Telephone/transaction entry device and system for entering transaction data into databases
DCFirst Claim
1. A system for entering transaction data into a remote database, comprising:
- a data input device;
a display;
a data transaction terminal including a microprocessor, a form memory which stores a plurality of menus and forms for presentation to a user, and a form driven operating system which controls a process implemented by said microprocessor to present to said display for each process at least one form stored in said form memory as data streams, said at least one form being selected by said user from one of said menus using said data input device, said one menu providing said user with an option of selecting at least one of said at least one form, another menu, and an updating process, each form eliciting data input of a desired transaction type into said data input device by said user and including at least one prompt customized to said desired transaction type, wherein said process implemented by said microprocessor is changed by changing said at least one form, and wherein when said user selects said updating process from said menu, data streams are downloaded to said form memory to update said menus and forms in accordance with said desired transaction type, said data transaction terminal further including means for formatting at least said data input by said user in response to said at least one prompt into a data transaction for transmission to said remote database; and
a database server associated with said remote database which receives said data transaction, creates from said data transaction, depending on said desired transaction type, at least one additional data transaction containing data for a particular record in said remote database, and stores said at least one additional data transaction in said particular record.
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Abstract
A data transaction processing system in which transaction data is entered by the user in response to prompts in a template which is tailored to each user application. The template and entered data are accumulated into data transactions which are immediately transmitted upon completion to an external database server for processing and storage. The data transactions are not locally stored for processing, and no conventional operating system is necessary. No local processing needs to be provided, and the only local storage is a flash PROM which stored the control firmware, a flash memory which stores the data streams making up the forms and menus, and a small RAM which operates as an input/output transaction buffer for storing the data streams of the template and the user replies to the prompts during assembly of a data transaction. The data transaction is received via standard protocols at a database server which, depending upon the application, stores the entire data transaction, explodes the data transaction to produce ancillary records which are then stored, and/or forwards the data transaction or some or all of the ancillary records to other database servers for updating other databases associated with those database servers. Also, in response to requests from the transaction entry device, the database server may return data streams for use in completing the fields in the data transaction or in presenting a menu on the display which was read in from the database server or a remote phone mail system. The transaction entry device is integrated with a telephone and is accessed via a touch screen, an optional keyboard, a magnetic card reader, voice entry, a modem, and the like.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A system for entering transaction data into a remote database, comprising:
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a data input device; a display; a data transaction terminal including a microprocessor, a form memory which stores a plurality of menus and forms for presentation to a user, and a form driven operating system which controls a process implemented by said microprocessor to present to said display for each process at least one form stored in said form memory as data streams, said at least one form being selected by said user from one of said menus using said data input device, said one menu providing said user with an option of selecting at least one of said at least one form, another menu, and an updating process, each form eliciting data input of a desired transaction type into said data input device by said user and including at least one prompt customized to said desired transaction type, wherein said process implemented by said microprocessor is changed by changing said at least one form, and wherein when said user selects said updating process from said menu, data streams are downloaded to said form memory to update said menus and forms in accordance with said desired transaction type, said data transaction terminal further including means for formatting at least said data input by said user in response to said at least one prompt into a data transaction for transmission to said remote database; and a database server associated with said remote database which receives said data transaction, creates from said data transaction, depending on said desired transaction type, at least one additional data transaction containing data for a particular record in said remote database, and stores said at least one additional data transaction in said particular record. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for entering transaction data into a plurality of remote databases, comprising:
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a data transaction terminal for capturing a data transaction having a one-to-many relationship to records of said plurality of remote databases, said data transaction terminal including a microprocessor, a form memory which stores a plurality of menus and forms for presentation to a user, and a form driven operating system which controls a process implemented by said microprocessor to present to said user for each process at least one form stored in said form memory as data streams, said at least one form eliciting data input of a desired transaction type into said data transaction terminal by said user, said data streams of said at least one form including at least one prompt customized to said desired transaction type, a format field which identifies said desired transaction type of said at least one form, a data entry field including said at least one prompt and spaces for said data input by said user in response to said at least one prompt, and a processing field for appending data particular to said desired transaction type, said data transaction terminal further including means for formatting at least said data input by said user in response to said at least one prompt into said data transaction for transmission to at least one of said plurality of remote databases; a first set of database servers associated with a first set of remote databases of said plurality of remote databases, said first set of database servers receiving said data transaction, creating from said data transaction a plurality of ancillary data transactions having a one-to-one relationship to said records of said plurality of remote databases, and storing said ancillary data transactions in designated records of said first set of remote databases; and a second set of database servers associated with a second set of remote databases of said plurality of remote databases, said second set of database servers receiving certain of said plurality of ancillary data transactions, and creating from said certain ancillary data transactions additional data transactions which are stored in application specific records of said second set of remote databases in accordance with said desired transaction type of said at least one form. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A data transaction terminal for providing data transactions to a remote database server which stores records in an associated database, comprising:
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a data input device; a display; a telephone circuit; a data transaction assembler including a microprocessor, a form memory which stores a plurality of menus and forms for presentation to a user, and a transaction assembly server (TAS) which controls a process implemented by said microprocessor to present to said display for each process at least one form stored in said form memory as data streams, said at least one form being selected by said user from one of said menus using said data input device, said one menu providing said user with an option of selecting at least one of said at least one form, another menu, and an updating process, each form eliciting data input of a desired transaction type into said data transaction assembler by said user and including at least one prompt customized to said desired transaction type, wherein said process implemented by said microprocessor is changed by changing said at least one form, and wherein when said user selects said updating process from said menu, data streams are downloaded to said form memory to update said menus and forms in accordance with said desired transaction type, and means for formatting at least said data input by said user in response to said at least one prompt into a data transaction for transmission to said remote database server; and a mode switch for selectively connecting said telephone circuit to a telephone network in a telephone mode and said data transaction assembler to said remote database server in a data transaction entry mode. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 43, 44)
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39. A method of entering transaction data into a remote database using a data transaction terminal, comprising the steps of:
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storing a plurality of menus and forms in a form memory of a form driven operating system of said data transaction terminal, each form including at least one prompt customized to a desired transaction type; said form driven operating system controlling said data transaction terminal to accept input data of said desired transaction type using control data comprising at least one of said forms from said form memory; a user selecting one of said menus using a data input device and said user selecting from said one menu at least one of said at least one form, another menu, and an updating process for further processing; if said updating process is selected from said one menu by said user, downloading data streams to update said menus and forms in accordance with said desired transaction type; and if said at least one form is selected from said one menu by said user, said form driven operating system presenting to a display a form for eliciting data input of said desired transaction type from said user, said user inputting data in response to said at least one prompt of said form using said data input device, and said form driven operating system formatting at least said input data from said user into a data transaction for transmission to said remote database and transmitting said data transaction to said remote database. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42)
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Specification