Network and communication access systems

Details Network and communication access systems Network and communication access systems

1997-12-18

2002-03-05

Chan, Wing F. (Department: 2643)

Telephonic communications

Telephone line or system combined with diverse electrical...

Having transmission of a digital message signal over a...

C379S090010, C379S088170

Reexamination Certificate

active

06353661

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and system for combining the power, flexibility, and access to information and communications of the Internet with the simplicity, reliability and wide availability of the existing plain old telephone system (POTS). More specifically the invention allows persons using conventional phone technology to browse, search, store, and create information stored on the Internet in Hypertext Transport Protocol (http) format, communicate using Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) and Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) email formats, and to manage attempts by others to contact them through the telephone system.
2. Background
The access to information and communications, provided by the Internet, has fueled its explosive growth. Email creates world wide, virtually instantaneous messaging. Documents and messages that would previously have been sent via postal mail, over night delivery, or facsimile can be sent via email. The World Wide Web has proven to be an amazing means of delivering information. News, weather, sports and all types of commercial information are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Many services allow users to personalize the information that is delivered. Search engines allow people to track down the significant as well as the obscure in seconds. The powers of these technologies encourage all types of organizations to put their information into http format. However, security concerns have slowed the spread of electronic commerce over the Internet, but only by comparison to the explosive growth of email and information delivery.
The facts surrounding the growth of the Internet are exceeded only by the projections of its future growth. As of mid 1997, surveyors found that approximately 50% of businesses within the United States have an Internet presence. Internet access has jumped from between 30 and 40 million people to 80 million. These same organizations forecast that by the year 2001 between 200 and 300 million people will have Internet access. Over 30% of U.S. households have a computer. 10% of those households have more than one computer.
Yet there are limits to the growth of the Internet and the access to information that it provides. Many people lack the skills and inclinations needed to access the Internet. Many people lack the technological skills needed. On a wider scale, many more lack knowledge of the English language in which most Internet content is written. For many, literacy itself is a barrier to access. Costs also are a barrier. The equipment to obtain Internet access runs from the hundreds to the thousands of dollars. Plus there are monthly charges.
The consequences of these barriers are the other side of the explosive growth figures. While anywhere from 20 to 40% of the U.S. population have or will have Internet access. 60 to 80% either do not or will not have access. Similarly while 50% of all U.S. businesses have web sites, 50% don't have them. Outside of the United States both consumer and business participation are much lower. In some developing countries the figures are probably under 1%. These barriers tend to focus the Internet towards the technology oriented concerns of the businesses and users that have fueled its growth.
What is needed is a means for combining the power, flexibility, and access to information and communications of the Internet with the simplicity, reliability and wide availability of the existing plain old telephone system (POTS). Such a system would provide a techno-equalizer for people and businesses without Internet access. It also encourages further the explosive growth of the Internet. There would be a direct route to all consumer and businesses, world wide, having access to the Internet and to sophisticated messaging and communication services. With a universal audience, business and non-commercial entities would have a compelling rationale for deploying both their information resources and access to their products and services through Internet protocols.
For all its possible benefits, providing Internet access via POTS and conventional telephone equipment creates multiple problems. The first problem is voice itself. A computer screen is a random access device. You can quickly scan the screen and focus at any point that interests you. Voice, on the other hand, is a serial medium. It has a very limited “view” and it is difficult to “scan” ahead. Many systems such as those at movie theatres do not allow user input. The message is played and the user must listen until he/she hears the entire message or gets to the information desired. Responding to voice systems is generally time consuming as well. Menu items are constructed for non-users. They are “friendly,” with pleasant greetings, detailed explanations, and numerically keyed menus.
The telephone is also a very limited input device with only 12 keys. Phones with the keypad on the handset, such a slim line, cordless and cellular versions, make listening and responding even more difficult. Last, but not least, many functions require entering long account numbers and then verifying those account numbers with a personal identification number (PIN) number. Unless those numbers are used very frequently the user must carry some kind of listing of the numbers. That creates the possibilities of losing the record, not having the listing when it is needed, or both. If the listing is lost, the users account may be exposed to fraudulent use. If the listing is not available, the service is also not available.
The telephone system itself has limited features. New features come slowly, especially when considered in light of the explosive growth of Internet services. Even today access control is very limited. A user can obtain an unlisted number, obtain caller id service and a caller id device, or use an answering machine to control access. All of these devices have distinct drawbacks. The unlisted number prevents anyone without the number from contacting the user, even if the user would welcome the contact. Many times the number is compromised and the user must go to the trouble and expense of changing the number. Only to have it compromised again. Caller id, especially the version that provides the name to which the phone is listed, is helpful. However if a user has multiple phones and/or cordless phones, the devices have limited usefulness. In addition, callers can have their name and number blocked. Screening calls through an answering machine result in numerous inconveniences.
Most telephone switches, both Telephone Company and private branch exchange (PBX), are based on proprietary architectures. This makes them both expensive and difficult to add value to.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With these drawbacks in mind, the present invention provides a surprisingly effective system which combines the benefits of the Internet and POTS, and eliminates or avoids these drawbacks. The system of the invention must be accessible by both conventional phones and by inexpensive, enhanced devices. It must also optimize both the information and the choices presented to users and the ways in which they respond of those choices. Access to user's and their personal information must be both rapid and secure, a difficult combination. Finally the system must be inexpensive.
The present invention provides a method and system for allowing devices using voice and Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tones to connect, through the system to the Internet. This connection can be used to access, store and create http compatible information. The same connection can be used for messaging and interactive communication. In the preferred embodiment, the system can be used to manage and control attempts to contact the user for the purpose of interactive communication.
Given a Uniform Resource Locator (See http://www.imc.org/Searchablelrfc1738) (URL), the system obtains the information available at that URL using the http mechanism. A URL is a compact string representation of the location for a resource that is

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