Applying user preferences, behavioral patterns and/or environmental factors to an automated customer support application

An apparatus comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive an inquiry from a user device;
• a processor configured to
• identify and authorizing the user device from the received inquiry,
• retrieve a user profile from memory comprising history information based on previous interactions between the user device and an interactive voice response (IVR) system,
• identify a plurality of terms associated with at least one predefined topic in the history information, and
• calculate at least one weighted interest based on the plurality of terms associated with the at least one predefined topic,
• wherein the calculated weighted interest is based on an assigned weight value proportional to a number of times the plurality of terms appear;
• calculate a prediction as to a purpose for the received inquiry, based on the at least one weighted interest;
• and
• a transmitter configured to transmit a response to the received inquiry based on the calculated prediction.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform:

• receiving an inquiry from a user device at an interactive voice response (IVR) system;
• identifying and authorizing the user device from the received inquiry;
• retrieving a user profile from memory comprising history information based on previous interactions between the user device and the IVR system;
• identifying a plurality of terms associated with at least one predefined topic in the history information;
• calculating at least one weighted interest based on the plurality of terms associated with the at least one predefined topic;
• wherein the calculated weighted interest is based on an assigned weight value proportional to a number of times the plurality of terms appear;
• calculating a prediction as to a purpose for the received inquiry, based on the at least one weighted interest;
• and
• transmitting a response to the received inquiry based on the calculated prediction.