Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Electronic shopping
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-17
2003-06-10
Olszewski, Robert P. (Department: 2167)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Electronic shopping
C705S028000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06578013
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The disclosures herein relate in general to information processing systems and in particular to a method and system for communicating between supplier and customer devices.
As businesses increase their reliance upon electronic information computing systems, the number of such computing systems increases rapidly on a daily basis. The management of such computing systems is a serious challenge to such businesses. For example, businesses have an incentive to maintain operational reliability of their various computing systems, plus compatibility and configuration consistency between their various computing systems. Moreover, businesses have an incentive to efficiently manage costs associated with such management.
In performing such management, businesses rely on assistance from suppliers of the computing systems. The businesses are customers of the suppliers. A supplier can help such customers by providing information about compatibility between a customer's various computing systems, and by maintaining records of configuration consistency between a customer's various computing systems. Also, a supplier can provide operational repairs and upgrades of a customer's computing systems. Moreover, the supplier can promptly notify a customer about new products and changes in price and/or availability of products.
Previous techniques have relied heavily on humans to perform such management. However, with increases in the numbers and different types of customers and computing systems, such human management becomes less reliable. Moreover, the monetary cost of such human management is economically inefficient.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for a method and system for communicating between supplier and customer devices, in which various shortcomings of previous techniques are overcome. More particularly, a need has arisen for a method and system for communicating between supplier and customer devices, in which less reliance on human management is achieved.
SUMMARY
One embodiment, accordingly, provides a method and system for communicating between supplier and customer devices wherein less reliance of human management is achieved. To this end, a system includes a computing device for storing criteria under which a customer is authorized to purchase a physical item. The computing device receives a request from the customer. In response to the request satisfying the stored criteria, the computing device outputs a signal for purchasing the physical item.
A principal advantage of this embodiment is that (a) various shortcomings of previous techniques are overcome, and (b) less reliance on human management is achieved.
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Davis Rose King
McMahan Robert L.
Pate John
Davis, Jr. Michael A.
Dell USA L.P.
Haynes and Boone LLP
Jaketic Bryan
Olszewski Robert P.
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