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, and a form driven operating system which controls said microprocessor to present to said display at least one form stored in said form memory as data streams, said form eliciting data input of a desired transaction type into said data input device by a user, said at least one form including at least one prompt customized 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 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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Accused Products
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
53 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, and a form driven operating system which controls said microprocessor to present to said display at least one form stored in said form memory as data streams, said form eliciting data input of a desired transaction type into said data input device by a user, said at least one form including at least one prompt customized 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 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, 13, 14)
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15. 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, and a form driven operating system which controls said microprocessor to present to a user at least one form stored in said form memory as data streams, said form eliciting data input of a desired transaction type into said data transaction terminal by said user, said at least one form including at least one prompt customized 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 (16, 17)
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18. 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, and a form driven operating system which controls said microprocessor to present to a user at least one form stored in said form memory as data streams, said form eliciting data input of a desired transaction type into said data transaction assembler by said user, said at least one form including at least one prompt customized to 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 (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A method of entering transaction data into a remote database using a data transaction terminal, comprising the steps of:
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loading from a remote database server at least one predetermined form including at least one prompt customized to a desired transaction type into a form memory of a form driven operating system of said data transaction terminal, said form driven operating system controlling a microprocessor of said data transaction terminal to accept input data of said desired transaction type from a user; said form driven operating system presenting to a display said at least one predetermined 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 using a data input device; 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 (46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A terminal for displaying navigation options of a phone mail menu of a remote phone mail system on a local display, comprising:
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a telephone circuit for making a telephone connection to said remote phone mail system; control means for sending a request for a visual representation of said navigation options of said phone mail menu via said telephone connection, for receiving a data stream containing said visual representation of said navigation options of said phone mail menu from said remote phone mail system via said telephone connection, and for presenting said visual representation of said navigation options of said phone mail menu to said local display; and selection means for selecting a navigation option from said navigation options of said phone mail menu displayed on said local display and for instructing said control means to send data to said remote phone mail system via said telephone connection indicating which navigation option was selected from said phone mail menu. - View Dependent Claims (51)
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52. A method of displaying navigation options of a phone mail menu of a remote phone mail system on a local display, comprising the steps of:
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establishing a telephone connection to said remote phone mail system; sending a request for a visual representation of said navigation options of said phone mail menu via said telephone connection; receiving a data stream containing said visual representation of said navigation options of said phone mail menu from said remote phone mail system via said telephone connection; presenting said visual representation of said navigation options of said phone mail menu to said local display; selecting a navigation option from said navigation options of said phone mail menu displayed on said local display; and sending data to said remote phone mail system via said telephone connection indicating which navigation option was selected from said phone mail menu. - View Dependent Claims (53)
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Specification