Interactive video communication in real time

• US 6,219,087 B1
• Filed: 05/03/1999
• Issued: 04/17/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Virtual Shopping, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Virtual Shopping, Inc.
• Inventors: Greenway, Stephen B., Uiterwyk, Robert E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Duc
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US09/303,999
• Time in Patent Office: 715 Days
• Field of Search: 348/14, 348/15, 348/16, 370/260, 370/261, 370/259, 379/202, 379/265, 379/93.21
• US Class Current: 348/14.08
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5166 in combination with interactive voice response systems or voice portals, e.g. as front-ends
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/523 with call distribution or queueing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5232 Call distribution algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 Multimedia conference systems

Abstract

The present invention includes a system for providing personal financial services utilizing video conferencing between a consumer and a services provider at a location remote from the consumer. The system comprises a call distributor mechanism for receiving requests from the consumer and for responding to requests based upon semantics communicated by the consumer.

Claims

1. A system for providing personal financial services utilizing real time video conferencing between a consumer and a service provider, or multiple service providers, at a location, or at multiple locations, remote from the consumer, comprising:

a call distributor mechanism, which is transport and hardware/computer platform independent, for receiving calls from the consumer and for responding to calls based upon semantics communicated by the consumer and received and interpreted by the call distributor wherein calls from a consumer are routed based upon expertise of the service provider and wherein a call from a consumer is configured to route to a first qualified service provider and then to a second qualified service provider, if necessary;

a mechanism wherein the call distributor procures and stores information from call semantics for performance of statistical analyses;

one or more consumer access stations, each access station comprising an image generating device, and an image receiving device, by which the consumer can access the call distributor and request a video conversation with the service provider; and

one or more service provider stations, each having an image generating device, and image receiving device and a mechanism for receiving a signal from the call distributor that comprises information regarding the type of transaction.

2. The system of claim 1 and further comprising a routing mechanism wherein the call distributor receives the consumer call without prior routing to a service provider.

3. The system of claim 1 and further comprising a mechanism by which the call distributor transmits a data stream to a consumer when the consumer is on hold.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the call semantics interpretation and data collection is performed substantially exclusively by the call distributor.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the call distributor receives calls from a call queue protocol as well as calls made outside of a call queue protocol.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the call distributor instructs the service provider to create a conference name prior to connection with a consumer.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the conference name is transmitted to the consumer.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the call distributor creates a listening thread between a consumer and the call distributor when a request for connection is received from the consumer.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the thread transmits a connection string to the consumer and waits for a login command.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the call distributor receives connection requests from the consumer, the service provider, and administrators that configure or monitor the call distributor apparatus.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein consumer calls are received by the call distributor after organization by a call queue protocol.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the call queue protocol defines three types of information bundles which are transmitted to and from the call distributor.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the information bundles comprise request information bundles which communicate a directive, response bundles which are transmitted in response to requests and event bundles which are unsolicited messages that communicate general information.

14. A process for providing personal financial services utilizing real time video conferencing between a consumer and a qualified service provider, or multiple service providers, at a location, or at multiple locations, remote from the consumer, comprising:

providing a call distributor mechanism, which is transport and hardware/computer platform independent, for receiving requests from the consumer and for responding to requests based upon semantics communicated by the consumer and received and interpreted by the call distributor wherein the call distributor procures and stores information from call semantics for performance of statistical analyses;

providing one or more consumer access stations, each access station comprising an image generating device and an image receiving device by which the consumer can access the call distributor and request a video conversation with a qualified service provider; and

directing a call received from the consumer to the qualified service provider based upon semantics received and interpreted by the call distributor wherein a call from a consumer is routed based upon expertise of the service provider and wherein the call is configured to route to a first qualified service provider and then to a second qualified service provider, if necessary.

15. The process of claim 14 and further comprising routing a call from the consumer without prior routing to a service provider.

16. The process of claim 14 and further comprising communicating a data stream to the consumer when the consumer is on hold, by the call distributor.

17. The process of claim 14 wherein the call semantics interpretation and data collection is performed substantially exclusively by the call distributor.

18. The process of claim 14 wherein the call distributor receives calls from a call queue protocol as well as calls made outside of a call queue protocol.

19. The process of claim 14 and further including creating a conference name prior to connection with a consumer.

20. The process of claim 19 wherein the conference name is transmitted to the consumer.

21. The process of claim 14 and further comprising fabricating a listening thread between the consumer and the call distributor when a request for connection is received from the consumer.

22. The process of claim 21 wherein the thread transmits a connection string to the consumer and waits for a login command.

23. The process of claim 14 wherein the call distributor receives connection requests from the consumer, the service provider, and administrators that configure or monitor the call distributor apparatus.

24. The process of claim 14 and further comprising receiving calls by the call distributor after organization by a call queue protocol.

25. The process of claim 24 wherein the call queue protocol defines three types of information bundles which are transmitted to and from the call distributor.

26. The process of claim 25 wherein information bundles communicate a directive, response bundles respond to requests and event bundles that communicate general information.

27. The process of claim 14 wherein the call distributor communicates with consumers using hypertext transport protocol.

28. A machine readable medium comprising machine readable instructions for causing a call distributor to perform a method of routing a call, which is transport and hardware/computer platform independent, comprising:

an instruction for categorizing the call based upon semantics of the call;

an instruction for routing the categorized call comprising configuring a call from a consumer to route to a first qualified service provider and then to a second qualified service provider, if necessary and further comprising routing calls from the consumer based upon expertise of the service provider; and

an instruction wherein the call distributor procures and stores information from call semantics for performance of statistical analyses.

29. The medium of claim 28 and further comprising an instruction for communicating on-hold data streams by the call distributor.

30. The medium of claim 28 and further comprising an instruction for gathering data utilizing semantics of the call.

31. The medium of claim 28 and further comprising an instruction for communicating with a consumer under a call queue protocol.

32. The medium of claim 28 and further comprising an instruction wherein the call distributor instructs a consumer to create a conference with a system generated name.

33. The medium of claim 28 and further comprising an instruction wherein the call distributor generates a thread to service a connection with a consumer.

34. The medium of claim 33 wherein the call distributor returns to a listening state after generating the thread.

35. The medium of claim 33 and further comprising an instruction wherein the thread generation is delayed to receive a login command from a call queue protocol.

36. The medium of claim 33 and further comprising an instruction wherein the call distributor communicates with consumers using hypertext transport protocol.