Methods and apparatus for delivering documents
First Claim
1. A method of delivering a document, the method comprising:
- associating data indicative of a first fax machine with a first network address of a first computing device that resides at a first company;
associating data indicative of a second different fax machine with a second different network address of a second different computing device that resides at a second company, which is different from the first company;
responsive to receiving a client inquiry, providing data to populate a list of options configured to be selected by a user;
determining that the document is to be faxed to a destination based on a user selection of at least one of the options by the user, the destination being one of the first fax machine and the second fax machine;
performing a look-up of previously stored user preferences to determine a delivery mode to deliver the document to the destination, which is different from the first company and different from the second company;
determining a selected computing device residing at a selected company by selecting one of the first computing device residing at the first company and the second computing device residing at the second company based on the destination and the delivery mode;
transmitting first data indicative of the document from a server to the selected computing device residing at the selected company via a computer network; and
faxing the document from the selected computing device residing at the selected company to the destination via a telephone network such that the selected company is the source of the faxed document.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure provides methods and apparatus for delivering documents. A web based application server transmits a document to a distribution management system. The distribution management system then translates the document if necessary (e.g., from a spreadsheet to a PDF and a fax) and sends the translated document to one or more destinations such as email inboxes, printers, and fax machines. For fax deliveries, the distribution management system sends the document to a particular client device that is associated with the fax destination. For example, the client device that actually transmits the fax may reside at a company, and the fax machine may be at a customer of that company. In this manner, fax transmissions appear to come from the correct source (not the distribution management system), and transmission charges associated with the fax are incurred by the appropriate company (not the company associated with the distribution management system).
31 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method of delivering a document, the method comprising:
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associating data indicative of a first fax machine with a first network address of a first computing device that resides at a first company; associating data indicative of a second different fax machine with a second different network address of a second different computing device that resides at a second company, which is different from the first company; responsive to receiving a client inquiry, providing data to populate a list of options configured to be selected by a user; determining that the document is to be faxed to a destination based on a user selection of at least one of the options by the user, the destination being one of the first fax machine and the second fax machine; performing a look-up of previously stored user preferences to determine a delivery mode to deliver the document to the destination, which is different from the first company and different from the second company; determining a selected computing device residing at a selected company by selecting one of the first computing device residing at the first company and the second computing device residing at the second company based on the destination and the delivery mode; transmitting first data indicative of the document from a server to the selected computing device residing at the selected company via a computer network; and faxing the document from the selected computing device residing at the selected company to the destination via a telephone network such that the selected company is the source of the faxed document. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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18. An apparatus for transmitting a document, the apparatus comprising:
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a processor; a network connection operatively coupled to the processor; and a storage device operatively coupled to the processor, the storage device storing a software program structured to cause the processor to; associate data indicative of a first fax machine with a first network address of a first computing device that resides at a first company; associate data indicative of a second different fax machine with a second different network address of a second different computing device that resides at a second company, which is different from the first company; responsive to receiving a client inquiry, provide data to populate a list of options configured to be selected by a user; determine that the document is to be faxed to a destination based on a user selection of at least one of the options by the user, the destination being one of the first fax machine and the second fax machine; perform a look-up of previously stored user preferences to determine a delivery mode to deliver the document to the destination, which is different from the first company and different from the second company; determine a selected computing device residing at a selected company by selecting one of the first computing device residing at the first company and the second computing device residing at the second company based on the destination and the delivery mode; and transmit first data indicative of the document from a server to the selected computing device residing at the selected company via a computer network in order to cause the selected computing device to fax the document from the selected computing device residing at the selected company to the destination via a telephone network such that the selected company is the source of the faxed document. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A non-transitory machine readable memory storing instructions structured to cause an apparatus to:
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associate data indicative of a first fax machine with a first network address of a first computing device that resides at a first company; associate data indicative of a second different fax machine with a second different network address of a second different computing device that resides at a second company, which is different from the first company; responsive to receiving a client inquiry, provide data to populate a list of options configured to be selected by a user; determine that the document is to be faxed to a destination based on a user selection of at least one of the options by the user, the destination being one of the first fax machine and the second fax machine; perform a look-up of previously stored user preferences to determine a delivery mode to deliver the document to the destination, which is different from the first company and different from the second company; determine a selected computing device residing at a selected company by selecting one of the first computing device residing at the first company and the second computing device residing at the second company based on the destination and the delivery mode; and transmit first data indicative of the document from a server to the selected computing device residing at the selected company via a computer network in order to cause the selected computing device residing at the selected company to fax the document from the selected computing device to the destination via a telephone network such that the selected company is the source of the faxed document. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification