Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SYSTEM FOR MARKETING GOODS AND SERVICES UTILIZING
COMPUTERIZED CENTRAL AND REMOTE FACILITIES
Cross Reference to Related Applications
This application is a continuation-in-part of
copending U.S. application Ser. No.08/268,309, filed June
29, 1994, which is a continuation-in-part of application
Ser. No.08/264,184, filed June 22, 1994, which in turn was
a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/051,743, filed
April 22, 1993. Application Ser. No. 08/051,743 was itself
1o a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 07/855,099, filed March
20, 1992, all of which are incorporated herein by
reference. The application herein is copending with Ser.
No. 08/650,834, filed May 20, 1996 which is also a
continuation-in-part of copending U.S. application Ser.
No.08/268,309, filed June 29, 1994.
Field of the invention
The present invention generally relates to a system
and means for establishing a communicating link between
remote facilities. More particularly, the invention is
2o concerned with a system and means for facilitating
transactions between central and remote facilities
utilizing electronic communications devices and computing
equipment for concurrently or nonconcurrently transmitting
voice, music, audio, data, images, video, and optic
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information on goods and services, and/or signals. Such
systems will be used to market, sell, finance, and insure
goods and/or services.
Description of the Prior Art
Over the years the marketing of certain financial
services and in general of all goods and services to retail
customers, such as auto financing to car purchasers at car
dealerships, has increasingly been hindered by problems
experienced by the companies providing the financial
1o services. In fact these difficulties extend to all
providers of goods and services in reaching their
customers. The more serious of these problems are high
administrative costs, long delays in creating and
implementing new financial service products, and complex
1s methods which confound and confuse retail sales locations
and their customers.
The traditional approach in marketing financial
service products has been to offer them at retail sales
locations by employees of the retail businesses acting as
2o agents of the financial services companies. One of the
consequences of this traditional approach is that each
retail sales business is required to have the necessary
means for calculating or computing and quoting rather
complicated matters, such as payments and premiums, and to
25 be responsible for maintaining computer hardware and
software systems independently of and in addition to that
at the financial service companies. All too frequently
these requirements result in contracts written with wrong
amounts and/or terms which later create embarrassment and
3o confusion for the retail sales business when those
contracts have to be amended, endorsed, or worse yet
completely rejected.
Another consequence of this traditional approach is
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that in acting as agents of the financial services
companies, the employees of the retail sales businesses are
often required to be licensed in their state to do so.
High turnover rate of these employees can pose a serious
problem for these businesses as personnel with such skills
are not easy to find. Furthermore, there are considerable
costs for the retail sales businesses in maintaining
separately these in-house systems or replacing them to keep
pace with changing products and regulations.
1o An ideal system for providing these financial services
is one which overcomes the above-described problems of the
traditional approach. Such ideal system will employ the
qualified agents or representatives available at the
financial services company and its centrally located
computer hardware, software, and product information and
thereby eliminate the necessity for employees of the local
retail sales business to qualify to act as agents of the
financial services company. Elimination of local agents
will reduce the incidence of contracts containing errors
2o and save the cost of training such employees. Also, such
ideal system will utilize the hardware and software
existing at the central financial services company
comprising all desirable product information and thereby
eliminate the necessity to purchase and maintain at each
remote location the hardware and software necessary to
process and support the activities of such otherwise
remotely located employee agents. Further, such ideal
system will employ the expertise of agents at the financial
services company and generate the appropriate financial
3o services documents tailcred to the particular customer and
thereby eliminate the necessity to obtain and maintain the
instructional manuals and application forms necessary for
carrying out of these activities at each remote location.
The prior patent art reveals two remote transaction
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systems whose stated objective is to reduce overhead
expenses. These remote transaction systems should be
considered as possible candidates for offering solutions to
the aforementioned problems experienced with the
traditional approach of providing financial services.
One such system disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,231,571
to D'Agostino provides a method of offering financial
service products to customers at remote locations by way of
representatives at a central location. Accordingly product
to information is displayed at the customer's terminal as the
customer and representative converse.
However, the D'Agostino method requires that the
information to be displayed the customer be stored in the
computer at the remote facility unlike the preferred
embodiment of the present invention where the information
is centralized or stored centrally and thereafter
transmitted to the customer at the remote location, making
it difficult to correct or modify the information thus
shown to customers. Also in storing the information to
2o be displayed to each customer remotely each representative
will be required to be licensed to sell such products in
each state he might assist a customer and therefore
significantly increase the number of required
representatives otherwise necessary. In this manner tue
preferred embodiment of the present invention where such
information about goods and services is stored at the
central facility can reduce the licensing requirements of
the representatives and thus the number of representatives
required.
3o Further D'Agostino relies upon static or still motion
images of the representative as displayed to the customer
and stored remotely causing a constant need for changes of
that information created by turnover of representative
staff, unlike the present invention which can store such
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information central_y or as in another embodiment permit
2way full motion co_or video images or video conferencing
thus eliminating th~meed of storing any such image,
remotely or centrally. In relying upon still motion images
5 of his representatives he has most of all greatly limited
the effectiveness of his system as a selling tool as
recently 2way full motion video has been proven to greatly
and unexpectedly increase product sales offered through
such systems or methods such as described in the March 1993
1o issue of The Banker on page 61. Nor has his method provided
the customer an input means thereby chaining the customer
to the representative thus giving him no freedom in
reviewing product information on his own without the help
of the representative as the customer can with the present
invention. He has to the contrary demonstrably taught
against the use of the keyboard as a means of input by the
customer at the remote facility and has not provided for
any further means of customer input.
Also in not permitting the storing of product
2o information other than remotely he has created a captive
situation for remote users permitting them to only use the
goods and services of a single provider whereas the present
invention will with central storage permit each remote
facility or location to communicate with an array of
central facilities, sort of a public telephone. Thus at
best, the D'Agostino method leads to less than an optimum
solution to the problems noted heretofore with the
traditional approach to marketing financial service
products and all other goods and services.
3o Previous art in the field limited use of a given
customer facility to a single provider. In the present
invention it is contemplated that customers can use the
remote facility devices to contact multiple providers of
goods and services. There are 2 advantages to this aspect.
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The first is that in permitting remote locations to
communicate with multiple central facilities, providers are
able to share the costs of the remote facility equipment.
Previously the cost of the equipment at the remote location
was prohibitive so that the system's use was impractical
for all but a few select applications.
The second advantage is the greater number and
selection of goods and services available to customers.
Since providers will be able to share the cost of the
1o remote equipment more providers will be encouraged to
participate and an even greater variety of products will be
offered. The difference between the present invention and
the prior art therefore is comparable to a grocery store
with only one brand of soft drink as opposed to an aisle
with an assortment of beverages. The reduction of expense
for each provider will thereby encourage providers to use
these systems as a low cost means of providing for the
marketing and sales of their products to the public. These
savings can in turn be passed along to their customers.
2o Multiple companies can then share the expense of the
equipment at the remote location. This method also as
above improves the competition for the products offered at
the remote location, breaking the monopolistic model of the
previous art.
Another remote transaction system disclosed in U.S.
Patent No. 4,845,636 to Walker provides a transaction booth
located remotely from an operations center for facilitating
a transaction such as the renting of an automobile. The
booth and center were connected by audio and video
3o equipment used for transmitting audio and video signals
from the customer in the booth to the agent at the
operations center in order to negotiate a transaction. The
customer in this instance knew what he wanted. He was not
shopping, but merely seeking to effect a predetermined
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transaction.
However, the Walker remote transaction system has no
means for producing a financial services document or
contract at the booth tailored to the specific needs of the
customer, nor does it utilize 2way full motion video
thereby severely limiting its applications and efficacy by
not providing the remote user full motion images such as of
the agent or of what might be described as full motion
commercials. The present invention furthermore represents a
so new use as Walker did not anticipate the sale of financing
and insurance by any such system nor could he have used his
for such. Walker as well fails to provide the user at the
remote facility a means of input and as a result as with
D'Agostino chains the customer to the representative.
Neither does Walker permit each remote facility to
communicate with a variety of central facilities thus
restricting the variety and competition for goods and
services there offered and has therefor himself created a
monopoly. Thus at best, the Walker system leads to less
2o than an optimum solution to the problems noted heretofore
with the traditional approach to marketing financial
service products.
Consequently, a need still exists for new and improved
systems which facilitate consummation of business
transactions utilizing central and remote facilities or
locations.
Objects of the Invention
An object of this invention is to provide a system and
method for facilitating transactions utilizing central and
3o remote facilities or locations which satisfies the
aforementioned needs.
Another object of the invention is to facilitate
transactions by customers at remote locations, for
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instance, car, truck, boat and motorcycle dealerships,
department stores, public locations such as shopping malls,
auction houses, airports, grocery stores, and real estate
offices.
Another object of the present invention is to further
centralize and simplify the responsibilities over these
products.
A further object of the present invention is to
shorten the time required to create and implement new
1o products in the financial services arena and all others.
An additional object is to provide a wider variety of
products to offer customers.
Summary of the Invention
The system for marketing goods and services herein
includes a customer computerized communications facility, a
central computerized communications facility remote
therefrom, and a data link between them. This invention is
an improvement in that system which includes:
computer means at both the customer computerized
2o communications facility and the central computerized
communications facility, adapted to transmit and receive
images and data between them; means for additionally
establishing voice contact between the two communica~clons
facilities; software stored at the central computerized
communications facility adapted to provide goods and
services information; input means at the customer
computerized communications facility adapted to enable a
type of customer who is uneasy using a computer to access
that software in order to view a presentation adapted to
3o educate the customer about the goods and services; input
means adapted to enable a type of customer enjoying
computers to access the software in order to bypass the
presentation, and, in a self-service mode, to browse in the
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software to view desired information to learn about goods
and services at his desired level of knowledge; means
enabling both types of customers at any time they desire
personal assistance to utilize the means establishing voice
contact to talk to a representative at the central
computerized communications facility; application software
located at the central computerized communications facility
enabling either type of customer to download from the
central facility to the customer computerized
1o communications facility information desired by the
customer; and input means located at the customer
computerized communications facility enabling the customer
to access application software located at the central
computerized communications facility.
Further, the information regarding the goods and
services obtained by the customer includes accompanying
voice narration.
The input means at the customer computerized facility
and the application software at the central computerized
2o facility enable customers to search for goods according to
model, manufacturer, and marketer of the goods.
The input means at the customer computerized facility
and the application software at the central computerized
facility enable customers to search for a predetermined
selection of goods.
The application software at the central computerized
facility enables the customer to download instruments
finalizing a transaction relative to the goods and
services.
3o The application software at the central computerized
facility includes a subroutine for charging customers for
their use of personal assistance.
The application software at the central computerized
facility includes a subroutine for charging customers for
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each instance a customer is shown product information.
The application software at the central computerized
facility includes a subroutine requiring customers to view
a specified amount of product information in return for
5 being granted a specified amount of use of the system.
The application software at the central computerized
facility includes a subroutine providing the customer an
electronic phone book containing a directory of providers
and goods available.
1o The application software at the central computerized
facility includes a subroutine which builds a general
customer profile based upon customer's requests for
information.
The application software at the central computerized
facility includes a subroutine permitting a plurality of
customers at different computerized locations to view
simultaneously the same presentation and to speak to each
other during said presentation, the presentation being
under the control of one of the customers.
2o Means are provided for control of the system to
alternate between the individuals so that at times a first
customer can control the presentation while at another time
a second or other customer can assume control.
The central facility is a service company representing
the provider of the goods or services.
A representative is located at the central
computerized facility and that representative is an agent
for the provider of the goods and services.
The customer computerized communications facility
3o includes means for communicating with a number of different
central computerized communications facilities
The system wherein one facility is a retail sales
store, and the other facility is a banking institution.
The system wherein one facility is an automobile
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company and the other facility is a bank.
The improved system of claim 16 wherein the central
facilities are auction houses.
The system also includes means enabling a customer to
speak with a representative at each facility.
The Invention
The prior art fails to recognize that some individuals
love to use computers, while others are intimidated by
them. This invention provides for both types of customers.
to Another problem is they failed to recognize that the
public they were dealing with is a generation accustomed to
television. Traditional computer methods typically applied
towards back office accounting functions by large computer
organizations such as IBM, Univac, and Honeywell where
users peered blurry eyed into cathode ray tubes are not
compelling when applied toward commerce. Customers were
not accustomed to having to read large amounts of text and
would not accept that approach. This failure on their part
greatly explains their poor results and why the public
2o refused to accept their antiquated methods. To correct
those earlier failures the present invention uses the
computing devices to transmit presentations of goods and
services including text, graphics, voice, audio, music,
images, and video.
The use of computerized voice is significant. The
prior art is limited generally to transmitting only text
and perhaps a few graphics, requiring that the customer
read a great amount of text to get the information they
wanted. In contrast, the system of the present invention
3o understands these preferences and has adjusted the system
accordingly to accommodate the present generation.
A disadvantage of text is its limited ability to
convey enthusiasm, emotion, and in general meaning. There
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is much contained in human speech in terms of inflection,
tone, and volume which convey a significant part of the
idea intended. Consider that a particular sentence can
when spoken one way be a compliment, yet when spoken with
different inflection it becomes an insult. As illustrated,
text seldom conveys these colorful aspects of speech and
can never succinctly convey a complex thought or idea
entirely. Even worse results can be obtained when
translating from one language to another. Text only
1o approximates speech. It does not replace it as the
forerunners of these systems assumed. For this reason this
system's use of computerized voice provides surprising and
superior results.
This invention provides a system where customers can
shop for homes and obtain financing all in one place,
computer stores, homes, factories, office buildings, and
from all public and private locations from which a consumer
or customers want to obtain product information or perform
a transaction.
Detailed Description of the Invention
In the case of auction houses a number of the remote
locations can be concurrently linked with one or more
central facilities or auction houses so that groups cL
customers at each remote or local auction facility can
participate in the actual auction at one or more distant
central facilities or houses. In this fashion auction
customers throughout the world can participate at local
auction houses in auctions taking place throughout the
world so that a customer in Saint Louis can participate and
3o bid in an auction concurrently taking place in Hong Kong or
France. In this particular embodiment each customer can be
provided his own personal input device permitting him to
personally enter his bid during the joint auction session
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and at the conclusi~:>n of a successful bid remit his
payment. He can as vnell be provided a separate monitor or
can share a large s~;reen with some or all other attendees.
Each customer can be provided a separate recording or
printing device to provide the customer a record or receipt
of any transaction he performs.
A number of terminals can be grouped to form an
electronic shopping store permitting the customer to obtain
desired information on the products of his choice while
1o having access to highly knowledgeable representatives and
can also record, print or otherwise, selected information
for their later review. For this purpose the customer's
monitor can display a tool or icon they will use to control
the information to be recorded. Remote facilities can even
be portable so that for example they can be used at trade
shows such as car shows permitting attendees to obtain more
specific information about the products they desire and to
execute their purchase and obtain financing. The customer
is to communicate with central facilities or locations
2o comprising banks, credit unions and finance companies, a
service company representing such companies, manufacturer's
offices, or in general any location from which a customer
might wish assistance in facilitating a transaction. The
method by which the transactions are facilitated reduces
the costs associated with creating, marketing,
administering, and selling these products and services,
thereby making them more cost effective and affordable.
By providing that the central facility can be a
service company the present invention has departed from the
3o previous art. Typically when marketing their products in a
traditional approach a company will use the assistance of a
service company rather than directly sell or market their
own products. The difficulty with the previous art is that
they did not allow for a complement to the traditional
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marketing approach. In the case of deploying these systems
specific corporate capabilities will be required. If
companies have not felt comfortable in marketing their own
products using long established methods and channels, they
most certainly will not feel comfortable in using this
system on their own. It is anticipated that many will
instead demand the assistance of a third party who is more
acquainted with the technologies involved and has developed
expertise with them.
1o The foregoing objects are accomplished by a
transaction system and method where having earlier
established communication between the remote and central
locations the customer can use the electronic
communications devices and computing equipment at the
remote location to contact a financial services company or
some other central facility to facilitate a transaction,
such as negotiate the purchase, lease, and contracting of
financial services and/or other goods and services. In the
preferred embodiment of the present invention a financial
2o services company and its agents who will now be responsible
for selling these products to the customers are located
centrally and all or substantially all activities of the
financial services companies or central facility and its
agents are centralized in its state making those products
subject at most to the laws of that state or sovereign and
thereby drastically reduce or simplify regulatory
constraints and streamline related compliance and business
costs such as by having only one computer system used to
support the selling and administrative process thus
3o eliminating the need to provide this support including
applications software at each distributed remote location
and in having to train only a single centrally located
group of individuals who will act as the agents or
representatives.
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Previously these financial services companies sold
their products through agents located at the site of the
customer. The difficulty is that many of the products
required that the agents be licensed to sell certain
5 products such as investments and insurance. The difficulty
with this is that a significant amount of training and
expense was required to place these agents out there. High
turnover rate of employees at one location could pose a
real problem. The process of getting an agent licensed can
to itself take a year and each state regulated the licensing
of agents within their state. In centralizing the agents
we are able to reduce the licensing requirements since
agents at the central location can service customers from
multiple states so that an agent at a central location say
15 in Missouri could serve customers in theoretically all 50
states. So rather than have 50 different agents each serve
a customer in each state we can have one agent serve all 50
customers thereby reducing licensing bottlenecks and
related expenses. The reduction in those expenses can then
2o help these firms better manage their business expenses and
in turn pass these savings on to their customers.
Although in the preferred embodiment the customer
speaks with only one representative at a time it is further
anticipated that the customer can speak with multiple
representatives from either the remote or central locations
at the same time as in a team sales approach. As it is
anticipated that customers will speak a variety of
languages it will be necessary for presentations and
representatives thus provided to be based in the language
of the customer; whether it be English, Spanish, French,
German, Japanese, or any other desired language. This
approach might include utilization of personnel at the
remote facility to collectively assist the customer. Also
in the preferred embodiment the financial services company
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or central facility will have no physical presence at the
remote facility meaning they can not advertise in any
fashion such as on radio, television, or in magazines in
the state of the remote facility or by placing or storing
product information such as sales materials or literature
at the remote facility itself. This will require storing
all product information at the central facility so that all
activities including product information about these goods
and services are then centralized at the central facility.
1o It should be understood however that certain
information can be stored at remote facilities such as
directories of facilities for dialing purposes or a data
base of providers of goods and services arranged by
category of business or products offered such as in the
Yellow Pages phone directory. In that sense an electronic
phone book can be stored at the remote facility or instead
upon pressing or utilizing the touch screen, keyboard or
input device the customer can activate the system causing
it to retrieve from a central facility a directory of goods
2o and services available and thus permitting the customer to
select another central facility from a displayed list or
catalogue and establish contact with it and thus have
access to numerous central facilities and a myriad of goo~_~
and services.
The present invention in utilizing an electronic
version of a Yellow Pages has deviated from the prior art
in modifying these types of systems to fit with existing
shopping patterns of the public. Rather than. requiring the
public to change their method of shopping for goods and
3o services as the prior art requires, the present invention
has adapted to existing modes of shopping. The present
invention has anticipated that the public's learned
behavior is difficult to break and so has provided that the
customer can shop according to existing patterns permitting
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them to shop by manafacturel:, product, or marketer as one
might if they were previously shopping for say a tire. In
that event a customer ~:an locate that specific tire either
by its model name, iavs manufacturer, or the marketer
through which he intends to purchase it. This approach is
akin to a customer shopping through the White or Yellow
Pages or by store or in a mall.
Additionally customers can just browse through a
selection of goods and services as though they were window
1o shopping. To accomplish this the system can present a
collection of products for those customers who do not have
any specific need but are rather shopping as entertainment.
This might include a group of unique products offered at
special prices or terms. These could include limited
edition merchandise or closeouts. As demonstrated, rather
than requiring the public to adapt itself to a new method
as did the prior art, this system has adapted itself to the
public and current shopping behaviors.
While in general all or substantially all application
2o software will be located at each central facility, such as
programs which will prompt the customer for input, choices,
or preferences so that the customer will contact the
central facility and then indicate his choices or
preferences; it can also be beneficial to download certain
software from the central facility to the remote location
to provide proper control and support for the customer such
as by means of appropriate communications software or
operating systems. This provides for the simple updating of
any needed communications or other remote located software
3o at the remote facility and ensure that each remote location
will be compliant with future standards of communication
and protocol based upon changing needs and industry
standards. Such downloaded software can be stored
temporarily at the remote facility to be used only in the
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current session or can be retained for all or selected
future sessions. It can also be beneficial to quickly
download a catalogue of desired or requested information to
permit the customer to review leisurely while terminating
the communication link to reduce connect charges or free
utilization of the central facility's resources. The
customer can then reestablish contact with the previous or
a new representative and central facility when he is ready.
To facilitate such a technique the remote or central
location can record the stopping point of the customer's
last on-line presentation so that when contact is resumed
an appropriate presentation continuing point can be
ascertained.
An alternative is to allow the customer to enter any
phone number he might wish to dial while accepting a credit
card, debit card, or calling card where the customer is to
pay or be charged for any phone, connection, or use charges
that will be incurred. In this fashion the customer is to
be charged for the use of the equipment or transmitting and
2o receiving means. The customer could be charged for any
system use or only for their use of an attendant at the
central or remote locations should they need assistance.
However, it can be necessary or beneficial to not charge
new customers for use of live attendants for a select
period of time. Thereafter they will be treated as other
customers. Otherwise, charging new customers for their use
of attendants can discourage them from attempting the
system's use. Once we get them accustomed to the system it
will be easier to convince them to help themselves.
3o Alternatively, the customer could be charged for any
use, but more when they need human assistance. The benefit
of this approach is that in offering live assistance
customers are encouraged to use the system. This is
sometimes necessary as not all customers will feel
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comfortable in using what they can perceive as a computer
perhaps for fear of feeling or appearing inadequate. Having
human assistance available will make these customers feel
more secure and therefore willing to try the system. Yet
in charging customers for the use of human assistance they
are encouraged to help themselves thus permitting greater
utilization of the representatives. This is perhaps an
adaptation of animal or human behavior enticing the
customer to first use the system and thereafter encourage
to them to help themselves.
As above, the system could thus provide a means to
read credit cards and such as by card swipe reader or any
other approximate equivalent means and can as well be used
to later tender payment for goods and services purchased.
In this sense the system could be used as a sort of public
telephone to transmit and obtain information about any
goods and/or services the customer might desire from any
central location anywhere in the world.
A further variation in this theme is to instead charge
2o the providers of goods for listing their products on the
system. This could be in the form of a periodic flat fee
or the providers could instead be charged for each
incidence a customer requests their product information or
is shown it involuntarily based on a customer's profile.
Different rates can apply depending on whether a customer
requests the information or is shown it involuntarily. To
improve the reaction of the customer to an involuntary
commercial the system might instead at the predetermined
time offer a choice of commercials to the customer
3o prompting them to choose which one they have most interest
in and wish to see. One choice could even be a random
selection if the customer wishes to be surprised.
This response serves two purposes. The first is that
in voluntarily choosing which product the customer is to
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learn about, they are more apt to assume a positive
attitude toward that product since they willingly chose it.
Second, this selection by the customer could be used to
build or update their customer profile.
5 In a similar fashion as the customer's profile
can be used to determine which products they will view in
commercials, this profile can also be used to determine
which version of a provider's commercial a customer will
see. It is a common practice in advertising to alter a
to commercial according to the demographics of the anticipated
viewer. A commercial appearing on a country and western
radio station will differ from that appearing on a
classical music station. Having a profile for each user
will permit advertisers to provide a message custom
15 tailored to each specific customer profile.
To determine its corporate customer profile each
provider of goods can use the system. Profiles of those
customers who specifically request product information can
be used by those providers to build general profiles of
2o those customers who might have an interest or need in their
goods. Thereafter those provider profiles can be used to
help the system guide commercials to system users most
likely to be interested in those goods. Commercials can
then be shown to customers intermittently throughout h ~e
customer's session or at predetermined points such as when
the customer is waiting for live assistance or in between
queries.
One approach is to require that each customer watch a
specified number of minutes of commercials for a given
3o number of minutes of entertainment programming.
Another approach to commercials is to credit a
customer's account for each minute of commercials or
product information he views or according to the amount of
goods they purchase. In return the customer could be
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granted so many minstes of Entertainment programming. One
approach to this is similar to a traditional broadcast
strategy where the customer passively sits back and watches
assorted programming: Yet at anytime the customer can use
an input device to request information on sponsors'
products. A list is then presented to the customer of the
various sponsors and the customer could then choose which
ones he wants to see a presentation on.
Alternatively, a list of sponsors and their products
1o could be collected from each program watched so that after
the program has completed the customer could then review
the list of sponsors and choose which commercials they will
view. The products and sponsors can be tied into the
programming but need not be related. The system could also
build a list of chosen sponsors for each customer allowing
them to at a later date go back and review the same or
additional information on those products. As above a
customer is only permitted so many minutes of entertainment
programming for each minute of commercials. The result is
2o quite different from present day television as customers
are required to actually participate in the selection of
the commercials they are to watch and can immediately
obtain more specific information on those products they
choose. Having made the decision for themselves, it is
expected that customers will have more interest in the
products of sponsors.
Brief Description of the Drawings
In the following detailed description, reference will
be made to the attached drawing in which:
3o Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an array of electronics
communications components employed in a system and method
for facilitating transactions in accordance with the
principles of the present invention.
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Detailed Description of the Invention
The preferred embodiment of a system 10 and method for
facilitating transactions in accordance with the principles
of the present invention will now be described in detail.
The transactions facilitating system 10 includes at least
one central facility 12, such as a financial services
company, marketer, or manufacturer and at least one remote
facility 14, such as a retail sales facility, or any other
public or private location from which a potential customer
of the central facility 12 wants assistance in facilitating
a transaction. For instance, the remote facility 14 can be
retail sales facility, such as car, truck, boat. and/or
motorcycle dealerships. The central facility 12 can be a
financial services facility, such as a bank, credit union
or a finance company or any other central facility from
which a customer wants assistance in facilitating a
transaction.
In the illustrated case of financial services, the
system 10 facilitates the carrying out of activities such
2o as financial business transactions in accordance with the
principles of the present invention by employing an array
of means for transmitting and/or receiving information
comprising visual, audio, and/or data between the financial
services facility or location 12 and a customer at one of
the respective remote facilities or locations 14. The
financial services facility 12 offering the goods and/or
services or assistance in facilitating such a transaction
is established at a central location. Each retail sales or
remote facility 14 is sited at a given remote location
3o where potential customers are located whether stationary or
portable. In this respect the system can be used to execute
a transaction between the customer and the central facility
or it can only provide assistance to the customer in his
selection of goods and services which a local or remote
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facility are to thereafter provide.
At the remote retail sales facility 14 an area is
established where an array of electronic communications
equipment is provided in accordance with the present
invention for transmitting and/or receiving information
comprising visual, audio, and data about financial services
or other goods and services between the central financial
services facility 12 and the customer at the remote
facility 14.
to More particularly, as seen in Fig. 1, such array of
electronic communications devices and computing equipment
includes a modem 16, a digital computer 18, a speaker phone
20 or other means of conveying sounds, a monitor 22 or
other means of conveying images, a printer 24 or other
means for recording signals or information conveyed from
the company 12, and a keyboard or input device 26. Tt is
anticipated that a handset rather than a speaker phone or
external speaker can be used in instances where a customer
wishes to speak privately with a representative.
2o For an application of this system in homes the input
device could be a television remote control device perhaps
with alterations comprising cursor movement keys, a
joystick, or a microphone for voice input. In recording
this product information the customer can then save or take
the desired information with him for his later review which
might comprise instructions for use, operation, or assembly
and can include a list of suggested products or services as
advised by the live representative or by the central
facility computer. Such information might be recorded on
3o paper, magnetically such as upon a cassette, video tape,
computer disc, CD, or a chip embedded or smart card, or by
some other means. Comparably the central facility can
record the transaction for later retrieval so the customer
can continue where he left off at a later date should his
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interest renew or for identification purposes or for
possible assistance in resolving disputes. Other means to
verify identification of the customer can be used
comprising magnetically encoded badges or cards, or the use
of eye or finger scanning devices. Additionally, a mail bag
28 or other means for remitting payment or documents is
provided at the remote facility 14.
For communicating with the customer at the remote
retail sales facility 14, a complementary array of
1o electronic communications devices and computing equipment
is located at the financial services facility 12 or central
location. As seen in Fig. 1, this equipment includes a
modem 30, a digital computer 32 or other means for
processing information, instructions or data, a phone 34 or
other means for voice exchange or audio transmission, a
monitor 36 and a keyboard or other input device 38. Only a
complementary printer is not needed at the financial
services facility 12 for the purpose of facilitating
transactions in accordance with the present invention.
2o Preferably, two separate phone lines 40, 42 are available
to interconnect the respective phones 20, 34 of the
facilities 14, 12 simultaneously with, but separately from,
the interconnection of the respective modems 16, 30 of the
facilities 14, 12 so that voice or audio, visual, anu data
communication can be ongoing concurrently between the
customer at the remote facility 14 and an agent at the
financial services facility 12. Alternatively such contact
can be established by coaxial cable such as through a cable
company or some other means of establishing contact or by
3o means of some wireless technology such as radio. Each of
these components of the respective electronics
communications equipment at the respective facilities 12,
14 is per se a conventional off-the-shelf item and thus it
is not necessary to describe such components in any further
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detail.
One embociment could use a combination of wired
and wireless technclog:~es. In this instance the
information being tr~3nsmitted to the customer could be on a
5 wireless basis whereas the signals transmitted to the
central facility could be on a wired basis. The advantage
of this approach is that standard telephone lines can be
insufficient at transmitting extensive amounts of video and
audio information. However, the bulk of this type of
1o transmitting will in certain cases be going from the
central facility to the customer. But in many instances the
demand for transmitting from the customer to the central
will be significantly less and will in most cases be
adequately handled by normal telephone lines. This approach
i5 can then reduce the expense of deploying these systems by
reducing or eliminating the need to install a more advanced
wired communications network.
At the remote facility 14, the customer of the retail
sales facility 14 and/or of the financial services facility
20 12, is escorted to the area where the above-described array
of electronics communications equipment of the retail sales
facility 14 is provided. The customer presses an auto dial
button 44 on the speaker phone 20 or uses his input device
such as a touch screen to select a central facility to
25 contact from a list displayed on his monitor and in doing
so establishes contact with the financial services company
12 and perhaps its agent by way of some means of
transmitting data, audio, and/or visual information
comprising telephone or videophone thus permitting the
3o simultaneous or concurrent transmitting of audio, video,
and data as the customer and representative speak with one
another or establish voice contact and while the
representative provides the customer with information about
goods and/or services. At that time the customer can
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automatically review established presentations to better
prepare him for a session with a representative and to
educate the customer on the goods and services he is about
to consider or at the customer's wish he can bypass these
introductory presentations and immediately direct the
session or request personal assistance from a
representative. As an alternative the customer can
establish contact with the central facility's equipment
without the assistance of a representative and merely help
1o himself in a self-service mode where he can browse through
databases of goods and services. The speaker phone 20 as
contemplated herein is intended to encompass other
comparable devices, such as a videophone or the like, where
in addition to 2-way verbal contact the customer can
establish 2-way or 1-way visual contact with the agent.
Concurrently or subsequently the remote terminal can
transmit its phone number, serial number, or identification
code to the central facility so as to identify itself and
thus satisfy any future administrative needs of the central
2o facility should for example a break in communications occur
and the need arise to reestablish contact with the specific
remote facility and its customer. In this respect it will_
be necessary for each remote location to store this serial,
phone, or station identification number for future
transmittal.
While in the preferred embodiment the customer at the
remote facility initiates contact with the central facility
it is contemplated that the central facility or its
representative can have occasion to initiate contact with a
3o given remote facility. An example is a public or private
location where the central system contacts the remote
facility to apprise potential customers of goods and
services offered. In a public location such as at a mall a
remote terminal can perform for customers who pass and
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prompt them to press the screen to obtain specific
information.
To facilitate reconnection should an accidental break
occur in the connection between remote and central
facilities, upon each break initiated by a customer a
control signal will be transmitted to the central location.
Otherwise should any break occur without the central
location having just prior received this code the central
facility will know to reestablish contact. If the code is
1o received just before the break there will be no need to
reconnect as the customer terminated contact. Another
approach is to store the presentation stopping point at the
customer location so that if accidental break occurs the
remote system can reinitiate contact if the customer
wi shes .
Having established contact the customer and agent then
speak with one another by way of the phones 20, 34 of the
respective facilities 14, 12. Concurrently, the agent by
using his or her digital computer 32, monitor 36, keyboard
38 or other input device and modem 30 establishes
electronic contact with the customer's modem 16, digital
computer 18, monitor 22 and printer 24 if such contact has
not already been established by the customer by means of a
single telephone or communications line, or wireless means
to transmit and provide helpful audio, video, and data
information to the customer about the transaction being
proposed for the customer by the financial services
facility 12. Such information can take the form of charts
and the like displayed on the monitor 22 or printed on a
3o sheet of paper by the printer 24. It can comprise audio and
visual information related to those goods and services of
interest to the customer and can contain any desired sales
or product information such as product specifications,
service data, published articles, product demonstrations,
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orchestrated presentations, sales literature such as you
might find in a brochure or catalogue, possible uses,
compatibility, styles, selection, availability, comparisons
to other products or services, published articles on
s products or services; product features, compatibility, or
requirements.
In the case of financial instruments or investments,
information might comprise expected profit or margins, past
performance of like products, maturity dates, terms,
to conditions, exclusions, limitations, and exceptions. In the
case of automobiles or other durable goods information
might comprise models, styles, expected life, efficiencies,
colors, capacities, maintenance requirements, options,
comparisons between models, published articles on products
15 or excerpts of, pictures of products (still and full motion
of product as in its various uses), testimonials of
products, commercials, or infomercials. Information for
home users when purchasing or renting movies, music, or
other forms of entertainment might comprise: ratings,
2o titles, product descriptions, artists or actors, articles
written by critics or excerpts of, short segments of music
or movie (samples or previews), lists of products available
and in general any audio or visual information a customer
might wish to know including quote, price, or any
25 information about goods or services other than quote,
binder, or price.
As an assistance to any attendant or representative at
the central facility that same or related product
information can be displayed on the representative's
3o monitor at the central facility to aid in his assisting the
customer.
The digital computer 18 stores suitable well-known
off-the-shelf operations, communications and perhaps
graphics software programs in its memory and is operational
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to translate the signals, electronic or otherwise, caused
to be transmitted prom the financial services facility 12
into such displayed, a,~dio reproduced, recorded, or printed
information. An example of a suitable communications
program is one commercially available under the trademark
Carbon Copy thus permitting or enabling the representative
to control the equipment at the remote facility and
permitting the customer to retrieve and access information
about goods and services stored at the central facility. An
1o example of a suitable graphics program is one commercially
available under the trademark Harvard Graphics which can be
used to reconstruct digitally transmitted information back
into visual images.
Thus, the agent residing at the central financial
services company 12 has the ability to control the
above-described electronic communications equipment in the
presence of the customer located at the remote facility 14.
The agent is thereby able for example to display any
desired information at will on the customer's monitor 22 or
2o to print any information at will on the customer's printer
24. The customer can respond verbally to central facility
prompts initiated by the representative or the central
facility equipment via the speaker phone 20 or by using his
or her keyboard 26 or other input device or some other
means to convey customer supplied information. Such an
input device is anticipated to comprise a touch screen
permitting the customer to press a screen displayed icon to
supply his choices or input, and voice activated response
or voice recognition input permitting him to speak his
3o responses, selections, or data input. Personal data to be
supplied by the customer can be voice input or supplied by
other appropriate means comprising retrieved from a
personal data card supplied by the customer by means of a
magnetic reader or other comparable device capable of
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retrieving information thus stored and the system can then
permit the customer to update or correct any information
provided. The system can also utilize voice synthesis to
prompt or present options to the customer and can be used
5 in tandem with visual prompts.
In this fashion the customer can at his leisure and
without the assistance of the representative review any
desired information about those goods and services he is
most interested in with complete privacy yet can by way of
to his input device request a representative at his will
should he desire personal service. He or she can then serve
himself should he wish or if preferred he can sit back and
let the representative fully control the presentation. The
transmitted presentation can utilize a well known
15 spokesperson and give the appearance of a commercial or
infomercial. On his own the customer car. back up, fast
forward, skip, or jump to the specific product information
he wishes at his command. His access to this information is
described in the computer industry as random. Information
2o can be provided at various levels of detail through a
technique known as hypertext. The customer can thus review
a summary of specific information and at his request or
command receive a level of information of greater detail.
One such method of accomplishing the summoning of the
25 representative is to provide an icon or tool on the
customer's monitor which he can press or select at any time
which in turn causes the system to summon or ring a
centrally or alternatively remotely located representative
to personally assist the customer.
3o Additionally a security feature could be installed to
protect customers or the remote system from vandalism. Here
the user is required to present his credit card or other ID
to obtain entry into a locked facility containing the
terminal.
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Another approach to guard against vandalism is to
have a live attendant greet on screen each customer as they
approach the system. Alternatively, a camera could be
placed on each system to monitor the customer's use and a
notice could be posted about the use of the camera to
protect the customer's availability to the system. An alarm
can also be used that is activated automatically under
certain conditions or manually by the rep at the central
facility.
to In providing the customer an input means we have
permitted greater utilization of the representative's time
and allowed the customer to only be assisted as he wishes.
However it is beneficial to monitor the customer's activity
to signal when an appropriate time might be for the
representative to voluntarily offer assistance should the
customer become confused or lost. An application of a
computer technique referred to as artificial intelligence
will help identify the occurrence. Such a situation is
indicated by a customer's repeated review of the same
2o information or lack of command to the system within a given
period of time.
When appropriate the agent can then command the
customer's printer 24 to create or print needed contracts
and documents (comprising loan application papers, a notice
of proposed insurance, an insurance binder, an insurance
application, receipts, etc.). The agent can also display
his or her own image in a corner of the customer's monitor
22 as a courtesy by using an appropriate communications
program and a graphics file produced from the agent's
3o photograph with a conventional image scanner.
In combination with the application for a loan or the
presentment of a credit card or some other payment
instrument the central facility perhaps under the direction
of the representative or under control of the central
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facility's application software can initiate a credit check
to determine the customer's credit worthiness or qualify
the customer so as to approve the intended purchase. The
central facility can itself store credit or check approval
information for each prospective customer or can
communicate with a third party such as TRW and exchange
appropriate and necessary information on the customer while
the customer waits at the remote facility to obtain the
necessary credit history in order to process and approve
to the customer's request. Should the result of the check be
negative, the representative can converse with the customer
to perhaps arrange for alternate means of payment. Having
qualified the customer the central facility can in the
event of a loan request conduct the necessary risk
evaluation, manually or electronically by means of
algorithms to determine loan approval. A similar approach
can be taken for insurance requests. The customer can
respond to questions regarding his medical history and
based upon a search of medical history either at the
2o central facility or at a third party such as the Medical
Information Bureau determine the insurability of the
customer and insurance approval.
While in the preferred embodiment the final approval
for loan or insurance is made upon the customer reminding
completed forms either electronically or by mail or some
other means it should be understood that having performed
the necessary medical or credit check the central facility
can immediately approve the customer's application or
request for insurance or credit and commit itself. During
3o the solicitation process the central facility can record
and store the presentation for beneficial purposes such as
to meet regulatory requirements for proof of disclosure as
when selling insurance, loans, or investment instruments
comprising stocks, bonds, annuities, and mutual funds.
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Once the cont.~acts arF printed out the customer is
directed to sign teem and personally place them and any
required payment (c:heck) in a mail bag 28 located at the
retail sales facility 14. A binder can be issued upon the
customer signing applications for financial services and
mailing them so he can take possession of any purchased
goods or merchandise in contemplation of the financial
services companies accepting the applications and
performing final execution of the contracts in the home
to sovereign.
In the application of entertainment the possession can
include the presentment of recorded performances or
programming to the customer such as can be transmitted or
in some otherwise fashion conveyed to the customer.
Alternatively, some other means of remitting payment
and any completed contracts to the agent can be used such
as electronically where the customer can for example
endorse an electronic signature box displayed on his
monitor by means of an electronic pen or other comparable
2o device and subsequently transmit by modem the electronic
contracts back to the central facility or by some other
electronic means to permit the customer to legally apply
for contracts perhaps comprising the faxing or transmitting
of a signed contract from the remote to the central
facility.
At the end of a session the system can prompt the
customer for comments or take a poll. The customer can
respond with his input device. The system can also
encourage the customer to speak into a microphone to record
3o the customer's comments on products, assistance provided by
a live rep, or the system itself. The advantage in
recording the customer's verbal response is that the easier
it is for customers to respond the more likely they will.
Also, open-ended questions that can be very revealing are
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difficult to obtain if the customer is required to hand
write or type comments. Recording the response will make
the best use of the customer's time and improve the success
of obtaining this information. As a mechanism for
requesting this information the system could list an OFF
button. Once a customer has selected OFF the system can
begin to execute a closing procedure which could include a
customer questionnaire.
At some point during the customer's session the system
1o can prompt them for their address so as to forward
additional or updated product information to them perhaps
regarding future special offers. This approach introduces a
whole new method to sales promotions.
In one embodiment, once a customer has selected and
paid for their purchase those products that can not be
delivered on the spot (such as via a remote printer or
other device permitting the culmination of a transaction)
can be delivered to the customer such as at their residence
or place of business. Alternatively, customers can pick up
2o their purchases at a central order processing center.
Another embodiment provides for team shopping
permitting a group customers at the same or different
locations to view the same presentation simultaneously
under the control of one of the customers as they speak
with each other. In this instance a customer at the same or
different remote location will assume control of the input
device for one or more different customers. Control of the
system can alternate between the individuals so that at
times a first customer can control the presentation while
3o at another time a second or other customer can assume
control. The selected information will be presented to each
shopper in the party though they can be at different
customer locations. In this way each person in the group
can share with the others products they find interesting.
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At the same time they can all engage in a group
conversation or perhaps video conference so each can hear
the other as they review the presentations together.
The advantage of this approach is that
s historically electronic systems have failed to captivate
certain segments of the population such as females. Part
of the problem is that the act of using such a system has
to this point been a solitary activity. While some
customers can be content using the system by themselves,
to others are more group oriented and prefer social contact.
For example, while some people (perhaps men) will be more
inclined to visit a store or go shopping by themselves,
others (perhaps women) are more likely to be accompanied by
a friend. This embodiment of the system then recognizes
15 these differences between customers and allows those who
are more group oriented to use the system in a way they are
comfortable with.
Another use of the system is to create electronic
cities. Here the system creates a tour to guide electronic
2o tourists through a selected city showing important points
of interest as presented by an electronic version of a tour
guide with verbal narration. Customers are allowed to
browse and shop on their own at anytime. Using the system
in this way customers are able to electronically sightsee
25 and shop at a selection of cities within their country and
internationally. The ability to tie in the flavor and
charm of a city or country with its products should greatly
encourage customers to shop and make the customer's
experience fascinating. Cities and countries could
3o introduce themselves in a positive way and encourage
tourism. The system's use in this fashion allows it to
disseminate knowledge of a region and its people to others
helping to improve relations between cities and countries.
Another version of the invention utilizes a full blown
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video conference center providing a large screen, perhaps
wall sized, 2 way color video and audio device in addition
to a remote printer used to generate or print documents for
the prospective customer. In this fashion the customer is
placed in a theater like environment so he can comfortably
view any desired product information by means of full
motion, full color, audiovisual presentations. Images can
be displayed by holograms or similar 3 dimensional means to
give life and form to goods or services sold.
to Alternatively the video can be 1 way or nonreciprocal
versus 2 way or reciprocal should the customer prefer to
not be on camera. It can as well be monochrome as opposed
to color where preferable such as when communication
resources are not available to achieve full color video. To
put the customer at ease at the start of each session the
customer's monitor can display his own image permitting him
to make any grooming adjustments he wishes and in doing so
better put his mind at rest.
In addition to accepting a credit card or similar
2o means as payment for system use, the system could accept
cash or any other payment means.
Although the system 10 has been described with
reference to financial services, the concept of the present
invention is not so limited. It can be used to sell o~
assist in selling all goods and services comprising cars,
boats, motorcycles, vacations, travel packages,
investments, furniture, real estate, service contracts,
product warranties, entertainment, financial services, and
all other goods or services a customer might desire to
3o remote customers whether or not financed or insured such as
at a consumer goods store where customers use the system to
select and transact their purchase.
In this sense the system serves as an expert system
allowing the customer to obtain knowledgeable assistance
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from a central fac_lity ana its salesperson or
representative. Th_s is especially beneficial for customers
of retail stores wr~ich sell large ticket items or
complicated products which require or benefit from highly
or moderately skilled sales people. This responds to a
common complaint that few stores have knowledgeable staff.
The customer can then select and pay for his purchase at
the terminal and take possession of his goods upon leaving.
In using the equipment in this fashion the provider of the
io equipment can charge the customer a fee for use of the
system and its services for which it can then provide the
customer with a printed coupon, rebate or voucher for free
goods or services, or an equivalent or partial discount
should the customer purchase his goods or services at that
remote location during an unlimited or limited future
period of time.
Such a system is be of great benefit to an employment
agency or head hunter who might then record interviews with
a selection of employee candidates for presentation
2o purposes permitting prospective employers to browse the
catalogue of candidates in quickly narrowing and finalizing
their recruiting search.
It can now be readily seen that the system 10 of the
present invention accomplishes its first object identified
above by centralizing the administration and selling of
products and thereby substantially reduces the costs
associated with creating, marketing, and administering
these products and services. The system 10 also
accomplishes its second object identified above by
3o consolidating all management activities of the financial
services products with the central office. The primary or
only task of the retail sales location in the preferred
embodiment is to refer the customer to the equipment at the
remote location. Hence, all possible responsibilities are
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centralized permitting better control and simplifying
ongoing management. With the great reduction in costs
associated with developing and administering new products
it is now possible, that is affordable, to develop a
greater variety of products which are then more likely to
fit the needs of specific customers. The third object is
achieved as new product supporting materials, such as
computer programs and other sales materials, are now
centralized and it is no longer necessary to train an army
1o of outside staff to sell and support the new products,
giving the financial services company or other provider of
goods and services more control as well on the sales
process.
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment
of the invention has been presented for the purposes of
illustration and description. It is not intended to be
exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form
disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible
in light of the above teaching. Such modifications and
2o variations are deemed to be within the scope of this
invention.
