Title: Speech recognition with the Deutsche Bahn
1- Speech recognition with the Deutsche Bahn
Spotlight colloquium byMatias MusmacherDB
Dialog Telefonservice GmbHSolmsstraße 71 60486
Frankfurt Telefon 0 69 - 478 96 750Fax 0 69 -
478 96 709 London, March 2001
2Agenda
Goals for the project
Concept
Introduction of the system
Usability trials
Lessons learned
3Goals for the project
- The customers were dissatisfied with the Deutsche
Bahn.
Fernmündliche Reiseauskunft
Ansagedienste
- about 1,7 million calls per year
- local number 011581-011587
- service for the 60 major cities in Germany
- about 25 million calls per year
- local number with access code19 4 19
- 72 telephony rooms
- about 1200 employees
- Introduction of an IVR-System
- Integration in 12 Call Centres in 1999
4Goals for the project
- The recorded messages had to be improved in three
main areas.
5Goals for the project
- Deutsche Bahn has six major goals for the
project.
- Create a general acceptance for a speech
recognition system - Give the customers the correct timetable
information - Choose a system for better service
- Introduce a reliable system
- Keep it simple for the IT-department
- no sunk costs
6Goals for the project
- The Deutsche Bahn made a decision for a query
based system.
Methods of interaction
Costs
Freies Sprach- dialogsystem
Freie Abfrage Reisedaten
Menüabfrage Reisedaten
Timetable depending on time of call
Chosen method
Status Quo
Customer value complexity
7Concept
- We took a conservative approach within the
project.
8Concept
- From the marketing point of view the IVR is today
positioned as a stand-alone service
reasons
- Clear position as a substitute for the
Ansagedienste - Launch as completely new service
- Introduction with only a small negative image
transfer in case of failure - Integration with the call centre service is
possible in the future
9Concept
- The design phase was about implementing the
dialogues for the prompts.
- Start with an explanation of the system
- Dialogues structure similar to the web
- One word utterances by the customer
- Help function in case of misrecognition
- Call transfer to a call-centre agent in case of
three misrecognitions in a row
Process
- Strict call for action
- Whole sentences
- Text based on customer language
text
10Concept
- We then developed a request for proposal.
11Introduction of the system
The system consists of 4 crucial
parts 1. Dialogue platform 2. Speech recognis
er 3. Online database query to the mainframe
4. ACD of the call centre
Call Centre
IVR-System
Dialogue
caller
Phonem based recognition
01805-996622
Train connection
Erkanntes Wort
Recogniser
Platform
Train connection
query
DB-Mainframe
12Introduction of the system
- The project consisted of two teams, one from the
business side and one technical.
- decision about the number and names of included
stations - decision about possible utterances and phrases
(London Liverpool Street vs Liverpool Street
London) - decision about foreign stations
- Recording of the station names by employees from
all over Germany - Connection to the mainframe
DB-insider
13Introduction of the system
- The project consisted of two teams, one from the
business side and one technical.
- Implementation of the dialogue by the vendor
- programming and training of the recogniser
- connection to the ACD via DPNSS
- Recording of the prompts
partners
14Introduction of the system
Elements
Prompts
Caller utterances
Herzlich Willkommen beim ReiseDialogSystem der
Deutschen Bahn! Wenn Sie schon mit dem System
vertraut sind, sagen Sie weiter.
Weiter.
shake hands
Bitte nennen Sie Ihren Abfahrtsbahnhof. Bitte
nennen Sie Ihren Zielbahnhof. Sie möchten also
von Bremen Hauptbahnhof nach Hannover
Hauptbahnhof fahren?
Bremen Hauptbahnhof. Hannover
Hauptbahnhof. Ja.
Station prompt
An welchem Tag möchten Sie abfahren? Um welche
Uhrzeit möchten Sie abfahren? Sie möchten also
am 20. März um 0700 Uhr abfahren?
20.03. 700 Uhr Ja.
Date and time prompt
Es gibt die folgende Verbindung Am 20. März mit
Inter Regio 2581 um 0709 Uhr von Bremen HBF,
Ankunft in Hannover HBF um 0814 Uhr. Möchten Sie
früher, später oder wiederholen?
Weiter.
Train connection
Sie können nun einen der folgende Punkte
auswählen Rückfahrt suchen, Zeit eingeben,
Verbindung suchen, Ende. Vielen Dank für
Ihren Anruf. Wir wünschen Ihnen eine gute Reise.
Auf Wiederhören.
Ende.
termination
15Usability trials
- The system was tested by an external market
research company.
A. Studiotest with 200 persons (group of future
customers) in Munich and Cologne
B. discussion in two rows (Frankfurt)
C. test of the speech recogniser
16Usability trials
17Usability trials
- The people were asked about their satisfaction
and the ease of use.
18Lessons learned
- The introduction of the system led to mixed
reactions within the public, the customers
reacted calmly.
- high percentage of frequent users ( about 15)
- 2000 callers per day without any communication
campaign - call transfers rate at 2 percent
- harsh reaction from the yellow press
- tests from the media show criticism in both ways
( good system vs. stupid machine)
19Lessons learned
- Because of the mixed reactions we decided to
improve the system and put it up to a new
usability trial within spotlight.
- Integration of all 7800 German stations
- Optimisation of the dialogue
- Create a general acceptance for speech based
recognition in Germany - Look into dialogue of other players in the
industry
20Lessons learned
- The usability trial in November 2000 led to
interesting results forthe Deutsche Bahn.
- System is seen as an alternative for direct
train connection, the length of the train
connection prompt is the key influence for the
efficiency - system is too complex for people with a low level
of education - 80 of the calls were successful
- a huge majority of people prefer the call-centre
service to the IVR system - There were less problems with the date and time
prompt - people were missing information about prices and
platforms
21Lessons learned
- Deutsche Bahn will take a conservative approach
to develop the next services.
Integration with call centres
time
22Questions
?