Aggregation of services on network portals

• US 20020111848A1
• Filed: 02/12/2001
• Published: 08/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: White, Craig R.
• Application Number:
  US09/781,654
• Publication Number:
  US 20020111848A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

A method and system of dynamically constructing a network portal includes accessing a dynamic service provider database that includes a listing of service providers that have self-selected their inclusion into the dynamic service provider database. Next, keyword-service link are displayed on the network portal along with the service providers listed in the dynamic service provider database. Upon activation of a keyword-service link by the user, the network portal displays service providers from the dynamic service provider database that offer services matching the selected keyword on the network portal. Once a service provider is selected by the user, a direct connection between the user and the service provider is established to permit the services to be provided.

Claims

1. A method of constructing a network portal comprising:

accessing a first service provider database that includes a listing of service providers that have self-selected their inclusion into the first service provider database; and

displaying keyword-service links on the network portal in association with the service providers from the first service provider database.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying step further comprises:

displaying a link on the network portal to at least one service provider of the first service provider database for activation by a user to connect a user interface to the service provider.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying at least one criteria function for permitting a user to specify further criteria for selecting a group of service providers from the first service provider database.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising

performing the accessing step independent of exclusive control by the network portal.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the displaying step further comprising:

displaying only keyword-service links included within a set of predetermined types of service purchased by a user in a fee-for-service contractual arrangement between the user and the network portal.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising displaying only keyword-service links matching a set of predetermined user preferences.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing a second fixed service provider database that includes a listing of service providers having a fee-for-display contractual arrangement with the network portal to permit display on the network portal of a link to each of fee-for-display service providers.

8. A method of accessing network-based service providers through a user interface comprising:

accessing a network portal with a network-capable computing device;

viewing a list of available services on the network portal;

selecting a service for access by the user;

reviewing a service document displayed on the user interface that identifies a type and manner of service provided by a service provider; and

invoking a service location to connect the user interface to the service provider and to permit user access to the selected service.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

arranging for fee-for-service payment of the selected services through a user account associated with the network portal and based on a predetermined contractual arrangement between the user and the network portal.

10. A method for providing a network portal comprising:

initiating construction of a network portal interface upon a user request to access the network portal;

linking the network portal to a first service provider database;

submitting type-of-service keywords displayed on the network portal to the first service provider database for matching with types of services offered by service providers listed in the first service provider database;

retrieving from the first service provider database a list of service providers that match the type-of-service keywords;

comparing each keyword-matched service provider against a set of predetermined user profile criteria; and

completing construction of the network portal interface by displaying links to keyword-matched and user-profile matched services offered by the service providers of the first service provider database.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the comparing step further comprises:

determining whether the type and number of service providers matches the user profile criteria.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the determining step further comprises:

selecting the number and type of service providers based upon a user subscription to a fee-for-service arrangement between the user and the network portal.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

displaying on the network portal a link to a service provider selected from a second service provider database that includes a listing of service providers exclusively selected by the network portal and having a fee-for-display contractual arrangement with the network portal.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the displaying step further comprises:

selecting a number and type of service providers of the second service provider database based upon a fee-for-service contractual arrangement between the user and the Internet portal.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving a service request from the user upon the user activating the type-of-service keyword on the network portal and then activating a link on the network portal to the service provider.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

establishing a direct network communication link with the user; and

providing the requested services.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of creating the service document step further comprises:

creating a list of keywords that represent the service provided and inserting the keyword list into the service document.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the advertising step further comprises:

creating a communication connection between the service provider and the service provider database; and

insuring that the service document is up-to-date prior to its inclusion into the service provider database.

15. A method for a service provider to offer services through a network site link on a network portal comprising:

creating a service document representing services offered by the service provider in association with Internet portal keywords;

advertising the service document for inclusion into a database of service providers to be accessed by the network portal; and

permitting the network portal to display on the network portal a link to the service provider in association with a type-of-service keyword of the network portal.

20. A method of operating a dynamic customizable network-centric software suite through a network portal comprising:

displaying on a network portal a listing of different categories of software applications;

upon activation of at least one software category, displaying on the network portal a link for each service provider offering that category-specific software application with the service providers retrieved from a first service provider database including a listing of service providers that self elect their inclusion into the database; and

selecting at least category-specific service provider that offers software services in response to each user selection of the service provider link.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

upon activation of at least one software category, displaying on the internet portal a link for each service provider offering that category-specific software application with the service providers retrieved from a second service provider database including a listing of service providers that are exclusively selected by the network portal for inclusion into the second service provider database; and

selecting at least category-specific service provider offers software services in response to each user selection of the service provider link.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

providing a payment function on the network portal to permit a user to make payment for and purchases of software applications; and

operating the customized network portal software suite with a login function to permit for a predetermined period of time.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

a dynamic service provider database for maintaining a list of the service providers wherein the service providers self-elect their inclusion into the database by providing a predetermined set of information about the service provider for listing in the database.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the network portal displays only service providers from the dynamic service provider database that match a set of predetermined user profile criteria.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the network portal displays only service providers from the dynamic service provider database that match a predetermined set of services available to the user interface based on a fee-for-service contractual arrangement between the user interface and the Internet portal.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the service document further comprises:

at least one of the following categories of information;

type-of-service keywords;

service location;

service billing;

security models; and

service-specific data.

30. The portal system of claim 29, further comprising the utility functions being related to production of a brochure with a first utility function including a text function, a second utility function including a forms function, and a third utility function including a graphics function.

31. The portal system of claim 29, wherein the summary function further comprises displaying a list of service providers selected by the user and an associated fee-for-service arrangement between the user and the service provider selected.

32. The portal system of claim 29, wherein the payment function further includes a payment mechanism for the user interface to make payment to the service providers and upon activation of the payment function, services are ordered from the selected service providers.

33. The portal of claim 29, wherein the utility functions further comprise at least one of a database software application, a word processor software application, a spreadsheet software application, and a publishing software application.

34. The portal system of claim 29, further comprising a login function to permit a user through user interface to access selected service providers periodically over a predetermined period of time in accordance with a predetermined fee-for-service arrangement between the user and the service providers.

23. A dynamic network portal system comprising:

a user interface;

at least one service provider;

a network portal viewable on the user interface and including a link to the at least one service provider wherein the network portal displays the service-provider links on a nonexclusive selection basis; and

a network communication link permitting communication between the user interface, the service provider and Internet portal.

27. A dynamic service provider database system comprising

a service document identifying a service provider and a type of service provided;

and

a service provider database for storing a plurality of service documents and for permitting display of the service provider represented by the service document on a network portal, wherein each service document is included in the database at the self-selection of the service provider.

29. A digital workshop portal system comprising:

a network-portal generated user screen displaying a plurality of utility functions, a summary function, and a payment function;

a link mechanism for displaying a link on the user screen to at least one service provider for each utility function wherein the displayed-service-provider links are selected from a nonexclusive database of service providers.

35. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method of constructing a network portal, the method comprising:

accessing a first service provider database that includes a listing of service providers that have self-selected their inclusion into the first service provider database; and

displaying keyword-service links on the network portal in association with the service providers from the first service provider database.