U.S. patent application number 12/108935 was filed with the patent office on 2008-09-18 for seamless multiple access internet portal.
This patent application is currently assigned to AT&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc., formerly known as Bellsouth Intellectual Property. Invention is credited to Douglas R. O'Neil, Jose F. Rivera.
Application Number | 20080229399 12/108935 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33416517 |
Filed Date | 2008-09-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080229399 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
O'Neil; Douglas R. ; et
al. |
September 18, 2008 |
Seamless Multiple Access Internet Portal
Abstract
Multiple access internet portals are provided. A representative
system, among others, includes a communication facility and a
wireless internet server. The communication facility is operable to
connect to a plurality of wireless devices through a mobile
network. The wireless internet server is coupled to the
communication facility and retrieves a personalized profile
associated with a registered user an one of the plurality of
wireless devices, and provides substantially similar personalized
content to said at least one registered user on a variety of
platforms associated with the wireless devices. Methods and other
systems for multiple access portals are also provided.
Inventors: |
O'Neil; Douglas R.;
(Marietta, GA) ; Rivera; Jose F.; (Marietta,
GA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
THOMAS, KAYDEN, HORSTEMEYER & RISLEY, LLP/;AT&T Delaware Intellectual
Property, Inc.
600 GALLERIA PARKWAY, S.E., SUITE 1500
ATLANTA
GA
30339-5994
US
|
Assignee: |
AT&T Delaware Intellectual
Property, Inc., formerly known as Bellsouth Intellectual
Property
Wilmington
DE
Corporation
|
Family ID: |
33416517 |
Appl. No.: |
12/108935 |
Filed: |
April 24, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
10431753 |
May 8, 2003 |
7366795 |
|
|
12108935 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
726/5 ; 709/203;
715/727; 715/745 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 67/04 20130101;
H04L 67/22 20130101; H04L 67/2823 20130101; H04W 28/06 20130101;
H04L 67/306 20130101; H04W 4/00 20130101; H04W 4/02 20130101; H04W
8/18 20130101; H04L 67/20 20130101; H04L 67/18 20130101; H04L
69/329 20130101; H04L 67/2838 20130101; H04L 67/26 20130101; H04L
29/06 20130101; H04W 4/029 20180201; H04L 67/28 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
726/5 ; 715/745;
715/727; 709/203 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/048 20060101
G06F003/048; G06F 3/16 20060101 G06F003/16; G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16; H04L 9/32 20060101 H04L009/32 |
Claims
1. A method of providing a seamless multiple access portal
comprising: providing a profile of a user of a wireless device to a
content provider system, wherein the content provider system
collects content that is indicated to be of interest to the user by
the profile of the user and constructs a page of personalized
internet content that is formatted for use by a particular
messaging platform being used to access the wireless communication
facility; receiving the page of personalized content from the
content provider system; and transmitting the page of personalized
internet content to the wireless device, the personalized content
being substantially similar across the plurality of wireless device
platforms, wherein internet content delivered to any of the
wireless device platforms being utilized by a registered user
adheres to personal preferences for the registered user which are
included in a personalized profile for the registered user.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wireless device
platforms associated with a wireless device comprises at least two
of a wireless access protocol telephone platform, a short message
service enabled telephone platform, and a computer with wireless
high speed internet.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: retrieving the
personalized internet content from a content server, the content
server having access to the internet.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: retrieving the
personalized internet content from the internet.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: storing at least a
portion of the personalized internet content; and sending the
content to the wireless device periodically.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: prompting a user
associated with the wireless device to select a method of access
using an interactive voice response system.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: translating text
content to voice using a voice portal upon the user selecting to
use the voice portal.
8. The method of claim 6, further comprising: using a wireless
access protocol gateway to transmit the personalized internet
content to the wireless device upon the user selecting wireless
access protocol.
9. The method of claim 6, further comprising: using a short message
service center to transmit the personalized internet content to the
wireless device upon the user selecting short message service.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: allowing a user
associated with a wireless device to access the system from any of
the plurality of platforms using a single mobile identification
number and password combination via a central authentication
system.
11. A computer readable storage medium embedded with program code,
when executed by a computer, that cause the computer to perform:
providing a profile of a user of a wireless device to a content
provider system, wherein the content provider system collects
content that is indicated to be of interest to the user by the
profile of the user and constructs a page of personalized internet
content that is formatted for use by a particular messaging
platform being used to access the wireless communication facility;
receiving the page of personalized content from the content
provider system; and transmitting the page of personalized internet
content to the wireless device, the personalized content being
substantially similar across the plurality of wireless device
platforms, wherein internet content delivered to any of the
wireless device platforms being utilized by a registered user
adheres to personal preferences for the registered user which are
included in a personalized profile for the registered user.
12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the
plurality of wireless device platforms associated with a wireless
device comprises at least two of a wireless access protocol
telephone platform, a short message service enabled telephone
platform, and a computer with wireless high speed internet.
13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, the program
code causing the computer to perform: retrieving the personalized
internet content from a content server, the content server having
access to the internet.
14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, the program
code causing the computer to perform: retrieving the personalized
internet content from the internet.
15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14, the program
code causing the computer to perform: storing at least a portion of
the personalized internet content; and sending the content to the
wireless device periodically.
16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, the program
code causing the computer to perform: prompting a user associated
with the wireless device to select a method of access using an
interactive voice response system.
17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, the program
code causing the computer to perform: translating text content to
voice using a voice portal upon the user selecting to use the voice
portal.
18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, the program
code causing the computer to perform: using a wireless access
protocol gateway to transmit the personalized internet content to
the wireless device upon the user selecting wireless access
protocol.
19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, the program
code causing the computer to perform: using a short message service
center to transmit the personalized internet content to the
wireless device upon the user selecting short message service.
20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, the program
code causing the computer to perform: allowing a user associated
with a wireless device to access the system from any of the
plurality of platforms using a single mobile identification number
and password combination via a central authentication system.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of copending U.S. utility
application entitled, "Seamless Multiple Access Internet Portal,"
having Ser. No. 10/431,753, filed May 8, 2003, which is entirely
incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention is generally related to internet
connectivity, and more particularly related to multiple access
internet portals.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
[0003] The development of the internet has resulted in rapid
technology growth over the past ten years. This is particularly
true of the world-wide-web. As the world-wide-web has grown, it has
become a part of everyday life for many. Web based e-mail has
allowed people the convenience of accessing their accounts from any
terminal equipped with a web browser. Moreover, companies such as
Yahoo! and Microsoft have expanded to give users the flexibility of
providing personalized content at any web terminal worldwide.
[0004] In the past few years, it has become increasingly prevalent
to carry a wireless access protocol (WAP) enabled cellular phone.
As WAP phones have become more popular, content providers like
Microsoft have attempted to provide their services to the end user
through licensing the wireless carrier to provide the service to
their customers. However, these services often provide a disjointed
experience between platforms, and lack an integrated solution for
providing internet service to mobile customers. Thus, there is a
need for systems that overcome the above shortcomings, among
others.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] One embodiment, among others, of the present invention
provides a system for a multiple access internet portal. A
representative system, among others, includes a communication
facility and a wireless internet server. The communication facility
connects to a plurality of wireless devices through a mobile
network. The wireless internet server is coupled to the
communication facility and retrieves a personalized profile
associated with at least one registered user associated with one of
the plurality of wireless devices, and provides substantially
similar personalized content to said at least one registered user
on a variety of platforms associated with the wireless devices.
[0006] One embodiment of the present invention provides methods for
providing a seamless multiple access portal. A representative
method, among others, can include the following steps: receiving a
request for internet content from any of a plurality of wireless
device platforms associated with a wireless device; authenticating
the request from the wireless device; transmitting a personalized
internet content to the wireless device upon authentication, the
personalized internet content being substantially similar across
the plurality of wireless device platforms.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The invention can be better understood with reference to the
following drawings. The components in the drawings are not
necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly
illustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in
the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts
throughout the several views.
[0008] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment, among others, of
the present invention.
[0009] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment, among others, of
the present invention.
[0010] FIG. 3A is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart of a
method used by the system of FIG. 1.
[0011] FIG. 3B is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart of a
method used by the system of FIG. 1.
[0012] FIG. 4 is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart
illustrating the method used for e-mail delivery to short message
service telephones on the system of FIG. 1.
[0013] FIG. 5 is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart
illustrating the method used for e-mail delivery over voice on the
system of FIG. 1.
[0014] FIG. 6 is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart of
personal information manager application delivery over short
message service on the system of FIG. 1.
[0015] FIG. 7 is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart of
personal information manager application delivery over voice on the
system of FIG. 1.
[0016] FIG. 8 is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration of
a sample screen shot of a public web interface provided by the
system of FIG. 1.
[0017] FIG. 9 is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration of
a sample screen shot of a customized web interface provided by the
system of FIG. 1.
[0018] FIG. 10A is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration
of a sample screen shot of a public wireless access protocol (WAP)
interface provided by the system of FIG. 1 to a WAP enabled
device.
[0019] FIG. 10B is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration
of a sample screen shot of a sign-on WAP interface provided by the
system of FIG. 1 to a WAP enabled device.
[0020] FIG. 10C is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration
of a sample screen shot of a customized WAP interface provided by
the system of FIG. 1 to a WAP enabled device.
[0021] FIG. 10D is an embodiment, among others, of an illustration
of a sample screen shot of a customized WAP interface provided by
the system of FIG. 1 to a WAP enabled device.
[0022] FIG. 11A is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for
a regular call process used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact
with voice callers.
[0023] FIG. 11B is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for
a first call process used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with
voice callers.
[0024] FIG. 11C is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for
news content used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice
callers.
[0025] FIG. 11D is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for
sports content used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice
callers.
[0026] FIG. 11E is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for
weather content used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice
callers.
[0027] FIG. 11F is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for
joke content used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice
callers.
[0028] FIG. 11G is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for
horoscope content used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with
voice callers.
[0029] FIG. 11H is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for
entertainment content used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with
voice callers.
[0030] FIG. 11I is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for
e-mail content used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with voice
callers.
[0031] FIG. 11J is an embodiment, among others, of a flowchart for
calendar content used by the system of FIG. 1 to interact with
voice callers.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0032] The preferred embodiments of the present invention now will
be described more fully with reference to the accompanying
drawings. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different
forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set
forth herein; rather, these embodiments are intended to convey the
scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Furthermore,
all "examples" given herein are intended to be non-limiting.
[0033] Referring now to FIG. 1, shown is a block diagram
illustrating an embodiment, among others, of the present invention.
The communication facilities 100, typically include existing
equipment 102 that is operable to connect to a mobile network 104.
The existing equipment 102 is typically operable to connect
wireless devices 106, 108, 110, 112 from different wireless
platforms to land line phones, the internet 132, or other wireless
devices through the mobile network 104.
[0034] Typically, the existing equipment 102 includes a post-paid
billing platform 114 which tracks per minute usage of the mobile
network 104. At the end of each billing period (typically one
month) the post-paid billing platform 114 is used to bill each
customer based on the number of billable minutes he or she used.
Most existing equipment 102 embodiments also contain a pre-paid
billing platform 116 which allows customers to use the mobile
network based upon the amount the customer has in his or her
account. The pre-paid billing platform 116 then debits the account
based upon the billable minutes used. Each system is also operable
to determine the amount of minutes that can be billed to the
customer and the rate at which the customer is billed. In the
United States the billing relationship is typically a "mobile party
pays" billing relationship (both parties paying if both are
mobile). This means that virtually all mobile airtime used by a
customer will be billed to the customer. However, in many foreign
countries, the billing relationship is "calling party pays," which
means that the post-paid billing platform cannot bill the receiver
for minutes of calls received by a wireless device. Moreover, the
carrier cannot bill the caller unless the call is connected, thus
bringing about the prevalence of providing voice mail in order to
connect the call. The billing platforms are typically embodied in
software, and one such system that could be used is an APEX Billing
System (ABS) available from APEX Voice Communications of Sherman
Oaks, Calif. Moreover, the carrier can use these billing platforms
to format the billing information to print statements to provide to
its customers.
[0035] The existing equipment 102 can further include an IVR system
118. IVR systems are available from a plethora of vendors,
including Lucent Technologies of Murray Hill, N.J. and Alcatel of
Paris, France. The IVR system 118 can facilitate interaction
between a customer and a customer service unit 120 in the existing
equipment 102. The customer service unit 120 is typically a
software solution that can collect responses from the customer
through the IVR and communicate these responses to a customer
service representative via a computer 122. The interactive voice
response system is typically rated to provide 24 voice channels
(Ti) in the United States, and is typically rated to provide 30
voice channels (E1) overseas. The IVR system provides prompts and
receives responses from the user in order to gather information
from the user to supply to a customer service representative via
the customer service unit 120 and computer 122. The customer
service representative can then interact with the customer and his
or her account by changing settings, adding features, removing
features, etc. One skilled in the art will recognize that the
customer service unit 122 can also make limited changes.
[0036] The existing equipment 102 typically also includes a
location determination system 124 for wireless devices 106, 108,
110, 112. The location determination system 124 is typically a home
location register (HLR) database that keeps track of where all
wireless devices 106, 108, 110, 112 are at any time, such that an
incoming call can be routed to the cellular tower providing the
strongest signal to the wireless device 106, 108, 110, 112. The
location determination system can keep track of a wireless device
by using GPS, or through a cell-ID associated with the phone as it
is tracked through various cells. Typically a wireless device 106,
108, 110, 112 sends a beacon signal to alert a cellular tower
(usually a nearest cellular tower) that the device 106, 108, 110,
112 is in the cell served by that tower. The cellular tower, in
turn, notifies the location determination system 124 of the fact
that the wireless device 106, 108, 110, 112 is in the cell
corresponding to that cellular tower. Moreover, the location
determination system 124 is operable to determine which signal is
stronger, if the wireless device 106, 108, 110, 112 is at the edge
of a cell. From this information, the location determination system
124 can determine approximately where the wireless device 106, 108,
110, 112 is located.
[0037] The increasing popularity of text messaging means that most
existing equipment 102 embodiments also includes a short message
service center 126. The short message service center (SMSC) 126 is
operable to receive a short message from a short message service
enabled wireless device 110 and route the short message to the
desired short message service enabled recipient. Typically the SMSC
will query a home location register (HLR) using the mobile
identification number to determine the mobile switching center
(MSC) the destination with which the wireless device is currently
associated. The SMSC will then send the message to the MSC an SMS
delivery request. If the wireless device is available, the MSC
delivers the message and sends a delivery acknowledgement to the
SMSC. Otherwise, the SMSC stores the message until notified by the
MSC that the wireless device is available. An example of such an
SMSC is MiLife Short Message Service Center available from Lucent
Technologies.
[0038] Another feature that most existing equipment 102 embodiments
include is a WAP gateway 128. The WAP gateway 128 allows a WAP
enabled wireless device 108 to download web pages from a content
provider using a wireless markup language (WML) via the internet
132. The WML can be interpreted by a browser included in a WAP
enabled device 108 and displayed on the screen. Typically these WAP
enabled devices 108 such as a phone, personal digital assistant
(PDA), etc. can only access websites that are designed for use with
WAP browsers. As such only a relatively few content providers have
designed websites specifically for WAP enabled browsers. The WAP
gateway 128 is typically a server and is available from a plethora
of vendors, including Ericsson of Stockholm, Sweden and Nokia of
Helsinki, Finland.
[0039] Many phone carriers also double as internet service
providers, which can include high-speed wireless connection for a
computer 106. Thus, the existing equipment 102 also typically
includes a proxy server 130 to allow the computer 106 to connect to
the internet 132. The proxy server 130 is operable to route
hypertext markup language (HTML) to a computer 108 with a
high-speed wireless internet connection, and serves as a gateway
between the mobile network 104 and the internet 132.
[0040] In an embodiment of the present invention, the communication
facilities 100 can also include a multiple access internet portal
133 including a wireless internet server (WIS) 134 which is
operable to provide internet service to a variety of different
wireless platforms. In particular, the WIS 134 is operable to
receive a request from any of the wireless devices 106, 108, 110,
112 for internet content. In one embodiment, among others, of the
present invention, the WIS 134 is based on two servers (and input
server and a processing server), and is a component-based
distributed processing system designed to interface with the
carrier's existing short message service centers, wireless access
protocol gateways, proxy servers, voice portals, back office
systems, and the content provider. The input server in one
embodiment, among others, is a ProLiant ML370, while the processing
server is a ProLiant DL580, both available from Hewlett-Packard
Company of Palo Alto, Calif. Typically, specific software modules
can add functionality to interface with specific systems or
specific services.
[0041] Upon receiving a request for internet content, in one
embodiment, among others, of the present invention, the WIS 134 can
request authentication from the wireless device attempting to
access the internet content. Because the mobile network 104
receives a mobile identification number (MIN) associated with the
wireless device 106, 108, 110, 112, the WIS 134, in some
embodiments, can receive the MIN from the mobile network 104 and
authenticate a wireless device by asking only for the password
associated with the received MIN. The WIS 134 then passes the
password along to a centralized authentication system, which
includes the mobile authentication registration application (MARA)
138 and a user database 140. The user database 140 typically
includes the MINs for all registered customers, and a password
associated with each MIN. The MARA is typically embodied in
software on a server located at the content provider.
[0042] The user database 140 can also typically include a number of
fields related to the user. These fields can include the MIN and
password as indicated above. The database 140 can further include a
key question and answer that allows a user to access his or her
account in the event of a lost or forgotten password. The database
140 can also include the e-mail address for the user, such that the
content provider will access the correct e-mail account. The
database 140 can also include all or some of the following: full
name, home city, birth date, gender, marital status, educational
level, occupation, income, phone make and model, wired phone
number, home address, interests, and promotional advertising
preferences.
[0043] In one embodiment, among others, the registration process
for a customer takes place over the phone with a customer service
representative on computer 122. The customer service representative
can use a computer 122 to register a customer to use the WIS 134 by
adding the user to the WIS 134 database, which is then uploaded to
the MARA 138. The customer service representative would typically
ask the user for at least a portion of the information stored in
the database 140. Moreover, the customer service representative can
also provision the user for various applications over the wireless
portal. Thus, if the user does not wish to have access to WAP
content, the user could alert the customer service representative
to not provision the service for WAP. In alternative embodiments,
among others, the customer could provision himself or herself with
the system via a computer connected to the internet 106, a WAP
enabled phone 108, an SMS enabled phone 110 or via voice through
the IVR 118.
[0044] In one embodiment, among others, of the present invention,
the MARA 138 is used to provide a single point log-on to the
content provider. The WIS 134 can translate authentication requests
into extensible markup language (XML) such that the authentication
request will be recognized by the MARA 138. This enables a
subscriber to access a variety of applications and databases with
only one username and password combination. Each subscriber can
enter his or her username and password in the multiple access
internet portal 133 only once per session. The MARA 138 then checks
all applications under the subscriber's personalized profile, and
allows them to access all personal information (e-mail, instant
messaging, personal information manager, etc.) in a secure mode,
without having to sign in again with a different username and
password.
[0045] Using the MARA 138 as a single point log-on provides
centralized portal management. Centralized portal management allows
centralized user administration control that extends across
multiple web-based applications, frees the carrier from developing
a complex security, privilege, and personalization technology for
each application. The MARA 138 also provides a better experience to
the user. The better experience will encourage the user to continue
using the system. Moreover, the single log-on can provide the user
with access to personalized information.
[0046] After receiving authentication, the MARA 138 will pull a
profile associated with the customer from the database 140 and
provide the profile to a GEN3 system 142 (described below). This
profile can contain a plethora of personalized information
associated with the customer. From this information, the GEN3
system 142 can construct a front-page for the user based also upon
the platform the customer is using to access the WIS 134. The type
of platform being used by the user can be determined by examining
the requests received via the WIS 134, or other access device and
sent to the content provider 136. This front-page can be similar to
a Yahoo! or MSN personalized front-page, in that it can contain
personalized news content, business content, weather, travel,
sports, etc. Moreover, in one embodiment, among others, of the
present invention, substantially similar personalized content can
be accessed across each of the platforms connecting to the wireless
internet server, and via an ISP 144 not part of the communication
facilities 100. One skilled in the art will recognize that each
wireless device platform is different, and thus cannot display the
same personalized content that each of the other platforms can
display. However, the information that is presented and a general
format can be followed to make the user's experience relatively
seamless across platforms. For example, among others, if a user
wants to receive sports and business news, but no political news or
weather information, such preferences could be followed in all
platforms. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention,
the user can personalize his or her experience on each of the
platforms independently, such that the information received at each
platform is not substantially similar.
[0047] In particular, the GEN3 system 142 is operable to receive
content from the content hub 146, content feeds 148 and third party
applications 150, among others. The GEN3 system 142 then collects
this content based upon a profile received from the MARA 138, and
translates the content into the particular language used by the
platform attempting to access the information. The content is then
provided to the WIS 134, the WAP gateway 128 or the proxy server
130 as requested. Typically, the GEN3 is embodied in software run
by a server.
[0048] The content hub 146 is typically an XML based content engine
designed to acquire and distribute massive amounts of content data
to multiple devices. The content hub 146 provides a system for
content acquisition from various news feeds and other data sources,
and it also has the capability of sending data back to various
entities provided that XML data schemes exist between the two
entities.
[0049] The wireless carrier benefits from a safer data traffic
environment, and the centralized system frees wireless carriers to
focus on their business logic instead of developing or worrying
about content integration. Without this centralized, shared
approach, the portal quickly becomes significantly more complex as
applications are added and content management becomes overwhelming.
The content hub 146 can further provide a content editorial tool.
This application can allow the content provider 136 the ability to
quickly add, change and delete articles from the content hub 146,
define new categories, add text, and create new stories.
[0050] Typically, SMS and voice content would be sent to the WIS
134, while WML and HTML would be sent to the WAP gateway 128 and
proxy server 130, respectively. This setup is intended to relieve
potential congestion at the WIS 134, however, one skilled in the
art should recognize that each type of data could be routed through
the WIS 134. In turn, the WIS 134, WAP gateway 128 and proxy server
130 devices send the information to the wireless device requesting
the content. Moreover, the GEN3 142 is operable to provide access
to each of the applications residing on the content provider
136.
[0051] In some embodiments, among others, the WIS 134 is operable
to retrieve the personalized profile associated with the user from
the MARA 138. The WIS 134 can then retrieve internet content from
the content provider 136, and provide periodic updates via SMS to a
wireless device 110 throughout the day. Thus, internet content can
be pushed to the customer according to prior configuration.
[0052] With respect to routing of voice calls to the WIS 134, a
voice portal 152 is added to the multiple access internet portal
133 to handle voice traffic from the internet. In one embodiment,
among others, the voice portal 152 is equipped with a text to
speech feature that allows a customer to receive information from
text sources, which are converted to speech for the customer. The
WIS 134 routes most voice content, however, to reduce traffic, the
voice portal 152 can connect directly to the internet to receive
e-mail content. It should be noted that the WIS 134 could also be
configured to route all traffic. In one embodiment, among others,
usage time can be tracked to determine how much to bill the
customer for his or her use of the voice portal 152.
[0053] The voice portal typically includes a plurality of hardware
and software. For example, among many others, a single E1 system
directly connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN)
can include an SS7 Signaling Server, a single E1 interface Voice
Portal Platform Server, a Nuance Speech Recognition and TTS server
located on a Compaq ProLiant DL360 server, a web server on an
Compaq ML370 server, and an Oracle database server, available from
Oracle Corp. of Redwood City, Calif. The Nuance Voice Speech
Recognition and TTS server is a software application available from
Nuance of Menlo Park, Calif. One skilled in the art will recognize
that there are a plethora of different vendors who can supply an
entire voice portal or various pieces of the voice portal.
[0054] With respect to internet content via the short message
service, the WIS 134 is typically configured to handle all short
messaging of internet content to a wireless device 110. The WIS 134
can receive a content request from a wireless device 110 via the
short message service center 126. Upon receiving the content
request from the wireless device 110, the WIS 134 can authenticate
a user associated with the wireless device 110 by prompting the
user for a password and sending the password to the MARA 138. The
MARA 138 then instructs the GEN3 142 to send the personalized
content for the user to the WIS 134. The GEN3 142 then retrieves
the personalized content from the content hub 146 and sends the
personalized content to the WIS 134. The WIS 134 is operable to
store the personalized content and transmit the personalized
content to the wireless device 110 via the short message service.
Because of the short message service format, the WIS 134 typically
provides the user with a summary of the personalized content
available, and stores details of the personalized content until a
request for detailed content is received. Thus, the user is able to
navigate through his or her personalized content efficiently.
[0055] The multiple access internet portal 133 can also include a
transaction billing system (TBS) 154. The TBS 154 can be used to
receive CDRs from the WIS 134, and format the CDRs according to the
format specified by the particular billing platform used. The TBS
154 can format the record to either debit a pre-paid account on the
pre-paid billing platform 116, or charge to a customer account on
the post-paid billing platform 114.
[0056] Moreover, the TBS 154, in one embodiment, among others, of
the present invention can be used to bill different customers
differently based upon the service to which the customer has
subscribed. Furthermore, the TBS 154 can be used to charge
customers differently based upon the content accessed through the
WIS 134. For example, if a customer wishes to receive real-time
stock updates, he or she could pay a premium. However, if the
customer chooses to receive stock quotes that are not real time,
the TBS 154 could charge the customer based upon normal or even a
discount rate.
[0057] It should be recognized by one skilled in the art, that a
customer may be allowed to use the system without being registered.
In this instance, the MARA 138 will not recognize the user as a
registered user, but can allow the user to access public
information from the content provider 136. The WIS 134 will
determine whether the customer is a pre-paid or post-paid customer.
If the customer is a pre-paid customer, the WIS 134 will determine
whether enough money remains on the customer's account on the
pre-paid platform 116 prior to allowing the customer to access the
service. If the customer is a post-paid customer, the WIS 134 will
allow the customer to use the public portion provided by the
content provider 136 and bill the customer via the post-paid
billing platform 114. In each instance where the customer is
allowed to access internet content, the WIS 134 will keep a CDR,
and alert the TBS 154 of the customer's usage. The TBS 152 will, in
turn, format the data received from the WIS 134 such that it
correctly charges the customer account, and is readable by the
corresponding billing platform 114, 116.
[0058] Moreover, it should be recognized that in the case of a
pre-paid customer, that the WIS 134 and TBS 154 will debit the
customer's account on the pre-paid platform 116 incrementally until
the customer exits the system, or runs out of money in the pre-paid
account. Upon running out of money in the account, the WIS 134 can
refuse access to the customer. Alternatively, the TBS 154 could
prompt the post-paid billing platform 114 to begin a billing record
for the pre-paid customer upon the pre-paid account funds being
exhausted.
[0059] Referring now to FIG. 2, shown is an embodiment, among
others, of the present invention, in which the multiple access
internet portal 133 of the communication facilities 100 includes a
wireless market place (WMP) system 156. The WMP 156 allows third
party content providers or advertisers 200 to send a message with
certain information to the multiple access internet portal 133 and
have the messages provided to the wireless devices 106, 108, 110,
112 without necessitating that the third party content provider or
advertiser invest in the equipment necessary to format the message
to a standard used by the multiple access internet portal 133. Such
interfacing equipment can be costly and inefficient to own for most
third party content providers and advertisers 200. The WMP 156, in
particular, will provide a port connected to the internet which
will receive a set of rules from the third party vendor, according
to the carrier's security standards, and the protocol for
connecting to the port will be an industry standard.
[0060] In an embodiment, among others, of the present invention,
the WIS 134 can store a personalized profile associated with a
user, and can refuse a third party content provider or advertiser
200 request to send content to a customer. In this embodiment, the
customer could set his or her profile to reject third party
content. Thus, upon authenticating him or herself, the WIS 134
could receive the profile associated with the customer. Then, when
the WIS 134 receives content from a third party content provider of
advertiser 200, the WIS 134 checks the profile to determine whether
the customer's account is enabled to receive the content. If the
customer's account is enabled, the message is sent via the
appropriate gateway. Otherwise, the message is rejected by the WIS
134 and discarded.
[0061] One skilled in the art should recognize that the TBS 154
could also be configured to store usage information and provide
periodic detailed reports outlining the level of usage of the
multiple access internet portal 133. These reports can be used by
the carrier to determine the level of bandwidth needed to support
the multiple access internet portal 133 and whether it is cost
effective to provide the multiple access internet portal 133 to the
customers of the carrier.
[0062] Moreover, the content provider 136 can be given access to
the periodic detailed reports which can show the number of calls
received, call detail records (CDRs) for each call, the revenue
generated, etc., from the TBS 154, in order to facilitate a revenue
sharing plan with the content provider. The revenue sharing plan
would typically entail the carrier collecting the revenues from
each of its customers who have subscribed to and/or used the
service. Because the carrier is providing the customer relationship
and most of the dedicated equipment, the carrier could typically
demand a higher percentage of such proceeds than the content
provider in a revenue sharing plan. Such a revenue sharing plan
would allow the carriers to efficiently provide internet service
and content to their customers. To provide this internet service,
the carrier 136 would merely invest in the multiple access internet
portal 133 equipment and let the content provider 136 create
content for the multiple access internet portal 133. Under the
plan, the content provider 133 could continue to operate a standard
multiple access internet portal for standard internet users
connecting via an ISP 144, while creating new content to provide to
the carrier's customers. Thus, the content provider could be
assured of having an audience among the carrier's customer base,
and the carrier would not be required to create content or license
content from a content provider without a means to accurately
charge its customers.
[0063] Referring back to FIG. 1, the content provider can also
include a number of centralized applications that can be made
available to the user. These applications can include, among many
others: an email application 162, a personal information manager
(PIM) 164, an instant messaging application 166, a chat application
168, a commerce application 170 and a location application 172.
[0064] Referring now to FIGS. 3A and 3B, shown is a flowchart for
incoming requests to the communication facilities 100 multiple
access internet portal 133. With respect to FIG. 3A, in step 300,
the portal 158 receives a call from a customer interested in the
multiple access internet portal 133 services. The portal then
prompts the customer to choose the platform with which he or she
wishes to access the portal, as shown in step 302. In one example,
among others, the choices for the access platforms are generally
split into voice access and WAP, SMS and web access.
[0065] If the customer chooses to access the system via a WAP, SMS
or web interface, the multiple access internet portal 133 will
prompt the user to make a choice about which services the customer
wishes to access, internet or applications, as shown in step 304.
If the customer wishes to access application information, the
carrier will begin the validation process for new service, as shown
in step 306. In step 308, the carrier will populate the customer
database in the WIS 134 with the services requested. The WIS 134
then synchronizes with the MARA 138 by transmitting the new
information to the MARA 138, as shown in step 310. The MARA 138
provisions an account for the user for the e-mail application 162
and PIM application 164, as shown in step 112, and provisions any
other service requested by the customer in step 314. The MARA 138
then sends confirmation of the provisioning to the customer, as
shown in step 316. The customer can then access the application
services for the first time, as shown in step 318. One skilled in
the art should recognize that for a user that is not connecting to
the system for the first time, the system can merely authenticate
the user and provide the application services based upon the
services for which the customer had previously been provisioned. If
the customer has requested a service not previously provisioned,
the carrier can provision him or her accordingly.
[0066] If the customer previously selected internet information in
step 304, the multiple access internet portal 133 prompts the
customer whether he or she wishes to access personalized
information, as shown in step 320. If the customer does not wish to
access personalized information, the multiple access internet
portal 133 could provide access to a public website that is not
personalized, as shown in step 322. If the customer does want
access to personalized information, the multiple access internet
portal 133 sends the multiple access internet portal webpage to
authenticate the customer, as shown in step 324. The MARA 138 then
validates the customer as shown in step 326. If the customer enters
an incorrect password, the MARA 138 sends an error message to the
customer, as shown in step 328. If the customer enters the correct
password, the customer is offered the ability to personalize the
information sent to the SMS or WAP device 110, 108, as shown in
step 330. The customer then has access to the internet service, as
shown in step 332.
[0067] Referring now to FIG. 3B, shown is a flowchart resulting
from when a customer chooses to access the multiple access internet
portal 133 using the voice portal 152. Following the flag 334 of
FIG. 3A, the customer starts to access the multiple access internet
portal 133 services via the voice portal, as shown in step 336. The
voice portal determines if this is the caller's first access to the
voice portal in step 338. If it is the caller's first access to the
portal 158, the voice portal provides the customer the opportunity
to record his or her name for later greeting, as shown in step 340,
and proceeds to retrieve the caller's MIN and profile from the MARA
158, as shown in step 3422. If the customer has called the voice
portal before, the voice portal proceeds with step 342. The
multiple access internet portal 133 then determines whether the
customer is a registered customer, as shown in step 344. If the
customer is not a registered customer, the multiple access internet
portal 133 provides access to the public information available, as
shown in step 346.
[0068] If the customer is a registered customer, the multiple
access internet portal 133 prompts the user whether he or she would
like access to applications over the portal 158, as shown in step
348. If the customer requests access to the applications over the
portal 158, the portal 158 prompts the customer for his or her
password, as shown in step 350. The MARA 138 then validates the
customer to determine whether the password is valid, as shown in
step 352. If the password is invalid, the portal 158 sends an error
message to the user in step 354 and returns to step 350. If the
password is correct, the voice portal retrieves e-mail/PIM
information, in accordance with step 356, and provides the customer
with access to the service as shown in step 358. If the customer
does not wish to access applications over the portal 158, at step
348, the multiple access internet portal 133 provides the customer
access to public and personal internet information, as shown in
step 360.
[0069] One skilled in the art should understand that the password
and MIN could be provided by the user at the beginning of the call
in order to authenticate the user for all services for which he or
she has been provisioned. Thus, a thief could not steal a wireless
device and gain access to any of the personalized information
contained therein. In the embodiment outlined above, however, a
business decision was made to allow access to the internet
information without authenticating the user, since more sensitive
information is included within the applications as opposed to the
internet.
[0070] Referring now to FIG. 4, shown is a flowchart of an e-mail
delivery to an SMS phone. The e-mail application 162 can provide an
e-mail account to the user. The e-mail account will be accessible
from his/her telephone (both mobile and fixed landline) or through
an internet-connected computer 106. Providing an e-mail application
162 through a telephone carrier that can be accessed from multiple
platforms can be an inexpensive way for a customer to have an
e-mail account, without requiring a computer or an ISP.
[0071] When an e-mail message is sent to an SMS enabled phone 110,
the e-mail application 162 first receives the message, as shown in
step 400. Delivery of an e-mail message to a customer on an SMS
phone depends on the options the user has set-up with the content
provider, as shown in step 405. If the customer has not setup a web
mailbox, a message received by the system will be directed to the
WIS 134, as shown in step 410. The WIS 134 will then associate the
message with a customer's MIN and the customer's class of service
as provisioned by the carrier upon registration, as shown in step
415. If the customer is not provisioned to receive SMS e-mail, the
message is undelivered, as shown in step 420. If the customer is
provisioned, the WIS 134 will truncate the message if longer than
150 characters as defined by an SMS standard and send the message
to the SMSC, as shown in step 425. The SMSC 126 will then attempt
to deliver the message to the recipient, as shown in step 430. The
SMSC will determine if the phone is available, in step 435, and
deliver the message in step 440 if the phone is available. If the
phone is not available, the WIS 134 will allow the message to be
retried until a pre-set timeout if the SMS phone 110 cannot be
reached, as shown in step 445. If there is a timeout in attempting
to deliver the message, the message will go undelivered, as shown
in step 420.
[0072] If the customer has setup a web mailbox, the e-mail
application 162 will receive an e-mail message and check the
options which the user has setup with regard to the e-mail
application 162, as shown in step 450. These options could indicate
that certain messages be delivered while others are stored at the
content provider, that all messages are delivered, or that all
messages are stored. As shown in step 455 the messages will be
stored if the options are such that they do not allow delivery to
the SMS phone. The MARA 138 will update the customer profile to
indicate the presence of new mail. If the options allow the
delivery of the messages, the e-mail application 162 will send the
messages to the WIS 134 if they are to be delivered upon receipt,
as shown in step 460. The WIS 134 will then associate the message
with a MIN for the recipient and the customer's class of service as
provisioned by the carrier upon registration, as shown in step 465.
If the customer's class of service does not allow for delivery of
the message, the message will remain undelivered, as shown in step
420. The WIS 134 will then forward the message to the SMSC 126,
truncating the message if it is longer than 150 characters, as
shown in step 470, and the SMSC will attempt to deliver the message
in step 475. The SMSC then determines whether the SMS phone 110 is
available in step 435. If the SMS phone 110 is available, the
message is delivered, as shown in step 440. If the SMS phone 110 is
unavailable, the WIS 134 will allow the SMSC to continue attempting
to deliver the message until a preset timeout if the SMS phone 110
is not available, as shown in step 445.
[0073] One skilled in the art should understand that an SMS phone
could respond to e-mail by sending a text message back to the
originating mobile number. Moreover, the WIS 134 and e-mail
application 162 could be made operable to route a text message from
a mobile phone to a standard (non-mobile) e-mail address. Thus, a
customer could reply to a received message by sending a text
message back to the WIS 134.
[0074] Referring now to FIG. 5, shown is a flowchart for receiving
e-mail messages via the voice portal. With regard to step 500, the
e-mail application 162 waits to receive e-mail. Upon receiving
e-mail, the e-mail application 162 updates the MARA 138 to indicate
that new mail is present, as shown in step 505. In step 510, the
system waits to receive a voice call from a customer associated
with the e-mail address. When a voice call is received from the
customer corresponding to the message, the customer is
authenticated in step 515 by the WIS 134 and MARA 138. After the
customer has connected to the voice portal 152, the customer can
request access to his or her e-mail from the e-mail application
162. The voice portal 152 will then call the e-mail application 162
via the internet in step 520 and download the customer's e-mail to
the voice portal, as shown in step 525. The voice portal 152 will
then use text to language (TTL) technology to play the message
headers to the customer, as shown in step 530. The voice portal 152
then prompts the customer to choose a message in step 535. If the
customer chooses a message, the voice portal plays the message to
the customer using TTL, as shown in step 540, and then returns to
step 530. If the customer does not choose to listen to the message,
the voice portal prompts the customer to determine if he or she
wishes to exit, as shown in step 545. If the customer wishes to
exit, the voice portal 152 returns to the personalized front-page
menu for the customer, as shown in step 550. However, if the
customer does not wish to exit, the message headers can be played
again in accordance with step 530.
[0075] One skilled in the art should recognize that after sending
the customer a chosen message in step 540, there could be included
another step which prompts the customer with several actions that
could be performed in response to the message. A few examples,
among others, of these actions could include saving the message,
deleting the message, or replying to the message. Upon receiving a
response to the prompt, the voice portal could perform the action
specified by the customer. If the customer wishes to reply to the
message, the voice portal could be configured to prompt the user to
record a reply. The reply could then either be converted to text,
or could be sent as an audio attachment to the message.
[0076] It should be recognized by one skilled in the art that
receiving e-mail via a web browser can be provided in a similar
manner to current web based e-mail programs. Moreover, WAP browsers
can be provided in a similar manner to current WAP e-mail programs.
Specifically, the GEN3 will receive a request from the customer for
e-mail, and retrieve the e-mail from the e-mail application 162.
The GEN3 can then generate an HTML or WML version of an e-mail page
to send to the customer.
[0077] Referring now to FIG. 6, shown is a flowchart illustrating
the sequence of an SMS phone 110 receiving PIM 164 information. The
PIM 164 is similar to a personal digital assistant (PDA). The PIM
164 can keep a calendar for the customer notifying him or her of
appointments, meetings, deadlines, etc. The PIM 164 can also keep
an address book for contacts the customer wishes to store. As one
skilled in the art should recognize, other functions can be added
to the PIM 164 without altering the scope of the present invention.
Moreover, the location of the PIM 164 on a central server allows
the customer to access his or her calendar from any of the
platforms supported by the carrier.
[0078] As the first step 600, the customer configures the calendar
information inside the web interface for the PIM 164. Once
scheduled appointments are due, as shown in step 605, the PIM 164
will send an alert to the MARA 138, in step 610, which will, in
turn, be passed to the WIS 134, in step 615. The WIS 134 will then
inform the MIN of the alert, as shown in step 620. The WIS 134 will
then check a class of service associated with the MIN as shown in
step 625. If the class of service does not allow automatic deliver
of messages, the message will remain undelivered as shown in step
630. If the class of service allows delivery of the message, the
WIS 134 will send the message to the SMSC 126, as shown in step
635. The SMSC 126 will determine whether the SMS phone 110 is
available in step 640. If the SMS phone 110 is not available, the
WIS will allow delivery to be attempted until a preset timeout, as
shown in step 645. After the timeout period expires, the message
will remain undelivered. If the phone 110 is available the message
will be delivered, as shown in step 650.
[0079] Referring now to FIG. 7, shown is a flowchart illustrating
the delivery of PIM 164 information via a voice call. In the first
step 700, the customer configures his or her calendar via a webpage
interface for the PIM application 164. The system then waits for a
voice call from the customer, as shown in step 705. In step 710,
the system interacts with the customer via the personalized
front-page associated with the user. This front-page could include
a prompt from the MARA indicating that an appointment time is due.
The user is then able to select whether to access the PIM 164, as
shown in step 715. The voice portal 152 calls the PIM 164, as shown
in step 720, and retrieves PIM 164 information associated with the
customer, as shown in step 725. The voice portal 152 then sends the
header information to the customer using TTL, as shown in step 730.
The customer is then prompted to choose which message to listen to,
as shown in step 735. In step 740, if the customer makes a choice,
the chosen message is played to the customer using TTL. The voice
portal then plays the message headers again, in accordance with
step 730. If the customer does not make a choice, the voice portal
152 prompts the customer to determine if he or she wishes to exit
the PIM, as shown in step 745. If the customer wishes to exit, the
voice portal returns the customer to the personalized front-page,
as shown in step 750. One skilled in the art should recognize that
the system could be modified to notify the user when an event comes
due by sending an alert to the WIS 134 and having the voice portal
call the customer and play a reminder. Furthermore, the information
entered to the calendar need not be entered through the web
display, but could be entered over the phone via an IVR menu
system. Thus, reminders can also be recorded as .wav (or other
suitable audio file format) and replayed to the user without using
TTL technology.
[0080] One skilled in the art should understand that receiving PIM
164 information via a web browser can be provided in a similar
manner to current web based PIM applications.
[0081] Moreover, WAP browsers can be provided in a similar manner
to current WAP based PIM applications. Specifically, the GEN3 142
could receive a request from the customer for PIM information, and
retrieve the calendar from the PIM application 164. The GEN3 142
can then generate an HTML or WML version of a calendar page to send
to the customer.
[0082] Referring back to FIG. 1, the instant messaging application
166 typically allows users to send messages back and forth to one
another in "real-time." Instant messaging applications 166 allow a
user to communicate with another user who does not have a mechanism
to transmit voice, or a user who merely does not wish to talk.
Instant messaging applications 166 are somewhat similar to the
text-messaging present in phones today. However, there is presently
no system that allows instant messaging to communicate with phone
users as well as computer users. Moreover, the centralized instant
messaging application 166 could allow customers using different
instant messaging clients to communicate regardless of the
incompatibilities across different clients. The customer would
typically initiate the instant messaging application 166. However,
in some embodiments, among others, the user can choose to be
notified via the instant messenger when they receive new e-mail,
forward instant messages to their cell phone or page, and specify
the type of content to be displayed.
[0083] With respect to the chat application 168, the chat
application 168 is much like internet chat and instant messaging
applications presently existing. It allows multiple users to
connect in a chat room to discuss whatever topic they would like to
discuss. One skilled in the art should understand that typically
the customer would initiate use of this application 168 during an
internet session.
[0084] With regard to the commerce application 170, the commerce
application 170 will allow a customer to make purchases and
payments over the internet. This application 170 can allow the user
to save purchasing information and addressing online. This
application 170 can reduce the necessity to enter the same
information every time a buy is made on the customer's behalf.
Moreover, this application 170 could interface with the pre-paid or
post-paid billing platforms 116, 114 and charge the customer's
account upon a purchase or payment.
[0085] With respect to the location application 172, the location
application 172 can provide useful information to the customer
based on the customer's location. The location is determined by the
location determination system 124 discussed previously. Some such
useful information in localized form might include weather,
restaurants, nightlife, maps, gas stations, etc.
[0086] Referring now to FIG. 8, shown is an illustration of a
sample screen shot of an embodiment, among others, of the web
interface 800 of the present invention. The web interface shown is
the portion of the web interface 800 that the general public is
typically allowed to access. If the user wishes to access
personalized information, he or she can enter a user identification
into the user id field 802 and his or her password into the
password field 804. All of the public information shown on the
public web interface 800 will be accessible to every user who has
signed on to the system, as well as personalized information.
[0087] If the user has forgotten his or her password, a link 806 is
provided through which the user can retrieve his or her password.
Typically, this link would lead to a page at which the user is
prompted to answer a secret question. In order for the MARA 138 to
retrieve the password, the user's answer to the question must match
the answer stored in the database 140. Upon entering the correct
answer to the question, the user can be provided with his or her
password through the web interface, or via e-mail, phone, etc.
[0088] One skilled in the art should recognize that the content
provider could provide for both registered users and casual users.
A registered user would be a user who is provisioned to use at
least one of the wireless devices to access his or her personalized
information. A casual user would be a user who merely enjoys the
web interface provided by the content provider, and personalizes
the web interface, but is not provisioned to access the
personalized information via a wireless device.
[0089] The public web interface 800 can typically provide a search
engine where the user can enter a string of alpha-numeric
characters into the search field 808, and select the start search
representation 810 using a mouse (or other selection tool) to
search the internet for the string. Alternative embodiments, among
others, of the search engine could provide a search of a specific
area of the internet or the portal itself.
[0090] The public web interface 800 typically also provides a help
screen. The help screen can be accessed by the user through
selecting the help representation 812. The help screen can be used
by the user to access a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page, can
access a plethora of topics upon which help is available, or could
provide contact information for a customer service representative
to assist in solving the user's problem.
[0091] The public web interface 800 can typically also provide a
link 814 to a site map of the content provider. The site map can
assist users in navigating the website. This feature is especially
convenient when the user wishes to access a specific feature, and
has forgotten the location of the feature, and for new users to
explore the available features of the content provider.
[0092] The public web interface 800 can also offer further
information about the multiple access internet portal 133, such as
helping users register with the service through the activate
services button representation 816. Rate plans for the plan can be
accessed by selecting the rate plan button representation 818. The
user can also choose to buy pre-paid web card by selecting the buy
pre-paid web card button representation 820. Each of these linked
web pages will provide more information about the service to public
and casual users of the website, as well as registered users.
[0093] Another service provided by the public web interface 800
could include a shopping page linked by a shopping button
representation 822. The shopping page would allow users to
consummate online transactions with various third party vendors or
with the content provider or carrier. Online shopping has become an
increasingly popular way to increase revenue for business while
decreasing capital expenditures required to operate a so-called
brick-and-mortar storefront. Moreover, online shopping provides
greater convenience for buyers who do not wish to travel to a
storefront, or who wish to shop at hours during which a storefront
would normally be closed for business.
[0094] The public web interface 800 could further provide a user
with access to online services through an online services button
representation 824. Some of these online services can include,
among many others, viewing account balances, summarized call detail
records, billing statements, pay bills online, advise clients on
the proper calling plan, etc. These online services would
facilitate customer interaction with the carrier, providing more
flexible options to the user in interacting with the carrier.
[0095] The public web interface 800 would also provide a generic
non-personalized news section accessible to all users. On a
personalized page, this news section would be organized and
customized to the user's specification. Typically, the
non-personalized news section could provide the latest headlines
section 826, sports news section 828, and international news 830
section to the user. Under the latest headlines section 826, the
public web interface 800 could provide a first headline 832
associated with a first news story. The public web interface 800
could also provide a summary 834 associated with the first news
story. Similarly, the public web interface 800 could provide a
second headline 836 and summary 838 associated with a second news
story. One skilled in the art should recognize that there could be
any number of headline stories shown on the public web interface
800, and that alternatively, the user could select the latest
headline to receive the headlines and summaries of the latest news
stories. Furthermore, the headlines could include pictures next to
the headlines in some embodiments, among others, of the public web
interface 800.
[0096] With regard to the sports news section 828 and the
international news section 830, the public web interface could be
configured to merely show the headlines 840, 842 associated with
the respective section news stories. One skilled in the art should
understand that these sections could also include summaries and/or
pictures associated with the respective headlines. Moreover, the
sections 828, 830 could merely link to a sports news or
international new page, respectively. Further, one skilled in the
art should recognize that all of these categories could be user
configurable on a personalized front-page. For example, among
others, sports news sections 828 and international news sections
830 could be replaced or supplemented by a plethora of other
categories of news, and each of these is intended to be within the
scope of the public web interface 800.
[0097] Near the login fields 802, 804, the public web interface 800
could further contain links to help the user with the login
process. A registration link representation 844 could be provided
which would guide the user to a registration page upon the user
selecting the registration link representation 844. At the
registration page the user could be prompted to enter personal
information such as name, home number, cellular number, address,
devices to be included on the service, etc. Another useful link to
locate next to the login fields 802, 804 would be a newly
provisioned user link representation 846. This link representation
846 when selected would take a user that has been provisioned to
the service, but is a first time visitor, to a page where the user
could enter information regarding which devices the user wishes to
include on the service, along with providing a password, and
personalizing the content for the user.
[0098] Another application, which could be included in some
embodiments, among others, of the public web interface 800, could
include a short message service application. The application could
include a send message representation 848. The send message
representation 848 would include a field representation 850 for the
user to enter the number of the receiving wireless device. The send
message representation 848 would also include a composition field
representation 852, which would allow the user to compose the
message to a recipient. Further, the send message representation
848 could include a field representation for the sender's name 854,
and contact number 856. Upon completing these fields, the user
could select to send the message using the send button
representation 858. At any time during the composition process that
the user decides not to send the message, the user can select a
clear button representation 860, which will cause the short message
service application to clear all of the fields 850, 852, 854, 856
associated with the short message service application.
[0099] Further service that could be included on the public web
interface 800 include a weather representation 862 and a horoscope
representation 864. The weather representation 862 could provide a
link to a page where the user could enter a city or postal code to
determine the local weather in that city or postal code. One
skilled in the art might also recognize that the location of the
user might be roughly determined according to the internet protocol
(IP) address from which the user is accessing the website, or the
location of the last relay node before hitting the user.
Alternatively, the content provider could choose a large city, or a
number of large cities, or the capital of its home country to
display by default. With regard to the horoscope representation
864, the horoscope representation could provide a user with the
horoscope corresponding to the current date. Moreover, the
horoscope representation could provide a link to more detailed
horoscope information, and allow the user to enter his or her birth
date, and get a personalized horoscope based upon the user's birth
date. One skilled in the art should recognize that there are
numerous other generalized representations that could be displayed
on the front page of a public web interface 800, such as, but not
limited to, movie releases, stock quotes, travel information,
etc.
[0100] Another set of links that could be provided on the public
web interface 800, include short-cuts to personalized web
applications that can be accessed by registered users. Such
short-cuts could include a homepage representation 866 which, when
selected by the user, will take a user to his or her personalized
front-page after receiving a user identification and password from
the user. Another such short-cut could include an instant messaging
representation 868 which, when selected by a user, would launch an
instant messaging session after receiving a user identification and
password from the user. The short-cuts could also include an e-mail
representation 870 which, when selected by a user, could either
launch an e-mail application on the user's machine or take the user
to the user's web mailbox after receiving a user identification and
password from the user. A PIM representation 872 could also be
included in the short-cuts available to registered users. Upon
selection of the PIM representation 872 the user could retrieve his
or her address book, calendar, and other personal information upon
providing a user identification and password. Another application
that could be included in the short-cuts available to registered
users is the chat application representation 874. Upon selecting
the chat application representation 874, the user will be taken to
a chat website facilitated by a chat application on the content
provider after providing a user identification and password.
[0101] The public web interface 800 could also include an
advertising space representation 876 for the content provider,
carrier, or third party vendor. The advertising space
representation 876 could be linked to a website corresponding to
the person sponsoring the ad contained within the advertising space
representation 876. Upon selecting the advertising space
representation 876 so linked, the user would be taken to the
website corresponding with the advertiser. Advertising revenue for
content providers has typically been instrumental in the content
provider's ability to provide a plethora of services to users.
However, using the revenue sharing structure outlined above, the
advertising revenue from the advertising space can also be split
between the content provider and the wireless carrier. One skilled
in the art should recognize that a number of sets of advertising
space representations could be included on the public web interface
800, and that the inclusion of a single space is not meant to limit
the interface 800 to having one advertising space representation
876.
[0102] Referring now to FIG. 9, shown is an illustration of a
customized screen in an embodiment, among others, of the present
invention. After logging onto the system, the user receives a
customized screen 900. The screen can include, among others, a
welcome message to the user 905, which could include the number of
new messages contained stored in the user's inbox. The customized
screen 900 could also include a summary of the devices 910 which
the user has enabled to access information via the multiple access
internet portal 133. In this example, the devices include a WAP
enabled phone 915 and an SMS enabled phone 920. The customized
screen 900 would typically also include a personalized news section
925, which provides a plurality of headlines 930, 935, 940. Each of
the headlines 930, 935, 940 would typically have a short summary
945, 950, 955, following the respective headline.
[0103] The customized screen would further include a "My
Preferences" representation 960, which could be selected by the
user to view the user's preferences. In this section the user could
rearrange portions of the customized screen 900, select new content
to be displayed in the My News representation 925, and otherwise
customize the user's experience with the multiple access internet
portal 133 across a variety of platforms. The user could also
select the exit representation 965 in order to log off of the
multiple access internet portal 133.
[0104] Returning to the "My Devices" section representation 910,
each device can be selected to edit using the respective edit
option representation 970, 975. At these edit screens the user can
customize the options available to the respective wireless devices
from the multiple access internet portal 133. Furthermore, with
respect to SMS devices, the user can specify what types of updates
he or she wishes to receive at the SMS device, and how often he or
she wishes to receive updates. The user can delete the devices
listed in the "My Devices" section representation 910 by selecting
the respective delete representation 980, 985. The user can add
another device by selecting the "Add New Device" link
representation 990. Upon selecting the "Add New Device" link
representation 990, the user will be taken to a setup screen which
will allow the user to specify a name for the device, a type for
the device, and an e-mail address (or other attributes) associated
with the device.
[0105] Referring now to FIG. 10A, shown is an illustration of a
sample screen shot from a WAP enabled wireless device 1000 using
the system of FIG. 2. An initial screen could allow the user to
choose to access personalized information by entering selecting a
"My Bell South" representation 1002. Alternatively, the user could
select to view public news, or send SMS messages with the "News"
representation 1004 and "Send SMS" representation 1006,
respectively. The user can move the selection arrow representation
1008 over the option he or she wishes to select by using the scroll
key 1010. Upon arriving at the option that the user wishes to
choose, he or she can use the selection key 1012 to use the select
representation 1014 to select the option highlighted by the arrow
representation. Alternatively, the user could use selection key
1016 to select the exit representation 1018 to exit the system.
[0106] Referring now to FIG. 10B, shown is a screen shot of the
wireless device 1000 after selecting the "My BellSouth" option
representation 1002 (FIG. 10A). Here the user can be required to
enter a user id into the user id field 120. The user id is
typically the user's mobile number and is entered in field 122.
Alternatively, the system can detect the mobile number and
pre-populate the user id field 120. The user is also prompted by
the system to enter a password into the password field 124. The
user may then enter his or her password 126 in order for the system
to authenticate the request. Upon finishing, the user can select
the "OK" representation 128 using the selection button 1012.
Alternatively, the user can select the exit representation 1030
using the selection button 1016.
[0107] Referring now to FIG. 10C, shown is a screen shot of the
wireless device 1000 after the user has been authenticated. The
user can now select a "Personalized News" option representation
1032 or "Send SMS" option representation 1034. Again, to select an
option the user moves the arrow representation 1036 over the
desired option with the scroll key 1010, and uses the select
representation 1038 by pressing the select key 1012. The user could
also exit the system using the exit representation 1040 by pressing
the selection key 1016. One skilled in the art should recognize
that the user may be allowed to see more options by scrolling to a
second page (not shown). Moreover, the personalized information
retrievable from the wireless device would be substantially similar
to the information retrievable via the world wide web.
[0108] Referring now to FIG. 10D, shown is a screen shot of the
wireless device 1000 after the user has selected to view the
"Personalized News" option representation 1032 (FIG. 10C). The user
now has the option to choose among an "Economy" option
representation 1042, an "Entertainment" option representation 1044,
and a "Sports" option representation 1046. Again the user has the
option of using the arrow representation 1048 in combination with
the scroll key 1010 and selection key 1012 to select to view a
particular option using the select representation 1050.
Alternatively, the user can press a number on the mobile device
keypad 1052 to select any of the options. The user can also choose
to exit the system by selecting the exit representation 1054 with
the selection key 1016.
[0109] One skilled in the art should recognize that there are an
infinite number of alternative ways in which to display and order
the information. In one such alternative, among others, the initial
screen could require a password to access the system. Moreover, one
skilled in the art should recognize that the particular screens
shown vary widely between devices in terms of capability to display
information and graphics.
[0110] One skilled in the art should recognize that any of the
options shown in FIG. 9A could be included in the personalized
screens of the wireless device 1000, including: latest headlines,
sports, international news, weather and horoscope. Moreover, the
personalized screens of the wireless device 1000 could include
e-mail, calendar, or other secured applications.
[0111] Referring now to FIGS. 11A-11J, shown is a more detailed
voice call flowchart of the system of FIG. 2. With respect to FIG.
11A, the voice portal welcomes the user in step 1100. In step 1101,
the voice portal determines if the call is from a customer that has
not used the voice portal before. This can typically be determined
by detecting the phone number of the calling wireless device, or by
prompting the user to tell the voice portal if it is his or her
first time using the voice portal. If it is the user's first time
using the voice portal, the user is sent to a first call process
1102.
[0112] Referring now to FIG. 11B, shown is the first call process
for a new user. In step 1103, the user is prompted to say his or
her name. The voice portal records the user's name in step 1104,
and plays the user's name back in step 1105. The voice portal then
prompts the user to confirm the recording in step 1106. If the user
does not confirm the recording, the voice portal returns to step
1103 to re-record. If the user confirms the recording, the voice
portal prompts the user in step 1107 to determine whether he or she
would like to personalize the services of the voice portal. If the
user does not wish to personalize the services, the user will
return to the regular call process 1108. If the user wishes to
personalize his or her service, the voice portal allows the user to
personalize the service in step 1109. Specifically, the
personalization step 1109 could prompt the user to decide what
types of services and information he or she would like to be
available to the device. After personalization, the voice portal
prompts the user to confirm the personalization in step 1110. If
the personalization is not confirmed, the user returns to step 1109
to personalize the service. However, if the personalization is
confirmed, the user will return to the regular call process
1108.
[0113] Returning to FIG. 11A, the voice portal alerts the user to a
plurality of universal commands. These commands include help, main
menu, cancel, exit, and location. One skilled in the art should
recognize that the user can select these universal commands at any
time during the call, and the voice portal will interrupt the
current process and send the user to the selected universal
command. In step 1112, the voice portal prompts the user to choose
any of a number of subjects. Typically, these subjects can include,
among many others: news, sports, weather, jokes, horoscope,
entertainment, e-mail, and calendar, among others. Moreover, these
subjects are typically the same subjects available via the web,
WAP, and SMS interfaces. Furthermore, it should be recognized by
one of skill in the art that the user could configure the process
at the web interface to limit the subjects/applications available
to the user through the voice.
[0114] In step 1113, the voice portal determines if the user has
selected to hear news. If the user has selected to hear news, the
voice portal sends the user to the news page 1114. Referring now to
FIG. 11C, the voice portal can prompt the user to choose local,
international, political, technological, or business news in step
1115. The voice portal then determines if the user has chose local
news in step 1116. If the user has chosen local news, the voice
portal retrieves the local news and plays it back to the user in
step 1117. The voice portal then prompts the user whether or not he
or she would like to return to the main menu in step 1118. If the
user wishes to return to the main menu, the voice portal returns to
the regular call process 1108. If the user wishes to remain in the
news section 1114, the voice portal returns to step 1115.
[0115] If the user did not choose local news in step 1116, the
voice portal determines whether the user chose international news
in step 1120. If the user chose international news, the voice
portal retrieves international news in step 1117 and plays it back
to the user. After playing the international news to the user, the
voice portal prompts the user if he or she would like to return to
the main menu in step 1118. The voice portal returns to the regular
call process 1108 in step 1119, if the user chooses to return to
the main menu. Otherwise, the voice portal prompts the user to
choose a type of news in step 1115.
[0116] If the user did not choose international news in step 1120,
the voice portal determines whether the user chose political news
in step 1121. If the user chose political news, the voice portal
retrieves political news in step 1117 and plays it back to the
user. After playing the political news to the user, the voice
portal prompts the user if he or she would like to return to the
main menu in step 1118. The voice portal returns to the regular
call process 1108 in step 1119, if the user chooses to return to
the main menu. Otherwise, the voice portal prompts the user to
choose a type of news in step 1115.
[0117] If the user did not choose political news in step 1121, the
voice portal determines whether the user chose technological news
in step 1122. If the user chose technological news, the voice
portal retrieves technological news in step 1117 and plays it back
to the user. After playing the technological news to the user, the
voice portal prompts the user if he or she would like to return to
the main menu in step 1118. The voice portal returns to the regular
call process 1108 in step 1119, if the user chooses to return to
the main menu. Otherwise, the voice portal prompts the user to
choose a type of news in step 1115.
[0118] If the user did not choose technological news in step 1122,
the voice portal determines whether the user chose extra news in
step 1123. If the user chose extra news, the voice portal
determines whether there is any extra news available in step 1124,
and plays it back to the user in step 1117 if there is extra news
available. If there is no extra news available, the voice portal
alerts the user in step 1125. After either playing the extra news
to the user or alerting the user that there is no extra news, the
voice portal prompts the user if he or she would like to return to
the main menu in step 1118. The voice portal returns to the regular
call process 1108 in step 1119, if the user chooses to return to
the main menu. Otherwise, the voice portal prompts the user to
choose a type of news in step 1115.
[0119] If the user did not choose extra news in step 1123, the
voice portal determines whether the user chose business news in
step 1126. If the user chose business news, the voice portal
retrieves business news in step 1127 and plays it back to the user.
After playing the business news to the user, the voice portal
prompts the user if he or she would like to return to the main menu
in step 1118. The voice portal returns to the regular call process
1108 in step 1119, if the user chooses to return to the main menu.
Otherwise, the voice portal prompts the user to choose a type of
news in step 1115. One skilled in the art should recognize that
further functionality could be added to business news, such that
the user could retrieve specialized stock quotes, economic news,
and company specific news, among others.
[0120] Referring again to FIG. 11A, if the user did not select
news, the voice portal determines if the user selected sports in
step 1128. If the user selected sports, the voice portal retrieves
the sports page 1129. Referring now to FIG. 11D, the voice portal
prompts the user to choose a category of sports news in step 1130.
The categories can include, among many others: soccer, racing,
tennis, headlines, and special events, among others. The voice
portal then determines if the user has selected soccer in step
1131. If the user selected soccer, the voice portal retrieves
soccer news and plays the news to the user in step 1132. If the
user selected racing, in accordance with step 1133, the voice
portal retrieves racing news and replays it to the user in step
1132. If the user selected tennis, in accordance with step 1134,
the voice portal retrieves tennis news and replays it to the user
in step 1132. If the user selected headlines, in accordance with
step 1135, the voice portal retrieves headlines and replays them to
the user in step 1132. If the user selected special events, in
accordance with step 1136, the voice portal retrieves special event
news and replays it to the user in step 1132. After playing news to
the user in step 1132, or sensing that the user has not made a
selection in step 1130, the voice portal prompts the user to choose
whether or not to return to the main menu in step 1137. If the user
wishes to return to the main menu, the voice portal will return to
the regular call process 1138. If the user wishes to stay in the
sports news section, the voice portal returns to step 1130, and
prompts the user to select a type of sports news.
[0121] Returning to FIG. 11A, if the user did not select sports,
the voice portal determines if the user selected weather in step
1139. If the user selected weather, the voice portal retrieves the
weather page 1140. Referring now to FIG. 11E, the voice portal
prompts the user to choose local or international weather, as shown
in step 1141. If the user chooses local weather, in step 1142, the
voice portal prompts the user to provide a city name. There are
several ways that the user could input the city. A speech
recognition system could be used to match the city named to a
plethora of existing cities. Alternatively, the user could be
provided a list of cities from which to choose, or could enter the
city by typing it into the phone using the letters associated with
each of the numbers. The voice portal could then retrieve a weather
report corresponding to the selected city and play the report to
the user in step 1144. If the user chose international weather in
step 1145, the user would be prompted to select a city in step
1146. This could be done by any of the methods outlined above, or
by using another method. The voice portal would then retrieve the
weather corresponding to the selected city and play the weather to
the user. One skilled in the art should recognize that in some
embodiments, among others, the carrier could use the location
determination system 214 to locate the user and provide local
weather without prompting the user to select a city for
weather.
[0122] Returning to FIG. 11A, if the user did not select weather,
the voice portal determines if the user selected jokes in step
1148. If the user selected jokes, the voice portal retrieves the
jokes page 1149. Referring now to FIG. 11F, in step 1150, the voice
portal alerts the user that he or she may say "more" at any time to
hear more jokes. In step 1151, the voice portal retrieves a random
joke from a joke database provided by the content provider. In step
1152, the voice portal prompts the user to determine whether
another joke should be played. If so, the voice portal returns to
step 1151. If not, the voice portal returns to the regular call
process 1108 in step 1153.
[0123] Referring again to FIG. 11A, if the user did not select
jokes, the voice portal determines if the user selected horoscope
in step 1154. If the user selected horoscope, the voice portal
retrieves the horoscope page 1140. Referring now to FIG. 11G, in
step 1156 the voice portal determines whether the user has set a
personalized horoscope sign. If the user has personalized his or
her horoscope sign, the voice portal retrieves the message of the
day associated with the predetermined sign and plays the message in
step 1157. In step 1158, the voice portal exits the horoscope and
returns to the main menu at the regular call process 1108. If there
is no predetermined sign, the voice portal prompts the user for a
sign in step 1159. If the sign is a zodiac sign, according to step
1160, the voice portal retrieves the zodiac sign and replays the
message of the day for the selected zodiac sign in step 1161. The
voice portal then returns to the main menu page according to step
1158. If the sign is from the Chinese calendar, in accordance with
step 1162, the voice portal retrieves the message of the day for
the selected Chinese astrological sign in step 1163, and returns to
the main menu in step 1158.
[0124] Referring again to FIG. 1A, if the user did not select
horoscope, the voice portal determines if the user selected
entertainment in step 1164. If the user selected entertainment, the
voice portal retrieves the entertainment page 1165. Referring now
to FIG. 11H, in step 1166 the voice portal prompts the user to
select the type of entertainment information he or she would like
to receive. The user can select from multiple categories that can
include, among many others: "What's going on?", cooking, lottery,
and movies. If the user selects "What's going on?", the voice
portal will prompt the user as to the type of activity about which
the user wishes to know. For example the user could be interested
in eating. If the user is interested in eating, as shown in step
1168, the voice portal retrieves suggestions and plays them for the
user in step 1169. If the user is interested in dancing, as shown
in step 1170, the voice portal can retrieve a list of dance clubs
and play the list for the user in step 1171. One skilled in the art
should recognize that these are mere example of things that could
be included in the "What's going on?" category.
[0125] If the user selected cooking in step 1172, the voice portal
could prompt the user to choose a style of cooking, such as, for
example, Italian or French. If the user wishes to receive an
Italian recipe, as shown in step 1173, the voice portal can
retrieve an Italian recipe and play the suggestion for the user in
step 1174. However, if the user selects to receive a French recipe,
as shown in step 1175, the voice portal could retrieve a French
recipe and play the suggestion for the user in step 1176. One
skilled in the art should recognize that a plethora of styles of
cooking exist that could be provided for the user to choose.
[0126] If the user selected the lottery in step 1177, the voice
portal could prompt the user to choose which lottery results are
desired. In this example, national and local lottery results are
provided. If the user selects national results, as shown in step
1178, the voice portal will retrieve the national lottery results
and play them back for the user in step 1179. On the other hand, if
the user selects local results, as shown in step 1180, the voice
portal retrieves the results and plays them back for the user in
step 1181.
[0127] If the user selected movies in step 1182, the voice portal
would prompt the user to select a city in which the movie is
playing in step 1183. The voice portal then prompts the user for
the name of the movie that the user would like to see in step 1184.
The voice portal would then retrieve movie information and play the
movie times and locations back to the user in step 1185. In step
1186, the voice portal could prompt the user to determine whether
or not the user wishes to hear a synopsis of the movie. If the user
wishes to hear a synopsis of the movie, in step 1187 the voice
portal plays a movie synopsis or trailer. After playing the
synopsis, or being selected not to play the synopsis, in step 1188
the voice portal prompts the user to determine if the user would
like to return to the main menu. If the user wishes to return to
the main menu, in step 1189, the voice portal returns to the
regular call process 1108. Otherwise, the voice portal returns to
step 1166, and prompts the user to choose a type of
entertainment.
[0128] Referring again to FIG. 11A, if the user did not select
entertainment, the voice portal determines if the user selected
e-mail in step 1190. If the user selected e-mail, the voice portal
determines whether or not the user is registered to retrieve e-mail
in step 1191. If the user is not registered, the voice portal
alerts the user that registration is required in step 1192, and
returns to step 1112. If the user is registered, the voice portal
retrieves the e-mail page 1193. Referring now to FIG. 11I, the
voice portal connects to a post office protocol (POP) server and
retrieves new e-mail messages associated with the user's account
from the POP server in step 1194. In step 1195, the voice portal
determines whether new messages were received. If new messages were
received, the voice portal alerts the user as to the number of new
messages received in step 1196. In step 1197, the voice portal
plays the next message using TTL functionality.
[0129] The voice portal then prompts the user as to several options
the user has with respect to the current e-mail message. In step
1198, the voice portal determines whether the user has decided to
skip the current message. If the user decides to skip the message,
the voice portal returns to step 1197 and plays the next message.
In step 1199, the voice portal determines whether the user has
decided to delete the current message. If the user decides to
delete the current message, the voice portal will delete the
message in step 1200, and return to step 1097 to play the next
message. In step 1201, the voice portal determines whether or not
the user wishes to add the sender of the current message to his or
her directory. If the user wishes to add the sender to his or her
directory, the voice portal will add the sender in step 1202, and
return to step 1097 to play the next message. In step 1203, the
voice portal determines whether or not the user wishes to replay
old messages. If the user wishes to replay old messages, the voice
portal will retrieve old messages in step 1204 and return to step
1097 to play the old messages.
[0130] In step 1205, the voice portal determines whether or not the
user wishes to forward the current message to another user. If the
user wishes to forward the current message to another user, the
voice portal will prompt the user for the name of the forwarding
address in step 1206. The voice portal will then prompt the user to
record the e-mail message in step 1207. In step 1208, the voice
portal confirms sending the message with the user. If the user
wishes to rewrite the message, the voice portal will return to step
1207. If the user confirms sending the message, the voice portal
sends the message to the e-mail server in step 1209. The voice
portal can then determine whether or not the user wishes to return
to the main menu in step 1210. If the user wishes to return to the
main menu, in step 1211 the voice portal returns to the regular
call process 1008. Otherwise, the voice portal returns to step 1097
to play another message.
[0131] In step 1212, the voice portal determines whether or not the
user wishes to reply to the current message. If the user wishes to
reply to the current message, the voice portal will prompt the user
to record a message in step 1207, confirm sending in step 1208, and
send the message in step 1209. If the voice portal determines that
the user wishes to compose a new message in step 1213, the voice
portal will prompt the user to identify the recipient in step 1214.
The voice portal will then allow the user to compose the message in
step 1207, confirm sending in step 1208, and send in step 1209.
[0132] If there were no new messages retrieved in step 1095, the
voice portal prompts the user to choose to compose a new message or
read old messages. One skilled in the art should understand that
each of these functions operates similarly whether new messages
were retrieved from the POP server or not.
[0133] Referring again to FIG. 10A, if the user did not select
e-mail, the voice portal determines if the user selected the
calendar in step 1216. If the user selected the calendar, the voice
portal determines whether or not the user is registered to retrieve
the calendar in step 1217. If the user is not registered, the voice
portal alerts the user that registration is required in step 1092,
and returns to step 1012. If the user is registered, the voice
portal retrieves the calendar page 1218.
[0134] The voice portal, in step 1219, retrieves the calendar
information associated with the user. The calendar then determines
whether or not the user has an appointment scheduled for the
current day in step 1220. If the user has an appointment scheduled
for the current day, the voice portal alerts the user that he or
she has <x> number of appointments today in step 1221. The
voice portal then plays the next appointment listed on the schedule
in step 1222. The user can then decide to skip to the next
appointment listing in step 1223. If the user skips to the next
appointment listing, the voice portal returns to step 1222 and
retrieves the next appointment. If the user decides to delete the
current appointment, as shown in step 1224, the voice portal will
delete the appointment in accordance with step 1225.
[0135] The voice portal determines in step 1226 whether or not the
user wishes to retrieve all appointments from the calendar for the
next week. If the user wishes to retrieve all appointments for the
next week, the voice portal will retrieve the appointments in step
1227, and return to step 1222 to play the next appointment. If the
user wishes to retrieve appointments for a specific date, as shown
in step 1228, the voice portal will retrieve all appointments for
that date in step 1229, and return to step 1222 to play the
appointments.
[0136] If the user wishes to create an appointment, in step 1230,
the voice portal will prompt the user for a date, time and length
of the appointment in step 1231. The voice portal will also prompt
the user to record a message associated with the appointment in
step 1232. Upon recording the date, time, length and message, the
voice portal can confirm the addition of the appointment to the
calendar in step 1233. If the user does not confirm the
appointment, the voice portal returns to step 1231 to create the
appointment anew. Otherwise, the appointment is created and the
voice portal prompts the user to determine whether or not to return
to the main menu in step 1234. If the user wishes to return to the
main menu, in step 1235 the voice portal will return to the regular
call process 1008. Otherwise, the voice portal retrieves the next
appointment and plays the appointment to the user.
[0137] If there are no appointments found for the current day in
step 1220, the voice portal will prompt the user to decide if he or
she would like to listen to all appointments for the next week,
check a specific date, or create a new appointment in step 1236.
One skilled in the art should understand that these steps are the
same regardless of whether any appointments were found for the
current day in step 1220.
[0138] One skilled in the art should understand that the voice
portal content received by the user could be customized through the
web interface. Moreover, in alternative embodiments, among others,
the user could be allowed to customize the content sent to the
voice portal through a personalization menu at the voice
portal.
[0139] Process and function descriptions and blocks in flow charts
can be understood as representing, in some embodiments, modules,
segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable
instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps
in the process, and alternate implementations are included within
the scope of the preferred embodiment of the present invention in
which functions may be executed out of order from that shown or
discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse
order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be
understood by those reasonably skilled in the art of the present
invention. In addition, such functional elements can be implemented
as logic embodied in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination
thereof, among others. In some embodiments involving software
implementations, such software comprises an ordered listing of
executable instructions for implementing logical functions and can
be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in
connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or
device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing
system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the
instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the
instructions. In the context of this document, a computer-readable
medium can be any means that can contain, store, communicate,
propagate, or transport the software for use by or in connection
with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
[0140] It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments
of the present invention are merely possible examples of
implementations set forth for a clear understanding of the
principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may
be made to the above-described embodiment(s) of the invention
without departing substantially from the principles of the
invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be
included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present
invention and protected by the following claims.
* * * * *