Evolution of the Conversation Machine: A case study of bringing advanced technology to the marketplace

This paper describes the evolution of the Conversation Machine, a conversational speech system which allows users to carry out common banking transactions over the telephone using a conversational-style interface. The discussion is organized according to three phases of the project - the demonstration, laboratory, and customer phases. The different phases of the project had different goals and brought different design issues to the forefront. In particular, the realities of working with a customer partner have affected the design of the user interface and functionality of the system in ways not anticipated at earlier stages of the project.