“Voice And Speech Recognition For Call Center Feedback And Quality Assurance” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20230300247): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2023 OCT 11 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventor Hernandez, Sylvia (Normal, IL, US), filed on May 30, 2023, was made available online on September 21, 2023, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application is assigned to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Recorded phone conversations between a customer calling a call center and a customer service representative are often utilized to evaluate the performance of the representative. A supervisor of the representative or manager may listen to at least a portion of one or more conversations in order to check for behavior that needs improvement, such as interrupting the customer, using improper language, using an inappropriate tone of voice, or the like. The supervisor may also listen for following proper protocols, positive interactions with customers, and behavior that should be rewarded and reinforced. However, in many cases, long periods of time may go by between the recorded conversations and the opportunity for the supervisor to listen to them. During this time, bad behavior of the representative may go uncorrected while positive actions may be unrecognized, leading to development of habits that are difficult to change.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent application: “Embodiments of the present technology relate to computing devices, software applications, computer-implemented methods, and computer-readable media for providing an evaluation to a customer service representative regarding his performance during an interaction with a customer. The embodiments may provide for receiving a data stream corresponding to a spoken conversation between a customer and a representative, generating a representative transcript from the conversation, comparing the representative transcript to a list of positive words and negative words, determining tone of voice characteristics from the representative and the customer, determining a response time between when the customer stops speaking and the representative starts speaking, and/or generating one or more scores that vary according to the representative’s word usage, tone of voice, and response time.

“In a first aspect, a computer-implemented method for providing an evaluation to a customer service representative regarding his performance during an interaction with a customer may be provided. The method may include: (1) receiving a digitized data stream corresponding to a spoken conversation between a customer and a representative; (2) converting the data stream to a text stream; (3) generating a representative transcript that includes the words from the text stream that are spoken by the representative; (4) comparing the representative transcript with a plurality of positive words and a plurality of negative words; and/or (5) generating a score that varies according to the occurrence of each word spoken by the representative that matches one of the positive words and the occurrence of each word spoken by the representative that matches one of the negative words to facilitate an objective evaluation of a customer interaction. The method may include additional, fewer, or alternative actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein, and/or may be implemented via one or more processors and/or via computer-executable instructions stored on non-transitory computer-readable medium or media.

“In another aspect, a computing device for providing an evaluation to a customer service representative regarding his performance during an interaction with a customer may be provided. The computing device may include a memory element and a processing element. The processing element may be electronically coupled to the memory element. The processing element may be configured to receive a digitized data stream corresponding to a spoken conversation between a customer and a representative, convert the data stream to a text stream, generate a representative transcript that includes the words from the text stream that are spoken by the representative, compare the representative transcript with a plurality of positive words and a plurality of negative words, and/or generate a score that varies according to the occurrence of each word spoken by the representative that matches one of the positive words and the occurrence of each word spoken by the representative that matches one of the negative words to facilitate an objective evaluation of a customer interaction. The computing device may include additional, fewer, or alternate components and/or functionality, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“In yet another aspect, a software application for providing an evaluation to a customer service representative regarding his performance during an interaction with a customer may be provided. The software application may comprise a speech recognition component, a transcript comparison component, and a score generator. The speech recognition component may receive a digitized data stream corresponding to a spoken conversation between a customer and a representative. The speech recognition component may be configured to convert the data stream to a text stream and generate a representative transcript that includes the words from the text stream that are spoken by the representative. The transcript comparison component may receive the representative transcript. The transcript comparison component may be configured to compare the representative transcript with a plurality of positive words and a plurality of negative words, determine a positive count corresponding to a number of occurrences when the words of the representative transcript match one or more positive words, and/or determine a negative count corresponding to a number of occurrences when the words of the representative transcript match one or more negative words. The score generator may receive the positive count and the negative count. The score generator may be configured to generate a score which varies based upon the positive count and the negative count to facilitate an objective evaluation of a customer interaction. The software application may include additional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

“In yet another aspect, a computer-readable medium for providing an evaluation to a customer service representative regarding his performance during an interaction with a customer may be provided. The computer-readable medium may include an executable program stored thereon, wherein the program instructs a processing element of a computing device to perform the following steps: (1) receiving a digitized data stream corresponding to a spoken conversation between a customer and a representative; (2) converting the data stream to a text stream; (3) generating a representative transcript that includes the words from the text stream that are spoken by the representative; (4) comparing the representative transcript with a plurality of positive words and a plurality of negative words; and/or (5) generating a score that varies according to the occurrence of each word spoken by the representative that matches one of the positive words and the occurrence of each word spoken by the representative that matches one of the negative words to facilitate an objective evaluation of a customer interaction. The program stored on the computer-readable medium may instruct the processing element to perform additional, fewer, or alternative actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

“Advantages of these and other embodiments will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the exemplary embodiments which have been shown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, the present embodiments described herein may be capable of other and different embodiments, and their details are capable of modification in various respects. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

“The Figures depict exemplary embodiments for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the systems and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1-20. (canceled)

“21. A computer-implemented method for evaluating performance of a call associate during an interaction with an individual, the individual being a customer or a potential customer, the computer-implemented method comprising: analyzing, via one or more processors using voice recognition, information derived from an electronic representation of an oral conversation involving the call associate and the individual to identify instances of use by the call associate of positive words and instances of use by the call associate of negative words; generating, via the one or more processors, a first evaluation of the instances of use by the call associate of positive words and a second evaluation of the instances of use by the call associate of negative words; and providing a first visual indicator corresponding to the first evaluation and a second visual indicator corresponding to the second evaluation for display on a device as feedback regarding the performance of the call associate.

“22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising: analyzing, via the one or more processors, the information to identify instances of use by the call associate of words designated for a particular transaction; generating, via the one or more processors, a third evaluation of the instances of use by the call associate of words designated for a particular transaction; and providing a third visual indicator corresponding to the third evaluation for display on the device as feedback regarding the performance of the call associate.

“23. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the first evaluation is a first score and the second evaluation is a second score.

“24. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the first visual indicator and the second visual indicator are provided for display in real-time during the conversation.

“25. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the first visual indicator and the second visual indicator are provided for display after the conclusion of the conversation.

“26. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising providing on-screen messaging for display on a device associated with the call associate to reinforce at least one aspect of the conversation corresponding to a favorable evaluation.

“27. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the first visual indicator is a numeric representation of usage of positive words and the second visual indicator is a numeric representation of usage of negative words.

“28. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the third visual indicator is a numeric representation of usage of designated for a particular transaction.

“29. A computing device for evaluating performance of a call associate during an interaction with an individual, the individual being a customer or a potential customer, the computing device comprising: a processing element; and a memory element including instructions that when executed by the processing element cause the processing element to: analyze using voice recognition, information derived from an electronic representation of an oral conversation involving the call associate and the individual to identify instances of use by the call associate of positive words and instances of use by the call associate of negative words; generate a first evaluation of the instances of use by the call associate of positive words and a second evaluation of the instances of use by the call associate of negative words; and provide a first visual indicator corresponding to the first evaluation and a second visual indicator corresponding to the second evaluation for display on a device as feedback regarding the performance of the call associate.

“30. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing element, further cause the processing element to: analyze the information to identify instances of use by the call associate of words designated for a particular transaction; generate a third evaluation of the instances of use by the call associate of words designated for a particular transaction; and provide a third visual indicator corresponding to the third evaluation for display on the device as feedback regarding the performance of the call associate.

“31. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the first evaluation is a first score and the second evaluation is a second score.

“32. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the first visual indicator and the second visual indicator are provided for display in real-time during the conversation.

“33. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the first visual indicator and the second visual indicator are provided for display after the conclusion of the conversation.

“34. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing element, further cause the processing element to provide on-screen messaging for display on a device associated with the call associate to reinforce at least one aspect of the conversation corresponding to a favorable evaluation.

“35. The computing device of claim 29, wherein the first visual indicator is a numeric representation of usage of positive words and the second visual indicator is a numeric representation of usage of negative words.

“36. The computing device of claim 30, wherein the third visual indicator is a numeric representation of usage of designated for a particular transaction.

“37. A non-transitory computer-readable medium with an executable program stored thereon for evaluating performance of a call associate during an interaction with an individual, the individual being a customer or a potential customer, wherein the program instructs a processing element of a computing device to perform the following: analyze using voice recognition, information derived from an electronic representation of an oral conversation involving the call associate and the individual to identify instances of use by the call associate of positive words and instances of use by the call associate of negative words; generate a first evaluation of the instances of use by the call associate of positive words and a second evaluation of the instances of use by the call associate of negative words; and provide a first visual indicator corresponding to the first evaluation and a second visual indicator corresponding to the second evaluation for display on a device as feedback regarding the performance of the call associate.

“38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the program further instructs the processing element to: analyze the information to identify instances of use by the call associate of words designated for a particular transaction; generate a third evaluation of the instances of use by the call associate of words designated for a particular transaction; and provide a third visual indicator corresponding to the third evaluation for display on the device as feedback regarding the performance of the call associate.

“39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the first visual indicator and the second visual indicator are provided for display in real-time during the conversation.

“40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the first visual indicator is a numeric representation of usage of positive words and the second visual indicator is a numeric representation of usage of negative words.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Hernandez, Sylvia. Voice And Speech Recognition For Call Center Feedback And Quality Assurance. U.S. Patent Application Number 20230300247, filed May 30, 2023 and posted September 21, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(20230300247)&db=US-PGPUB&type=ids

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