A METHOD OF CONTROLLING A MULTI-PURPOSE INFORMATION QUERY COMPUTER SYSTEM

摘要

A method of configuring a multi-purpose information query computer system arranged in use to receive an information request form a remote user, to retrieve the required information and to send the same in a response via a selected one of a plurality of communications channels to the remote user is described. The method comprises defining a plurality of optimal user- interaction procedures which is specify the manner in which the system will interact with the user, each optimal user interaction procedure being correlated with a predetermined user-interaction strategy, wherein each user interaction procedure has at least one associated user query handling technique; storing the plurality of user-interaction procedures and data defining their associated user query handling techniques in a central repository; and making all the stored user-interaction procedures and the associated user query handling techniques available to a subsequent final processing step which accommodates differences in the plurality of possible communications channels to provide a consistent application of the procedure s across any channel.