REMOTE CONTROL OF A WEB BROWSER

• US 20110202350A1
• Filed: 10/15/2009
• Published: 08/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Troy Barnes
• Original Assignee: Troy Barnes
• Inventors: Barnes, Troy
• Granted Patent: US 9,497,322 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/270.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4938 comprising a voice browser which renders and interprets, e.g. VoiceXML
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1295 Details of dual tone multiple frequency signalling

Abstract

A system for remotely and interactively controlling visual and multimedia content displayed on and rendered by a web browser using a telephony device. In particular, the system relates to receiving a voice input (e.g., dual tone multi-frequency DTMF input, spoken input, etc.) from a telephony device (e.g., a landline, a cellular telephone, or other system with telephone functionality, etc.) via a wide-area network to an intermediary computer that is configured to control the rendering of one or more web pages (or other web data) by a standard web browser.

Claims

1. A computer system, comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory storing program instructions executable to cause the computer system to;

provide a visual prompt via a display unit coupled to the computer system;

receive a first voice input from a telephony device over a wide-area network, wherein the first voice input is made in response to the visual prompt; and

in response to the received voice input, control the content of one or more web pages displayed on the display unit.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the telephony device is a wireless device, and wherein the wide-area network includes a mobile telephone network, and wherein the received voice input includes DTMF input.

3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the visual prompt advertises one or more products available for purchase, and wherein the first voice input requests to purchase at least one of the one or more products.

4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the first voice input specifies information requested by the visual prompt, and wherein the memory stores program instructions executable to cause the computer system to update content of at least one of the one or more web pages in response to the specified information.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable to:

cause the computer system to provide a voice prompt to the telephony device over the wide-area network; and

receive a second voice input from the telephony device over the wide-area network, wherein the second voice input is made in response to the voice prompt.

6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the computer system is usable with a telephony-based customer service interactive voice response (IVR) system, wherein at least one of the one or more web pages includes information corresponding to options available via the IVR system, and wherein the web page is updatable in real time based on the received voice input.

7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the computer system and the display unit are contained within a single housing.

8. A method, comprising:

a computer system providing a visual prompt via a display unit coupled to the computer system;

the computer system receiving a first voice input from a telephony device over a wide-area network, wherein the first voice input is made in response to the visual prompt; and

in response to the first voice input, the computer system controlling the content of one or more web pages displayed on the display unit.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

the computer system listening for the first voice input in a telephone call placed over the wide-area network, and wherein the telephone call is between the telephony device and another telephony device distinct from the computer system.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

the computer system providing audio information to the telephony device, wherein the audio information indicates content included within at least one of the one or more web pages.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the display unit is configured to display information about an entry device coupled to the computer system, and wherein the method further comprises:

the computer system receiving, from the telephony device, a request to open the entry device;

in response to receiving the request;

the computer system controlling the entry device; and

the computer system indicating whether access has been granted to the entry device.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a second voice input specifying an identifier of a user of the telephony device;

the computer system using the identifier to retrieve information about the user from a database; and

the computer system selecting advertising content to be displayed on at least one of the one or more web pages, wherein said selecting is based on the retrieved information about the user.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

the computer system receiving a request from the telephony device over the wide-area network, wherein the request is for information about a user of another telephony device configured to convey voice input to the computer system over the wide-area network; and

the computer system providing the requested information to the telephony device from a database associated with the computer system.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the wide-area network is a VoIP network.

15. A computer-readable storage medium having program instructions stored thereon, that, if executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:

providing a visual prompt via a display unit coupled to the computer system;

receiving a first voice input from a telephony device via a wide-area network, wherein the first voice input is made in response to the voice prompt; and

rendering one or more web pages in response to the first voice input, wherein the rendered one or more web pages are to be displayed on the display device.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

changing from displaying a first web page on the display device to displaying a second web page on the display device.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

receiving a second voice input specifying an identifier of the display device; and

using the identifier to select the display device from among a plurality of display devices coupled to the computer system, wherein each display device is associated with a unique identifier.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

displaying a webpage on the display device, wherein the displayed webpage advertises one or more products available for purchase; and

receiving a second voice input requesting to purchase at least one of the one or more products; and

initiating a transaction to purchase the product.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein said initiating includes providing transaction information to a financial institution that includes information about a buyer and the product.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

receiving a second voice input specifying information about a user of the telephony device; and

retrieving additional information about the user from a database accessible by the computer system; and

rendering one or more web pages based on the retrieved additional information.