Contents
A voice prompt is a pre-recorded message played for a caller at specific times during a call. The actual voice messages used in the prompting process are stored in the IVR prompt server in the form of audio files that can be recorded by a recording studio.
For 1G Tenors, the audio files are transmitted to the Tenor using TFTP protocol. They can then be played back over the PSTN connection to the caller in messages such as "Enter Account Number," "Enter PIN number," "Enter Card Number," etc. The IVR Prompt Server communicates with a Tenor over an IP link using TFTP protocol. The IVR Prompt Server acts as the TFTP Server; each Tenor represents a TFTP client.
When a Tenor system is re-started, it does not have any voice prompts stored in its internal memory. Each voice prompt is retrieved on demand from the IVR Prompt Server; it will stay in the Tenor's cache memory for replay until one of the following happens: an ivrupdate command is issued, a change of IP address in the database, or the Tenor has been powered off or reset.
To provide some redundancy for the system, two IVR Prompt Servers can be optionally specified in the database. The servers should store the identical voice prompt files (i.e., they are indistinguishable from each other as IVR Prompt Servers). One of the IVR Prompt Servers remains active during the operation, unless it fails to respond to the Tenor for some reason. In that case, the other one will be picked up as an active IVR Prompt Server automatically. It will be used as the active server for all the subsequent requests; in the case that if fails, the active server will be switched back to the original one, and the cycle repeats itself.
For 2G Tenors, this is not necessary to configure, because they store these IVR prompt files on-board, and do not require an additional resource. However, remote TFTP servers can be specified if desired.
To ensure good speech quality, the voice prompts should be professionally recorded in a studio.
The following table specifies requirements for each voice file recorded. Definitions for each table entry are listed below.
Filename. Actual filename under which the appropriate pre-recorded speech is to be stored on the IVR Prompt Server. The voice files should be in CCITT G711 Mu-Law format and stored with .wav extension (no application-specific headers, like in the files generated by the Microsoft Recorder, are allowed).
Suggested Content. This field contains a particular piece of speech that represents the voice file, played back along with other file(s) during the actual IVR call. For these particular cases, the voice files should be carefully recorded, using appropriate intonation patterns.
Example with other Voice Files. This field uses the specified voice file with other possible voice files. For example, the file [enter] + [account_number] have the following contents: Please enter your account number. The "+" indicates "in addition to" the filename.
Usage Example. This field represents the actual pre-recorded speech being used in a specific speech pattern.
|
Partial Sentence Flag |
Filename |
Prompt Contents |
PromptID |
|
|
account_expired |
"Your card has expired." || [good_bye] |
ACCOUNT_EXPIRED |
|
V |
account_number |
[enter] || "account number" || [pound_key] |
ENTER_ACCOUNT_NUMBER |
|
V |
and |
[dollars] || "and" || [<any number>] |
REMAINING_BALANCE Example: "..five dollars and forty cents.." |
|
|
blocked |
"The number you have dialed is blocked." || [hang_up] |
DESTINATION_BLOCKED |
|
V |
card_number |
[enter] || "card number" || [pound_key] |
ENTER_CARD_NUMBER |
|
V |
cent |
[one] || "cent" || [remaining] |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
cents |
[<any number>] || "cents" || [remaining] |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
|
credit_limit |
"Your credit limit is exceeded." || [good_bye] |
CREDIT_LIMIT_EXCEEDED |
|
V |
destination |
[enter] || "destination number" || [pound_key] |
ENTER_DESTINATION |
|
V |
dollar |
[one] || "dollar" || [and OR remaining] |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
dollars |
[<any number>] || "dollars" || [and OR remaining] |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
eight |
"eight" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
eighteen |
"eighteen" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
eighty |
"eighty" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
eleven |
"eleven" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
enter |
"Please enter your" || [card_number OR account_number OR PIN OR destination] |
ENTER_CARD_NUMBER ENTER_ACCOUNT_NUMBER ENTER_PIN ENTER_DESTINATION |
|
V |
fifteen |
"fifteen" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
fifty |
"fifty" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
five |
"five" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
forty |
"forty" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
four |
"four" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
fourteen |
"fourteen" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
|
good_bye |
"Good bye." |
GOOD_BYE |
|
|
hang_up |
"Please hang up and call again later." |
HANG_UP |
|
V |
hundred |
"hundred" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
|
in_use |
"This account is currently in use." || [hang_up] |
ACCOUNT_IN_USE |
|
|
invalid |
"You have entered an invalid number." |
INVALID_INPUT |
|
V |
language |
"for English press" |
LANGUAGE SELECTION |
|
V |
minute |
[one] || "minute" || [remaining] |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
minutes |
[<any number>] || "minutes" || [remaining] |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
|
next call_pound |
"To make another call press the star key twice" |
MULTIPLE CALLS |
|
|
next call_pound |
"To make another call press the pound (or hash) key twice" |
MULTIPLE CALLS |
|
V |
nine |
"nine" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
nineteen |
"nineteen" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
ninety |
"ninety" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
|
no_funds |
"You have insufficient funds in your account." [good_bye] |
INSUFFICIENT_FUNDS |
|
V |
one |
"one" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
pin |
[enter] || "pin" || [pound_key] |
ENTER_PIN |
|
V |
pound_key |
[account_number OR card_number OR pin OR destination] || "followed by the pound key." |
ENTER_CARD_NUMBER ENTER_ACCOUNT_NUMBER ENTER_PIN ENTER_DESTINATION |
|
|
problems |
"We are currently experiencing technical difficulties." || [hang_up] |
TECHNICAL_PROBLEMS |
|
V |
remaining |
[ <money> OR <time>] || "remaining." |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
second |
[one] || "second" || [remaining] |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
seconds |
[<any number>] || "seconds" || [remaining] |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
seven |
"seven" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
seventeen |
"seventeen" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
seventy |
"seventy" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
six |
"six" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
sixteen |
"sixteen" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
sixty |
"sixty" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
ten |
"ten" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
thirteen |
"thirteen" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
thirty |
"thirty" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
thousand |
"thousand" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
three |
"three" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
twelve |
"twelve" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
twenty |
"twenty" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
two |
"two" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
|
wait |
"Thank you. Please hold." |
WAIT |
|
|
welcome |
"Welcome!" |
WELCOME |
|
V |
yuan |
"yuan" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
you_have |
"You have" || [<any number>] |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
yuan |
"yuan" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
V |
Zero |
"zero" |
REMAINING_BALANCE |
|
|
zero_balance |
"You have zero balance in your account." || [good_bye] |
ZERO_BALANCE |
The IVR Prompt Server contains voice prompts; it will exchange information with a Tenor via TFTP protocol and act as the TFTP Server.
Note
Although logically separate from the RADIUS server, the IVR Prompt Server may be physically part of the same server.
Configure the IVR Prompt Server as follows:
Create a root directory for the IVR voice files (i.e, c:\quintum\ivr).
Create a subdirectory for each supported language and use the following specific naming conventions:
For English, use the filename c:\quintum\ivr\English.
For Persian, use the filename c:\quintum\ivr\Persian
For Mandarin, use the filename c:\quintum\ivr\Mandarin
...and so on.
Record all voice prompts and store under the c:\quintum\ivr\English subdirectory.
Launch the TFTP Server and configure the home directory to be the same as in step 1.
Run the TFTP Server.
If a particular voice prompt was retrieved from the IVR Prompt Server and is played back during an IVR call, it will be cached in the Tenor's RAM. This means that the next request to play the same prompt will be completed without retrieving the file from the IVR prompt server. As a result, response time is improved.
The IVR voice prompts will be flushed automatically when the IVR Prompt Server address has been changed in the database. In rare cases, when the total memory usage by the voice prompts exceeds the allowed maximum, the prompts will be also automatically flushed.
At any point, you can update the 1G Tenor to play updated IVR voice prompts through the ivrupdateprompts command. Using the ivrupdateprompts command, the files can be updated without first restarting the unit. On the 2G Tenor, the command for this is cmd updateprompts.
You can run the ivrupdateprompts command through the Command Line Interface (CLI) as follows:
Access the Command Line Interface (CLI) via serial port or Telnet connection.
At the Quintum prompt, type ivrupdateprompts.
The Tenor will flush all cached prompts; the next IVR call will play back the updated prompts.