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RoomLine
[developed by Dan Bohus]

RoomLine is a spoken dialog system that provides assistance for conference room reservation and scheduling within the School of Computer Science at CMU. The system has access to information about the availability and various characteristics (e.g. size, location, A/V equipment, etc) of 13 conference rooms in Wean Hall and Newell Simon Hall. RoomLine can find the list of available rooms which match the user's initial set of constraints, and can engage in a follow-up negotiation dialogue to present this information and identify the room that best satisfies the user's needs.

You can try the system out at the following numbers:
1-412-268-1084
1-877-CMU-PLAN

The system is now connected live to the CorporateTime database. It can therefore perform reservations for registered users on the CorporateTime server. If you are interested in becoming a registered user, please email roomline@cs.cmu.edu. Please specify in your email a preferred 4-digit pin number which you will need to authenticate with the system.
 
Download

A version of the RoomLine system is available for download. This version uses a simulated room schedule database (no external connections to the CMU CorporateTime server are allowed). Also, you will need a running Festival speech synthesis server (the CMU version of the RoomLine system uses a commercial synthesizer - Cepstral - which we cannot distribute).

 
How to interact with the system

Speak clearly and naturally.
Do not speak too quickly or too slowly.
You can interrupt the system at any time by saying anything you wish.
If you need to make a correction, just restate the new information. For example, if you'd like a room in the afternoon instead of morning you can simply say, I'd like a room in the afternoon...

Here are some things you could say:
I need a small room in Newell Simon tomorrow morning.
Do you have any rooms available Friday between ten and eleven a.m.?
I'd like to book a room for next Wednesday.
I need a room that can accommodate fifty people and has a projector.

Commands you can use at any time:
If you are stuck and need help, just say Help!
To hear the last system response again, say Repeat!
You can also say Where are we? and What can I say? to find out more about the system state or other things you can say at a given point.
If you want to restart the conversation from the beginning, say Start-over!
If you want to temporarily suspend the conversation, say Suspend! To continue the conversation, say Resume!
 
Sample conversations with RoomLine

Here are a couple of recorded conversations with Roomline: [sample-1 (wav)] [sample-2 (wav)]
Below are two typed interactions with the system:

S: Welcome to RoomLine, the automated conference room reservation system within S C S. How may I help you today?
U: I need a room for next Friday morning
S: I need you to be more specific and tell me precisely from what time until what time you need the room.
U: Help! 
S: I am currently trying to gather enough information from you to make a conference room reservation. So far, I know you want a room for Friday, May seventh. I understood you want the room in the morning, but I need you to be more specific and tell me precisely from what time until what time you need the room. You can say something like 'from nine until eleven'.
U: from ten until eleven thirty 
S: I found 4 rooms available Friday, May seventh between 10 and 11:30 a.m. Would you like a small or a large room?
U: I want one which can seat thirty people
S: 2 of these 4 rooms can accommodate 30 people: Newell Simon 1507, and Wean Hall 4623. Would you like a reservation for any of these rooms?
U: sure
S: Which room do you want?
U: what were the rooms again?
S: The list of available rooms we are discussing is : Newell Simon 1507, and Wean Hall 4623. These rooms are available Friday, May seventh between 10 and 11:30 a.m. Which room do you want?
U: which one has a projector?
S: Both these rooms have projection units. Which room do you want?
U: I'll take any of them
S: One choice would be Newell Simon 1507. This room can accommodate 50 people, and has a projector, a whiteboard and network access. Do you want a reservation for Newell Simon 1507?
U: sure
S: Okay, I will now make the reservation for Newell Simon 1507. Could I have your name please? If you are not registered with the system, just say 'guest'.
U: guest
S: Okay, I have successfully completed the reservation. Would you like me to summarize it for you?
U: yes please
S: I have reserved Newell Simon 1507 for Friday, May 7th, between 10 and 11:30 a.m. This room can accommodate 50 people, and has a projector, a whiteboard and network access. Is there anything else I could do for you today?
U: no
S: Before concluding this session, I need you to answer one question. Are you satisfied with your interaction with the system?
U: yes
S: Thank you for calling. Have a nice day.


S: Welcome to RoomLine, the automated conference room reservation system within S C S. How may I help you today?
U: I want to book a room
S: For when do you need the conference room?
U: uh I haven't really I don't know let's say Monday
S: The date you gave me was ambiguous: did you mean today or Monday, May third ?
U: I meant next Monday 
S: For what time do you need the room?
U: From two in the afternoon
S: Until what time will you need this conference room?
U: I think I'll need it for two hours probably 
S: I found 5 rooms available Monday, May 3rd between 2 and 4 p.m. Would you like a small or a large room?
U: a small one would do
S: 2 of these 5 rooms are relatively small: Newell Simon 4513, and 3501. Would you like a reservation for any of these rooms?
U: as long as they have a projector
S: Both these rooms have projection units. Which room do you want?
U: i don't really care any of them would be okay
S: One choice would be Newell Simon 4513. This room can accommodate 15 people, and has a projector, a whiteboard and network access.  Do you want a reservation for Newell Simon 4513?
U: actually what's the other one?
S: The last available room is Newell Simon 3501. This room can accommodate 17 people, and has a projector, a whiteboard and network access. Do you want a reservation for Newell Simon 3501?
U: no
S: Okay. We have now reached the end of the list of 2 rooms I had available. Do you still want a reservation for any of them?
U: what can I say?
S: If you want a reservation for one of these rooms, please tell me the room you would like. You could also say 'I'll take any room' if they look equally good. If you do not want a reservation for
one of these rooms, just say 'no'.
U: no
S: I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Is there something else I could help with today?
U: no thanks
S: Before concluding this session, I need you to answer one question. Are you satisfied with your interaction with the system?
U: no
S: Thank you for calling. Have a nice day.