Patent Application
20190124078
The present disclosure relates to interactive voice responses.
Interactive voice response (IVR) is a technology that allows a computer to interact with humans through the use of voice and DTMF tones input via keypad. In telecommunications, IVR allows customers to interact with a company's host system via a telephone keypad or by speech recognition, after which services can be inquired about through the IVR dialogue. IVR systems can respond with prerecorded or dynamically generated audio to further direct users on how to proceed. IVR systems deployed in the network are sized to handle large call volumes and also used for outbound calling, as IVR systems are more intelligent than many predictive dialer systems.
IVR systems can be used for mobile purchases, banking payments and services, retail orders, utilities, travel information and weather conditions. A common misconception refers to an automated attendant as an IVR. The terms are distinct and mean different things to traditional telecommunications professionals—the purpose of an IVR is to take input, process it, and return a result, whereas the job of an automated attendant is to route calls. The term voice response unit (VRU) is sometimes used as well.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or context including any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely in hardware, entirely in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or combining software and hardware implementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” “component,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable media may be utilized. The computer readable media may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an appropriate optical fiber with a repeater, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language, such as JAVA.®., SCALA.®., SMALLTALK.®., EIFFEL.®., JADE.®., EMERALD.®., C++, C#, VB.NET, PYTHON.®. or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, VISUAL BASIC.®., FORTRAN.®. 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP.®., dynamic programming languages such as PYTHON.®., RUBY.®. and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) or in a cloud computing environment or offered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS).
Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatuses (systems) and computer program products according to aspects of the disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable instruction execution apparatus, create a mechanism for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that when executed can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions when stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which when executed, cause a computer to implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable instruction execution apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatuses or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to comprise the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The user device 102 can include a fingerprint scanner 110. Fingerprint scanner 110 can include an optical scanner or a capacitive scanner. Fingerprint scanner 110 can be controlled by fingerprint scanning software 111. Fingerprint scanning software 111 can include software that facilitates collection of fingerprints and identification of a user via fingerprint matching algorithms.
The user device 102 can include one or more applications. An application 112 can include an interface to an secured system 120. The application 112 can be used to authenticate a user attempting to use a secured system 120 using a stored fingerprint associated with the user and with an authentication credential. The application 112 can cause the user device 102 to send and receive messaging through wired or wireless signaling through a network 140 using a transceiver 108. The application 112 can use biometric information, such as fingerprint information, to authenticate a user to allow a user to use securely a network-based secured system 120. Though shown as connected through a network 140, the secured system 120 can also be local to the user device 102.
In embodiments, the application 112 can be an application that can be downloaded from the secure server 120 after a user registers with the secure server 120. The application 112 can also be triggered when a user attempts to access the secured server 120. The application 112 can coordinate a user's credentials with the secured system 120 for granting access to the secured server 120 using a user's biometric information, such as by prompting the user to provide a fingerprint scan to access the secured server 120. The secure server 120 can be, e.g., a server for a bank or credit card or other financial institution, or other type of secure transaction services server.
The secured system 120 can include a processor 122. Processor 122 can process commands from the user to return a correct response or generate instructions to perform a task. The secured system 120 can also include an authentication service 124. Authentication service 124 can be an application that can authenticate a user and provide the user with an OATH secret key. In embodiments, the secured system 120 can also communicate with an authentication server 130.
The user device 102 can authenticate the user using the authentication server 130. Authentication server 130 can generate an open authentication (OATH) secret key for the user through an authentication process, such as a public/private key or other authentication process. The authentication service 130 can also communicate with the secured system 120 to authenticate a user's attempt to access and use the secured system 120 using, e.g., a fingerprint scan or other unique biometric data.
In embodiments, a user can register with the secured server 120. The secured server 120 can prompt the user to download or cause the user device 102 to download an application 112. When the user, through the user device 102, attempts to use a service provided by the secure server 120, the secure server 120 can use an IVR service 150 to call the user device 102. The IVR service 150 can be used to ensure that the transaction being attempted is from the authorized user, and not from an unauthorized third party. The IVR service 150 can prompt the user to provide a biometric identifier, such as a fingerprint scan, to authenticate herself with the secured server 120. The secure server 120 can authenticate the user using the unique biometric identifier using, e.g., an authentication server 130.
The application can, at any time during the registration process, prompt the user to register a fingerprint to provide additional security and user authentication (210). The user can use a fingerprint scanner on or attached to the user device to provide one or more fingerprint scans (e.g., multiple scans of a single finger and/or scans of multiple fingers). The application can lock the secure location using the fingerprint (212). The application can also associate the OATH secret key received from the application service with one or more of the fingerprints scanned during registration process. For example, the application can store the fingerprint scan(s) in memory
The application can authenticate the user by first comparing the new fingerprint scanned against one stored with the user device and associated with the OATH stored in the secure memory location (306). The comparison of the finger print scans can use pattern matching algorithms or other techniques used for fingerprint comparisons. The application can determine whether the scanned fingerprint matches a stored fingerprint (308). If the application determines that the scanned fingerprint does not match the stored fingerprint, the application can repeat the prompt for a fingerprint scan without giving access to the IVR system (304). If the application determines that the scanned fingerprint does match the stored fingerprint, the application can retrieve the OATH associated with the fingerprint and stored in the secure memory location on the user device and can generate a one-time password (OTP) from the OATH (310). The application can transmit the OTP to a secured system (312). The application can use a transceiver on the user device to transmit the OTP to a remote secured system across a network.
The secured system can authenticate the user using the OTP using, for example, and authentication service, such as the authentication service the user used to perform the aforementioned authentication or registration process.
The figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowcharts or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, may be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of any means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any disclosed structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. The aspects of the disclosure herein were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
While the present disclosure has been described in connection with preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that other variations and modifications of the preferred embodiments described above may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Other embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from a consideration of the specification or practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. It will also be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the scope of the disclosure is not limited to use in a server diagnostic context, but rather that embodiments of the disclosure may be used in any transaction having a need to monitor information of any type. The specification and the described examples are considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the disclosure indicated by the following claims.
