Methods and apparatuses for purchasing telephone calling card minutes using an electronic commerce kiosk and for conducting other forms of electronic commerce
First Claim
1. A method for use by an electronic commerce kiosk for selling prepaid telephone service, the method comprising:
- providing an electronic commerce kiosk in a publicly accessible location;
displaying one or more purchase options to a user at the kiosk corresponding to one or types of telephone usage;
receiving a purchase selection from the user at the kiosk corresponding to at least one of the displayed purchase options;
determining an amount due from the user in response to receiving the purchase selection;
receiving funds from the user at the kiosk to at least partially pay for the selected purchase;
determining a difference between the funds received and the amount due; and
when the difference is greater than zero, automatically dispensing a voucher to the user at the kiosk in the absence of dispensing monetary currency to the user, wherein the voucher is at least redeemable for additional purchases selected at the kiosk.
22 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatuses for purchasing telephone calling card minutes and for conducting other forms of electronic commerce. In one embodiment, a method for conducting electronic commerce includes providing a kiosk in a publicly accessible location, and displaying one or more transaction options to a user at the kiosk. The method may further include receiving a transaction selection from the user corresponding to one or more of the displayed transaction options, determining an amount due from the user in response to the transaction selection, and receiving funds from the user. In response to receiving the funds, the kiosk may dispense a redeemable voucher to the user, including a redeemable voucher for any amount paid in excess of the amount due.
-
Citations
35 Claims
-
1. A method for use by an electronic commerce kiosk for selling prepaid telephone service, the method comprising:
-
providing an electronic commerce kiosk in a publicly accessible location;
displaying one or more purchase options to a user at the kiosk corresponding to one or types of telephone usage;
receiving a purchase selection from the user at the kiosk corresponding to at least one of the displayed purchase options;
determining an amount due from the user in response to receiving the purchase selection;
receiving funds from the user at the kiosk to at least partially pay for the selected purchase;
determining a difference between the funds received and the amount due; and
when the difference is greater than zero, automatically dispensing a voucher to the user at the kiosk in the absence of dispensing monetary currency to the user, wherein the voucher is at least redeemable for additional purchases selected at the kiosk. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A method for conducting electronic commerce, the method comprising:
-
providing an electronic commerce kiosk in a publicly accessible location;
displaying one or more transaction options to a user at the kiosk;
receiving a transaction selection from the user at the kiosk corresponding to at least one of the displayed transaction options;
determining an amount due from the user in response to receiving the transaction selection;
receiving funds from the user at the kiosk to at least partially pay for the selected transaction;
determining a difference between the funds received and the amount due; and
when the difference is greater than zero, dispensing a voucher to the user at the kiosk in the absence of dispensing monetary currency to the user, wherein the voucher is redeemable for a value at least generally corresponding to the difference between the funds received and the amount due. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method in an electronic commerce kiosk for providing a voucher to a user, the method comprising:
-
calculating a total amount due from the user for a selected transaction;
receiving a payment from the user for the transaction;
determining whether the payment received exceeds the amount due; and
when the payment received exceeds the amount due, dispensing a voucher to the user, wherein the voucher is redeemable for an amount the received payment exceeds the amount due. - View Dependent Claims (16)
-
-
17. A method usable by an electronic commerce kiosk, the method comprising:
-
retrieving a cost of at least one product selected by a user;
determining a fee associated with the at least one product selected by the user;
determining a tax based at least partially on the cost of the at least one product selected by the user;
determining a first sum, wherein the first sum is at least generally equivalent to the cost plus the fee plus the tax;
determining if the first sum is equivalent to a whole bill amount;
when the first sum is not equivalent to a whole bill amount, determining a second sum, wherein the second sum is equivalent to the nearest whole bill amount greater than the first sum; and
displaying the second sum to the user at the kiosk as the price of the selected product. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. An apparatus for selling telephone service time in a publicly accessible location, the apparatus comprising:
an electronic commerce kiosk including;
a monetary currency input region;
a monetary currency discriminator configured to receive monetary currency from the monetary currency input region; and
a voucher dispenser in the absence of a monetary currency output region, the voucher dispenser configured to dispense a redeemable voucher at least partially in response to receiving monetary currency in the monetary currency region. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
-
29. A system for conducting electronic commerce in a publicly accessible location, the system comprising.
means for displaying one or more transaction options to a user at a kiosk; -
means for receiving a transaction selection from the user at the kiosk corresponding to at least one of the displayed transaction options;
means for determining an amount due from the user in response to receiving the transaction selection;
means for receiving funds from the user at the kiosk to at least partially pay for the selected transaction;
means for determining a difference between the funds received and the amount due; and
when the difference is greater than zero, means for dispensing a voucher to the user at the kiosk in the absence of dispensing monetary currency to the user, wherein the voucher is redeemable for a value at least generally corresponding to the difference between the funds received and the amount due. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
Specification