Directory Enquiries
Directory Enquiries
In telecommunications, directory enquiry or directory enquiries is a phone service used to find out a specific telephone number and/or address of a residence, business, or government entity.
Technology
Directory enquiry systems incorporate a wide range of automation to reduce the cost of human operators. Almost all systems use custom database software to locate listings quickly.
Most directory enquiry systems use automated readback systems to give out the phone number. This frees the directory enquiry operator to move on to another caller as soon as the correct listing is located.
Some systems have "store and forward" technology which records "city and state" the caller is requesting and then plays the city and state speech to the operator before they come online and then say "Residential or business listing?" or simply "What listing please?"
Interactive voice response systems have been added to many directory enquiry systems. These complex systems use speech recognition and recorded speech or speech synthesis to handle the entire call without live operator intervention.
Most systems recognize location and listing. If recognition confidence is high, the best result is played to the caller. If confidence is low, the caller's request is played back to a live operator, who locates the correct listing.