The development of a command-based speech interface for a telephone answering machine

This paper reports the design of a command-based speech interface for an answering machine or a voice mail system. Automatic speech recognition was integrated in order to facilitate the remote control and the retrieval of voice messages from any telephone in a speech-only dialogue. The design goal was that consumers would perceive the speech interface as a benefit compared with the common touch-tone interface. In this paper we will first describe the speech technology underlying the system. Then it will be shown how, based on this technology, the user interface was designed in a top-down approach. We started with the development of a concept and tested it by means of a Wizard-of-Oz simulation. After refining the concept in parallel design, it was implemented in a high-fidelity prototype. By means of qualitative user testing the design was improved in three iteration steps. The achievement of the design goal was finally verified with user tests in two countries.