callback request list showing a calling order of the phone including a phone number to be desired the callback on the basis of the phone number of originator that desires the callback and a character string converted from the voice by the converter. The calling request list generation unit generates a calling request list merging a calling list and the callback request list on the basis of a desire of the originator included in the character string.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to an automatic voice response apparatus and an automatic voice response method.

  Recently, there are various business forms such as manufacturing, sales, and finance, but as a part of improving the service to customers and reducing the burden on operators, in order to carry out these businesses, In other words, there is a call center.

  Call center operations include, for example, an outbound call operation in which an operator makes a call to a destination in the order of a list distributed in advance, and an inbound call response operation in which an operator receives a call from a customer or the like to the call center.

  The inbound call answering service includes a so-called “overflow call handling service” in which a call from a customer to a call center at a peak time of a call is not connected to the operator and the operator calls back to the customer.

  PBX automatically calls the telephone number of the destination telephone listed in the list and makes it available when the person of the destination answers the incoming call in order to improve the efficiency of the operator's telephone call in outbound call operations at the call center. Predictive Dialing is being performed to connect a call to an existing operator and make a call.

  However, there may be a situation where the operator becomes “no space” at the peak of a call where the operator is not dedicated to outbound calls but also serves as inbound calls. In this case, the outbound call to the customer is “silent” There is a case of “calling”, and there is a risk of annoying the person to whom the call is sent.

  One of the outbound call business operation methods to avoid such “silent call” is to distribute a call list / schedule for each operator, for example. There is Preview Dialing, which makes a call to the destination, and some call centers adopt such a method.

  On the other hand, in the inbound call answering work at the call center, “overflow call handling work” is regarded as important in terms of service improvement, and the customer's request (when? It is necessary to consider the circumstances of the other party, such as whether to call.

JP 2010-033105 A JP 2008-171129 A JP 2003-169143 A

  By the way, in order to improve the efficiency of the call center business, there is a demand to improve the operation state of the call center by incorporating the inbound call answering business into the outbound call business.

However, in the conventional Preview Dialing, because the call list and schedule for each operator is pre-planned and distributed in advance, the operator performs the callback follow-up work corresponding to the “overflowing call” that is newly generated from time to time, and the operator performs the outbound call work. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to incorporate.
There is a problem.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to improve the operating rate of the entire call center by creating a business plan that allows the call center operator to perform both the outbound call business and the callback follow-up business of the inbound call response business. It is an object to provide an automatic voice response apparatus and an automatic voice response method capable of performing the above.

  The automatic voice response apparatus according to the embodiment includes a voice acquisition unit, a call list storage unit, a conversion unit, a callback request list generation unit, a transmission request list generation unit, and a line connection unit. The voice acquisition unit acquires a voice requesting a callback from a caller who has received an incoming call from a line. The call list storage unit stores a call list in which telephone numbers of destinations are set in the order in which calls are made. The conversion unit converts voice into a character string. The callback request list generation unit generates a callback request list indicating a telephone call order including a telephone number to be called back based on a telephone number and a character string of a caller who requested a callback. The transmission request list generation unit generates a transmission request list in which the call list and the callback request list are merged based on the request of the transmission source included in the character string. The line connection unit places the idle operator's telephone in a state in which the call can be made in the order of the outgoing call request list.

It is a figure showing the outline composition of the automatic voice response system of an embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a call list. It is a figure which shows an example of a callback request list. It is a figure which shows an example of a transmission request list. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of an automatic voice response system.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automatic voice response system according to an embodiment.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the automatic voice response system of this embodiment includes a telephone 1 for a user to make a call, and a public switched telephone network 2 (hereinafter referred to as “PSTN2”) as a telephone line. Circuit switching device 3, such as IP-PBX / PBX, operator terminal (telephone 4 and computer 5 as an operation terminal (hereinafter referred to as "PC 5 for operator")), automatic voice response device 6, Computer Telephony Integration device 7 (hereinafter referred to as "telephone 4") (Referred to as “CTI device 7”).

The circuit switching device 3 performs incoming call control and outgoing call control from the PSTN 2 at the call center. The circuit switching device 3 first connects the incoming call from the user to the automatic voice response device 6, and then allocates the call to the telephone 4 in the department designated by the automatic voice response device 6. The telephone 4 is a telephone device for an operator to receive a telephone call from a user and perform a telephone answering service.
In other words, the circuit switching device 3 functions as a circuit connection unit that places the telephone 4 of the vacant operator in a state where it can be transmitted in the order of the transmission request list (see FIG. 4).

  The PC 5 is an information terminal for displaying information from the CTI device 7 and the automatic voice response device 6 and information input from the keyboard by the operator on the screen so that the operator can perform telephone answering work.

  The CTI device 7 receives information (telephone number of the telephone 1, business ID, etc.) that the operator supports via the circuit switching device 3 from the automatic voice response device 6, and associates the call information (call ID with user ID and business ID). Information) is generated and temporarily stored in a memory or the like until the end of the talk.

  That is, the CTI device 7 generates call information in which the user ID of the user is associated with the business ID of the business department, provides the call information to the automatic voice response device 6, and outputs business information such as a transmission request list to the PC 5.

  The automatic voice response device 6 is also called an IVR device (Interactive Voice Response device). The automatic voice response device 6 includes a call list storage unit 10, a customer information storage unit 11, a response information storage unit 12, a response control unit 13, a dictionary storage unit 14, a voice conversion unit 15, a callback request list generation unit 19, and a list. A storage unit 20, a transmission request list generation unit 21, and a transmission request list storage unit 22 are provided. The voice conversion unit 15 includes a voice recognition unit 16 and a conversion result storage unit 17.

The call list storage unit 10 is preset (stored) with a call list 10a (see FIG. 2), which is a schedule table for outbound call work for the day.
As shown in FIG. 2, in the call list 10a, the name of the person to be called in correspondence with the call order information consisting of the work ID indicating the work type and the call ID for identifying the incoming telephone call, The telephone number of the destination telephone and additional information are set (stored).

  As for the business ID, the leading number “1” is an outbound call business, which is a fixed value. Call IDs are numbers such as “002”, “003”,... In order from “001”, and are automatically assigned in the order in which they are received. Therefore, the transmission order information with the business ID “1” and the call ID “001” is “1001”.

  As the additional information, for example, a home time zone (such as 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock) of a person who has made a preliminary survey when making a call for explaining a service is set.

  That is, the call list storage unit 10 stores the call list 10a in which the destination telephone numbers are set in the order of making a call.

  Customer information is stored in the customer information storage unit 11. The customer information includes, for example, names of contractors and members, telephone numbers, addresses (residences, areas), sex, age, and the like.

  The response information storage unit 12 stores a plurality of response messages (announcement voice, guidance voice for recognition confirmation, etc.) and a question number in association with each other. The question number is information indicating a point (position, order, timing) for sending a response message.

  The response information storage unit 12 includes a business ID corresponding to the button number (tone signal) of the telephone 1, and identification information of an operator group or operator identification information (group ID or Operator ID) and identification information (telephone ID) of the telephone 4 are stored (set) correspondingly.

  The response control unit 13 controls the CTI device 7, the voice conversion unit 15, the callback request list generation unit 19, the outgoing request list generation unit 21, etc., and optimizes the telephone answering work.

  The response control unit 13 has an automatic voice response function and an automatic call distribution function (ACD: Automatic Call Distribution) for incoming calls from the telephone set 1 and plays (reproduces) a response message in the response information storage unit 12. The user is urged to speak or telephone, and in response to the key operation of the telephone 1 in response to the response message, the inquiry destination (operator group) is specified, and the circuit switching device is connected to the telephone 4 of the specified inquiry destination (operator group). The user's telephone (call) is connected via 3.

  The response control unit 13 identifies the business ID from the content of the user who responds to the response message (answer information) or the button operation of the telephone 1 (tone transmission operation), and the user's incoming call corresponds to the business ID The telephone 4 installed in the department of the operator group to be connected is connected to the telephone 4 of the currently available operator.

  When there is no currently available operator's telephone 4, that is, when an overflow call occurs, the response control unit 13 next sends a question response message for obtaining the user's request, and the response message is sent to the response message. The voice (answer information) uttered by the user is acquired and stored in a memory such as the response information storage unit 12.

  Specifically, the response control unit 13 records (stores in the response information storage unit 12) the user's voice as a voice file by associating (corresponding) the user's voice with a call ID and a question number (not shown).

  In other words, the response control unit 13 functions as a voice acquisition unit that acquires a voice requesting a callback from a caller of a call received from a line. The dictionary storage unit 14 stores (stores) a recognition dictionary.

  In the voice conversion unit 15, the voice recognition unit 16 reads the user's voice (voice file) acquired by the response control unit 13 from the response information storage unit 12, and uses the recognition dictionary set in the dictionary storage unit 14. The voice file of the user is converted into text data (character string), and the converted text data, the voice file of the conversion source, and the call information (user ID or call ID) generated by the CTI device 7 are associated with each other. Store in the storage unit 17.

  The callback request list generation unit 19 includes a telephone number including a telephone number to be called back based on the telephone number of the user (caller) who requested the callback and the text data converted by the voice conversion unit 15. Is generated and stored in the list storage unit 20. The callback request list 20a is a schedule table for callback follow-up work in the inbound call answering work.

  The callback request list generation unit 19 extracts a character string (sentence) including a number or a predetermined keyword in the voice-recognized text data, obtains a user's request, and stores characters in the telephone number record of the callback request list 20a. Insert a column (clause). Numbers are time zones and telephone numbers, and keywords are “anytime”, “phone”, and the like.

  The callback request list 20a is generated at a predetermined timing, for example, every 1 hour, every 2 hours and every half day. In addition, the callback request list 20a may be updated every time a callback request is newly generated.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the callback request list 20a includes the name of the person who requested the callback corresponding to the transmission order information including the business ID and the call ID when the user requested the callback. The telephone number of the caller telephone set and additional information are set (stored).

  In the business ID, the leading number “2” indicates a callback business in the inbound call answering business. The callback task is a task of making a return call from the center operator to the user when an “overflow call” occurs.

  Call IDs are numbers such as “001”, “002”, “003”... And are automatically assigned in the order of arrival. Accordingly, the transmission order information with the business ID “2” and the call ID “001” is “2001” or the like.

  The additional information is information for sending the user's request that the operator must read when the center operator calls back to the user. As a result of voice recognition, a character string including numbers in the text data is set. .

  If the text data includes, for example, “Please call us from 18:00 to 20:00”, a part of the text data such as “Please call from 18:00 to 20:00” in the additional information column. Is set. In other words, a numerical character string included in the text data, for example, a time zone for calling back and a telephone number are set in the additional information column.

  If the telephone number at which the user calls the center is different from the telephone number to be called back, the telephone number recognized by voice from the voice of the user's request is added to the additional information column.

  In addition to this, for example, the response history when the user's telephone is connected to the operator but the answer to the question is not answered on the spot and the call is called back is also described in this additional information column (setting )

  That is, the list storage unit 20 stores a callback request list 20a indicating the order of outgoing calls including the telephone number to be called back.

  The transmission request list generation unit 21 generates a transmission request list 22a by merging the data of the callback request list 20a read from the list storage unit 20 and the data of the call list 10a read from the call list storage unit 10. The generated transmission request list 22 a is stored in the transmission request list storage unit 22.

  Specifically, the call request list 22a is generated by interrupting the call request list 20a data (telephone number, name, additional information, etc.) into the call list 10a in chronological order.

  That is, the call request list generation unit 21 adds the call request list 20a to the call list 10a according to text data (such as a time zone for making a call or a phone number) indicating the request of the caller in the additional information column of the callback request list 20a. The call request list 22a is generated by interrupting the record (call order information, telephone number, name, additional information).

  At this time, if the additional information column of the callback request list 20a includes a request such as a time zone to be called, the data of the callback request list 20a is stored in the call list 10a so as to make a call during that time zone. The outgoing request list 22a is generated by interrupting the data.

  In the transmission request list storage unit 22, the transmission request list generation unit 21 sorts (rearranges) the data of the callback request list 20a and the data of the call list 10a in the time series order and generates the transmission. A request list 22a is stored.

  As shown in FIG. 4, in the call request list 22a of this example, under the records (rows) of the call order information “1001” and “1002” in the call list 10a, “ The record (row) of “2002” is incorporated.

  In addition, a record “2004” in which the time zone for calling in the additional information column of the callback request list 20a is specified as 18:00 to 20:00 is added to the bottom record of the transmission request list 22a.

  The operation of the automatic voice response system of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the automatic voice response system.

  In the case of this embodiment, when a call is made from the user's telephone 1 to the representative number of the telephone support window at the call center (Yes in step S201 in FIG. 5), the circuit switching device 3 is called through the PSTN 2, and the circuit switching device 3 Incoming call information (such as the telephone number of the user's telephone device 1) given in step S1 is sent to the automatic voice response device 6 through the CTI device 7.

  In the automatic voice response device 6, the response control unit 13 searches the customer information storage unit 11 using the incoming call information (user's telephone number) as a key, and has already registered the attribute information in the customer information storage unit 11 ) And the customer's attribute information (user ID such as a membership number) is acquired.

  Subsequently, the response control unit 13 sends a plurality of announcement messages indicating what kind of inquiry the customer is to the telephone 1 in the order of the question numbers, and confirms the availability of the group of operators corresponding to the corresponding question numbers. The call is distributed to the group of operators who are present (step S202).

  Here, if there is no vacancy in the operator group, it is assumed that an overflow call has occurred (Yes in step S203), and the response control unit 13 sends a question for obtaining the customer's request to the telephone 1, Then, the voice answered by the customer is acquired (step S204) and stored in the response information storage unit 12 as voice data (voice file).

  Subsequently, the voice recognition unit 16 reads the user's voice file stored in the response information storage unit 12 and performs voice recognition processing on the voice file using the recognition dictionary in the dictionary storage unit 14 to convert the user's voice into text data. And a text file is generated (step S205) and stored in the conversion result storage unit 17.

  Next, the callback request list generation unit 19 reads the text file stored in the conversion result storage unit 17 and extracts a character string including a number or a predetermined keyword in the text data of the speech recognition result for each phrase. In response to the user's request, a callback request list 20a in which a character string (sentence) is inserted into the record of the corresponding telephone number is generated (step S206) and stored in the list storage unit 20.

  The transmission request list generation unit 21 sorts (rearranges) the data of each list in chronological order based on the data of the callback request list 20a and the additional information of the data of the call list 10a. Is generated (step S207) and stored in the list storage unit 20.

The response control unit 13 reads the transmission request list 22a stored in the list storage unit 20, and allocates the transmission requests to the telephones 5 of the empty operators in the order registered in the transmission request list 22a by the automatic call distribution function (step S208). ) And notify the circuit switching device 3.
The circuit switching device 3 enables the telephone 5 of the vacant operator to which the transmission request is allocated by the response control unit 13 to be transmitted.

  At the same time, the response control unit 13 displays the transmission request assigned to the telephone 5 of the vacant operator on the PC 5 of the corresponding operator through the CTI device 7.

  The operator confirms the contents of the call according to the call request displayed on the screen of the PC 5, performs the “call operation” on the telephone 5, calls the target user's telephone 1, and performs callback follow-up for outbound call work. Take action.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, a voice requesting a callback from a user is acquired, converted into a character string, and a callback request list 20a indicating a call origination order including a telephone number to be called back is generated. Then, a call request list 22a is generated from the callback request list 20a that is sequentially updated and a call list 10a that is created in advance, and a call request is assigned to the operator. By taking action, each operator can perform both the outbound call business and the callback follow-up business of the inbound call response business in the call center, and the operation rate of the entire call center can be improved.

  Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described, this embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The novel embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. This embodiment and its modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  Each component shown in the above embodiment may be realized by a program installed in a storage such as a hard disk device of a computer, and the program is stored in a computer-readable electronic medium: program. The computer may realize the functions of the present invention by causing the computer to read from the electronic medium. Examples of the electronic medium include a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, flash memory, and removable media. Further, the configuration may be realized by distributing and storing components in different computers connected via a network, and communicating between computers in which the components are functioning.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Telephone, 2 ... Public switched telephone network (PSTN), 3 ... Circuit switching apparatus (IP-PBX / PBX), 4 ... Operator telephone, 5 ... Computer (PC for operator), 6 ... Automatic voice response device (IVR) Device), 7 ... CTI device, 10 ... call list storage unit, 11 ... customer information storage unit, 12 ... response information storage unit, 13 ... response control unit, 14 ... dictionary storage unit, 15 ... voice conversion unit, 16 ... Voice recognition unit, 17 ... conversion result storage unit, 19 ... callback request list generation unit, 20 ... list storage unit, 21 ... outgoing request list generation unit.

Claims (6)

A voice acquisition unit that acquires a voice requesting a callback from the caller of the incoming call from the line;
A call list storage unit for storing a call list in which phone numbers of destinations are set in the order of making a call;
A conversion unit for converting the voice into a character string;
A callback request list generation unit for generating a callback request list indicating a call origination order including a telephone number to be called back based on the telephone number of the caller who requested the callback and the character string; ,
An outgoing request list generator that generates an outgoing request list by merging the call list and the callback request list based on a request of a sender included in the character string;
An automatic voice response device comprising: a line connection unit that enables a telephone of a vacant operator to be able to make a call in the order of the call request list. The outgoing request list generation unit
2. The automatic voice response apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the call request list is generated by sorting the call list data and the callback request list data in time series according to a request from a caller included in the character string.   3. The automatic voice response apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the request is a time zone or a telephone number for calling back. The voice acquisition unit acquires the voice requesting the callback from the caller of the incoming call from the line,
Store the call list in which the phone numbers of the callees are set in the order of making calls in the call list storage unit,
The conversion unit converts the voice into a character string,
A callback request list generation unit generates a callback request list indicating a call origination order including a telephone number to be called back based on a telephone number of the caller who requested the callback and the character string. And
The call request list generation unit generates a call request list by merging the call list and the callback request list based on the request of the caller included in the character string,
An automatic voice response method in which a line connection unit places a telephone of an vacant operator into a state in which a call can be made in the order of the call request list.   5. The automatic voice response apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the call request list is generated by sorting the call list data and the callback request list data in chronological order according to the request of the caller included in the character string.   5. The automatic voice response method according to claim 4, wherein the request is a time zone for calling back or a telephone number.

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