Dialogue device for call screening and classification

Abstract

The call screener employs a telephone system interface connected between a telephone network and a telephone device of a user. The interface selectively routes calls (and refrain from routing calls) based on the results from the dialogue system. The dialogue system elicits speech from an incoming caller and causes the telephone system interface to route calls from the incoming caller based on a comparison of the elicited speech with a set of stored speaker models. The stored speaker models may be maintained automatically by the system, using either a passive mode, in which calls exceeding a predetermined duration are assumed to be “acceptable” callers; and a proactive mode in which the system prompts the user at the end of the call to elect whether to save the speech models developed during that call in the acceptable user database. If desired, the user can attach other attributes or special tags to the stored models, indicating special handling or call routing rules to be applied when that caller calls again.