Indexing Dimensional Data for Use With Voice-Enabled Content


To enable Mobile Voice, you must create a dimensional data procedure in each domain to define dimensions that will be used to search your repository content. These dimensions are the parameters that Mobile Voice should prompt for when running a search. The InfoSearch Index Builder creates a dimensional data procedure that gets loaded into the search index of the domain.

In your browser, navigate to the InfoSearch Index Builder page, using the following link:

https://machine:port/ibi_apps/ibxtools/explore/dimidxbuilder.jsp

where:

machine

   Is the network ID of your computer.

port

   Is the number of the port that connects your computer to the server hosting WebFOCUS.

Note: You must be signed in to your WebFOCUS environment in order to access the InfoSearch Index Builder.

The InfoSearch Index Builder opens, as shown in the following image.

InfoSearch Index Builder

Here, you must select the Domain in which you are defining data for the index, a Master File that provides dimension values, and the fields that you want to include.

When you build the dimensional data procedure, you must select a Field Name and Title for each value that you define. Note that if there is already a value for TITLE in your Master File, the Title box will automatically be populated with that information.

Optionally, you can specify a Code Name value that ties two associated values together so one can be used in place of the other in your query. For example, if your data contains values for a store, such as a number (or code) and name, you can select these values in the dimensional data procedure so that whenever a store number value appears in your content, it automatically uses the store name in the Mobile Voice response.

You may also have data values that have the same or a similar name, such as cities in different states. For example, let’s say you are working with data values for City Name, and are aware that certain city names can be found in more than one state, such as Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. In this scenario, the data value that correctly determines what report you are trying to run is State Name. However, setting this in the dimensional data procedure does not ensure that your query will reflect the appropriate information. To be sure that Mobile Voice outputs the correct data, both of these data values should be set as parameters in your report, which then prompts you for both of these values before responding to your query, and State Name should be set as the Qualifying field in the InfoSearch Index Builder. For an example on creating multiple parameters for a report, see Creating a Talking Report With Required Parameters.

Once you have identified the dimensions that you want to load into the index, click Save. This enables you to choose the domain and specify the name of your procedure.

While you are building the components of your index, you may come across additional scenarios that should be taken into consideration. These scenarios can include:

  • Synonyms in your data that may not easily be recognized by Mobile Voice, such as “1st” versus “First”.
  • Multiple data values with the same stem or root word, such as television and televisions.

With your WebFOCUS installation, you have access to WebFOCUS Magnify search technology, an Information Builders enterprise business intelligence search tool that you can use to create and find business content across an organization. Whether or not you have a WebFOCUS Magnify license, you can use components of this technology to enhance the Mobile Voice experience for your users.

To expand search beyond a single domain, you must load the same dimensional data procedure to each domain that shares the data that you want to index.

The final step in creating your index is running the procedure from the WebFOCUS Home Page. Close the InfoSearch Index Builder, and return to the WebFOCUS Home Page.

Right-click your dimensional data procedure and click Run. This generates the Domain search index, confirms the location of the procedure, and that it was generated successfully. An example of this message is shown in the following image.

Success message

You can now begin assigning intent phrases to each content item that you want to be accessible with Mobile Voice.