System and method for an online speaker patch-through
First Claim
1. A system, the system comprising:
- a first logic unit to provide a list of service providers to a user, indicating the availability of that provider;
a second logic unit to receive the user'"'"'s selection of a service provider;
a third logic unit to attempt to establish a real-time communications connection between the user and a selected service provider; and
a fourth logic unit to search a database of service providers for an alternate service provider based on a pre-established set of criteria and to offer the user an option of connecting with an alternate service provider.
36 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods described herein may be incorporated into a “service marketplace” system that matches users with potential information or service providers and establishes a real-time communications connection between the user and a selected information provider. In one embodiment, an alternate is selected for the user when the service provider that the user is trying to connect with cannot be reached. In an alternative embodiment, the alternates can be used in conjunction with the service provider that does connect with the user in order to provide a second opinion or possibly deeper background information. In one embodiment, the service providers can either be a live person at the other end of the connection or a recording.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system, the system comprising:
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a first logic unit to provide a list of service providers to a user, indicating the availability of that provider; a second logic unit to receive the user'"'"'s selection of a service provider; a third logic unit to attempt to establish a real-time communications connection between the user and a selected service provider; and a fourth logic unit to search a database of service providers for an alternate service provider based on a pre-established set of criteria and to offer the user an option of connecting with an alternate service provider. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method comprising:
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sending a user a list of service providers with their availability indicated; receiving from the user a selection of a service provider; attempting to establish real-time communications between the user and the selected service provider; and offering the user an option to connect to an alternate provider.
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18. A method of rerouting a user from a selected service provider to an alternate service provider, the method comprising:
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giving the selected service provider an option of sending the user to a database of service providers when the selected provider can not be reached; searching the database for an alternate service provider that matches the selected service provider based on a pre-established set of criteria; and providing the user with a list of the matching alternate service providers.
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19. A machine-readable storage medium tangibly embodying a sequence of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method comprising:
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sending a user a list of service providers with their availability indicated; receiving from the user a selection of a service provider; attempting to establish real-time communications between the user and the selected service provider; and offering the user an option to connect to an alternate provider.
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Specification