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BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
The present invention applies to the art of ordering of products and/or
services at home from various vendors by means of telephone lines and,
more specifically, to an automated ordering service conducted by means of
telephone lines wherein no voice communication is required.
Telephone ordering services available today are the commonly known type
wherein a customer can place a call to a remote vendor and order a given
product by a product code. However, the call is received by the vendor
through an operator and through voice communication the particulars of the
product code, credit card identification, mailing address and the like are
communicated. Such services are presently available for ordering of
merchandise such as those normally found in department stores and, more
recently, even in grocery stores.
The foregoing ordering systems include many drawbacks. One of the more
obvious ones is that the particular vendors may have limited hours at
which their operators are on standby to receive the orders. Additionally,
at certain peak hours, the particular vendor may be tied up and the
calling customer is unable to place an order. Additionally, there is the
added expense on behalf of the vendor in the compensation necessarily paid
to the operators who are taking the particular information.
With the advent of cable television and thus pay TV, there has been some
variation in the process above-stated. In a pay TV system, the particular
television station will have on file the particulars of a given
subscriber, i.e. scope of the service desired, address and credit
verification. In some of these pay TV systems, the telephone lines are
used and a particular subscriber can call a specific number for the
particular cable company involved and thus orally place an order with the
company for the various programs that the subscriber desires to watch.
Again, this system utilizing telephone lines encounters the typical
problem of the subscriber calling on impulse shortly before the beginning
of the program and thus most likely will encounter busy lines and thus be
unable to watch the movie.
The assignee of the present patent application, Science Dynamics
Corporation located at 1919 Springdale Road, Cherry Hill, N.J. has
developed a system for pay TV which eliminates some of the problems
encountered in the pay TV systems utilizing telephones as above-described.
This system known as the Multi-Access Cable Billing System (MACBS) locates
a system in the telephone company's central office. The cable TV company
provides a listing of program and associated telephone numbers for the
program either directly upon the TV screen or in a program listing. The
customer makes a selection by calling one of the listed numbers using a
push button or rotary dial telephone.
The call is routed to the MACBS through the telephone facilities via ANI
sending type trunks. The MACBS stores the called and calling numbers and
identifies the CATV company involved. The MACBS then transmits the
selection and customer identification to the specified CATV company
wherein the data is appropriately processed providing viewing of the
selected program and ultimate customer billing. In this manner, the need
for oral communication and operators at the cable TV company are
eliminated along with its consequent delays.
While the above MACBS system does eliminate the need for voice
communication and delays, the limitations are that for each given program
to be viewed, i.e. an item, there must be an independent number to which
the particular TV company must subscribe. This is a rather expensive and
restricted situation.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The ordering system of the present invention permits end users or calling
customers to place originating calls without voice communication and to
place orders with an ordering service office wherein the number of vendors
and product itentifications are almost unlimited while at the same time
the ordering service office need only subscribe to sufficient incoming
lines as are necessary to handle the total volume of calls. No need is
required at the ordering service office for special dedicated lines on a
number by number basis.
In accordance with the present invention, an ordering service office is
placed within a given Local Access and Transport Area (LATA) switching
network. The LATA provides Feature Group D service which provides for a 15
digit domestic dialing plan in which the first 5 digits designate the
Feature Group D and an interexchange carrier and the remaining 10 digits
in normal usage a 3 digit area code and 7 digit called customer number.
The Feature Group D service within the LATA also provides for Automatic
Number Identification (ANI) for the calling customer.
In accordance with the present invention, the ordering service office is
assigned an interexchange carrier number and, in effect, becomes an
interexchange carrier operating at a point of termination from a Feature
Group D equipped end office or an access tandem.
An originating call utilizing the Feature Group D 15 digit numbering plan
is automatically directed to the ordering service office as though it were
an interexchange carrier. The ordering service office includes data
processing equipment which will receive the call and then accept the
remaining 10 digits for processing. Within these 10 digits, there can be
the designation of a vendor and various product and/or service code
designations. The 10 digits provide 10.sup.9 distinct codes (some codes
are received by the telephone company) which, for all practical purposes,
is essentially unlimited.
The ordering service office data processing equipment is also programmed to
receive the ANI information. The data processing equipment may be
programmed with prerecorded customer-subscriber credit information to
either accept or reject the order or the information may be merely stored
for future processing.
At predetermined times, the data processing equipment at the ordering
service office will process the order and customer information, and batch
the same by vendor. Thereafter, the batched information may be transmitted
to the respective vendors either via telecommunication lines or by visual
computer printout as desired. Additionally and if desired, optional
billing may even be undertaken by the order service office upon a customer
by customer basis or by the local telephone company.
After receipt of the first originating call number, the data processing
equipment may, optionally, provide voice prompting to the calling customer
acknowledging receipt of the order and also advising that if additional
orders are to be placed, they can likewise be dialed utilizing the last 10
digit numbers.
Other objects and advantages of the ordering system of the present
invention will become apparent from the detailed description thereof which
follows.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagram of the Feature Group D domestic dialing plan and how it
is transformed into use in accordance with the ordering system of the
present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the components of a LATA and the
interconnection of one LATA to another in conjunction with the ordering
system of the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the ordering service office network
within an ordering service office in accordance with the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
With the advent of the break-up of AT&T, various independent telephone
carriers emerged such as SPRINT, MCI and the like. These independent
carriers, or interexchange carriers as they are known, carry telephone
calls between the local operating companies. The local companies operate
within what is known as a Local Access and Transport Area (LATA). The
telephone calls carried by the interexchange carriers are transmitted to a
point of termination at which they are picked up by the interexchange
carrier and passed by that interexchange carrier on to a further LATA at a
point of termination and thereupon again handled by the local operating
company within that LATA for ultimate transmission to the end user's
telephone.
The equal access concept created by the independent carriers gave rise to
the necessity that the local operating companies provide certain
information such as the identification of the particular calling customer.
In response to this need, the telephone industry has developed what is
known as the Feature Group D service. The Feature Group D service utilizes
a Feature Group D domestic dialing plan and also an international dialing
plan.
Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is illustrated the Feature Group
D domestic dialing plan. The dialing plan utilizes 15 digits. The first
two digits, which consist of a 1 and a 0, when dialed, bring into service
the Feature Group D service. The next three digits designate an
interexchange carrier, i.e. SPRINT, MCI or the like. The next three digits
designate an area code. Lastly, the final seven digits designate the
called customer's telephone number within the particular area.
Another feature of the Feature Group D service is the identification of the
calling customer's telephone number. When the 15 digit number has been
dialed and handed off to an interexchange carrier, the calling customer's
telephone number can likewise be passed along to the interexchange
carrier. This service is known as Automatic Number Identification or ANI.
Referring to FIG. 2, briefly in operation, an end user dials the 15 digits
designating the Feature Group D service, his selected interexchange
carrier, the area code of the called customer and the called customer's
number. This number is passed through an end office 10 to an access tandem
11. The access tandem 11 then hands off the called number to the
appropriate interexchange carrier at a point of termination and likewise
the ANI information. The interexchange carrier then directs the telephone
call to the appropriate area code wherein, at a point of termination, it
is then handed off to an access tandem 12 within the appropriate LATA
within that area code. Thereafter, the call is directed to the appropriate
end office serving the particular end user who has been called. The
interexchange carrier then via the ANI information can appropriately bill
the calling customer. In some cases, appropriately equipped end offices
can directly handle the Feature Group D service around the access tandem.
The automated ordering system of the present invention utilizes the Feature
Group D services as though it were an interexchange carrier. In accordance
with the present invention, and as shown in FIG. 2, an ordering service
office 14 is established within a given LATA, i.e. LATA A. This particular
ordering service office is assigned an interexchange carrier number and
utilizes one or more trunk lines from an access tandem or appropriately
equipped end office.
In accordance with the system, various vendors will subscribe to the
ordering service. A given vendor will be assigned a vendor number.
Additionally, for a given vendor, various numbers will be assigned to the
various products being offered for sale by that particular vendor
according to a planned numbering code.
In accordance with the system, the various subscribing vendors will then
solicit ordering customers by any of various means, i.e. television
advertising, direct mailing and the like. The subscribing vendors can then
transmit product information to be sold to the various subscribing
ordering customers likewise by various means, i.e. direct mailed catalogs.
Such catalogs would include listings of products for sale together with an
appropriate product code number.
The subscribing vendor, at the time of acquiring a subscribing customer,
will obtain such information from that customer such as his address,
telephone number and credit information. This particular information may
be utilized directly by the subscribing vendor or, in the alternative and
as hereinafter later described, passed on to the ordering service office.
By way of example, assume that the particular ordering service office is
assigned interexchange carrier number 915. Next, assume that the ordering
service office will not be handling any more than 100 ordering service
vendors. Accordingly, assume that a given vendor, i.e. an appliance store,
is assigned vendor number 25. Lastly, assume that a particular product,
for example, a green two door 20 cubic foot Westinghouse refrigerator is
assigned product code number 15743210. Under this scheme, the numbering
plan can provide for 100 vendors and 10.sup.7 product permutations per
vendor. The final resultant number to be placed in the particular vendor's
product catalog would thus be 10 915 25 15743210.
In use, a particular subscribing ordering customer would review the product
catalog and choose the product that the customer wants. Thereupon, the
customer would dial directly the number, i.e. that set forth above, for
the particular product associated with that number. Upon completion of the
dialing, the called number would be directed through the end office and
through the access tandem and retained within the LATA and directed via
the trunk line to the ordering service office 14. The access tandem 11
would also pass the ANI information on to the ordering service office
associated with the called number previously received.
Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated in block diagram the
functional components of an ordering service office network. The ordering
service office network would include a data processor 15 and associated
data storage memory 16. An optional voice prompting system 17 may likewise
be provided as well as an optional video terminal 18. Likewise, a customer
data printout system 19 may be utilized.
In operation, the data processor will receive and store the incoming call
with its 10 digits of information as well as the ANI information. At this
point, the data processor now has information identifying the vendor
involved, the particular vendor's product and the telephone number of the
ordering customer. At this time, an optional voice prompting device 17 may
advise the customer that his order has been received and/or advise the
customer that if additional merchandise is desired to be ordered, the
final 10 digits for the product code can likewise be dialed in if the
customer has a push tone phone. Optionally, the particular vendor involved
can also provide subscribing customer telephone numbers and credit
information which can be placed in the data storage memory 16. The data
processor may likewise compare the ANI information to determine if the
calling customer is in fact a subscribing customer and if the customer's
credit is satisfactory. The voice prompting device 17 may thus acknowledge
to the customer that the order has been received or has been rejected
accordingly.
At predetermined intervals, i.e. on an hourly or daily basis, the data
processor will process and batch the information received on a vendor by
vendor basis. For a given vendor there will be the products ordered by
product code number and the ANI information for the customer ordering the
product. The data processor then can transmit such data to the subscribing
or ordering service vendor via a telecommunications link consisting of the
telephone system. As shown in FIG. 2, the data is passed through the
access tandem and appropriate end office back to the ordering service
vendor. Located at the ordering service vendor's facilities is an
appropriate data processor which is programmed to receive the product code
and ANI information and to convert the same into the identity of the
product and the subscribing customer. Product delivery and billing by the
vendor can then proceed in a normal course.
In many instances, the ordering service vendor may not be located within
the same LATA as the ordering service office. In this case, the ordering
service office positioned in the various LATAs around the country will
simply transmit the processed data for that particular vendor through the
ordinary telecommunications link utilizing a particular interexchange
carrier as illustrated in FIG. 2.
As shown in FIG. 3, an alternative form of communication of the data for a
given customer may be in the form of a visual printout utilizing the
customer data printout facilities 19. In this case, the printed data may
be simply mailed or otherwise delivered to a particular vendor. If a
vendor desires, the ordering service office may be provided with not only
the subscribing customer's telephone number but likewise their address and
other product information such as the identity of the product associated
with a given product code and its description. In these cases, the
ordering service office may additionally provide the service of direct
billing for the product to the ordering customer.
From the foregoing description of the ordering system of the present
invention, it will be appreciated that the system utilizes the Feature
Group D service within a given LATA to provide a 10 digit free numbering
plan for vendor and product identification while likewise utilizing the
associated ANI information for ordering customer identification. The
system provides extreme flexibility and practically unlimited permutations
in vendor and product code while only utilizing as many dedicated lines as
required to handle the volume of incoming calls.
The ordering system of the present invention has been described in respect
to the particular embodiment thereof described in the specification and as
shown in the drawings. Other variations and modifications thereof may as a
reason thereof become apparent to those skilled in the art and
accordingly, the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited by
the specific embodiment thereof described in the specification and shown
in the drawings but is to be interpreted in accordance with the appended
claims.
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