Slide1: Upgrading Your Grammars Making Them Work Harder Jenni McKienzie February 23, 2007


Special thanks: Special thanks


Background: Background Travelocity revamped its IVR in 2006 The old system was six years old and hadn’t kept up with the maturation of the industry Replaced almost everything New platform New recognizer New design New voice talent New grammars


Big ideas: Big ideas Use expected answers to improve recognition Know the data Only use built-ins as a starting point Use appropriate weighting Take advantage of nbest processing Be flexible


Itinerary access by confirmation number: Itinerary access by confirmation number Have two different varieties that follow distinct patterns and have different host transactions Third digit tells which of the two it is Lots of digit strings don’t fit either of the patterns Recognizer is more apt to incorrectly recognize a valid string than the caller is to give an incorrect string No reason to hit the database with a number we know is invalid So do we process input in the code or restrict the grammar?


Confirmation number grammar: Confirmation number grammar Number 2: Know the data (the numeric patterns) Number 3: Don’t rely on built-ins (digits)


Itinerary access by phone number: Itinerary access by phone number Started with a standard phone number grammar 7-digit phone numbers 3-digit special numbers (411 or 911) Sometimes duplicates Not the most secure way to access trip information Destination Departure date


Phone number grammar: Phone number grammar Number 3: Don’t rely on built-ins (phone number)


Destination city: Destination city Three clarification issues Sound alikes: Boston/Austin Two airports: Chicago Midway/O’Hare Two cities with the same name: Athens Georgia/Greece Big advantage in knowing where they’re going Also take advantage of knowing which cities see the most traffic


City/airport grammar: City/airport grammar Number 1: Use expected answers (we know where they’re going) Number 4: Use appropriate weighting (where they’re going and what gets the most traffic) Number 5: Nbest processing (use the list to compare against their itineraries)


Travel dates differ from other dates: Travel dates differ from other dates Year isn’t needed Future or very recent past only Not that far out in the future (no more than a year) Sometimes month isn’t needed “The 27th” is a perfectly valid response for later this month Callers add a “the” between month and date July the 28th Could be a stall, thinking about it Could be conceptually different


Travel date grammar: Travel date grammar Number 1: Expected answers (have itineraries) Number 2: Know the data (restricted range, extra formats) Number 3: Built-ins (date) Number 4: Weighting (expected higher) Number 5: Nbest (compare against itineraries) Number 6: Be flexible (lots of formats)


Put it together: Put it together To see what I have on file for you now, say or enter your phone number. (pause) You can also say one of the following: use my trip ID, shop for new reservations… 682 605 4069 Just a moment while I look that up. (pause) (Found San Francisco on February 22nd and Kahului on March 8th) OK. I found more than one reservation for that number. To get the right one, please tell me where you’re going and when, like Miami on March 13th. San Francisco on February 22nd (nbest for city = Sacramento, San Francisco, date = Feb 2nd, Feb 22nd) Thanks. Now choose from one of the following…


Flight information: Flight information Callers can search various ways Airline and flight number Airline, city pair, and time City pair and time For either of the last two, we often find more than one good match Caller then has to choose the right one.


Choosing the flight: Choosing the flight I found three that are close. Tell me which one you want. First at 9:53 is Aloha Airlines flight 476. (pause) Second at 9:24 is United Airlines flight 82. (pause) Third at 9:00 PM is American Airlines flight 162. That’s it. Tell me which of those you want, or say repeat, all of them, or none of them. The first one…Flight 476…The one on Aloha…9:53


Flight selection grammar: Flight selection grammar Number 1: Expected answers (gave them a list) Number 5: Nbest (compare against list) Number 6: Be flexible (any distinguishing piece)


Summary (a.k.a. reprise of big ideas): Summary (a.k.a. reprise of big ideas) Use expected answers to improve recognition Know the data Only use built-ins as a starting point Use appropriate weighting Take advantage of nbest processing Be flexible


Thank you!: Thank you! Jenni McKienzie jenni.mckienzie@travelocity.com 682.605.4069