Method, system, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for interactive notification of events

• US 7,818,674 B2
• Filed: 04/12/2007
• Issued: 10/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Koch, Robert A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pitaro, Ryan F
• Application Number:
  US11/734,342
• Publication Number:
  US 20070198691A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,286 Days
• Field of Search: 715/736, 715/975, 709/207, 705/14, 705/34
• US Class Current: 715/736
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/544 Remote
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/975 Pop-up dialog box for entry

Abstract

A method, system, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for the interactive notification of events is provided. A notification client application program executes in a background state and receives notifications from a business application server computer that an event has occurred. The notification may include a request to display a visual indication that the event has occurred, including a description of the event. In response to the request, the notification client application program displays a user interface window on the client computer including a description of the event that has occurred. The user interface window may include hyperlinks to additional Web content regarding the event, for scheduling appointments, for purchasing goods or services, or for placing a telephone call regarding the event.

Claims

1. A method for providing a notification that an event has occurred to a user of a client computer, the method comprising:

transmitting a request to receive a notification in response to the occurrence of the event, to a server computer, using a web browser application program residing at the client computer and in communication with the server computer;

receiving, in response to the occurrence of the event, the notification from the server computer, wherein the notification comprises a description of the event, at least one hyperlink to additional data regarding the event, wherein the hyperlink is operative to provide the additional data in response to being selected by the user, and data for allowing the user to customize a visual indication regarding the notification, wherein the visual indication comprises a user name and a user identifier, and wherein the additional data comprises data regarding a product;

opening a user interface window to thereby display the notification to the user using a notification application program residing at the client computer and in communication with the server computer;

receiving a selection of the at least one hyperlink from the user; and

in response to the selection, placing an order to purchase the product, with a billing server computer, using the web browser application program.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for notification in response to the occurrence of the event is transmitted to a plurality of server computers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for notification that an event has occurred is transmitted over a high speed, always-on network connection.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for notification that an event has occurred is received at a web server.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising based on the selection, creating an appointment with a calendaring server computer.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, based on the selection, placing a telephone call using a telephone application program residing at the client computer,

7. A computer readable medium containing instructions, the instructions operative to cause a processor of a client computer to:

transmit a request for notification in response to the occurrence of the event, to a server computer using a web browser application residing at the client computer and in communication with the server computer;

receive, in response to the occurrence of the event, the notification from the server computer, wherein the notification comprises a description of the event, at least one hyperlink to additional data regarding the event, wherein the hyperlink is operative to provide the additional data in response to being selected by a user of the client computer, and data for customizing a visual indication regarding the notification, wherein the visual indication comprises a user name and a user identifier;

open a user interface window to thereby display the notification to the user using a notification client application residing at the client computer and in communication with the server computer, the notification comprising a description of the event;

receive a selection of the at least one hyperlink from the user; and

in response to the selection, create an appointment with a calendaring server computer in communication with the client computer; and

based on the selection, place an order for purchasing a product with a billing server computer, using the web browser application program.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions are further operative to cause the processor to, based on the selection, place a telephone call using a telephone application residing at the client computer.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the request for notification, in response to the occurrence of the event, is transmitted to a plurality of server computers.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the request for notification that an event has occurred is transmitted over a high speed, always-on network connection.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the request for notification that an event has occurred is received at a web server.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the server computer determines a network address to send the notification to by querying a network service provider with the user identifier.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions are further operative to cause the processor to receive the notification using a notification application program residing at the client computer.

14. A system for providing a notification that an event has occurred to a user of a client computer, the system comprising:

a client computer comprising an output device, a memory, a central processing unit, and a storage device containing computer-readable instructions for execution on the central processing unit, the computer-readable instructions operative to cause the client computer to transmit a request for a notification in response to the occurrence of the event to each of a plurality of server computers using a web browser application program residing in the storage device of the client computer, to receive from each of the server computers a request to provide a notification that the event has occurred to the client computer, the request to provide the notification comprising a description of the event corresponding to each of the server computers, at least one hyperlink to additional data regarding the event, data for allowing the user to customize a visual indication that the event has occurred, the visual indication comprising a user name and a user identifier, and to open a new user interface window for each request to thereby display each notification to the user using a client notification application program residing in the storage device of the client computer, each notification comprising a description of the event, wherein the event is a user-specified event;

the plurality of server computers, each comprising a memory, a central processing unit, and a storage device containing computer-readable instructions for execution on the central processing unit of each of the server computers, the computer-readable instructions operative to cause each of the server computers to send the request to provide a notification to the client computer, to determine whether the event has occurred, to identify a network address for the client computer based on the user identifier in response to determining that the event has occurred, wherein the network address is an Internet protocol address, and to transmit the request to the client computer at the network address to provide a notification that the event has occurred, wherein the client computer is further operative to, based on a selection of the hyperlink, place an order with a billing server computer.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a calendaring server computer, and wherein the client computer is further operative to, based on a selection of the hyperlink, create an appointment with the calendaring server computer.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the client computer is further operative to, based on a selection of the hyperlink, place a telephone call.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the request to provide a notification that an event has occurred is received at a web server.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the request to provide the notification that the event has occurred is received from a user of the web server.