ENHANCED MULTI-LINGUAL PROMPT MANAGEMENT IN A VOICE MESSAGING SYSTEM WITH SUPPORT FOR SPEECH RECOGNITION

A plurality of subsets of prompt definitions associated with a particular language are stored in a memory for access by a system, such as a voice messaging system, that plays prompts according to such prompt definitions during execution of a call flow. Subsets can be created that contain prompt definitions that apply during only parts of the call flow, and different subsets can contain modified forms of the prompt definitions in other subsets. One of the subsets is designated as a base subset. During execution of a call flow, in addition to the base subset, one of the other subsets can be designated as an alternate subset. After that point in the call flow, the system responds to a request to play a particular prompt by first searching the alternate subset to determine whether it contains a prompt definition for the requested prompt, and if so, plays the prompt according to the prompt definition in that alternate subset. If the alternate subset does not contain a prompt definition for the requested prompt, then the system searches the base subset for a prompt definition for the requested prompt and, if found, plays the prompt according to the prompt definition in the base subset. By creating subsets that contain only those prompts that apply during particular parts of a call flow, both memory and disk storage requirements are reduced.