Designing the Voice User Interface for Automated Directory Assistance

Abstract

Directory Assistance is the first, and probably still the most common ‘information transaction‘ in which a caller is paying a fee in order to get a morsel of information. On the face of it, this is a rather simple exchange: the user provides the names of the locality and the listing, and the operator delivers a phone number. In reality, many obstacles must be overcome in order to deliver high quality service. Many more arise when one wishes to employvoice technologies in the automation of this service. This chapter focuses on the challenges that one encounters when building a Voice User Interface (VUI) for Directory Assistance (DA). We start with an overview of the business of DA, followed by a description of the main efforts of automation that preceded the introduction of voice technologies. Next, we turn to a set of specific questions that one must address in designing the VUI for DA. Note however, that we do not attempt to prescribe a solution to the different challenges; rather, we try to map the issues the designer has to consider and describe some alternative solutions and their implications..