Methods and apparatus for providing context and experience sensitive help in voice applications

摘要

Systems and techniques for improved user prompting in the event of voice recognition failures. A system according to one aspect of the invention includes a central server hosting various modules employing voice recognition in order to interpret user inputs. When a module fails to recognize an input, it invokes a help application that selects an appropriate help prompt. The help application has access to user information including information indicating the user's experience with each function of each module. The help application receives notification of the module and function being used when the unrecognized input was received and examines the user information to determine the user's experience with the module and function. The help application categorizes a user as belonging to an experience category, such as novice, intermediate and expert based on the user's experience with the function and selects a help prompt associated with the user's experience with the function. <IMAGE>