PROVIDING SERVICES FROM A REMOTE COMPUTER SYSTEM TO A USER STATION OVER A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

• US 20110016193A1
• Filed: 09/29/2010
• Published: 01/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/1994
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TMI Solutions LLC (Strategic Intellectual Solutions, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Twintech E.U.
• Inventors: Reisman, Richard R.
• Granted Patent: US 9,484,078 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/025 Coordination of plural reservations, e.g. plural trip segments, transportation combined with accommodation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/123 Tax preparation or submission
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 8/18 Address timing or clocking circuits; Address control signal generation or management, e.g. for row address strobe [RAS] or column address strobe [CAS] signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/00 Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications user-to-user messaging H04L51/00; network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing services from a remote computer system to a user station over a communications network, including automated identification of users. During a first communication session between a user station and a remote computer system, the user station provides first user identification information to the remote computer system. The remote computer system uses the first user identification information in transaction during the first communication session. The remote computer system also stores at least a portion of the first user identification information. The remote computer system also provides second user identification information to the user station, which is stored at the user station. The remote computer system also generates an association between the stored first user identification information and the second user identification information. During subsequent communication sessions between the user station and the remote computer system, the user station automatically provides the stored second user identification information to the remote computer system, that is, without user-prompting. The remote computer system uses the received second user identification information and the association, during the subsequent communication session, to identify and retrieve the stored first user identification information. The remote computer system then uses the retrieved first user identification information in the subsequent transaction.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for identifying a user station to a remote computer system, in which first information identifying a user station not previously identified to the remote computer system is received at the remote computer system over a communications network, at least a portion of which includes the Internet, during a first user-initiated communication session, second information that is a function of the first information and that is different from the first information is sent to the user station over the communications network during the first user-initiated communication session to be stored automatically at the user station, and third information that is based on the first information is stored at a location remote from the user station and accessible to the remote computer system, comprising:

receiving the second information at the remote computer system from the user station automatically;

retrieving the previously stored third information at the remote computer system; and

comparing the received second information with the stored third information.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

recording and storing an indication of at least one additional time the user station initiates a communication with the remote computer system.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein first user specific information is received at the remote computer system from a user station during the first user-initiated communication session, second user specific information that is a function of the first user specific information and that is different from the first user specific information is sent to the user station over the communications network during the first user-initiated communication session to be stored automatically at the user station, user related information that is based on the first user specific information is stored at a location remote from the user station and accessible to the remote computer system, and an association is generated between the stored user related information and the second user specific information, further comprising:

receiving the second user specific information over the communications network during a subsequent and separate user-initiated communication session automatically from the user station;

retrieving the stored user related information using the received second user specific information and the association, during the subsequent and separate communication session; and

using the retrieved user related information for interaction with the remote computer system during the subsequent and separate communication session.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

allowing interaction of the user station with the remote computer system as a previously identified user station without requiring further user station identification if the received information matches the retrieved third information.

4. A computer implemented method for identifying a user to a remote computer system, in which information specific to a given user not previously identified to the remote computer system is received at the remote computer system over a communications network, at least a portion of which includes the Internet, during a first user-initiated communication session, and information related to the first user specific information is stored at a location remote from the user station and accessible to the remote computer system, comprising:

receiving second user specific information at the remote computer system from a second user station;

retrieving at least a portion of the previously stored information at the remote computer system; and

comparing the received second user specific information with at least a portion of the retrieved information.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:

receiving and acknowledging a password from the user station during the subsequent user-initiated communication session before permitting the user to transact business using the remote computer system.

7. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:

allowing interaction of the user with the remote computer system as a previously identified user without requiring further user identification if the received second user specific information matches the retrieved portion