Access - automated call center through speech understanding system

This paper will describe the results of a high sophisticated speech application project. ACCeSS1 is an EU project with Greek and German partners. Our Greek partners are Knowledge S.A. and the University of Patras. In this paper we report about the German application of the project. The project addresses a first step for automation of call centers for personal intensive applications in insurances. New forms of insurance operation are more and more using the telephone or direct mailing for the contact between an insurance and its customers. This makes the business more efficient and more direct than the classical operation with agents. Routine contractual details can easily be handled in such a way and all other cases of insurance actions can be realised with such communication media, too. A direct insurance company running a large call center is involved in the project and pays attention to the functionality of the system. The user needs are analysed using Wizard-of-Oz experiments. The system structure, a sketch of the algorithms and modules, and first results of evaluation will be given.