a system for conducting a telephonic speech recognition application includes an automated telephone device for making telephonic contact with a respondent and a speech recognition device which , upon the telephonic contact being made , presents the respondent with at least one introductory prompt for the respondent to reply to ; receives a spoken response from the respondent ; and performs a speech recognition analysis on the spoken response to determine a capability of the respondent to complete the application . if the speech recognition device , based on the spoken response to the introductory prompt , determines that the respondent is capable of competing the application , the speech recognition device presents at least one application prompt to the respondent . if the speech recognition device , based on the spoken response to the introductory prompt , determines that the respondent is not capable of completing the application , the speech recognition system presents instructions on completing the application to the respondent .