 |
Claims  |
|
|
What I claim is:
1. A method of providing secure communication of private information to a
remote subsystem through electronic media comprising:
providing a local subsystem disposed at a local location and accessible to
a user, said local subsystem being responsive to user input information
and being operative to generate local communication data, and being
operative to receive remote communication data, said local subsystem
having an identifying number associated therewith for transmission to a
remote subsystem with said communication data;
providing a remote subsystem located remotely from said local subsystem for
receiving said local communication data and for receiving and storing said
identifying number, and for generating remote communication data;
developing score rating information for storage in the remote subsystem,
such storage information being communicatable to a user at said local
subsystem upon request;
establishing a first communication link between the local subsystem and the
remote subsystem, said first communication link being operative to
communicate said identifying number to the remote subsystem for storage;
communicating said local communication data from said local subsystem to
said remote subsystem, and communicating said identifying number to said
remote subsystem via said first communication link;
storing said identifying number in said remote subsystem;
communicating remote communication data including a telephone toll-free
number through said first communication link from said remote subsystem to
said local subsystem;
using said toll-free number to establish a second communication link
between said local subsystem and said remote subsystem, said second
communication link being a toll free telephone connection, and being
operative to again communicate said identifying number to said remote
subsystem; and
comparing the identifying number communicated from said local subsystem
through said second communication link to said remote subsystem to the
identifying number stored in the remote subsystem to verify that the
second communication link is established between said remote subsystem and
said local subsystem, whereupon a user at said local subsystem will be
allowed to communicate his/her private information to the remote
subsystem; and
transmitting private information from the local subsystem, including an
evaluation relating to the degree of the user's satisfaction with a
product, to the remote subsystem through said second communication link,
and in response thereto determining a new score rating associated with the
selected product based on the transmitted evaluation and a previous rating
stored in said remote subsystem.
2. A method of providing secure communication as recited in claim 1,
wherein the toll-free telephone number is from an 800 telephone numbering
system.
3. A method of providing secure communication as recited in claim 2,
wherein said local subsystem further includes a monitor for displaying
said scoring information.
4. A method of providing secure communication as recited in claim 3,
wherein said scoring information includes x-y coordinate data from which a
graph can be displayed indicating the degree of satisfaction of users of
said product with the said product.
5. A method of providing secure communication as recited in claim 4,
wherein said monitor further displays options selectable by the user from
the group consisting of trying said product, purchasing said product, and
evaluating said product.
6. A method of providing secure communication as recited in claim 3,
wherein said scoring information includes iconic representation of the
degree of satisfaction of users of the identified product with the
identified product.
7. A method of providing secure communication of commercial transaction
data and for securely communicating rating information relating to
consumer satisfaction, comprising:
providing a local subsystem disposed at a local location and accessible to
a consumer, said local subsystem being responsive to consumer input
information and operative to generate local communication data, and being
operative to receive remote communication data, said local subsystem
having an identifying number associated therewith for transmission to a
remote subsystem;
providing a remote subsystem located remotely from said local subsystem for
receiving said local communication data, and for receiving and storing
said identifying number, and for generating said remote communication
data, said remote location having at least one identifiable product
remotely selectable by the consumer;
establishing a first communication link between the local subsystem and the
remote subsystem;
selecting at least one of said identifiable products through the first
communication link;
communicating remote communication data including a telephone toll number
and a telephone toll-free number associated with the selected product
through said first communication link from the remote subsystem to the
local subsystem;
using the retrieved toll number to establish a second communication link
between the local subsystem and the remote subsystem, said second
communication link being a telephone toll connection and being operative
to transfer said identifying number associated with said local subsystem
to said remote subsystem;
storing the transferred identifying number in the remote subsystem;
purchasing the selected product through said second communication link;
evaluating the selected product;
using the toll-free number to establish a third communication link between
said local subsystem and said remote subsystem, said third communication
link being a toll-free telephone connection, and again transferring said
identifying number associated with said local subsystem to said remote
subsystem; and
comparing the identifying number transferred through said third
communication link to the identifying number stored in the remote
subsystem to verify that the third communication link is between said
remote subsystem and said local subsystem,
whereupon the consumer will be allowed to communicate his/her evaluation to
the remote subsystem.
8. A method as recited in claim 7 wherein said first and third
communication links are established through the Internet transmission
media and said second communication link is established through a direct
transmission media.
9. A method as recited in claim 8 further including:
maintaining a history of previous rating information in said remote
subsystem; and
transmitting the user's evaluation from said local subsystem to said remote
subsystem through the third communication link,
wherein said remote subsystem determines a new score rating associated with
the selected product based on the transmitted evaluation and said previous
rating information.
10. A method of providing secure communication as recited in claim 7,
wherein the toll-free telephone number is from an 800 telephone numbering
system.
11. A method of providing secure communication as recited in claim 7,
wherein said local subsystem further includes a monitor for displaying
said scoring information.
12. A method of providing secure communication as recited in claim 11,
wherein displayed scoring information includes x-y coordinate data from
which a graph can be displayed indicating the degree of satisfaction of
users of the identifiable product with the identified product.
13. A method of providing secure communication as recited in claim 12,
wherein said monitor further displays options selectable by the user from
the group consisting of trying the identifiable product, purchasing the
identifiable product and evaluating the identifiable product.
14. A remote communication system for securing electronic purchases of
digital information including means for permitting a user of a purchased
product to subsequently rate the purchased product comprising:
a local subsystem disposed at a local location and accessible to a user,
said local subsystem being responsive to a user input and operative to
generate communication data corresponding thereto, said local subsystem
being identifiable by a caller ID number;
means establishing a first communication link for communicating said
communication data to a remote location;
a remote subsystem located at said remote location for receiving said
communication data and in response thereto transmitting a telephone toll
number and a toll-free telephone number associated with a product selected
by the user back through said first communication link to said local
subsystem,
said remote subsystem including
means for transferring an ordered product from said remote subsystem to
said local subsystem;
means for storing caller ID numbers transmitted thereto;
comparison means for comparing a received caller ID number to the stored
caller ID numbers to recognize a particular caller ID when a toll-free
number is subsequently used to contact said remote subsystem;
means using the transmitted toll number to establish a second communication
link between said local subsystem and said remote subsystem through which
the selected product may be ordered, said second communication link
transmitting a caller ID number identifying said local subsystem to said
remote subsystem; and
means using said toll-free number to establish a third communication link
between said local subsystem and said remote subsystem whereupon said
caller ID is recognized by said comparison means and whereupon being
recognized, the user will be permitted to communicate an evaluation of
said selected product to said remote subsystem.
15. A remote communication system as recited in claim 14, wherein the
toll-free telephone number is from an 800 telephone numbering system.
16. A remote communication system as recited in claim 15, wherein said
local subsystem further includes a monitor for displaying said scoring
information.
17. A remote communication system as recited in claim 16, wherein said
displayed scoring information includes x-y coordinate data from which a
graph can be displayed indicating the degree of satisfaction of users of
the identifiable product with the identified product.
18. A remote communication system as recited in claim 17, wherein said
displayed scoring information includes an iconic representation indicating
the degree of satisfaction of users of the identified product with the
identified product.
19. A remote communication system as recited in claim 16, wherein said
monitor further displays options selectable by the user from the group
consisting of trying the identifiable product, purchasing the identifiable
product and evaluating the identifiable product.
20. A remote communication system as recited in claim 14, wherein said
first communication link uses the Internet transmission media.
21. A remote communication system as recited in claim 14 wherein said
remote subsystem further includes means for determining that this product
ordered via said second communication link corresponds to said toll number
. |
|
 |
|
 |
Claims |
|
|
|
Description |
|
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic financial transaction
communication systems and more particularly to a system providing secure
rating information using means available on most telephone equipment,
either POTS (plain old telephone system) or ISDN (integrated services
digital network), based upon consumers' satisfaction relating to products
purchased through electronic transmission media such as the Internet. The
system may be generalized to provide a secure weighted voting system based
on a voters list indexed with or keyed to, caller IDs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
More recently, electronic cash transactions have gained desirability with a
particular emphasis on conducting such transactions on the Internet. The
advent of electronic cash transactions has led to rapid popularity of
electronic shopping. Electronic shopping on the Internet appears to be the
wave of the future inevitably replacing much of today's paper catalog
shopping and perhaps even in-person shopping. This recent trend lends
itself particularly well to shopping for software type of products in
particular, due to the user's opportunity to try a demonstration or sample
of the software product prior to making its purchase.
Providing shopping opportunities to users of the Internet media, may
necessitate a method and/or means for providing purchasers of Internet
products with an opportunity to rate the particular products purchased.
This can be very useful to the seller of the product in terms of providing
input or feedback regarding the product. Moreover, where consumers'
feedback regarding a product is favorable to the seller, scoring or rating
information can be a very effective marketing tool for the seller.
Additionally, potential customers may gain more insight from such
information prior to purchasing products.
The basic difficulty that exists with today's financial transactions on the
Internet transmission media is security and privacy concerns resulting
from the easily readable nature of electronic information being
transferred on such media. As messages move across the Internet, they can
easily pass through many numbers of computers, any one of which can be
utilized to copy the messages. Where rating information relating to a
product is made available on the Internet, there needs to be added
security measures taken to prevent tampering of such information. For
example, to promote sales of his/her product, a merchant may be tempted to
manipulate rating information available to the Internet users regarding
the marketed product.
To address security concerns, current solutions generally employ encryption
techniques. In fact, almost all cash transaction schemes depend on
encryption for privacy and security enforcement, as will be discussed in
greater detail shortly.
Among other reasons, encryption is generally used to (1) protect
information such as credit card numbers, (2) establish identity of either
the merchant or the buyer, (3) verify information, and (4) provide
electronic signatures that are legally binding and not likely to be
forged. To this end, both public key and private key encryption or
decryption schemes are deployed. Private key schemes depend upon a single
"shared secret" for encryption and decryption while public key schemes
publish one key and maintain another key as confidential. However, the
downfall in employing these schemes as stated in the April, 1996 issue of
Business Communication Review (page 4) is the requirement for a unique key
associated with each user which results in not merely hundreds rather
literally millions of encryption keys.
Models for secured digital money transactions currently seem to fall into
two basic categories, credit card sales and digital travelers checks. Both
categories depend upon encryption for security. A useful text describing
prior art is Digital Money by Dan Lynch and L. Lundquist published by John
Wiley & Sons 1996 ISBN 0-471-14178-X. A brief summary of several digital
money transaction schemes is also found in the May 1996 issue of WebSmith
Magazine in an article entitled "Digital Cash." An example of a prior art
digital money transaction is where the subscriber using "touchtone" or
personal computer and modems (not through the Internet) sends payment
information to a company by the name of CheckFree who in turn uses the
existing U.S. Federal Reserve or MasterCard RPS System to transfer funds
electronically from the subscriber's checking account to the creditor, or
in some cases, a check is forwarded through the U.S. Post Office. The
transaction is ultimately recorded on bank statements or cancelled checks.
CheckFree's subscription software on the PC keeps track of transactions
and telephone subscribers receive a monthly statement.
Several prior art digital money transaction schemes in use today are listed
and described in the U.S. patent application entitled "On-Line Secured
Financial Transaction System Through Electronic Media" with Ser. No.
08/660,559, filed on Jun. 7, 1996 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,594 to which
this is a continuation-in-part application and which is herein
incorporated by reference.
Much of the same problems that exist in prior art scheme relative to the
above-referenced patent application also exist in offering secure
electronic rating information. A common difficulty among prior art schemes
arise from connecting the transacting parties to the existing banking
network. In FIG. 1, we observe that CyberCash, an electronic financial
transaction scheme, exists as an interface layer connecting CyberSpace to
Banking Space (Banking Net in FIG. 1). Layered architectures are of
considerable importance. In 1979 the United Nations CCITT (now the
ITU=International Telephony Union) International Standards Organization
(ISO) began work on the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) architecture.
The Seven Layer OSI standard model was published in 1984. (See Uyless
Black: "OSI-A Model for Computer Communication Standards", Prentice Hall
1991, ISBN 0-13-637133-7). In the abstract, the Financial layer is the
same as any layer in the abstract, such as the Physical layer, the Data
Link layer, the Network layer, the Transport layer, the Session layer, the
Presentation layer or the Application layer. Prior art schemes interface
the Financial layer to the TCP/IP transport layer, thus forsaking real
network addresses and physical space for virtual Internet Protocol (IP)
addresses in CyberSpace. When the Financial layer interfaces to the
Transport layer, financial transactions occur between two Internet nodes
(the client and the merchant server) whose IP addresses exist in
CyberSpace.
This is shown in FIG. 2 where the client 10 conducts financial transactions
with the merchant server 12 through the Financial layer 14. Between the
local client system (not shown) and Physical layer 16, sequentially reside
Application layer, Transport layer 20, Network layer 22 and Data Link
layer 24. Financial layer 14 interfaces to Transport layer 20.
To further appreciate some of the drawbacks of prior art schemes for
financial transactions, an understanding of network connectivity is
necessary. There are primarily two types of networks in use today,
switched and packet networks. Most voice communications (telephone lines,
fax derivatives, etc.) use switched networks, while most Internet data
communications, including packetized voice and video, employ packet
routing networks. The switch network establishes a connected network by
switching physical links until an end-to-end path exists from the caller
to the called party. This obviously entails distance-base pricing for
establishing the connected network.
A packet network (connectionless network) such as used in the Internet
media, routes packets from node-to-node over local links until the
destination is reached or the number of hops is exceeded. Each hop is
almost free of cost. Therefore, the cost of packet communications is
distance independent. The source and destination addresses are key to
connectionless or packet communications. However, these addresses are not
secure. The destination address can be changed and information re-routed
or the source address can be changed for anonymity via re-mailers.
Information cast into the packet network is, on the other hand, low cost,
yet high risk.
It is key to note that connected lengths in switched networks, have
physical source and destination addresses, and these physical addresses
(especially wired local loops) provide a degree of security and, if
desired, lack of anonymity that is valuable in a business sense.
The typical Internet communication is through the switched network to a
packet router. All communications proceed through both the switch network
and the packet routing Internet network. This is effective, but does not
make full use of the distinct features associated with each type of
network. Prior art schemes for conducting financial transactions employ
multi-network schemes having both switch and packet routing. The switched
network is primarily only a means for connecting to the Internet. This
limited use of the switched network completely discounts and ignores the
advantages, i.e., the inherent privacy and security of a switched
end-to-end connection, associated with switched network systems. The
inherent privacy and security of a switched end-to-end connection between
physical addresses is the goal of prior art schemes using encryption and
digital signatures which are employed as an attempt to accomplish in
CyberSpace the functions accomplished by the built-in financial mechanisms
of the 800/900/XXX directory number systems.
As one might expect, with the increasing number of Internet users, the
Internet is overflowing with free information. When information can be
easily sold over the Internet, the quantity of information on the same
will explode. Consumers need a means to evaluate products before buying, a
need filled in the print world, by "Consumer Reports", "Movie Reviews",
and similar publications that advise potential consumers of the relative
quality of the products that are for sale.
In Cyberspace, information can be both generated and distributed almost at
no cost, thus there will be far more information than the most efficient
critic or scorer can handle.
In today's world there are many instances in which accepted scoring
mechanisms are manipulated when they clearly should not be so manipulated.
Recently, a major "Top Ten" list of books was manipulated by a complex
ordering scheme where books were ordered in large quantities and
distributed over many locations for the purpose of distorting the records
relating to book orders. This resulted in the book in question being rated
with higher scores in the "Top Ten" lists than actual purchases would
warrant. The result was that many people were erroneously led to purchase
the book based on its position in the list, rather than on the actual
"quality" of the book. It is important to design security into any scoring
system that will be used to guide peoples' buying behavior.
Accordingly, the need exists for a secure communication scheme for 1)
evaluating products purchased through electronic or otherwise financial
transactions and 2) providing such evaluation or rating information to
those perhaps interested in purchasing a marketed product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a principal objective of the present invention to provide
an on-line communication system for securely communicating rating
information based upon consumers' satisfaction relating to a product
purchased through electronic media or otherwise. Another objective of the
present invention is to provide a system of the type described to maintain
the rating information in a private and secure environment in order to
prevent tampering, interference with or destruction of the rating
information.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a system of
the type described which uses a toll-free telephone numbering system such
as an `800` numbering system to provide a means for providing rating
information related to products purchased through the electronic media.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a system of
the type described allowing users of the Internet transmission media to
access information relating to the evaluation of a desirable product.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide an on-line
financial transaction scheme based upon a multi-network solution in which
the distinction between switched and packet routing networks are used to
optimally partition functionality.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a system
wherein small-shop software developers can market their products to the
public inexpensively.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a financial
transaction system employing point-to-point protocol (PPP), thereby
allowing any hardware or operating system to negotiate a common
information transfer protocol with dissimilar hardware and operating
systems software.
Briefly, a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a remote
communication system for facilitating secure on-line evaluation of goods
based upon consumers' satisfaction through electronic media wherein a
suitable local user input device in association with a data transmission
system, couples the user input to a packet network system for
communicating to a remote receiver/decoder apparatus to obtain potentially
desired scoring information such as an electronic evaluation form
regarding a previously purchased product. Upon selection of scoring option
by the user, a telcom network communication link for communicating a
telephone number associated with the desired product from the user to the
remote receiver allows the user to score the desired product. The telcom
connection, linking the user input device to the remote server device may
also include a toll-free 800 telephone number system to encourage shoppers
to perform evaluations of purchased product without incurring costs
associated therewith. During the telcom connection, a buyer identification
number may be used to limit rating input to one evaluation per buyer
thereby increasing accuracy of product evaluation.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will no
doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art after having read the
following detailed description of the preferred embodiments illustrated in
the several figures of the drawing.
IN THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 depicts a prior art CyberCash financial scheme where the Internet is
interfaced to the Banking Net;
FIG. 2 depicts prior art on-line financial schemes interfacing the
Financial layer to the Transport layer;
FIG. 3 shows a preferred embodiment of an overall diagram of the financial
transaction system employing rating evaluation schemes used in the present
invention;
FIG. 4 shows a detailed diagram of the TRY and BUY financial transaction
scheme employed in the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 shows an example of a computer screen having rating information
relating to a purchased product as may be employed by the present
invention;
FIG. 6 shows an example of a display showing evaluation results presented
in various forms relating to the degree of consumer's satisfaction with a
product;
FIG. 7 depicts a state diagram of an implementation of a preferred
embodiment of the present invention; and
FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) collectively provide a flow chart of the preferred
embodiment steps employed in an implementation of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 3 shows in conceptual diagrammatic form
two channels, `TRY` and `BUY,` for establishing communications between a
user and a remote system. As such, a user input device or subsystem 30 and
a TRY local telcom connection 32 are connected through a switching system
or network 34 and Internet transmission media 36 to a TRY remote telcom
connection 38 which couples to a remotely located subsystem TRY server 40.
This communication path may be used when a user wishes to browse the web
page of a product that is of interest through the Internet transmission
media. TRY server 40 accesses files from demo file storage location 42 in
which demonstration files reside. TRY sensor 14 may also access and
communicate back to the user toll-free and/or toll-telephone numbers to be
used in establishing additional communication paths between the local
subsystem 30 and a remote subsystem as will be further explained below.
TRY server 40 may also access score information location 300 for retrieval
of recent evaluations relating to a product of interest to a user.
In communication path 310, user input subsystem 30 is additionally coupled
through a BUY local telcom connection 44 through switching network 34 and
a BUY remote telcom connection 46 to a remotely located subsystem BUY
server 48. Communication path 310 may be used when a user decides to
purchase a product in the form of electronic data wherein the telephone or
switched network using a telephone toll number such as from a `900`
numbering system is used. BUY server 48 may access files from product file
storage location 50 in which electronic information such as software data
presented for sale is stored, particularly during the purchase of an
electronic product. BUY server 48 may also access ID table storage
location 52 for storing caller identification numbers and retrieving the
same for verification purposes. During the purchase of a product, the
buyer's (or user's) system identification number such as a Caller ID
number is stored in ID table 52 by BUY server 48. ID table 52 accordingly,
stores and maintains a voter list.
In communication 312, user input subsystem 30 is further coupled to voter
local telcom connection 302 through switching network 34, a voter remote
telcom connection 304 and switch 308 to BUY server 48. Switch 308 is in
turn, coupled to score information location 300 and the output of
comparator 306. That is, depending upon the state of the output of
comparator 306, voter remote telcom connection 304 may or may not be able
to provide information to score location 300 through switch 308.
Comparator 306 receives its inputs from BUY server 48 and ID table 52.
Communication path 312 may be used when a voter decides to input an
evaluation rating related to a product wherein the telephone or switched
network using a toll-free telephone number such as from an `800` numbering
system is used. When a voter decides to vote and calls the corresponding
`800` number to do so, the voter's Caller ID number(or buyer's Caller ID
in the case where a previous buyer wishes to evaluate the product he/she
purchased earlier) is compared by comparator 306 to a voter list residing
in ID table 52. If the in-coming Caller ID number matches one of the ID
numbers in the voter list, switch 308 allows the voter's input to be
entered into score information location 300. Otherwise, the voter's input
is not allowed into score location 300.
While switch 308 and comparator 306 are shown as hardware components in
FIG. 3, it should be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art that
the functions of these components may be performed in hardware or
software. Furthermore, switch 308 may physically reside in BUY server 48
in which case BUY server 48 is directly coupled to score location 300.
Additionally, in FIG. 3, the communication paths 310 and 312 are shown as
two physically different links, however, they may be physically one and
the same path. For example, the telephone line that is utilized to place a
`900` number call for the purpose of purchasing a product may be
terminated and used to make the `800` call for the purpose of voting as
will be explained in greater detail later.
In FIG. 3, the user device 30 includes a monitor 54 (of the kind commonly
used with PCs) having a screen 31 showing display window 120 to a user.
FIG. 4 depicts a more detailed diagram of the system shown in FIG. 3. The
left side of the figure illustrates the connection layers on the client
side, and the right side illustrates the connection layers of the
server(s). The buyer or client operates the client side while the seller
or merchant maintains the server(s). On the client side (left side of FIG.
4) typically a user subsystem would be a personal computer (PC) such as an
IBM compatible PC (not shown) including a monitor such as the client's
display device 60 used for viewing demo products. The user's subsystem
would further include web browsers 62 and 64 and TCP/IP protocol stack 66
which may be WinSock software and a plug-in card in the PC incorporating
address decoder 68, dual port RAM 70, ISDN Protocol Controller 72, ISDN
S/T interface device 74, and optionally Network Terminator 76. The card
may be a CyberSpace Freedom Series ISDN terminal adaptor board for IBM PCs
available from ISDN*tek Incorporated of San Gregorio, Calif. The user
subsystem may include WinISDN drivers 78 available from ISDN*tek and
WinSock software as TCP/IP protocol stack 66 from NetManage. Dual port RAM
70 addressed by address decoder 68 is accessed on one side by ISDN drivers
78 through the PC ISA or EISA bus (as the case may be) 80, and the other
side by the Cybernetic Micro Systems CY123 ISDN Protocol Controller 82,
which decodes driver commands and issues ISDN Q.931 messages on the
D-channel by managing appropriate buffers in the Siemens 2186 ISDN S/T
interface device 84. The S/T (4-wire) interface connects to the Network
Terminator 76 of the (2-wire) local loop from the switch. This device 76,
can be a standard unit or can be implemented as on ISDN*teks CyberSpace
cards with Siemens 2091 ISDN Adaptive Echo Cancelling 2B1Q
encoder/decoder. Client encoder/decoder 76 transmits data through the `U`
interface to either or both the TRY local telcom connection 86 (B1) or the
BUY local telcom connection 88 (B2), connections 86 and 88 may be
implemented as ISDN lines or POTS lines.
The local switching system 34 need not be an ISDN switch. TRY local
connection 86 is a WEB connection through the Internet transmission media
36 which consists of many routers and switches and is a packet routing
network structure as described earlier. Internet media 36 connects TRY
local connection 86 to the TRY remote telcom connection 90. BUY local
connection 88 on the other hand, is a direct switch telco connection
through switching system 34 to BUY remote telcom connection 92. From the
TRY and BUY remote telcom connections 90 and 92, the seller's interfaces
resemble the client's interfaces, i.e., TRY and BUY remote connections 90
and 92 couple to the seller ISDN `S/T` interface device 94 through seller
Network Terminator (NT1) device 96 which encodes and decodes the 2B1Q
signals across the 2-wire `U` interface. The 4-wire ISDN interface device
94 couples to seller ISDN protocol controller 98 which accesses seller
dual port RAM 100 on one side and seller ISDN drivers 102 on the other
side. Addresses provided by the ISDN driver 102 cross the (E) ISA bus 104
and are decoded by the address decoder 106 before accessing the dual port
RAM 100. Seller terminal adaptor board (incorporating 96, 94, 98, 100, and
106) may be a PC plug-in board communicating through (E) ISA bus 104 with
the ISDN driver 102. The drivers 102 are connected to a BUY server 48 and
a TRY server 40 by the WinSock TCP/IP protocol stack 108. The latter
accesses the seller's WEB page and/or demonstration software files from
demo file storage location 42 which may be in the form of hard disk, CD
ROM, etc. The BUY server 48 accesses software product files that are
available for sale to the client from a product file storage location 50.
BUY server 48 additionally may access caller ID numbers from ID table 52.
BUY server 48 and TRY server 40 are physically in areas that are remotely
located with respect to the user. Additionally, BUY server 48 and TRY
server 40 may be located remotely from each other. An example of this is
where a seller may want to have TRY server 40 located in the marketing
area of the organization and the BUY server 48 located in the purchase
area of the organization and the marketing and purchasing facilities are
physically located in two separate buildings or geographic areas. In fact,
the only relationship between the TRY server 40 and BUY server 48 is the
product that is for sale. Practically, TRY server 40 may be accessed many
more times than BUY server 48 due to the number of users wanting to browse
the seller's web page or wanting to try the demo software. Obviously, TRY
server 40 and BUY server 48 may alternatively reside in the same physical
location.
For a detailed discussion of the key subsystems and associated interfaces
of the system as depicted in FIG. 4, the reader is directed to Applicant's
U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,594.
While the preferred embodiment described above may be employed to implement
the present invention, it is nevertheless possible to use other means to
implement the present invention for evaluation of a purchased product. The
scoring system embodied within the invention is intended to replace
printed publications for offering criticism related to purchased goods.
Yet, in the preferred embodiment unlike printed publications, there is no
need for the user to subscribe to the publication in order to obtain
rating or evaluation information on a particular merchandise because the
relevant critical information is available to the user at the point of
purchase as will be apparent shortly.
Additionally, there are several criteria for CyberScores (TM) most of which
reduce to "truth in advertising". The "source of the score" should be
authoritative, and the validity of the score should be unquestioned. The
mechanism described herein is based on the belief that the best
information comes from previous buyers, those who have purchased and used
the product being scored. The validity is achieved by preventing multiple
access to the scoring mechanism.
This mechanism does not preclude other sources of critical information from
being included in the score as discussed in a following discussion on
multi-dimensional scores, but it does achieve the desired goal of "primary
score provided by purchaser."
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,594, a Application potential purchaser
of a product through his/her web browser 62, may access the seller's TRY
server 40 through the Internet media 36. The marketed product is
preferably described in an HTML page that is available from the TRY server
40 on the World Wide Web (www). This page will have an embedded object
type, or MIME, that can be handled by a web browser "plug-in". The plug-in
will be invoked by the web browser when the embedded object is detected in
the HTML page and a window will be opened on the customer's system (i.e.
Internet terminal or monitor) as shown in FIG. 5.
Thereafter, the buyer may choose to download a demonstration version of the
marketed product to his/her local system for the purpose of trying the
demonstration software. If and when the user decides to purchase the
product, his/her system or PC directly connects to BUY server 48 using
either a second ISDN terminal such as BUY local connection 88 or a POTS
line. This connection to BUY server 48 is made by the user's system using
a toll telephone number such as a `900` number, obtained from the
merchant's web site during access of the TRY server 40 by the user's
system. This method ensures security for the buyer to safely perform
electronic financial transactions of goods on the Internet yet, it
alleviates overhead tasks associated with financial transactions for the
merchant. The billing and payment associated with the goods may be handled
by a third party such as the telephone company.
Furthermore, the purchased product may be hardware rather than a software
product in which case the buyer merely completes an order form when
purchasing the product through the direct telephone line connection.
In the preferred embodiment, during the purchasing of the product, the
buyer's telephone number(otherwise referred to as caller ID) from which
the direct `900` call was initiated will be stored in the ID table 52 by
the BUY server 48 and will be used to increase security surrounding the
rating of the purchased product as will be apparent at a later part of
this discussion.
Scores in Cyberspace
Either prior to or after the purchase of a product, the buyer may wish to
obtain evaluation or rating information with respect to the product in
question. After the purchase of the product, the buyer may wish to rate
the purchased product by assigning a score within a range of scores
offered by the merchant, corresponding to the degree of satisfaction of
the purchased product by the buyer. In performing either one of the above,
the buyer's system may be provided with rating information which is
ultimately displayed to the buyer, on the buyer's screen such as the one
appearing in FIG. 5 (note, this screen may be also used when trying and/or
purchasing the desired product).
In FIG. 5, the display window 120 contains therein another sub-window, the
product information window 122, which may or may not include animation.
TRY button 124, BUY button 126 and ESC button 128 operate in the same
manner as described in the above-identified U.S. patent. TRY and BUY
buttons 124 and 126 are utilized by the purchaser when trying a
demonstration version of the product and when purchasing the product,
respectively. TRY button 124 is also utilized for receiving rating
information as will be discussed shortly.
"Clicking" on SCORE button 130, allows the buyer to rate the performance of
the purchased product according to the buyer's satisfaction with the
product. This "scoring" operation will be discussed after a discussion of
how a potential buyer may receive rating information associated with a
desired product.
During the purchasing of a desired product, the buyer's caller ID is
recorded in ID table 52 (shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) after the buyer calls the
`900` number where a direct connection is established between the buyer's
system and the seller's BUY server 48 (shown in FIG. 3).
Assuming that after a period of use the buyer has come to an opinion on the
quality of the purchased product (it may be a superior pr | | |
