Prepaid personal advisory service for cellular networks
First Claim
1. A system for real-time connection of a customer and an expert, comprising:
- a database storing information about registered customers and experts, the information comprising keywords provided by the experts during registration; and
a server, during a communication session, receiving a question from one of the customers, sending the question to experts determined by matching keywords in the question with the keywords in the database, and establishing a connection between the customer and an expert selected by the customer from experts wanting to answer the question.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A real-time personal advisory service. In a preferred embodiment, experts access a server and register, providing their credentials, charge rates, and keywords related to their field of expertise. Information regarding the experts and customers are stored in a database. A registered customer sends a question as an SMS message to the server through a cellular device. The server scans the question for keywords and uses the keywords to query the database, generating a list of experts likely to be willing to answer the question. The question is then forwarded as another SMS message to the experts. Experts wanting to answer the question press an accept button, sending an SMS message back to the server. The server sends an SMS message to the customer, indicating that there are experts who want to answer the question. The customer selects an expert and replies to the message. The server then bridges the parties.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A system for real-time connection of a customer and an expert, comprising:
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a database storing information about registered customers and experts, the information comprising keywords provided by the experts during registration; and
a server, during a communication session, receiving a question from one of the customers, sending the question to experts determined by matching keywords in the question with the keywords in the database, and establishing a connection between the customer and an expert selected by the customer from experts wanting to answer the question. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An advisory method, comprising:
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receiving a question from a registered customer during a communication session;
sending the question to a plurality of registered experts during the communication session, the experts receiving the question determined by matching keywords in the question with keywords provided by the experts during registration; and
establishing a connection during the communication session between the customer and an expert selected by the customer from experts wanting to answer the question. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A computer-readable storage controlling a computer and comprising a process of:
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receiving a question from a registered customer during a communication session;
sending the question to a plurality of registered experts during the communication session, the experts receiving the question determined by matching keywords in the question with keywords provided by the experts during registration; and
establishing a connection during the communication session between the customer and an expert selected by the customer from experts wanting to answer the question.
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24. An advisory method, comprising:
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registering a plurality of customers and a plurality of experts, the experts providing keywords;
starting a communication session by receiving a question as an short messaging service message from one of the customers;
extracting keywords from the question;
matching the keywords from the question and the keywords provided by the experts to generate a list of one or more experts to receive the question;
sending the question as another short messaging service message to the experts on the list of experts;
receiving responses from experts on the list of experts wanting to answer the question;
informing the customer sending the question of the experts wanting to answer the question;
establishing a connection between the customer sending the question and an expert selected by the customer from the experts wanting to answer the question, the connection comprising a telephone call to the selected expert bridged to a telephone call to the customer; and
ending the communication session when the connection is disconnected.
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25. A method, comprising:
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selecting an expert based on a question submitted by a customer; and
connecting, directly, the expert and the customer via a telephone call. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification