A system and method for providing fast and efficient conversation
navigation via a hierarchical structure (structure skeleton) which fully
describes functions and services supported by a dialog (conversational)
system. In one aspect, a conversational system and method is provided to
pre-load dialog menus and target addresses to their associated dialog
managing procedures in order to handle multiple or complex modes,
contexts or applications. For instance, a content server (web site) (106)
can download a skeleton or tree structure (109) describing the content
(page) (107) or service provided by the server (106) when the client
(100) connects to the server (106). The skeleton is hidden (not spoken)
to the user but the user can advance to a page of interest, or to a
particular dialog service, by uttering a voice command which is
recognized by the conversational system reacting appropriately (as per
the user's command) using the information contained within the skeleton.
The skeleton (109) provides the necessary information to allow a user to
quickly browse through multiple pages, dialog components, or NLU dialog
forms to find information of interest without having to follow and listen
to every possible page or form leading to a desired service or
conversational transaction.