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Dave Barta
Manager, Telecom Services
dbarta@uoregon.edu
Too busy to look up a colleague's phone number? Now you don't have to.
Dial 6-0000 from any campus phone and a slightly stuffy voice we call Ernest(ine) will ask you to state the name of the university employee you're calling. When you do, the UO's new Ernest(ine) voice recognition directory will interpret your request and transfer the call.
The new directory performs this task correctly approximately 95 percent of the time. If it doesn't understand you, it will offer some reasonable options (for example, if you've asked for a name that matches more than one UO employee, Ernest(ine) will list all the matching names together with their departments and ask you to pick the right one).
Ernest(ine) is a speech recognition system manufactured by Phonetic Systems which UO Telecom Services installed over the last few months with help from Computing Center programming staff. It is one more piece of an evolving suite of integrated campus directory systems that also includes the printed telephone directory, the online web directory, and the operator lookup system. All of these systems make use of the Computing Center's new LDAP Directory Service, which obtains data from the Banner HRIS database.
To increase its accuracy, Ernest(ine) creates logs of lookups that don't work and includes a database of nicknames and unusual pronunciations. (If you find that Ernest(ine) is mispronouncing your name, press * after Ernest(ine) has initially answered your call and the system will help you create a .wav file with the correct pronunciation. Or, call Eric Fullar at 346-5966 for assistance.)
At this point, Ernest(ine) includes listings only for departments that appear in boldfaced type in the printed directory. This database is currently being restructured to include a hierarchy of department listings and sublistings, as well as cross references and an assortment of other information compiled over the years by retired Operations supervisor Dorothy Grover. Also in the works is the installation of a new telephone number which you can call to obtain faculty and staff email addresses.
In addition to the 6-0000 number, you can reach Ernest(ine) outside normal operator services hours at the regular operator 6-1000 number. Eventually, Ernest(ine) will be the first point of contact at that number at all hours, backed up by live operators during regular working hours.
Thanks to Associate Professor Steven Hecker of the Labor Education and Research Center for his inspired choice of “Ernest(ine)” as the name of the new directory system!