System and method for presenting and processing documents on the internet

• US 6,725,429 B1
• Filed: 12/29/1998
• Issued: 04/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: DMT Solutions Global Corporation
• Original Assignee: Pitney Bowes Incorporated (Böwe Systec AG)
• Inventors: Bresnan, Mark, Gardner, David P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUYNH, CONG LAC T
• Application Number:
  US09/222,196
• Time in Patent Office: 1,939 Days
• Field of Search: 707/530, 707/513, 707/501.1, 705/40, 705/34, 715/501.1, 715/513, 715/530, 715/500
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing

Abstract

A digital document delivery system and method for providing to a user an electronic primary document with associated secondary documents. The secondary documents can have relative priorities and are based upon user preference data. An electronic inserter, bill processing server and interactive bill presentation server are used to make the primary and secondary documents available for viewing by a user via the user'"'"'s web browser, as well as to allow the user to interrogate the system and to respond to the primary document, such as to pay an account due as stated in the primary document. The digital document delivery system and method also notifies the user of the existence of a primary and secondary documents for viewing.

Claims

1. A digital document delivery system for presentation of electronic documents for user viewing electronically, wherein the digital document delivery system comprises:

A) an electronic inserter that generates an electronic print stream output with information to be presented to users of the system, said information containing information regarding at least one primary document and information concerning N secondary documents to be associated with the primary document, where N is an integer equal to or greater than zero;

B) a bill processing server communicating with the electronic inserter, wherein the bill processing server interacts with an associated account database for maintaining information concerning the primary document delivered to the user and any response from the user concerning said primary document;

C) an interactive bill presentation server for receipt of the electronic print stream from the electronic inserter, for generating electronically viewable data corresponding to the primary document as well as for presenting electronic information related to any associated secondary documents, the interactive bill presentation server communicating with the bill processing server and with the user, including receipt of response information from the user for presentation to the bill processing server; and

D) an electronic enrollment application module for receipt of information from a prospective or current user so as to create or modify a user preference file, wherein the information concerning a user as recorded in the user preference file is used by the electronic inserter to determine each secondary document, if any, to be associated with a particular user'"'"'s primary document;

wherein at least some of the data in the user preference file is communicated to a print stream separator, the print stream separator having an input for receipt of print stream data and having a first output associated with the electronic print stream presented to the electronic inserter, and also having a second output in an electronic mail data run file specification associated with the electronic print stream for presentation to the electronic inserter so as to indicate which secondary documents should be generated as part of the output electronic print stream of the electronic inserter, and wherein the print stream separator generates a second output of print stream data for generation of hard copy print output for those users that do wish to receive hard copy primary documents.

2. A digital document delivery system as defined in claim 1, wherein each user has an electronic mail address and wherein the bill processing server informs a specific user that an electronic document is available for viewing by generating an electronic mail message directed to the specific user'"'"'s electronic mail address.

3. A digital document delivery system as defined in claim 1, wherein the bill processing server further has means for generating report information concerning the daily activity of the electronic primary documents viewed by associated users, as well as any responses by those users.

4. A digital document delivery system as defined in claim 3, wherein the bill processing server further comprises means for generating periodic data concerning the activities of the users for presentation to a third party institution.

5. A digital document delivery system as defined in claim 1, wherein the interactive bill presentation server generates the user viewable primary document and links to each associated secondary document information in hypertext markup language format.

6. A digital document delivery system as defined in claim 1, wherein the electronic inserter further receives job setup data from an associated job setup application module which contains information regarding the user.

7. A digital document delivery system as defined in claim 6, wherein the electronic inserter generates control and status information concerning the operation of the electronic inserter, and wherein the digital document delivery system further comprises a control and reporting module for receipt of the control and status information from the electronic inserter.

8. A digital document delivery system as defined in claim 1, wherein the second output in the electronic mail data run file specification associated with the electronic print stream for presentation to the electronic inserter indicates relative priorities of secondary documents to be generated as part of the output electronic print stream of the electronic inserter.

9. A digital document delivery system as defined in claim 8, wherein the data generated by the electronic inserter is in the AFP format.

10. A digital document delivery system as defined in claim 1, wherein the bill processing server communicates with the electronic inserter via a router instruction processor, which in turn receives commands from the electronic inserter regarding documents to be deliverable to users and wherein the router instruction processor processes these commands and communicates these commands to the bill processing server.

11. A digital document delivery system as defined in claim 1, wherein the bill processing server further has means for generating a notification message directed to the user for informing the user of the existence of at least an electronic primary document for viewing by the user.

12. A digital document delivery system as defined in claim 11, wherein the electronically viewable data generated by the interactive bill presentation server is in a form for viewing by a browser program.

13. A method of delivering digital documents for presentation of electronic documents for user viewing electronically, comprising the steps of:

A) generating an electronic print stream output with information to be presented to users, said information containing information regarding at least one primary document and information concerning N secondary documents to be associated with the primary document, where N is an integer equal to or greater than zero;

B) interacting with an associated account database for maintaining information concerning the primary document delivered to the user and any response from the user concerning said primary document;

C) receiving the electronic print stream for generating electronically viewable data corresponding to the primary document as well as for presenting electronic information related to any associated secondary documents, and communicating with the user, including receipt of response information from the user for modifying the account database;

D) enrolling users and receiving information so as to create or modify a user preference file, wherein the information concerning users'"'"' preferences is recorded in the user preference file and using the information to determine which secondary documents, if any, should be associated with a particular user'"'"'s primary document as part of the output electronic print stream; and

E) using at least some of the data in the user preference file to identify whether particular users wish to receive electronic primary documents and generating a hard copy print output for those users whose preference data indicates that they wish to receive hard copy primary documents.

14. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein each user has an electronic mail address and wherein the method further comprises the step of informing a specific user that an electronic document is available for viewing by generating an electronic mail message directed to the specific user'"'"'s electronic mail address.

15. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein the method further comprises the step of generating report information concerning the daily activity of the electronic primary documents viewed by associated users, as well as any responses by those users.

16. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein the electronically viewable data and the electronic information related to any associated secondary document is in hypertext markup language format.

17. A method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising the step of generating a notification message directed to the user for informing the user of the existence of at least an electronic primary document for viewing by the user.