Computer assisted telephony system

Abstract

Telephones have high reach both in developed and developing countries that have made it a preferred tool for collecting and disseminating information. Voice based information collection systems o ffers data collection at low cost and save time that is needed to reach a human. Due to high teledensity, voice based systems have been very e ffective and have emerged as promising tools for facilitating data collection and community interaction in developing nations where the Internet penetration and literacy level is low. Such voice based telephony systems can be improved by assistance from the computer system integrated with the data collector's telephone. We are explaining the development and deployment of computer-assisted telephony system (CATS) to conduct interviews with patients at Grant Medical College and Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy Group of Hospitals (a.k.a. JJ Hospital) Mumbai, India. This work presents the benefi t of CATS over standalone telephonic surveys. In order to further take the leverage of CATS, we pro- pose to develop automated telephonic data collection system. A prototype of same is evaluated in a lab study with low-literates. We discuss the results of the study conducted, requirements and benefi ts of fully automated system.