Methods and Systems for Digitally Signing a Document

• US 20110047385A1
• Filed: 02/18/2010
• Published: 02/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/24/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Senior Market Sales, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Senior Market Sales, Inc.
• Inventors: Kleinberg, Hershel
• Application Number:
  US12/708,300
• Publication Number:
  US 20110047385A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/64 Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/60 Digital content management, e.g. content distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/80 Wireless network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/126 the source of the received data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/321 involving a third party or a trusted authority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures

Abstract

Methods and systems according to various embodiments provide a voice-based digital signature to a digital document. For example, a user can access a website to fill in or compete a digital document such as an insurance application (e.g., an application for Medicare supplement insurance), and can call an interactive voice response (“IVR”) system to provide a voice-based (or oral or aural) digital signature to the digital document. The digital signature can then be attached, related, or appended to that digital document in place of a traditional signature. Thus, the digital document need not be printed and sent to the user for a signature.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, via a communications network, a data set associated with a digital document stored at a memory, the digital document including a plurality of data fields;

storing at least a portion of the data set at a portion of the memory associated with a data field from the plurality of data fields of the digital document;

verifying that the data field from the plurality of data fields of the digital document is complete; and

sending, via the communications network, access information associated with a digital signature module configured to define a digital signature including aural data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the access information includes a telephone number.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the access information includes a uniform resource identifier.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing, via the communications network, access to at least a portion of the digital document to a user station.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending, via the communications network, an identifier of the digital document to a user station.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before the sending, receiving from a user station an indication that the data set stored at the data field from the plurality of data fields of the digital document is accurate.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before the receiving the data set:

receiving a request for access to the digital document via the communications network; and

providing a representation of the plurality of data fields of the digital document to a user station via the communications network in response to the request for access to the digital document.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before the receiving the data set, sending to a user station a request for the data set.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before the receiving the data set, requesting the data set via an aural communication session.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the aural communication session is one of a telephonic communication session via a public switch telephone network, a VoIP communication session via a data network, or a voice or video chat session via a data network.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the user station is one of a telephone and a computer terminal.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

before the receiving the data set, requesting the data set via a first telephonic communication session; and

providing a second telephonic communication session in communication with the first telephonic communication session.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the data set associated with the digital document stored is received via the communications network from a moderator terminal; and

the access information associated with the digital signature module is sent via the communications network to a user station.

14. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a digital signature module, an initiation signal associated with an aural communication session;

storing aural data received via the aural communication session at a memory accessible to the digital signature module;

defining a digital signature based on the aural data; and

associating the digital signature with an identifier of a digital document.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving the identifier of the digital document via the aural communication session.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

terminating the aural communication session; and

after the terminating, sending the digital document and the digital signature to a computing device via a communications network.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising, before the storing the aural data, providing via a communications network access to at least a portion of the digital document to a user station.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising, before the storing the aural data, receiving from a user station an indication that a data set stored at a data field from a plurality of data fields of the digital document is accurate.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the user station is one of a telephone and a computer terminal.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising, before the receiving the aural data, requesting the aural data via the aural communication session.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the aural communication session is a first aural communication session, the method further comprising:

before the receiving the aural data, requesting the aural data via the first aural communication session; and

providing a second aural communication session in communication with the first aural communication session.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the aural communication session is one of a telephonic communication session via a public switch telephone network, a VoIP communication session via a data network, or a voice or video chat session via a data network.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein the aural data includes at least one user spoken response to at least one request for the aural data.

24. The method of claim 14, wherein the aural data includes at least one user non-spoken response to at least one request for the aural data.

25. A processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to:

initiate a telephonic communication session in response to an initiation signal received via a aural communications interface in communication with the processor;

receive aural data via the aural communications interface in communication with the processor;

define a digital signature based on the aural data; and

associate the digital signature with an identifier of a digital document.

26. The processor-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the aural communication session is a first aural communication session and the aural communication interface is a first aural communication interface, the processor-readable medium further storing code representing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:

request, via the first aural communication session, the aural data via the first aural communication session; and

initiate a second aural communication session via a second aural communications interface in communication with the processor, the second aural communication session in communication with the first aural communication session.

27. The processor-readable medium of claim 25, further storing code representing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:

terminate the aural communication session after receiving the aural data; and

send the digital document and the digital signature to a computing device in communication with the processor via a communications network in communication.

28. The processor-readable medium of claim 25, further storing code representing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor, before receiving the aural data, to send to a user station via a communications network at least a portion of the digital document.

29. The processor-readable medium of claim 28, wherein the user station is one of a telephone and a computer terminal.

30. The processor-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the aural data includes at least one user spoken response to at least one request for the aural data.