System and method for promoting commerce, including sales agent assisted commerce, in a networked economy
First Claim
1. A computer implemented process for facilitating electronic commerce by establishing communication connections between distributed agents and distributed customers comprising:
- establishing a communication connection with a remote agent;
receiving, from the remote agent, log in information sufficient to associate a unique ID with the remote agent;
associating expertise data indicative of an expertise of the remote agent with the remote agent'"'"'s unique ID;
updating a record of available remote agents to indicate that the remote agent is available;
establishing a communication connection with a remote customer;
providing the remote customer information, including the unique ID and expertise data, pertaining to remote agents that are logged in;
receiving, from the remote customer, data indicative of selection of a remote agent and establishing a communication link between the remote agent and the remote customer; and
retrieving product-related data from a database in response to data received from the remote agent and transmitting the product-related data to the remote customer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A personal communication and electronic commerce system for use by participating users and participating merchants in connection with incentive programs in the Network Economy. The system includes a cellular communication network that includes geographically spaced base stations that are linked to a fixed communication network. Users may have personal communication devices that can be used to allow a digital message generated on the personal communication devices by placing a call through one of the base stations and memory for storing a digital value corresponding to a monetary value. The personal communication device may also be used as a cellular position locator to determine one'"'"'s geographic location and, if desired, to access information from a merchant information database containing information pertaining to a plurality of participating merchants located within the geographic territory covered by the cellular communication network. The merchant information may be stored on a database that is accessible by merchants so those merchants can add, delete or alter information contained in their respective listings. An incentive system is also provided for creating incentives for participating users to encourage. This computer implemented incentive program for encouraging certain participant actions includes a first reward program under which participants may earn points for certain actions and a second reward program through which the redemption rate associated with a particular participant is adjusted in response to certain participant action. The incentive program has a wide range of applications, including transportation, financial services and computer gaming.
908 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A computer implemented process for facilitating electronic commerce by establishing communication connections between distributed agents and distributed customers comprising:
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establishing a communication connection with a remote agent;
receiving, from the remote agent, log in information sufficient to associate a unique ID with the remote agent;
associating expertise data indicative of an expertise of the remote agent with the remote agent'"'"'s unique ID;
updating a record of available remote agents to indicate that the remote agent is available;
establishing a communication connection with a remote customer;
providing the remote customer information, including the unique ID and expertise data, pertaining to remote agents that are logged in;
receiving, from the remote customer, data indicative of selection of a remote agent and establishing a communication link between the remote agent and the remote customer; and
retrieving product-related data from a database in response to data received from the remote agent and transmitting the product-related data to the remote customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer implemented system for facilitating electronic commerce by establishing a communication connection between a customer support agent and a remote customer comprising a computer system for:
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storing customer support agent information regarding a set of customer support agents, the customer support agent information including information regarding previous customer feedback and areas of expertise of individual customer support agents within the set of customer support agents;
allowing customer support agents to log in to the system from remote locations;
maintaining a list of a subset of customer support agents that are logged in;
obtaining, from the remote customer, an area of interest;
determining which customer support agents, among the subset of customer agents that are logged in, have expertise in the customer'"'"'s area of interest;
providing a list of available customer support agents to a remote customer;
providing the remote customer with information, including an unique ID, previous customer feedback and areas of expertise for the customer support agents;
receiving a request from the remote customer for establishing a communication connection between the remote customer and the customer support agent; and
establishing a communication connection between the remote customer and the customer support agent selected by the customer wherein the system provides the customer support agent access to additional information concerning the products, including at least one of video, graphic or other sensory images based upon the customer support agent'"'"'s level of expertise. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification