parkingcarma - getting local with speech

Third levelFourth level

Fifth levelParkingCarma Helps with the Problems of:

• Congestion mitigation•Driver frustration• CO2 reduction

Speech

Distributed Application Topology


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Why Speech?

In-vehicle device penetration – new vehicles

Currently Low Percentage


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Mobile Applications & WAP• Apps require download •WAP experiences are not standard•Need data plan• Requires reading/navigating a device

while driving• “Hands-free” becoming increasingly

required


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87% Cell phone penetration rate in US

Source: CTIA


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Speech Application Overview


Fifth level“Kate” Persona

• Inbound Speech Application


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Parking Facility Search

• Input location, or POI, or event• Return nearby locations that match user’s

preferences and are currently open• Return real-time parking space availability

at select facilities


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Parking Reservations

• Reserve parking at select parking facilities• Defaults to current day, but can change• Requires billing information to be entered if

not already a registered user


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Cell Phone Payment System

• Pay for parking with cell phone at select facilities• Enter in facility code• Call once for flat rate • Call to “check-in” & “check-out” at hourly

rate facilities


Fifth levelSpeech Technology Platform

•Originally Microsoft Speech Server 2004•Migrating to OCS 2007

•Dialogic T-1 boards moving to SIP•Utilizing both Voice XML & Microsoft

Managed Workflows


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Speech Service Launched in December 2004


Fifth levelBART – Bay Area Rapid Transit Application

• Advanced reservations and mobile payment•New ridership increased by 14% at station• Reduced circling by 5 minutes per car• Reduced VMT by 9 miles per user• Average 20 users per space (oversubscribed)


Fifth levelSpecial Event Parking

• Advanced reservations & parking guidance•Offer multi and single day passes• Premium parking locations• Incentive of free movie tickets to use service


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One person had some very exasperating conversations with the voice recognition system, “Kate,” and has now mastered the strategy of “speaking softly and keying in…Kate does not like to be yelled at.”


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• 6% opt-out rate• 83% of calls in a 4 hour window Mon-Fri• 58% savings over equivalent call center reps


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Speech Application Challenges


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96% of all system users call from a cell phone

Ambient Noise in Decibels

= High false barge-in rate


Fifth levelExtremely Large Grammars

• All street names in a city• All POI names in a city• All parking facility names in a city


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Large & Unstructured Grammars Lead to Incorrect recognitions

• Vanity license plates – “b”, “3”, “e”, etc.

• Similar POI and street names

High spike in peak volume due to daily weekday commuter use


Fifth levelHow Hard Can it be?

Web Experience != VUI Experience


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Lessons Learned / Recommendations

Users will respond in ways you never expect

Monitor and adjust grammars accordingly


Fifth levelSMS / Text Additional Information

•Directions to parking facility• Parking payment receipts

IVR System

Website

Use Consistent Credential Information

Separate web password and phone PIN == confused users


Fifth levelCreate Dynamic Grammars

• Street names based upon city• Parking facility names based upon city• POI names based upon walking distance

radius of current location


Fifth levelUse Patterns to Limit Expected Input• Custom license plate recognition• Each state has a pattern of alphanumeric• California = NAAANNN

• Patterns change over time• Increased non-vanity license plate

recognition by more than 25%


Fifth levelResearch & Adjust Confirmation Needs

•More explicit confirmations• Before finalizing $$ transactions

• Less explicit confirmations• Experienced users


Fifth levelUse Professional Voice Talent

•More professional• Pre-recorded “Vocabularies” save $$•Decrease development time


Fifth levelImport Preferences from Web / CRM

•Default to “home” city•User’s favorite POI list• Preset filters for search

• Vehicle type• Price vs. distance


Fifth levelMake Decisions for Users

• Based on “called-id” we select the city•Use Caller ID to identify users•Default to most popular search types• Always allows users to override automatic

selections

Other Lessons Learned / Recommendations

• Barge-in• Balance background noise with ability

for users to expedite calls•Use “recognition” rather than sound

barge-in and limit grammars

•Use Hosted Speech Vendor• If financially makes sense

Recorded Call


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Questions?

Christian McCarrickCTOParkingCarma, Inc.(650) 281.9864

[email protected]

http://www.parkingcarma.com

parkingcarma - getting local with speech

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