JP2011061410A - Automatic voice answering device - Google Patents

Abstract

An automatic voice response device with improved customer satisfaction is provided.
In a response process, when a caller number corresponds to a member, a control unit notifies a user (member) of a menu (S22) and specifies a group corresponding to the menu selected by the user (S22). S23). Next, the control unit 12 notifies the user of a list of sound data belonging to the group by voice (S24). When an option is selected by the user, an audio signal is transmitted (step S26), and the process returns to the menu notification. Here, since the group is registered in advance by the user, the preference of the user can be reflected in the sound data selection candidates.
[Selection] Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic voice response apparatus that automatically answers an incoming call.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an automatic voice response device that receives an incoming call and transfers it to a vacant telephone among a plurality of telephones, while responding to the telephone during a waiting period from receiving the telephone to transferring the telephone. It is disclosed. In this apparatus, a telephone number, age, dialect, and speed can be registered in advance for each customer. Then, in response to the telephone, this apparatus plays voice guidance of the dialect and speed registered for the customer in which the same telephone number as the caller number of the telephone is registered.

JP 2006-222603 A

  In the automatic voice response device described in Patent Document 1, voice guidance according to customers can be played, but only the dialect and speed of voice guidance can be different for each customer. Common to customers. That is, there is a drawback that it is difficult to vary the response contents for each customer. Further, in the automatic voice response device described in Patent Document 1, the same voice guidance always flows to the same customer. In other words, there is a drawback that it is difficult to vary the contents of responses to multiple calls from the same customer for each call. These shortcomings can contribute to an increase in customer satisfaction.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic voice response device that makes it easy to vary the response contents for each customer and for each telephone.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an automatic voice response apparatus according to the present invention is connected to an external telephone through a communication network, and is connected to a plurality of terminals. When a telephone call is received from the external telephone, When there is a terminal that is not in a call among a plurality of terminals, control is performed so that a call can be made between the external telephone and the terminal that is not in a call, and when all of the plurality of terminals are in a call Is a response unit (for example, the control unit 12 and the voice shown in the embodiment) that performs a predetermined response to the external telephone in a waiting period from when an incoming call arrives until one of the terminals ends the call. Each of the plurality of sound data used for the response in the waiting period belongs to at least one group among the plurality of groups, and uniquely identifies the group. A first storage unit (for example, the member database DB2 shown in the embodiment) that stores loop identification information and member identification information that uniquely identifies a member in association with each other, the group identification information, and the group identification information A second storage unit (for example, the response database DB1 shown in the embodiment) that indicates the characteristics of each of the one or more sound data belonging to the group and stores the specific information used for the member to specify the sound data in association with each other. Or the RAM 13), and the response unit generates the member identification information based on the notification information when notification information capable of identifying the member (for example, the caller number in the embodiment) is notified by telephone. The group identification information corresponding to the generated member identification information with reference to the generation process (for example, step S15 shown in the embodiment) and the first storage unit A designation process for designating (for example, step S23 shown in the embodiment) and an acquisition process for obtaining specific information corresponding to the designated group identification information with reference to the second storage unit (for example, in the embodiment) Step S24) and a selection process for converting the acquired specific information into an audio signal and sending it to the external telephone to prompt selection of the sound data belonging to the group (for example, Step S24 shown in the embodiment) When sound data is selected by the member, a sending process (for example, step S26 shown in the embodiment) is executed to send a sound signal generated using the selected sound data to the external telephone. .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to leave the room for selecting an audio signal to the member, instead of uniquely determining the audio signal to be reproduced in the standby period. In addition, since the automatic voice response device presents a group registered in advance, the will of the member can be reflected in the sound data presented as a selection candidate. Therefore, customer satisfaction can be greatly improved.

Next, in another automatic voice response apparatus according to the present invention, member identification information is directly provided by telephone. In this case, the automatic voice response device is connected to an external telephone through a communication network, and is connected to a plurality of terminals. When a call is received from the external telephone, the telephone is not busy among the plurality of terminals. When there is a terminal, control is performed so that a call can be made between the external telephone and the non-calling terminal. When all of the plurality of terminals are busy, In a waiting period until one of the terminals ends the call, a response unit that performs a predetermined response to the external telephone, and each of the plurality of sound data used for the response in the waiting period includes a plurality of groups. A first storage unit that associates and stores group identification information that uniquely identifies the group and member identification information that uniquely identifies the member, Second storage for storing group identification information in association with specific information used to specify sound data by a member indicating characteristics of one or a plurality of sound data belonging to the group indicated by the group identification information The response unit is configured to designate the group identification information corresponding to the notified member identification information by referring to the first storage unit when the member identification information is notified by telephone. Processing, generation processing for generating the member identification information based on the notification information when notification information capable of identifying the member is notified by telephone, and generated member identification information with reference to the first storage unit A designation process for designating the group identification information corresponding to the information, an acquisition process for obtaining specific information corresponding to the designated group identification information with reference to the second storage unit, and an acquisition The specific information is converted into an audio signal and sent to the external telephone to select the sound data belonging to the group, and when the sound data is selected by the member, the selected sound is selected. Sending processing for sending an audio signal generated using data to the external telephone is executed.
According to this invention, like the automatic voice response device described above, the room for selecting a voice signal can be left to the member, and the intention of the member is reflected in the sound data presented as a selection candidate. Is possible.

  In the above-described automatic voice response apparatus, when the call arrives, the response unit puts the telephone identification information for identifying the incoming telephone in a queue, the telephone identification information is in the queue, and the plurality When one of the terminals is free, the earliest telephone identification information that has entered the queue is identified, the telephone according to the telephone identification information is transferred to the terminal that is not in a call, and the response unit is Further, it is preferable to perform a change process for changing the arrangement of the telephone identification information in the queue based on a response status to a telephone having telephone identification information in the queue. In this case, it is possible to change the arrangement of the telephone identification information in accordance with the status of telephone responses in the queue while performing the transfer of telephone calls to the terminals in the order of incoming calls. Therefore, even if the call arrives later, depending on the response situation, it can be forwarded to the terminal first. Here, the response status means the status of a voice signal transmitted from the automatic voice response device during a standby period by a telephone in a queue.

More specifically, when sound data is selected by a member in the sending process, the response unit generates sound identification information for uniquely identifying the sound data, and the sound data corresponding to the sound identification information The voice signal generated by using the telephone is transmitted to the external telephone, and the transmission of the telephone in which the telephone identification information is contained in the queue when the transmission start time is set as the transmission start time. Corresponding the third storage unit that stores the start time in association with the telephone identification information, the time information indicating the length of the audio signal generated using the sound data, and the sound identification information of the sound data And a fourth storage unit for storing the information and the telephone identification information in the queue in association with the sound identification information indicating the sound data used in the transmission process in the telephone related to the telephone identification information. First A storage unit, wherein the response unit refers to the fifth storage unit in the change process, acquires the sound identification information corresponding to the telephone identification information in the queue, and stores the fourth storage unit. The time information corresponding to the acquired sound identification information is acquired with reference to the unit, the transmission start time corresponding to the acquired sound identification information is acquired with reference to the third storage unit, and acquired. It is preferable to change the arrangement of the telephone identification information in the queue based on the time information and the acquired transmission start time. This aspect corresponds to the modification (2).
In this case, it is possible to change which telephone is to be relayed first based on the length of the sound data and the transmission start time of the sound signal based on the sound data.

For example, the response unit calculates a transmission end time at which the transmission process ends by adding the time indicated by the time information to the transmission start time for each of the telephone identification information in the queue in the change process. The order of the telephone identification information in the queue can be changed in the order in which the transmission end time comes earlier. In this case, the audio signals can be transmitted in the order from the end of transmission.
It is sufficient that the order of relaying is determined based on the length of the sound data and the transmission start time of the audio signal based on the sound data, and is not limited to the order of the end of the audio signal transmission.

  In the above-described automatic voice response apparatus, the response unit performs the selection process related to the telephone again when the transmission process related to a certain telephone is completed, and performs the transmission process for each telephone identification information in the queue. Changing the arrangement of the telephone identification information in the queue so that the telephone identification information is extracted from the queue in descending order of the counted number in the changing process. Is preferred. In this case, the telephone can be relayed to the terminal in the order of the number of reproductions.

In the automatic voice response apparatus described above, the second storage unit stores the group identification information, the specific information of one or more sound data belonging to the group, and the sound identification information in association with each other. A sixth storage unit that stores the sound identification information of the sound data related to the transmission process that has ended, in association with the member identification information related to the transmission process, and the response unit ends when the transmission process ends The sound identification information of the sound data related to the transmission process is stored in the fifth storage unit in association with the member identification information related to the transmission process, and designated in the acquisition process with reference to the second storage unit The set of specific information and sound identification information corresponding to the group identification information is read, the sound identification information associated with the member identification information is read with reference to the sixth storage unit, and the second Specifying the specific information relating to the remaining set, excluding the set including the sound identification information read from the fifth storage unit, of the set of the specific information and the sound identification information read from the storage unit preferable.
In this case, sound data that has already been heard can be removed from the selection target. Therefore, it becomes easy to select sound data, and it is possible to prevent the second listening.

  Further, in the above-described automatic voice response device, a set of the specific information and group identification information indicating a group to which sound data corresponding to the specific information belongs is acquired through an electric communication line and stored in the second storage unit. And a sound data adding unit. According to the present invention, for example, it is possible to increase the types of sound data that can be selected in accordance with a request from a member.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a communication system provided with the automatic voice response apparatus 1 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure of music database DB8. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure of member database DB2. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure of historical database DB3. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure of response database DB1. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the processing content of an incoming call process. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the processing content of a transfer process. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the processing content of a response process.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment described below, The modification and application example of this embodiment can also be included in a technical scope.

<1. Embodiment>
<1-1: Overall configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system including an automatic voice response apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This communication system includes a response system 2 for providing a response service in which an operator (agent) who is an expert in a specific field responds to a consultation in the field, and a plurality of wired or wireless connections to the telephone network 3 A telephone 4 and a plurality of PCs (personal computers) 6 connected to a communication network 5 such as the Internet by wire or wireless.

  Consultation that is subject to response service may be anything. For example, it relates to products purchased from a specific seller. Specifically, questions regarding how to use the product and repair of the product. This is a request. Users who receive the response service are broadly divided into members of associations operated by specific sellers and non-members other than the members. The response system 2 includes, for each member, a purchase history (purchase history) from a specific seller by the member, a repair history (repair history) of a product purchased by the member from a specific seller, the member The request history (request history) is stored. Although details will be described later, the details of the response service differ depending on whether or not the user is a member.

  The plurality of telephones 4 correspond to a plurality of users on a one-to-one basis, and each telephone 4 is used by a corresponding user. The telephone number of each telephone 4 is the same as the telephone number of the user corresponding to the telephone 4. Are the same. Each user receives a response service using the corresponding telephone 4. Each PC 6 is used by one or a plurality of people and is equipped with a so-called web browser. A user of the PC 6 can become a member and purchase a product from a specific seller by operating the PC 6.

  The response system 2 includes a plurality of slave units 7 that correspond one-to-one to a plurality of operators, an automatic voice response device 1 that receives calls from the telephone network 3, and a music distribution server 8 that distributes music. The subunit | mobile_unit 7 functions as a telephone and PC, and is used for a corresponding operator. The operator uses the corresponding slave unit 7 as a telephone and responds to a consultation from the user. At this time, if the user is a member, the operator can refer to the member ID, purchase history, repair history, and request history of the member by using the corresponding handset 7 as a PC.

  The automatic voice response device 1 includes a response device 10, a member server 20, and a history server 30 that can communicate with each other. The response device 10 receives a call from the telephone network 3 in which the telephone number of the caller telephone 4 is notified. The responding device 10 is a parent device of all the child devices 7, relays the call between each child device 7 and the telephone network 3, and performs data communication between each child device 7 and the history server 30. Relay. Further, when a response is received from the telephone network 3, the response device 10 receives the call and transfers it to an available handset 7. On the other hand, when all the slaves 7 are busy, the answering device 10 sends the voice signal to the telephone in a waiting period from receiving the telephone to transferring it, thereby calling the telephone. Respond to. This audio signal is a signal that causes the telephone 4 that is the originator of the telephone to reproduce sound such as music or news.

  The music distribution server 8 distributes music to be played back by the telephone 4 to the response device 10 during the standby period, and holds a plurality of music in the music database DB8. FIG. 2 shows the data structure of the music database DB8. The music database DB 8 stores an artist ID as identification information and an artist name as the name for each performer (artist) of the music, and for each music genre (music genre) such as jazz and pops. The music genre ID that is the identification information and the music genre name that is the name are stored, the music ID that is the identification information of the music, the music attribute information that indicates the attribute of the music, and the music A set of sound data is stored.

  The song attribute information of a song includes the song name (first song attribute information) that is the name of the song, the artist ID (second song attribute information) that indicates the artist of the song, and the song that indicates the song genre of the song. It includes a genre ID (third music attribute information) and a playback time (fourth music attribute information) that is the length of the music. The sound data of a certain piece of music is data for generating an audio signal used for reproducing the song, and the length of the audio signal is the reproduction time of the song.

  In addition, when the music distribution server 8 receives the music distribution request specifying the music from the response device 10, if the music is held, the music distribution server 8 distributes the music specified in the request to the transmission source of the request. To do. Specifically, the music distribution request includes the music ID, and the music distribution server 8 distributes the music by transmitting sound data of the music identified by the music ID in the music distribution request. When the music distribution server 8 receives a predetermined list distribution request, the music distribution server 8 distributes the list of all the stored music to the transmission source of the request. Specifically, the music distribution server 8 accesses the music database DB 8 and includes a set of the music ID and the music attribute information of the music identified by the music ID for all the music held. Send inventory information.

  The member server 20 includes a member database DB2 that stores region information for each region and stores member identification information for each member. FIG. 3 shows a part of the data structure of the member database DB2. As shown in this figure, regional information of a certain region includes a region ID that is identification information of the region and a region name that is the name of the region, and member information of a certain member is identification information of the member. A certain member ID, a member name which is the name of the member, a password of the member, a telephone number of the member, and member attribute information indicating the attribute of the member are included. The member attribute information of a member includes a music genre ID (first member attribute information) indicating a music genre preferred by the member, an artist name (second member attribute information) of an artist preferred by the member, and a music preferred by the member. Song name (third member attribute information) and a region ID (fourth member attribute information) indicating a region in which the member is interested.

  When the member server 20 can communicate with each PC 6 via the communication network 5 and receives a member registration request including a password, a member name, and a telephone number from any PC 6, the member name and the telephone number are received. It is determined whether or not the member information to be included is stored in the member database DB2, and if it is not stored, the first to fourth member attribute information is acquired from the user of the PC 6 and a member ID is generated, By storing member information including the member ID, the member name, the password, the telephone number, and the acquired first to fourth member attribute information in the member database DB2, the member information is identified by the member name and the telephone number. Register as a member. The member is notified of the member ID.

  The acquisition of the first member attribute information from the user of the PC 6 is performed by, for example, reading a set of the music genre ID and the music genre name for all the music genres from the response database DB1, which will be described later. This is done by notifying the user, selecting a favorite music genre from all music genres, and adopting the music genre ID of the selected music genre as the first member attribute information. The same applies to the acquisition of the fourth member attribute information. On the other hand, the acquisition of the second member attribute information from the user of the PC 6 is performed, for example, by causing the user to input a favorite artist name. The same applies to the third member attribute information.

  Further, when the member server 20 receives a pair of a member ID and a password from any of the PCs 6, the member server 20 determines whether or not member information including the received pair is stored in the member database DB2, and is stored. In this case, the user (member) of the PC 6 is allowed to change the member information of the member. However, in any case, changing the member ID is prohibited. When the member server 20 receives a pair of a member ID and a password from a sales site (not shown), the member server 20 determines whether or not member information including the pair is stored in the member database DB2 and stored. The information indicating that it is a member is returned to the sales site, and if it is not stored, the information indicating that it is not a member is returned to the sales site.

  As described above, the user of the PC 6 can purchase a product from a specific seller through the sales site. The sales site is communicable with the history server 30. When a set of member ID and password is acquired from the purchaser of the product at the time of purchasing the product, the set is transmitted to the member server 20, and the member server When the information returned from 20 is received and this information indicates that it is a member, a set of the member ID and purchase information related to the purchase is transmitted to the history server 30. That is, the history server 30 receives purchase information every time a member purchases a product from a specific seller. Note that the purchase information related to a purchase indicates, for example, the details of the purchase and the date and time of the purchase.

  Further, when the member server 20 receives the telephone number from the response device 10, the member server 20 determines whether or not member information including the telephone number is stored in the member database DB2, and if it is stored, the telephone number Returns member data including the member ID, member name, and first to fourth attribute information included in the member information including, and if not stored, returns non-member data indicating that the member is not a member. .

The history server 30 includes a history database DB3. As shown in FIG. 4, the history database DB3 stores a member ID, a purchase history, a repair history, and a request history in association with each member. The purchase history includes zero or more purchase information, the repair history includes zero or more repair information, and the request history includes zero or more request information.
When the history server 30 receives a set of a member ID and purchase information from the sales site, the history server 30 updates the purchase history corresponding to the member ID so as to include this purchase information.
Further, when the history server 30 receives the set of the member ID and the repair information from the slave unit 7, the history server 30 updates the repair history corresponding to the member ID so as to include the repair information. The repair history is also updated by access from the repair center. The repair information related to a certain repair indicates, for example, the contents of the repair and the schedule of the repair.
Further, when the history server 30 receives the set of the member ID and the request information from the child device 7, the history server 30 updates the request history corresponding to the member ID so as to include the request information. The request information related to a request indicates, for example, the content of the request and the date and time when the request is received. The request is a request for music that the user can view during the standby period. The format of the request information is basically arbitrary, but the format of the request information related to the request for adding a song is a predetermined format. For example, a combination of a flag indicating whether the request is reflected and a song name It is.

  Next, when there is a request including the member ID from the slave unit 7, the history server 30 transmits a set of at least one of the purchase history, the repair history, and the request history and the member ID to the slave unit 7. Thereby, the operator who operates the subunit | mobile_unit 7 can know what kind of goods the member purchased, which goods were repaired, or what kind of request had.

Next, the response device 10 will be described. The response device 10 includes a response database DB1, a voice response unit 11, and a RAM 13, and a control unit 12 that controls them.
FIG. 5 shows the data structure of the response database DB1. As shown in this figure, the response database DB1 stores data obtained by removing sound data from the music database DB8 shown in FIG. Specifically, a set of artist ID and artist name, a set of music genre ID and music genre name, and a set of music ID and music attribute information are stored. These pieces of information are returned from the music distribution server 8 as catalog information when the control unit 12 transmits a catalog distribution request to the music distribution server 8.

  In this example, music sound data is not stored in the response database DB1. Since the sound data has a large capacity, it is not necessary to store the sound data in the response database DB1, so that the configuration can be simplified. Moreover, since the music is popular, it is preferable to replace the music to be viewed by the user during the standby period. If sound data or the like is accepted from the music distribution server 8 as in the present embodiment, the music provided to the user during the standby period can be flexibly changed according to the fashion of the music.

  The response database DB1 stores a set of area ID and area name. In addition, the response database DB1 stores a news ID, news attribute information, and sound data. The news ID is identification information for uniquely identifying the news. The news attribute information is information representing news attributes. The news attribute information includes a news name indicating the title of the news (first news attribute information), a region ID (second news attribute information) designating a region related to the news (for example, a region where the incident has occurred), and sound data. The reproduction time (third news attribute information) indicating the time required for reproduction of the message is included. Information about these news may be acquired from a news distribution server (not shown).

Next, the voice response unit 11 DA-converts the sound data to generate a voice signal, and responds to the telephone by sending the generated voice signal to the telephone. The voice response unit 11 can answer a plurality of calls at the same time. Further, when a call arrives, the voice response unit 11 acquires a caller number notified from the telephone network 3 for the call and supplies the caller number to the control unit 12.
Here, the sound data may be acquired by the control unit 12 from the music distribution server 8 and stored in the RAM 13, or may be stored as news in the response database DB1. Alternatively, the voice response unit 11 may AD convert the sound data acquired from the music distribution server 8 in real time to generate a voice signal.

<1-2: Response Device Operation>
Next, the operation of the response device 10 will be described separately for incoming processing, transfer processing, and response processing.
<1-2-1 Incoming call processing>
FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the incoming call processing executed by the control unit 12. When there is an incoming call from the telephone 4, the control unit 12 acquires a caller number from the voice response unit 11 (step S1) and receives a call (step S2). Next, the voice response processing unit 11 starts a response process related to the incoming call (step S3), and then places the acquired caller number in the queue (step S4).

  The queue is a first-in first-out queue, and is realized using a storage area of the RAM 13. That is, when the standby state is allowed for N (N is a natural number) incoming calls, N storage areas are secured in the RAM 13. When there is an incoming call in the queue, the caller number related to the incoming call is added to the end of the queue. When the handset 7 becomes available, one caller number is taken out from the head of the queue, and the telephone with the caller number is transferred to the handset 7 that has finished the call.

<1-2-2: Transfer processing>
FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the transfer process executed by the control unit 12. The control unit 12 determines whether or not the caller number exists in the queue (step S10), and repeats the process until the caller number is detected. Specifically, the control unit 12 accesses the storage area for the queue secured in the RAM 13 and determines whether or not the caller number is stored there.
If there is a caller number in the queue, the control unit 12 determines whether there is a vacant handset 7 (step S11). If there is no free handset 7, the process returns to step S11, and steps S10 and S11 are repeated until the handset 7 is free. When the slave unit 7 becomes available, the determination condition in step S11 is affirmed, and the control unit 12 identifies one slave unit 7 that is not in a call as the transfer destination slave unit 7 (step S12), and starts the queue. One caller number is taken out from (step S13).
Thereafter, the control unit 12 transfers the telephone related to the extracted caller number to the transfer destination child device 7 and ends the response process (step S14).

Further, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the member ID has been successfully generated using the extracted caller number (step S15). Specifically, the control unit 12 transmits a member confirmation request including a caller number to the member server 20. When the member server 20 receives the member confirmation request, the member server 20 refers to the member database DB2 and determines whether the member ID corresponding to the caller number is recorded. If recorded, the member server 20 returns a member confirmation response including the corresponding member ID to the control unit 12. On the other hand, if not recorded, the member server 20 returns a member confirmation response including information indicating that the information is not recorded to the control unit 12. The control unit 12 determines whether the generation of the member ID has succeeded or failed based on the member confirmation response.
Next, if successful, the control unit 12 transmits the member ID to the transfer destination child device 7 (step S16). On the other hand, if it is not successful, the control unit 12 returns the process to step S10.

<1-2-3: Response processing>
FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of response processing executed by the control unit 12. First, the control part 12 notifies waiting time (step S20). The control unit 12 estimates the waiting time based on the product of the number of caller numbers in the queue and the average waiting time per case, and notifies the estimated waiting time by telephone. For example, a message such as “It takes about 10 minutes to connect to the operator” is notified by voice.

  Next, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the caller number acquired in Step S1 of the incoming call process corresponds to a member (Step S21). Specifically, the control unit 12 transmits a member confirmation request including the caller number to the member server 20. When the member server 20 receives the member confirmation request, the member server 20 refers to the member database DB2 and determines whether or not a member ID corresponding to the caller number exists. If a member ID corresponding to the caller ID exists, a member confirmation response including the member ID is returned to the control unit 12. On the other hand, when the member ID corresponding to the caller ID does not exist, a member confirmation response including information indicating that the member ID does not exist is returned to the control unit 12. The control unit 12 determines whether the caller number corresponds to a member based on the member confirmation response.

  If the caller number does not correspond to a member, the control unit 12 advances the process to step S27, and transmits a voice signal corresponding to the caller number (step S27). Specifically, the control unit 12 specifies the area ID based on the caller number. The telephone number includes an area code that specifies the area. The response database DB1 stores a table that stores the area code and the area ID in association with each other, and the control unit 12 refers to this table and stores the area corresponding to the area code extracted from the caller ID. Get an ID. The control unit 12 refers to the response database DB1 to identify the news that matches the area ID, and acquires the sound data. In this case, it is preferable to obtain the latest news. Then, the control unit 12 passes the sound data to the voice response unit 11. The sound data is converted into an audio signal and sent to the telephone 4.

  If the caller ID corresponds to a member, the control unit 12 advances the process to step S22 and notifies the user (member) of the menu. The menu presents the type of information provided to the user during the standby period. For example, music, local news, product information, and the like are applicable. In this case, "Please select what you want to listen to while waiting. You can operate the push button even in the middle of the voice. If you want to select music, 1", if you want to select the local news “Please press 2”.

Next, the control part 12 specifies the group according to the menu which the user selected (step S23). Each of the plurality of sound data used for the response in the standby period belongs to at least one group among the plurality of groups.
In the case of music, a group has a music genre. The music genre includes groups such as jazz, bossa nova, enka, pop and folk. There may be music that is classified only as jazz and music that is classified as jazz and bossa nova. Note that music groups may be classified by artist.

  The control unit 12 transmits a member attribute request including a member ID to the member server 20 in order to specify a group. When the member server 20 receives the member attribute request, the member server 20 refers to the member database DB2, acquires the member attribute information corresponding to the member ID, and returns a member attribute response including the member attribute information to the control unit 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the member attribute information includes a music genre ID, an artist name, a music name, and a region ID. When music is selected from the menu, the control unit 12 specifies the group by the music genre ID or artist name. Moreover, the control part 12 specifies a group by area ID, when the news is selected by the menu.

Next, the control part 12 notifies a user of the list | wrist of the sound data which belongs to a group with an audio | voice (step S24).
When the group is specified by the music genre ID, the control unit 12 refers to the response database DB1 (see FIG. 5), specifies a predetermined number (for example, 5 songs) of music names having the same music genre ID, and Those music IDs are acquired. When the music genre ID matches a predetermined number, it may be selected by lottery, or a predetermined number of high-order songs may be specified using popularity ranking information. The popularity ranking information may be acquired from the music distribution server 8 at a predetermined cycle such as once a week and stored in the response database DB1. The control unit 12 sends the predetermined number of music titles identified in this way to the voice response unit 11, converts it into a voice signal, and sends it to the telephone 4.

  On the other hand, when news is selected from the menu and the group is specified by region, the control unit 12 refers to the response database DB1 (see FIG. 5), and determines a predetermined number (for example, 5) of news names having the same region ID. I) Identify and obtain the news ID and sound data. If there are more than a predetermined number of news with the same region ID, the news may be selected by lottery, or a predetermined number may be specified from the latest news. The control unit 12 sends the predetermined number of news names specified in this way to the voice response unit 11, converts it into a voice signal, and sends it to the telephone 4.

Next, the control unit 12 determines whether or not an option has been selected (step S25). When the option is selected by the user, the control unit 12 transmits an audio signal (step S26), and the process is notified to the menu. return.
It is assumed that the menu selection is music, a predetermined number of song names are presented as a list of sound data, and the user selects one of them. In this case, the control unit 12 specifies a song ID corresponding to the song name selected by the user, and transmits a song request including the song ID to the song distribution server 8. When the music distribution server 8 receives the music request, the music distribution server 8 refers to the music database DB 8 to acquire sound data corresponding to the music ID, and returns a music response including the sound data to the control unit 12. Thereafter, the control unit 12 passes the sound data to the voice response unit 11. The sound data is converted into an audio signal and sent to the telephone 4.
On the other hand, it is assumed that the menu selection is news, a predetermined number of news names are presented as a list of sound data, and the user selects one of them. In this case, the control unit 12 specifies sound data corresponding to the news name selected by the user, and passes the sound data to the voice response unit 11. The sound data is converted into an audio signal and sent to the telephone 4.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, during a call waiting period with an operator, a group of sound data according to user preferences is automatically selected, and the user is allowed to select sound data belonging to the group. Therefore, the customer satisfaction of the user can be greatly improved.
It is also possible to register user preferences as member attribute information in advance and automatically select sound data according to this. However, the user's degree of freedom can be expanded by selecting sound data within a certain range depending on the mood of the day. On the other hand, in order to select sound data without limiting the range at all, it is necessary to prepare a deep hierarchy for selection, which is troublesome. In this embodiment, a group of sound data is specified according to the user's preference registered in advance, and the sound data belonging to the group can be selected. It is possible to reduce the number of hierarchies.

<Modification>
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and for example, various modifications described below are possible.
(1) In the embodiment described above, the control unit 12 specifies the member ID from the caller number. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the member uses the member ID (member identification information) as a telephone. 4 may be used for notification. Specifically, the member may pronounce the member ID, or the member ID may be input by pressing a button.
In this case, instead of step S21 shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 12 may determine whether or not the input member ID is a member by inquiring whether or not the input member ID is recorded in the member database DB2. .

(2) In the embodiment described above, the control unit 12 queues the calls in the order of arrival and transfers them to the operator's handset 7 in order from the first incoming call. However, the present invention is limited to this. It is not a thing. That is, for the telephones in the queue, a change process for rearranging the caller IDs in the queue may be executed according to the status of the response process.
More specifically, the control unit 12 notifies the list of sound data belonging to the group (step S24), and when the sound data is selected by the member (step S25), the music piece uniquely identifying the sound data. An ID is generated (including a process of specifying one music ID from a plurality of music IDs). And the control part 12 sends out the audio | voice signal produced | generated in the audio | voice response part 11 to the external telephone 4 using the sound data corresponding to the said music ID.

Here, when the time at which transmission of the audio signal is started is defined as the transmission start time, the control unit 12 determines the transmission start time of a telephone whose caller number (phone identification information) is in the queue as the caller number. Are stored in the RAM 13 in the third storage area.
Further, the control unit 12 accesses the response database DB1 and extracts a reproduction time (time information) indicating the length of the audio signal generated using the sound data and the music ID of the sound data, Is stored in the fourth storage area of the RAM 13.
In addition, the control unit 12 associates the caller number in the queue (queue) with the music ID of the sound data used for sending the voice signal of the telephone related to the caller number in the fifth storage area of the RAM 13. To remember.

Further, the control unit 12 refers to the fifth storage area of the RAM 13 in the change process for rearranging the caller numbers in the queue, and acquires the song ID corresponding to the caller number in the queue. The playback time corresponding to the acquired music ID is acquired with reference to the fourth storage area of the RAM 13, and the transmission start time corresponding to the acquired music ID is acquired with reference to the third storage area of the RAM 13.
Thereafter, the control unit 12 changes the arrangement of the caller numbers in the queue based on the acquired reproduction time and the acquired transmission start time.

  In this case, the control unit 12 adds a reproduction time to the transmission start time for each caller number in the queue, calculates a transmission end time at which the transmission process ends, and waits in the order in which the transmission end time arrives earlier. What is necessary is just to change the order of the caller ID in a queue. In this case, calls can be transferred to the operator in the order of the end time of the music.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, when the transmission of the audio signal in step S26 is completed for a certain telephone, the control unit 12 returns to step S22 to select a menu or sound data within a group. Therefore, even if the user selects sound data, if the standby period is long, the sound data is selected again. Therefore, the control unit 12 counts the number of start or end of transmission of the voice signal for each caller number in the queue, and in the change process described above, the caller number from the queue in descending order of the counted number. The order of caller numbers in the queue may be changed so that is retrieved.

(4) In the above-described embodiment, the music and news that have been heard once are included in the selection target. However, when the sound data in the group is selected, the sound data that has been heard once may be excluded. .
The control unit 12 refers to the member database DB2 to obtain a music genre ID corresponding to the member ID, and searches the response database DB1 for a predetermined number of music that matches the music genre ID. In this case, a predetermined number of records that match the music genre ID are extracted, and a set of music name and music ID that matches the music genre ID is stored in the second storage area of the RAM 13. In addition, the control unit 12 stores the music ID of the sound data related to the transmission of the audio signal ended in step S26 in the sixth storage area of the RAM 13 in association with the member ID related to the transmission process.
Further, the control unit 12 may execute the following processing in the notification of the list of sound data belonging to the group in step S24.
First, referring to the second storage area of the RAM 13, a set of song names and song IDs belonging to the specified group (music genre) is read, and the sixth storage area of the RAM 13 is referred to correspond to the member ID. Are recorded in the remaining sets except for the set including the song ID read from the fifth storage area among the combinations of the song name and the song ID read from the second storage area of the RAM 13. It is also possible to identify the name of the music that is present, pass it to the voice response unit 11, convert it into a voice signal, and send it to the telephone 4.
In this case, the sound data heard once can be excluded from the selection target, so that the user is not bored.

(5) In the above-described embodiment, the response database DB1 has been described as storing all data except the sound data from the music database DB8 shown in FIG. 2, but a part of the data is stored in the response database DB1. You may make it do.
For example, if there is a request from a member to add a song, the control unit 12 sends a song name requested from the song distribution server 8 through the telecommunication line so that the corresponding song can be selected, and the song of the song. A set of a genre ID and a music ID may be acquired and added to the response database DB1. As a result, a new music can be selected, and the new music is also reflected in the second storage area of the RAM 13.

(6) In the above-described embodiment, the selection of one sound data from the list of sound data notified in step 24 has been described as an example. However, a plurality of sound data may be selected collectively. Good. In this case, the audio signals may be sent in step S26 in the order of selection.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Automatic voice response device, 2 ... Response system, 4 ... Telephone, 7 ... Slave unit, 8 ... Music distribution server, 11 ... Voice response unit, 12 ... Control unit, 13 ... RAM, 20 ... Member server, 30 ... History server, DB1 ... Response database, DB2 ... Member database, DB3 ... History database, DB8 ... Music database.

Claims (8)

Connected to an external telephone through a communication network, and connected to a plurality of terminals. When a call is received from the external telephone, if there is a terminal that is not in a call among the plurality of terminals, the external telephone If all of the plurality of terminals are in a call, one of the plurality of terminals ends the call after receiving the call. A response unit that performs a predetermined response to the external telephone in the waiting period until,
Each of the plurality of sound data used for the response in the waiting period belongs to at least one group among a plurality of groups, group identification information for uniquely identifying the group, and a member for uniquely identifying the member A first storage unit that stores identification information in association with each other;
A second storage unit that associates and stores the group identification information and specific information used to specify sound data by a member, indicating characteristics of each of one or more sound data belonging to the group indicated by the group identification information; A storage unit,
The response unit is:
When notification information that can identify a member is notified by telephone, a generation process for generating the member identification information based on the notification information;
A designation process for designating the group identification information corresponding to the generated member identification information with reference to the first storage unit;
An acquisition process of referring to the second storage unit to acquire specific information corresponding to the specified group identification information;
A selection process for prompting selection of the sound data belonging to the group by converting the acquired specific information into an audio signal and sending it to the external telephone;
When sound data is selected by a member, a sending process for sending a sound signal generated using the selected sound data to the external telephone is executed.
An automatic voice response device. Connected to an external telephone through a communication network, and connected to a plurality of terminals. When a call is received from the external telephone, if there is a terminal that is not in a call among the plurality of terminals, the external telephone If all of the plurality of terminals are in a call, one of the plurality of terminals ends the call after receiving the call. A response unit that performs a predetermined response to the external telephone in the waiting period until,
Each of the plurality of sound data used for the response in the waiting period belongs to at least one group among a plurality of groups, group identification information for uniquely identifying the group, and a member for uniquely identifying the member A first storage unit that stores identification information in association with each other;
A second storage unit that associates and stores the group identification information and specific information used to specify sound data by a member, indicating characteristics of each of one or more sound data belonging to the group indicated by the group identification information; A storage unit,
The response unit is:
When the member identification information is notified by telephone, a designation process for designating the group identification information corresponding to the notified member identification information with reference to the first storage unit;
When notification information that can identify a member is notified by telephone, a generation process for generating the member identification information based on the notification information;
A designation process for designating the group identification information corresponding to the generated member identification information with reference to the first storage unit;
An acquisition process of referring to the second storage unit to acquire specific information corresponding to the specified group identification information;
A selection process for prompting selection of the sound data belonging to the group by converting the acquired specific information into an audio signal and sending it to the external telephone;
When sound data is selected by a member, a sending process for sending a sound signal generated using the selected sound data to the external telephone is executed.
An automatic voice response device. The response unit, when a call is received, places a telephone identification information for identifying the incoming telephone in a queue, the telephone identification information is in the queue, and any one of the plurality of terminals When empty, identify the oldest telephone identification information that has entered the queue, and forward the telephone related to the telephone identification information to the terminal that is not in a call,
The response unit further performs a change process for changing the arrangement of the telephone identification information in the queue based on a response status to the telephone in which the telephone identification information is included in the queue.
The automatic voice response apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein When the sound data is selected by the member in the sending process, the response unit generates sound identification information for uniquely identifying the sound data, and is generated using the sound data corresponding to the sound identification information. When sending a voice signal to the external telephone and starting the sending of the voice signal as a sending start time,
A third storage unit for storing the transmission start time of a telephone having telephone identification information in the queue in association with the telephone identification information;
A fourth storage unit that stores time information indicating the length of a sound signal generated using the sound data and sound identification information of the sound data in association with each other;
A fifth storage unit that stores the telephone identification information in the queue in association with the sound identification information indicating the sound data used in the sending process in the telephone related to the telephone identification information;
In the change process, the response unit includes:
The sound identification information corresponding to the telephone identification information in the queue is acquired with reference to the fifth storage unit, and the sound identification information corresponding to the acquired sound identification information is acquired with reference to the fourth storage unit Obtaining time information, referring to the third storage unit, obtaining the transmission start time corresponding to the obtained sound identification information;
Based on the acquired time information and the acquired transmission start time, change the order of the telephone identification information in the queue,
The automatic voice response device according to claim 3. The response unit calculates a transmission end time at which the transmission process ends by adding the time indicated by the time information to the transmission start time for each of the telephone identification information in the queue in the change process, Changing the order of the telephone identification information in the queue in the order in which the sending end time comes earlier;
The automatic voice response apparatus according to claim 4. The response unit performs the selection process for the telephone again when the transmission process for a certain telephone is completed, and counts the number of times the transmission process starts or ends for each telephone identification information in the queue, In the changing process, changing the arrangement of the telephone identification information in the queue so that the telephone identification information is extracted from the queue in the descending order of the counted number of times.
The automatic voice response apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The second storage unit stores the group identification information in association with the specific information and the sound identification information of one or more sound data belonging to a group,
A sixth storage unit that stores sound identification information of the sound data related to the transmission process that has been completed in association with member identification information related to the transmission process;
The response unit is:
When the sending process ends, the sound identification information of the sound data related to the sending process is stored in the fifth storage unit in association with the member identification information related to the sending process,
In the acquisition process,
With reference to the second storage unit, a set of specific information and sound identification information corresponding to the specified group identification information is read out,
With reference to the sixth storage unit, the sound identification information associated with the member identification information is read out,
Identifies the specific information relating to the remaining set except for the set including the sound identification information read from the fifth storage unit, out of the set of the specific information and the sound identification information read from the second storage unit To
The automatic voice response apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein A sound data adding unit that acquires a set of the specific information and group identification information indicating a group to which the sound data corresponding to the specific information belongs through a telecommunication line and stores the set in the second storage unit. The automatic voice response device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein

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