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EP-4670348-B1 - COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD FOR MANAGING VOICE CALL INITIATION

EP4670348B1EP 4670348 B1EP4670348 B1EP 4670348B1EP-4670348-B1

Inventors

  • RUUTU, VILLE
  • RUUTU, JUSSI

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20231204

Claims (14)

  1. A computer-implemented method (100) for managing voice call initiation, the method (100) comprising: performing (101) at least one voice call according to a preconfigured script, wherein the at least one voice call is performed by a voicebot and the voicebot is configured to perform the at least one voice call according to the preconfigured script, wherein the preconfigured script comprises a plurality of steps; obtaining (102), during the at least one voice call, a time estimate for performing at least one step of the plurality of steps of the preconfigured script; computing (103), during the at least one voice call, a remaining time estimate for each voice call in the at least one voice call based on the time estimate for performing the at least one step of the plurality of steps of the preconfigured script; and determining (104) whether to initiate a new voice call during the at least one voice call according to the remaining time estimate of each voice call in the at least one voice call.
  2. The computer-implemented method (100) according to claim 1, wherein the determining whether to initiate the new voice call during the at least one voice call according to the remaining time estimate of each voice call in the at least one voice call comprises: obtaining a connecting delay estimate for the new voice call; determining whether there is voice call capacity during or after a time period corresponding to the connecting delay estimate based on the remaining time estimate of each voice call in the at least one voice call; and in response to there being voice call capacity, initiating the new voice call.
  3. The computer-implemented method (100) according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the at least one voice call comprises a plurality of parallel voice calls.
  4. The computer-implemented method (100) according to any preceding claim, wherein the time estimate for performing the at least one step in the plurality of steps of the preconfigured script comprises a maximum time estimate for performing the at least one step and/or an average time estimate for performing the at least one step.
  5. The computer-implemented method (100) according to claim 4, wherein the maximum time estimate for performing the at least one step is based at least on a maximum allowed time to perform the at least one step indicated by the preconfigured script.
  6. The computer-implemented method (100) according to any preceding claim, wherein the preconfigured script (200) comprises at least one branching point (220) corresponding to a question (201) to be presented to a user during the at least one voice call, wherein the at least one branching point (220) is associated with a plurality of branches (202, 203, 204), wherein each branch in the plurality of branches corresponds to a possible answer that the user can provide to the question (201).
  7. The computer-implemented method (100) according to claim 6, wherein the computing (103), during the at least one voice call, the remaining time estimate for each voice call in the at least one voice call comprises: computing a remaining time estimate for each branch in the plurality of branches (202, 203, 204); and computing the remaining time estimate for the voice call according to the remaining time estimate of each branch in the plurality of branches (202, 203, 204).
  8. The computer-implemented method (100) according to claim 7, wherein the computing the remaining time estimate for each branch in the plurality of branches (202, 203, 204) comprises summing the time estimate for performing each step in the branch.
  9. The computer-implemented method (100) according to claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the computing the remaining time estimate for the voice call according to the remaining time estimate of each branch in the plurality of branches (202, 203, 204) comprises: computing the remaining time estimate for the voice call based on a maximum remaining time estimate out of the remaining time estimates of the plurality of branches; and/or computing the remaining time estimate for the voice call based on an average remaining time estimate of the remaining time estimates of the plurality of branches (202, 203, 204).
  10. The computer-implemented method (100) according to any of claims 6 - 9, the method further comprising: obtaining a response to the question from the user via the voice call; selecting a branch out of the plurality of branches (202, 203, 204) according to the response; and updating the remaining time estimate for the voice call according to a time estimate for performing each step in the selected branch.
  11. The computer-implemented method (100) according to any preceding claim, the method further comprising, during the at least one voice call, updating the remaining time estimate for the voice call at least once according to a time estimate for performing remaining steps of the preconfigured script.
  12. The computer-implemented method (100) according to any preceding claim, wherein the time estimate for performing the at least one step of the plurality of steps of the preconfigured script is based on statistical information about at least one previously performed voice call.
  13. A computing device (400), comprising at least one processor (401) and at least one memory (402) including computer program code, the at least one memory (402) and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor (401), cause the computing device (400) to perform the method (100) according to any preceding claim.
  14. A computer program product comprising program code configured to perform the method (100) according to any of claims 1 - 12 when the computer program product is executed on a computer.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to call processing, and more particularly to a computer-implemented method for managing voice call initiation, a computing device, and a computer program product. BACKGROUND An increasing number of organizations are leveraging the power of Automatic Speech Recognition to build automated systems that handle telephone and voice-based user interactions. Users are able to handle more and more of their requests by interacting with automated voice-based systems. Such system may also be referred to as voicebots. Publication EP 3448004 A1 discloses a computer-implemented method of forwarding calls, the method comprising the steps of monitoring an active call between an agent and a client using speech recognition, wherein, in the active call, the speech recognition searches for occurrence of at least one key phrase that indicates intention of termination of the call; upon occurrence of at least one key phrase, predicting a remaining time period until the call will be terminated; based on the predicted remaining time period, during the remaining time period, determining a point of time for initiating at least one new call to a client for being handled by the agent; and initiating at least one new call at the determined point of time. Further, the invention relates to a predictive dialer system and a database. Publication US 2019/208062 A1 discloses a system and a method to calculate expected waiting time of a caller to a calling center, the method including: monitoring, by a monitor circuit, a content of a present communication session; estimating a point of progress of the monitored communication session; comparing the point of progress to a historical statistic; calculating, by a processor, a projection of a duration of a remainder of the present communication session; and providing, by a communication circuit, an expected waiting time (EWT) based upon the projection of the duration of the remainder of the present communication session. Embodiments may include a speech search process to record call progress. SUMMARY This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. It is an objective to provide a computer-implemented method for managing voice call initiation, a computing device, and a computer program product. The foregoing and other objectives are achieved by the features of the independent claims. Further implementation forms are apparent from the dependent claims, the description and the figures. According to a first aspect, a computer-implemented method for managing voice call initiation comprises: performing at least one voice call according to a preconfigured script, wherein the preconfigured script comprises a plurality of steps; obtaining, during the at least one voice call, a time estimate for performing at least one step of the plurality of steps of the preconfigured script; computing, during the at least one voice call, a remaining time estimate for each voice call in the at least one voice call based on the time estimate for performing the at least one step of the plurality of steps of the preconfigured script; and determining whether to initiate a new voice call during the at least one voice call according to the remaining time estimate of each voice call in the at least one voice call. The method can, for example, utilise available resource more efficiently. In an implementation form of the first aspect, the determining whether to initiate the new voice call during the at least one voice call according to the remaining time estimate of each voice call in the at least one voice call comprises: obtaining a connecting delay estimate for the new voice call; determining whether there is voice call capacity during or after a time period corresponding to the connecting delay estimate based on the remaining time estimate of each voice call in the at least one voice call; and in response to there being voice call capacity, initiating the new voice call. The method can, for example, utilise available resource more efficiently by estimating the voice call capacity. In another implementation form of the first aspect, the at least one voice call comprises a plurality of parallel voice calls. The method can, for example, utilise available resource more efficiently when a plurality of voice calls is performed simultaneously. In another implementation form of the first aspect, the time estimate for performing the at least one step in the plurality of steps of the preconfigured script comprises a maximum time estimate for performing the at least one step and/or an average time estimate for performing the at least one step. The method can, for example, efficiently estimate the time for performing