interactive voice response
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Author(s):  
Héctor A. Sánchez-Hevia ◽  
Roberto Gil-Pita ◽  
Manuel Utrilla-Manso ◽  
Manuel Rosa-Zurera

AbstractThis paper analyses the performance of different types of Deep Neural Networks to jointly estimate age and identify gender from speech, to be applied in Interactive Voice Response systems available in call centres. Deep Neural Networks are used, because they have recently demonstrated discriminative and representation capabilities in a wide range of applications, including speech processing problems based on feature extraction and selection. Networks with different sizes are analysed to obtain information on how performance depends on the network architecture and the number of free parameters. The speech corpus used for the experiments is Mozilla’s Common Voice dataset, an open and crowdsourced speech corpus. The results are really good for gender classification, independently of the type of neural network, but improve with the network size. Regarding the classification by age groups, the combination of convolutional neural networks and temporal neural networks seems to be the best option among the analysed, and again, the larger the size of the network, the better the results. The results are promising for use in IVR systems, with the best systems achieving a gender identification error of less than 2% and a classification error by age group of less than 20%.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Kuei Lin ◽  
Caroline Richardson ◽  
Iulia Dobrin ◽  
Rodica Pop-Busui ◽  
Gretchen Piatt ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Little is known about the feasibility of mobile health (mHealth) support among people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) using advanced diabetes technologies including continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and hybrid closed-loop insulin pumps (HCLs). OBJECTIVE To evaluate patient access and openness to receiving mHealth diabetes support in people with T1D using CGMs/HCLs. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional survey among T1D patients using CGMs or HCLs managed in an academic medical center. Participants reported information regarding their mobile device usage, cellular call/text message/internet connectivity, and openness to various channels of mHealth communication (smartphone applications or “apps”, text messages, and interactive voice response calls or IVR calls). Participants’ demographic characteristics and CGM data were collected from medical records. Analyses focused on differences in openness to mHealth and mHealth communication channels across groups defined by demographic variables and measures of glycemic control. RESULTS Among all participants (n=310; 64% female; mean age: 45 (SD:16)), 98% reported active cellphone use, and 80% were receptive to receiving mHealth support to improve glucose control. Among participants receptive to mHealth support, 98% were willing to share CGM glucose data for mHealth diabetes self-care assistance. Most (71%) were open to receiving messages via apps, 56% were open to text messages, and 12% were open to IVR calls. Older participants were more likely to prefer text messages (P=0.009) and IVR (P=0.03) than younger participants. CONCLUSIONS Most people with T1D who use advanced diabetes technologies have access to cell phones and are receptive to receiving mHealth support to improve diabetes control. CLINICALTRIAL Not applicable


10.2196/29494 ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e29494
Author(s):  
Mohanraj Thirumalai ◽  
Nashira Brown ◽  
Soumya Niranjan ◽  
Sh'Nese Townsend ◽  
Mary Anne Powell ◽  
...  

Background Increased physical activity (PA) levels are associated with reduced risk and improved survival for several cancers; however, most Americans engage in less than the recommended levels of PA. Using interactive voice response (IVR) systems to provide personalized health education and counseling may represent a high-reach, low-cost strategy for addressing physical inactivity and cancer disparities in disproportionately burdened rural regions. However, there has been a paucity of research conducted in this area to date. Objective The aim of this study is to design, develop, and test the usability of an IVR system aimed at increasing PA levels in the rural Alabama Black Belt. Methods A pilot version of the IVR system was used to assess initial feasibility and acceptability. Detailed exit interviews were conducted to elicit participant feedback, which helped inform the development of a substantially upgraded in-house IVR system. This refined IVR system was then subjected to a sequential explanatory mixed methods evaluation. Participating rural county coordinators and research staff (N=10) tested the usability of the IVR system features for 2 weeks and then completed the System Usability Scale and qualitative semistructured interviews. Results The study sample comprised mostly African American people, women, rural county coordinators, and research staff (N=10). Participants rated the IVR system with a mean score of 81 (SD 5) on the System Usability Scale, implying excellent usability. In total, 5 overarching themes emerged from the qualitative interviews: likes or dislikes of the intervention, barriers to or facilitators of PA, technical difficulties, quality of calls, and suggestions for intervention improvement. Message framing on step feedback, call completion incentives, and incremental goal-setting challenges were areas identified for improvement. The positive areas highlighted in the interviews included the personalized call schedules, flexibility to call in or receive a call, ability to make up for missed calls, narration, and PA tips. Conclusions The usability testing and feedback received from the rural county coordinators and research staff helped inform a final round of refinement to the IVR system before use in a large randomized controlled trial. This study stresses the importance of usability testing of all digital health interventions and the benefits it can offer to the intervention.


Author(s):  
Kate K. Mays ◽  
James E. Katz ◽  
Jacob Groshek

People around the world who seek to interact with large organisations increasingly find they must do so via mediated and automated communication. Organisations often deploy both mediated and automated platforms, such as instant messaging and interactive voice response systems (IVRs), for efficiency and cost-savings. Customer and client responses to these systems range from delight to frustration. To better understand the factors affecting people's satisfaction with these systems, we conducted a representative U.S. national survey (N = 1321). We found that people overwhelmingly like and trust in-person customer service compared to mediated and automated modalities. As to demographic attitude predictors, age was important (older respondents liked mediated systems less), but income and education were not strong attitude predictors. For personality variables, innovativeness was positively associated with mediated system satisfaction. However, communication apprehensiveness, which we expected to be related to satisfaction, was not. We conclude by discussing implications for the burgeoning field of human-machine communication, as well as social policy, equity, and the pullulating digital services divide.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260435
Author(s):  
Ashish Lamichhane ◽  
Shubheksha Rana ◽  
Krishna Shrestha ◽  
Rakshya Paudyal ◽  
Parash Malla ◽  
...  

Introduction There is a paucity of data on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on girls and young women. The study examines the prevalence and correlates of violence and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) service disruption among girls and young women during COVID-19 restrictions and lockdown. Methods An interactive voice response survey was conducted among girls and women aged 18–24 years between 10th March to 24th April 2021. The survey enrolled 1314 participants. Descriptive analysis was used to assess prevalence of violence and SRH service disruption. Two sampled test of proportion was used to asses difference in prevalence of violence before and after the pandemic. Logistic regression was used to examine relationship between the outcome variables and socio demographic predictors. Results The study did not find significant difference in prevalence of violence before and after the pandemic. Education was found to be protective against experience of both physical and sexual violence after the pandemic. Dalit participants were four times more likely to report physical violence after the pandemic than Brahmin/Chhetri participants (OR:3.80; CI:1.41–10.24). Participants from 22-24-year age group were twice as likely to experience sexual violence compared to girls and participants from 18-21year age group (OR:2.25; CI:1.04–4.84). Participants from urban municipalities were 29% less likely to report SRH services disruption than participants from rural municipalities (OR-0.71, 95% CI: 0.55–0.91). Participants with disability were twice as likely to report disruption than participants without disability (OR-2.35, 95% CI: 1.45–3.82). Conclusions To reduce violence against girls and women due to the pandemic, interventions should focus on Dalit women and on preventing education discontinuation among girls and women. SRH service during the pandemic needs to be improved for girls and women with focus on girls and women from rural municipalities and girls and women with disability.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix Ndashimye ◽  
Oumarou Hebie ◽  
Jasper Tjaden

Phone surveys have increasingly become important data collection tools in developing countries, particularly in the context of sudden contact restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Phone surveys offer particular potential for migration scholars aiming to study cross-border migration behavior. Geographic change of location over time complicates the logistics of face-to-face surveys and heavily increases costs. There is, however, limited evidence of the effectiveness of the phone survey modes in different geographic settings more generally, and in migration research more specifically. In this field experiment, we compared the response rates between WhatsApp—a relatively new but increasingly important survey mode—and interactive voice response (IVR) modes, using a sample of 8446 contacts in Senegal and Guinea. At 12%, WhatsApp survey response rates were nearly eight percentage points lower than IVR survey response rates. However, WhatsApp offers higher survey completion rates, substantially lower costs and does not introduce more sample selection bias compared to IVR. We discuss the potential of WhatsApp surveys in low-income contexts and provide practical recommendations for field implementation.


Author(s):  
Nyamwaya Munthali ◽  
Rico Lie ◽  
Ron Van Lammeren ◽  
Annemarie Van Paassen ◽  
Richard Asare ◽  
...  

Information and communication technologies (ICTs), specifically those that are digital and interactive, present opportunities for enhanced intermediation between actors in Ghana’s agricultural extension system. To understand these opportunities, this study investigates the capabilities of ICTs in support of seven forms of intermediation in the context of agricultural extension: disseminating (information), retrieving (information), harvesting (information), matching (actors to services), networking (among actors), coordinating (actors), and co-creating (among actors). The study identifies the types of ICTs currently functioning in Ghana’s agricultural system, and applies a Delphi-inspired research design to determine the consensus and dissensus of researchers, scientists, and practitioners about the potential of these ICTs to support each of the seven intermediation capabilities. The findings reveal that experts reached consensus that interactive voice response (IVR) technologies currently have the highest potential to support disseminating, retrieving, harvesting, and matching. Meanwhile, social media messaging (SMM) technologies are currently seen as highly capable of supporting coordinating and, to a lesser extent, co-creating, but no consensus is reached on the potential of any of the technologies to support networking.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 803-803
Author(s):  
Maija Reblin ◽  
Miranda Jones ◽  
Eli Iacob ◽  
Djin Tay ◽  
Kristin Cloyes ◽  
...  

Abstract Patient symptom management is a fundamental goal of cancer home hospice care. However, informal family caregivers, who are primarily responsible for daily patient care, also experience negative symptoms, especially at the end of the patient’s life. While research has attended to patient symptom progression in home hospice, little research focuses on caregiver symptoms. To address this, we examined the frequency of both patient and caregiver symptoms to determine how these symptoms change in the last two months of the patient’s life. Sixty-three cancer hospice caregivers from 4 US states prospectively reported daily patient and caregiver symptoms via an Interactive Voice Response phone system. We analyzed data from up to the last 60 days of the patient’s life. Most caregivers were female (71.4%), Caucasian (88.9%), spouses of the patient (46%); average age was 59 years old (SD=13). Patients were mostly female (54%), with diverse solid tumor cancer diagnoses, and 72 years old (SD=11) on average. Most commonly reported moderate-to-severe patient symptoms were fatigue (67%), pain (47.5%), and loss in appetite (42.3%). Most common moderate-to-severe caregiver symptoms were fatigue (57.8%), trouble sleeping (45.1%), anxiety (52%), and depression (40.4%). Patient and caregiver symptoms were significantly correlated (Pearson r = .51, p<.001). Mixed-effects models found that both patient and caregiver symptoms (collapsed by week) worsened as patient death approached (ps <.01). Researchers and clinicians who are aware of the strong relationship between patient and caregiver symptoms are best able to address caregiver symptoms as part of hospice care, particularly as patient death approaches.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 182-182
Author(s):  
Rifky Tkatch ◽  
Lizi Wu ◽  
Laurie Albright ◽  
Michael McGinn ◽  
Charlotte Yeh ◽  
...  

Abstract Older adults are often underrepresented in the health promotion literature, in part due to challenges in recruiting older adults for such studies. Aging Strong 2020 was specifically designed to address the health needs of older adults. A subset of adults aged 65 and older with an AARP Medicare Supplement plan insured by UnitedHealthcare were recruited for participation in one of eight interventions. Recruitment lists for each program were drawn from a pool previously screened for loneliness, purpose in life, optimism, and resilience, administered by an interactive voice response (IVR) telephone survey. Recruitment efforts were multifaceted and included emails, direct mailers, and phone calls. Incentives ranging from $25-$100 for completing surveys did not correspond with higher recruitment rates. Overall, recruitment phone calls reached 28,058(32%) individuals on the recruitment lists; a total of 1,766 participated, demonstrating that targeted efforts to recruit older adults for research opportunities can be successful.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Eitzinger

Agricultural development projects often struggle to show impact because they lack agile and cost-effective data collection tools and approaches. Due to the lack of real-time feedback data, they are not responsive to emerging opportunities during project implementation and often miss the needs of beneficiaries. This study evaluates the application of the 5Q approach (5Q). It shows findings from analyzing more than 37,000 call log records from studies among five countries. Results show that response rate and completion status for interactive voice response (IVR) surveys vary between countries, survey types, and survey topics. The complexity of question trees, the number of question blocks in a tree, and the total call duration are relevant parameters to improve response and survey completion rate. One of the main advantages of IVR surveys is low cost and time efficiency. The total cost for operating 1,000 calls of 5 min each in five countries was 1,600 USD. To take full advantage of 5Q, questions and question-logic trees must follow the principle of keeping surveys smart and simple and aligned to the project's theory of change and research questions. Lessons learned from operating the IVR surveys in five countries show that the response rate improves through quality control of the phone contact database, using a larger pool of phone numbers to reach the desired target response rate, and using project communication channels to announce the IVR surveys. Among other things, the respondent's first impression is decisive. Thus, the introduction and the consent request largely determine the response and completion rate.


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