Intelligent voice response (IVR) systems are employed in many applications including remote banking, ordering of goods (e.g., pay-per-view cable television programs), and accessing information from electronic databases (e.g., computer system help topics). The user typically navigates through a multi-level, hierarchical menu by pressing appropriate digits on a touch tone keypad in response to prompts spoken by the IVR system.
The invention is for a more user-friendly automated inquiry system and service, and is implemented in the IVR enquiry service that Orange offers to its Pay As You Go customers. It introduces IVR menus which are optimized dynamically to the specifics of the enquiring customer's particular account, so that the customer does not have to wade through menu options that aren't relevant to the account. It also introduces detailed reporting on optional account features such as "Extras from Orange", constructed in real time from the customer's account at the moment of the enquiry.
