Abstract: A speech recognition system prompts a user to provide a first utterance, which is recorded. Speech recognition is performed on the first user utterance to yield a recognition result. The user is prompted to provide a second user utterance, which is recorded, processed and compared to the first utterance to detect at least one acoustic difference. The acoustic model used by the speech recognition engine is modified as a function of the acoustic difference.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for voice message editing, particularly a method and apparatus for splicing voicemails sections together. A system, method and computer program product are described for forming a voice message on an interactive voice response system (IVR) spoken by a user including recording a first voice message where the user speaks the first voice message but makes an error in a last portion of the first voice message. A second voice message is recorded where the user speaks the last portion again without the error. Splice points are determined in the first and second voice messages. The first and second voice messages are spliced at the splice points such that the spliced first and second voice message is a continuous voice message including the last portion but not including the error.

Abstract: An automatic speech recognition (ASR) system includes a speech-responsive application and a recognition engine. The ASR system generates user prompts to elicit certain spoken inputs, and the speech-responsive application performs operations when the spoken inputs are recognised. The recognition engine compares sounds within an input audio signal with phones within an acoustic model, to identify candidate matching phones. A recognition confidence score is calculated for each candidate matching phone, and the confidence scores are used to help identify one or more likely sequences of matching phones that appear to match a word within the grammar of the speech-responsive application. The per-phone confidence scores are evaluated against predefined confidence score criteria (for example, identifying scores below a ‘low confidence’ threshold) and the results of the evaluation are used to influence subsequent selection of user prompts.

Abstract: An interactive voice response method and system comprising a VoiceXML browser for processing an interaction with a user. A music score (for example a MIDI file) describing background music for playing during the interaction, and a music synthesizer for generating background music from the music score and from acoustic parameters are included. Acoustic parameters are generated whereby the music synthesizer may be controlled independently of the music score to change the audio environment during an interaction.