Abstract: A server system receives requests from client systems and sends responses back to the client systems. For a subset of the requests, in addition to responding to a request from a client system, the method includes creating a cryptographic object at the server system. The cryptographic object is used to cryptographically protect information related to the request, and the cryptographically protected information associated with the cryptographic object is stored at the server system. The server system then sends the cryptographic object to the client system, and in conjunction with sending the cryptographic object to the client system, irreversibly modifies the cryptographic object on the server system. For example, in some embodiments the cryptographic object includes an cryptographic key, and the server system deletes or truncates the only instances of the cryptographic object on the server system when the server system finishes responding to the request from the client system.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for creating modifiable and combinable Speech Objects for use in an interactive voice response (IVR) environment. Each Speech Object is for acquiring a particular type of information from a speaker during an interaction between the speaker and a speech recognition mechanism. A Speech Object is an instantiation of a user-extensible class that includes properties, such as prompts and grammars, associated with the corresponding type of interaction. A Speech Object further includes logic for controlling the interaction with the user when executed in a processing system. A Speech Object can be subclassed to add additional properties and functionality to create customized Speech Objects, or such properties can be altered at runtime. Multiple Speech Objects, each for acquiring a particular type of information, can be combined to form a compound Speech Object.