Abstract: A system and method for customizing the operating characteristics of a speech recognition system with characteristics of a user device. The user device transmits information representing the operating characteristics of itself to the speech recognition system. The speech recognition system determines the speech characteristics of the user device from this information. The speech recognition system obtains the speech characteristics relating to the device from a database and configures the speech recognition system with these characteristics.

Abstract: The user interface in an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system is dynamically controlled, based upon the level of confidence in the results of the ASR process. In one embodiment, the system is arranged to distinguish error prone ASR interpretations from those likely to be correct, using a degree of confidence in the output of the ASR system determined as a function of the difference between the confidence in the "first choice" selected by the ASR system and the confidence in the "second choice" selected by the ASR system. In this embodiment, the user interface is arranged so that the explicit verification steps taken by the system as a result of uncertain information is different from the action taken when the confidence is high. In addition, different treatment can be provided based upon the "consequences" of misinterpretation as well as the historical performance of the system with respect to the specific user whose speech is being processed.