Systems and Methods to Facilitate Transition from Communication to Commerce

• US 20070189520A1
• Filed: 04/03/2007
• Published: 08/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: YellowPages.com LLC (Mudrick Capital Management LP)
• Original Assignee: UTBK, Inc.
• Inventors: HIRSON, Ron, FABER, Scott, ALTBERG, Ebbe, AKHOURI, Amit, VAN DER LINDEN, Sean, MANCA, Paul
• Application Number:
  US11/696,153
• Publication Number:
  US 20070189520A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 380/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066

Abstract

A method and system to facilitate the conversion from communications to commerce. In one embodiment, a method includes: establishing a communication session between a first user and a second user; facilitating communications between the first user and the second user for a first period of time of the communication session; after the first period of time, receiving from the first user a request to charge the second user during the communication session; responsive to the request received from the first user, prompting the second user to accept a price to continue the communication session; and responsive to a response from the second user, charging the second user according to the price for a second period of time of the communication session.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing a communication session between a first user and a second user;

facilitating communications between the first user and the second user for a first period of time of the communication session;

after the first period of time, receiving from the first user a request to charge the second user during the communication session;

responsive to the request received from the first user, prompting the second user to accept a price to continue the communication session; and

responsive to a response from the second user, charging the second user according to the price for a second period of time of the communication session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second user is not charged by the first user for the first period of time of the communication session.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

compensating the first user using a payment charged to the second user according to the price.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, during the first period of time:

providing a first connection for communications of a first type between the first user and the second user; and

responsive a request from the second user, providing a second connection for communications of a second type between the first user and the second user.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first type and the second type are different ones of text chat, voice chat, video conferencing, application sharing, common whiteboarding, and screen sharing.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the request from the first user comprises a connection provider receiving the request from the first user via a web interface while the connection provider provides a connection for real time communications between the first user and the second user.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the connection for real time communications comprises a telephone connection.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a communication reference to represent the first user;

via the communication reference, receiving a request for the communication session from the second user; and

presenting the request for the communication session to the first user;

wherein the communication session is established in response to the first user accepting the request for the communication session from the second user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the communication reference comprises a link to an icon;

and the communication reference is to be embedded in a web page of the first user.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

presenting a list of users who request communication sessions with the first user via the communication reference;

receiving from the first user a selection of the second user from the list of users; and

receiving a selection of a first connection type from the first user;

wherein the communication session is established according to the first connection type selected by the first user.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

responsive to a request from the second user, upgrading the communication session from the first connection type to a second connection type.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting a user interface to allow the second user to select a combination of connection types;

adjusting the communication session to facilitate the combination of connection types selected by the second user during the communication session.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first period of time comprises at least a first portion for text based real time conversation between the first user and the second user and a second portion for voice based real time conversation between the first user and the second user.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication session supports real time, in person communications between the first user and the second user.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication session supports multimedia communications between the first user and the second user;

and a plurality of media connections for the communication session are dynamically selectable during the communication session.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to an input from the first user, presenting an offer of the first user to the second user using a communication connection of the communication session; and

determining whether the second user accepts the offer.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the offer is not presented to the second user prior to the communication session.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the offer includes a service delivered at least in part via the communication session.

19. A machine readable medium containing instructions which when executed on a data processing system cause the system to perform a method, comprising:

establishing a communication session between a first user and a second user;

facilitating communications between the first user and the second user for a first period of time of the communication session;

after the first period of time, receiving from the first user a request to charge the second user during the communication session;

responsive to the request received from the first user, prompting the second user to accept a price to continue the communication session; and

responsive to a response from the second user, charging the second user according to the price for a second period of time of the communication session.

20. A data processing system, comprising:

means for establishing a communication session between a first user and a second user;

means for facilitating communications between the first user and the second user for a first period of time of the communication session;

means for, after the first period of time, receiving from the first user a request to charge the second user during the communication session;

means for, responsive to the request received from the first user, prompting the second user to accept a price to continue the communication session; and

means for, responsive to a response from the second user, charging the second user according to the price for a second period of time of the communication session.