Convergys Customer Management Delaware LLC

Orange Sa

David M Pelland

Blaise T Lapinski

Richard Burk

Jeffrey D Kosa

Eric R Shienbrood

Gregory T Howe

Robert Adamsky

Voice user interfaces can be tested using test scripts generated by traversing a graph using a recursive search technique, such as recursive depth first search. Test data to accompany the test scripts can be generated by treating conditions in states of the interface as business rules, and fully exercising each state during traversal of the graph. Actual testing can be performed in a faster than real time manner by providing simulated input from test scripts, as opposed to requiring actual input from human testers. The interfaces can also be tested using a gatekeeper intermediary which provides for easy transitions between testing and deployment.

Automated application testing

An applications server is operable to provide a plurality of user driven services by running an application program. The application program is arranged to provide the services in response to user commands for selecting service options. The applications server comprises in accordance with the application program a state machine able to determine a current state of the application program from one of a pre-determined set of states defining a logical procedure through the user selected service options. The states of the state machine includes for each of the modular services, one or more states associated with one or more forms within the service. Each form defines a state of a user interface for providing the services to the user, and each state includes one or more sub-states called situations, defining the commands to be recognised and the predicates to be satisfied to select that state depending upon the estimated user commands and the session state of the user session. The set of states includes a base service defined by one or more main states. The application program also comprises a command recognition engine, including a grammar processor and may include an automatic speech recogniser to provide the command recognition engine with a set of possible user commands which may be provided for a particular state, the possible commands determining the states which may be reached from the current state. The command recognition engine, in response to a received user command, provides the state machine with an estimate of at least one of the possible commands, which the user may have provided. The state machine changes state in response to the estimated user command. The state machine determines the transitions between the states at run-time and the grammar engine adapts the possible user commands to be recognised for a current state in association with the state transitions, which are determined at run-time. As such, the applications server can provision user driven services, which can be dynamically adapted and blended with each other in accordance with user requirements.

Applications server and method

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Bolton, MA, United States of America

David M Pelland