Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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Attorney Docket No. 1019P0010A02
SYSTEM FOR MANAGING ONLINE TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING VOICE TALENT
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to online management systems.
More specifically, the present invention relates to an online
system for facilitating and managing transactions between voice
talent and employers who wish to temporarily avail of the
services of the voice talent.
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates to online management systems.
More specifically, the present invention relates to an online
system for facilitating and managing transactions between voice
talent and employers who wish to temporarily avail of the
services of the voice talent.
The field of voice over recordings, voice acting, and voice
recordings for use in automated answering systems and the like
is one that is ideally suited for today's computerized world.
Not only is the need for such services increasing but, due to
the nature of the service, the voice talent (those who provide
the voices for the recordings) do not even have to be in the
same physical locality as their clients.
In this field, voice talent, the people who provide the voices
for everything from answering machines to radio/Internet
commercials to corporate video advertising material, are
contracted on a per job or per contract basis. As an example, a
voice talent may take on a contract to record all the names of
the people in an organization for use in their voicemail system.
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The voice talent would be paid a flat fee for recording all the
names and, depending on the conditions of the contract, the
payment may be staggered based on milestones such as completing
predetermined percentages of the job. Similarly, a voice talent
may be contracted to record a predetermined script which an
organization may use for its advertising material such as a
video or a radio commercial.
However, while this field is suitable for having the voice
talent in one location and having the client at another
location, there is currently no systems that allow this paradigm
to be used with the Internet. Not only would such a system
allow for a broader base of voice talents but it would also
speed up the process as voice talent can receive contracts
faster and get paid quicker. As well, such a system would help
potential employers to find the right talent for the right job
and, because of the increased competition between the voice
talent, pay a fair price for the job.
There is therefore a need for a system which incorporates
current Internet based technologies with the needs of the Voice
industry.
SUMMARY
The present invention provides systems and methods for
facilitating online interactions between voice talent users and
employer users. The online web-based system has an online store
module, a voice talent database module, an open job database
module, a negotiation module, and a payment module. The online
system allows the employer users to search for a suitable voice
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talent user, preview the specific voice talent user's
demonstration voice clip, and contact the voice talent user.
The open job database allows employer users to upload contracts
and jobs for which they need voice talent. The employer user
may upload requirements for the contract, a sample of the
script, and a payment range for the contract. Voice talent
users may search and/or browse the open jobs database and they
may respond to the posted open contract with a proposal by way
of the negotiation module. The voice talent user may also
upload a demonstration voice clip with their proposal to the
relevant employer user by way of the negotiation module. The
payment module allows payment for completed contracts to be
exchanged between employer users and voice talent users with the
system administrator/operator as a go-between and as an escrow
agent. A matching method may also be used with the system to
match voice talent users with open contracts to alert employer
users. Targeted invitations to apply for these contracts may
then be sent to qualified voice talent users.
In one embodiment, the present invention provides an online
system for facilitating transactions between voice talent users
and employer users, the system comprising:
- a database module for storing in a database and
managing information and demonstration sound files
relating to voice talent users, said database being
searchable by said employer users for voice talent users
who meet predetermined criteria set by said employer
users, said information and demonstration sound files
for specific voice talent users being retrievable and
accessible to said employer users;
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- an open job database module for storing in a job
database and managing job information relating to
contracts offered by said employer users for fulfillment
by said voice talent users, said job database being
searchable by said voice talent users;
- a negotiation module for use in communications between
said voice talent users and said employer users, said
communications being related to said contracts, said
negotiation module allowing at least one voice talent
user to select a contract from said job database and to
send a proposal regarding said contract to a relevant
employer user, said negotiation module also allowing
said relevant employer user to communicate an
acceptance, rejection, or modification of said proposal
to said voice talent user;
- a payment module for receiving contract payments from
employer users for proposals which have been accepted by
said employer user, said contract payments being
released to relevant voice talent users upon completion
of a milestone in a contract and upon approval by said
employer user,
- an invitation module for sending out invitation
communications to eligible voice talent users, said
invitation communications being for inviting said
eligible voice talent users to apply to a specific open
contract offered by an employer user;
wherein said system provides voice talent users an
option to hide said voice talent user's true identity.
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In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method
for limiting a number of respondents to an open contract posted
by an employer user in an online system for facilitating
transactions between voice talent users and employer users, the
method comprising:
a) receiving input from said employer user, said input
detailing said open contract;
b) analyzing said open contract to extract details
regarding said open contract;
c) searching a database of profiles for voice talent
users to determine eligible voice talent users who have
qualifications which match required qualifications for
said open contract;
d) ranking said eligible voice talent users found in
step c);
e) selecting a predetermined percentage of said eligible
voice talent users who are to receive invitation
communications, said invitation communications being for
inviting selected eligible voice talent users to apply
for said open contract offered by said employer user;
f) causing invitation communications to be sent to said
selected eligible voice talent users.
In yet another embodiment, the present invention provides non-
transitory computer readable media having encoded thereon
computer readable and computer executable instructions which,
when executed, implements an online system for facilitating
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transactions between voice talent users and employer users, the
system comprising:
- a database module for storing in a database and
managing profiles and demonstration sound files relating
to voice talent users, said database being searchable by
said employer users for voice talent users who meet
predetermined criteria set by said employer users, said
profiles and demonstration sound files for specific
voice talent users being retrievable and accessible to
said employer users;
- an open job database module for storing in a job
database and managing job information relating to
contracts offered by said employer users for fulfillment
by said voice talent users, said job database being
= 15 searchable by said voice talent users;
- a negotiation module for use in communications
between said voice talent users and said employer users,
said communications being related to said contracts,
said negotiation module allowing at least one voice
talent user to select a contract from said job database
and to send a proposal regarding said contract to a
relevant employer user, said negotiation module also
allowing said relevant employer user to communicate an
acceptance, rejection, or modification of said proposal
to said voice talent user;
- a payment module for receiving contract payments
from employer users for proposals which have been
accepted by said employer user, said contract payments
being released to relevant voice talent users upon
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completion of a milestone in a contract and upon
approval by said employer user;
- an invitation module for sending out invitation
communications to eligible voice talent users, said
invitation communications being for inviting said
eligible voice talent users to apply for a specific open
contract offered by an employer user;
wherein said system provides voice talent users an
option to hide said voice talent user's true identity.
In another aspect, this document discloses a system for
facilitating online voiceover interactions between voice
talent users and employer users, said system comprising:
a database for storage of voice talent user profiles and
corresponding voice recordings;
an online store for presentation of said voice talent
user profiles and said corresponding voice recordings to
said employer users;
a first graphical user interface enabling each of said
voice talent users to directly themselves establish said
online store by way of creating and uploading to said
database a respective one of said voice talent user
profiles and one or more of said corresponding voice
recordings;
a second graphical user interface enabling at least one
of said employer users to selectively choose one or more
selected audio files from said voice recordings in said
database based upon predetermined criteria established by
said at least one of said employer users;
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completion of a milestone in a contract and upon
approval by said employer user;
- an invitation module for sending out invitation
communications to eligible voice talent users, said
invitation communications being for inviting said
eligible voice talent users to apply for a specific open
contract offered by an employer user;
wherein said system provides voice talent users an
option to hide said voice talent user's true identity.
In another aspect, this document discloses a system for
facilitating online voiceover interactions between voice
talent users and employer users, said system comprising:
a database for storage of voice talent user profiles and
corresponding voice recordings;
an online store for presentation of said voice talent
user profiles and said corresponding voice recordings to
said employer users;
a first graphical user interface enabling each of said
voice talent users to directly themselves establish said
online store by way of creating and uploading to said
database a respective one of said voice talent user
profiles and one or more of said corresponding voice
recordings;
a second graphical user interface enabling at least one
of said employer users to selectively choose one or more
selected audio files from said voice recordings in said
database based upon predetermined criteria established by
said at least one of said employer users;
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an invitation software module including a series of
computer-readable instructions run on a processor, said
instructions being for:
automatically creating a pool of eligible voice talent
users that adhere to said predetermined criteria;
ranking members of said pool based on an implemented
ranking protocol that includes a skip count assigned to
each member of said pool;
selecting a percentage of up to 10% of said ranked
members from said pool to form a subset of voice talent
users;
interacting with a communications module to
automatically provide an alert to said subset of voice
talent users;
adjusting a skip count to zero for those members of
said pool receiving said alert; and
incrementing said skip count by one for those members
of said pool not receiving said alert,
wherein said alert comprises an invitation to each of
those members of said pool receiving said alert to submit
an application for an open job provided by said at least
one of said employer users,
and wherein said percentage of said ranked members from
said pool is selectable by said at least one of said
ranked members, such that a number of that voice talent
user who receive said alert is controllable by said at
least one of said employer users.
In another aspect, this document discloses a system
for facilitating online voiceover interactions between
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Attorney Docket No: 1019P001CA02
voice talent users and employer users, said system
comprising:
a database for storage of voice talent user profiles
and corresponding voice recordings;
an online store for presentation of said voice talent
user profiles and said corresponding voice recordings to
said employer users;
a first graphical user interface enabling each of said
voice talent users to directly themselves establish said
online store by way of creating and uploading to said
database a respective one of said voice talent user
profiles and one or more of said corresponding voice
recordings;
a second graphical user interface enabling at least
one of said employer users to selectively choose one or
more selected audio files from said voice recordings in
said database based upon predetermined criteria
established by said at least one of said employer users;
an invitation software module in communication with a
communications module, said invitation software module
further including a series of computer-readable
instructions run on a processor, said instructions being
for:
automatically creating a pool of eligible voice
talent users that adhere to said predetermined
criteria;
ranking members of said pool based on an implemented
ranking protocol that includes a skip count assigned
to each member of said pool;
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selecting a percentage of up to 10% of said ranked
members from said pool to form a subset of voice
talent users;
interacting with said communications module to
automatically provide an alert to said subset of voice
talent users;
adjusting a skip count to zero for those members of
said pool receiving said alert; and
incrementing said skip count by one for those
members of said pool not receiving said alert,
wherein said alert comprises an invitation to each of
those members of said pool receiving said alert to submit
an application for an open job provided by said at least
one of said employer users,
wherein said communications module transmits automated
messages to recipients of said alert following a sending
of said alert,
and wherein said percentage of said ranked members from
said pool is selectable by said at least one of said
ranked members, such that a number of that voice talent
user who receive said alert is controllable by said at
least one of said employer users.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be described with reference to the
accompanying drawings, wherein
FIGURE 1 illustrates a client-server system on which the
invention can be practiced;
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FIGURE 2 is a modular view of one embodiment of the
invention;
FIGURE 3 is a view of the user interface for the online
store module;
FIGURE 3A is a view of the search interface for the
online store module;
FIGURE 3B is a view of search results for the online
store module;
FIGURE 4 is a view of the user interface for the
database module;
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FIGURE 5 is a view of the voice talent interface for the
negotiation module;
FIGURE 5A is a view of a proposal as seen by an employer
user;
FIGURE 58 is a view of a screen for receiving a script
once the contract has been awarded;
FIGURE 5C is a view of the final agreement template;
FIGURE 5D is a proposal as seen by the voice talent
user;
FIGURE 6 is a view of the user interface for posting a
contract in the job database;
FIGURE 6A is a view of search results for a search in
the job database;
FIGURE 6B is view of a sample job/contract description;
FIGURE 6C is a view of a sample job/contract posting;
FIGURE 6D is a view of an upload screen as a voice
talent user uploads a finalized product to an employer
user; and
FIGURE 7 is a view of the user interface for the payment
module.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to Figure 1, a client server system 10 on which the
invention can be practiced is illustrated. A number of user
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computers 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D individually connect to a network
cloud 30. The user computers connect to at least one server 40
which is, in turn, coupled to at least one database 50. The
user computers 20A, 20B, 20C, ...20n can be voice talent users
or employer users.
It should be noted that the term "voice talent users" will be
used to denote system users who are voice talent or those who
provide voice based services to employer users. The term
"employer users" will be used to denote system users who have
need of the services of the voice talent users and who may need
to purchase the products and services of the voice talent users.
Referring to Fig. 2, a modular view of one embodiment of the
invention is illustrated. A system 100 has a main menu module
110, an online store module 120, a database module 130, a
negotiation module 140, a payment module 150, and a job database
module 160.
The main menu module 110 is the first module encountered by any
user who accesses the system. A registered user (one who has an
account on the system) can access the online store module, the
database module, and the jobs database module.
The online store module 120 provides the voice talent user with
an opportunity to sell products that would be useful to employer
users or to the general public. As an example, pre-recorded
messages which can be used for telephone answering machines can
be uploaded by voice talent users and be downloaded by other
users for a fee. Similarly, other audio products, such as
audiobooks narrated by the voice talent users, can also be
uploaded by voice talent users and downloaded by other users.
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The interface for the online store module allows the voice
talent user to setup an online store for his or her merchandise.
The merchandise is uploaded by the voice talent user. A
description of the recording is then entered as well as a price.
The voice talent user may also upload a small sample which a
prospective buyer can download and listen to prior to purchasing
the full recording.
The online store module, from the point of view of a user, can
have an appearance akin to Figure 3. As can be seen, the view
is that of an online store for a specific voice talent user.
His/her products are listed along with a description of the
recording. The user can also listen to sample the recording by
using the relevant controls on the webpage. As can be seen,
multiple products are shown on the webpage. Products can be
tagged by various keywords set either by the voice talent user
who posts the recording or a system administrator.
A user wishing to purchase one of the products in the online
store merely has to click on a button that adds the product to
the user's virtual cart. The user can then pay for all of his
or her purchases at a checkout page where all the purchases are
added up and various payment options are presented.
Of course, multiple online store pages for multiple voice talent
users may be implemented. To search for specific merchandise, a
search function (see Figure 3A) may be implemented that searches
through the various products and their keywords. The search
results are then presented to the user conducting the search and
may be ranked according to relevance or any other predetermined
criteria. (See Figure 3B)
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Voice talent profiles
Referring to Fig. 4, a view of one interface for the database
module is illustrated. Voice talent users can upload/create
their profile. The voice talent user profile may include their
previous experience, their specialties (e.g. specific accents
they can do, specific age ranges they can do, specific languages
they can speak, specific genders they can voice, etc., etc.), a
representative picture of themselves, feedback from employer
users who have previously used their services, and at least one
sample of their voice. Multiple samples can be placed in a
voice talent user's profile if he/she wishes to highlight
multiple specialities. As an example, a female voice talent
user who specializes in radio commercials could have a sample
showcasing a saucy female teenaged upper crust English accent
while another male voice talent user could showcase an elderly
American woman from Boston. Each profile can be tagged by
specific keywords that relate to the voice talent user and
his/her specialty. From the previous example, this voice talent
user may have her profile tagged with the keywords ENGLISH
ACCENT, BOSTON, ELDERLY, TEEN, RADIO.
It should be noted that each voice talent user's profile may
include not just that voice talent user's primary qualifications
but their secondary qualifications as well. As an example, a
voice talent user's primary language may be English but they may
also be able to speak Russian, Croatian, French, and German.
These other languages would constitute that voice talent user's
secondary languages. As another example, the language
qualification may be broken down further into regional
specifics. A voice talent user may thus have, as a primary
language, English (North America) but as a secondary language
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may enter English (British) to denote a capability to speak
English in a British accent or to speak English using British
speech patterns. Similarly, a male voice talent user may enter
a primary gender of male but may also be able to do/voice a
female. As another example, a voice talent user may also enter
the various categories of contracts that he or she is available
for. These categories of contracts may include audiobooks,
business (e.g. voice-overs for business presentations),
cartoons, educational (e.g. voice-overs for educational material
such as instructional video or audio presentations), Internet
(e.g. audio clips for Internet-based uses), movie trailers,
music, documentaries, podcasting, radio (e.g. radio spots such
as radio commercials), telephone-based contracts (e.g. voicemail
attendant recordings), television, and videogames. As noted
above, a voice talent user may also enter the various genders
that he or she is capable of voicing.
To further narrow a voice talent user's specialties, the voice
talent user may enter a range of the ages he or she can voice.
As an example, a voice talent user, regardless of the voice
talent user's actual chronological age, may enter an age range
of 12-19 to highlight that he or she can voice teenagers.
Similarly, a voice talent user may also enter an age range of
60-75 to indicate that voicing an elderly person is a specialty
of his or hers. If the voice talent user is a member of a
specific performers' union (e.g. ACTRA, SAG-AFTRA), this may
also be entered into the voice talent user's profile.
As well, it should be noted that the voice talent user need not
enter his/her real identity to be publicly viewable. A voice
talent user's real name and address are, of course, required to
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be entered so that funds may be released to him/her as will be
explained later.
Database Search Function
To facilitate the search for a specific voice talent user, the
database module has a search function. Employer users can enter
keywords that summarize what they are looking for. The database
module then searches the keywords in the profiles in the
database and retrieves the profiles that have keywords that
match the search. The search results may be ranked by relevance
(e.g. profiles with the most keywords matching the search
parameters are higher in the search results) or by any other
predetermined criteria. As an example, if the system
administrator wants to promote the uploading of samples from
voice talent users, profiles without a sample may be left out of
the search results. Similarly, voice talent users who have a
paid up account may be ranked higher than those who are using a
free account. Another way to rank the search results would be
to rank users with a specific type of account higher than those
with different accounts. As an example, a voice talent user
with a higher rated account (e.g. a more expensive account) may
be ranked higher in the search results than a voice talent user
with a lower rated account. For ease of searching voice talent
user profiles may be associated with specific tags. These tags
can be used to highlight specific qualifications a voice talent
user may have or to highlight specific qualifications a voice
talent user may have that are not common. As an example, a
voice talent user profile may be tagged with the tags FRENCH
CANADIAN, FEMALE, TEEN, BRITISH ACCENT, RADIO, CARTOONS, SQUEAKY
VOICE to highlight a voice talent user that is capable of
speaking Canadian French, specializes in female teen voices, can
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perform using a British accent, prefers radio or cartoon based
work, and has a squeaky voice. The tags may be free form (i.e.
a voice talent user may enter whatever tags he or she wants to
associate with his or her profile) or they may be selected from
a system mandated list of specific tags.
Employer User Profiles
The database module also includes entries for employer users.
Employer users, before they can start posting job or contract
openings, have to create a profile which may be viewed by voice
talent users who may be considering contracts or jobs from the
employer user. The employer user profiles would have
information that supports the legitimacy of the employer user.
As an example, the employer user's name (corporate name if it is
a corporation), location, main line of business, contact
information, and feedback from other voice talent users who have
done work for them would be in the profile.
By way of the database module, employer users can contact
specific voice talent users for possible jobs or contracts. It
should also be noted that each employer user may designate one
or more specific voice talent users as "favorites" who can be
quickly contacted without having to search for them every time.
Similarly, voice talent users may also designate specific
employer users as "favorites". A user's favorites and other
user-specific settings are stored in a user's private profile
and is only available to that particular user when he/she logs
in.
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Invitation Module
Once an employer user selects specific voice talent users who
the employer user may want to use in a project, the employer
user can then send an invitation to bid on the job/contract.
The targeted aspect of the bidding will ensure that the employer
user will only need to sift through a limited number of
applicants. For the employer user to do this, he can call up a
specific voice talent user's profile and invite that voice
talent user to bid on a job/contract. The employer user
attaches a portion of the script (or the whole script itself) to
the invitation as well as a pay range for the job/contract and
any other details that may be relevant to the job/contract. The
pay range may be a specific dollar range or may be a specific
dollar figure. The competition for the job/contract may be open
(available to anyone registered on the website) or it may only
be limited to those specifically invited by the relevant
employer user. The invitation can be sent out by an invitation
module that interacts with an email client to automatically send
out emails to invited voice talent users.
Negotiation Module
When the invitation is received by the voice talent user, the
voice talent user can decide to send a proposal for the
job/contract. For this, the voice talent user uses the
negotiation module. (See Figure 5 for the user interface) The
negotiation module allows the voice talent user to respond to
either an invitation to submit a proposal or to a posting from
the jobs database. The voice talent user sends a proposal to the
employer user that either sent the invitation or posted the
job/contract. The proposal would cover the price for the
contract, any conditions as to payment (perhaps partial payment
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with the completion of specific milestones), a time frame for
the delivery of the final product, and possibly a sample of the
final product if the employer user had attached a script with
the job/contract posting. The voice talent user then sends the
proposal to the relevant employer user. The employer user, once
they receive the various proposals can then decide which
proposals to pursue. For those proposals that they do not wish
to pursue, they can send a generic notification to the voice
talent user that the proposal originated from that the proposal
was not accepted and that negotiations are closed. For those
proposals that the employer user wishes to pursue (as the
employer user may wish to have multiple proposals pending for
the same job/contract), the employer user can send a counter
proposal with changes to any of the conditions in the original
proposal. Alternatively, the counter-proposal may have new
conditions that were not present in the original proposal. This
counter proposal is then sent to the relevant voice talent user
for review. Once a voice talent user and the employer user
agree on the terms of the proposal, then the final terms may be
drawn up using a template contract/agreement. It should be noted
that the template agreement may be part of the original
proposal sent by the voice talent user to the employer user. If
this is the case, then the employer user merely amends the
agreement and the back and forth and the amendments between the
two parties may continue until a final agreement is reached.
(See Fig 5A for a sample screen of a proposal as viewed by an
employer user and see Fig 5C for a sample screen of a final
agreement template. Also, see Fig 5D for the proposal as viewed
by the voice talent user prior to submission).
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Targeted Invitations
It should be noted that determining who receives invitations to
apply for or audition for specific job openings may be
accomplished in numerous ways. As noted above, invitations can
be sent out by an invitation module that operates in conjunction
with the database and with an email or communications module to
send out communications to invited voice talent users.
In one example, the voice talent users selected to receive
invitations are automatically selected from a specific pool of
registered voice talent users. In this example, each voice
talent user profile is automatically assessed against the posted
requirements of a contract or job posted by an employer user.
If a voice talent user's profile indicates a match with at least
the basic requirements of the contract or job (e.g. CATEGORY,
LANGUAGE, GENDER), then the voice talent user is added to a pool
of eligible voice talent users by the system. Once a suitable
pool of eligible voice talent users has been compiled, a subset
of this pool is then selected to receive invitations.
To determine which eligible voice talent users are to be in the
subset that receives invitations, secondary considerations may
be used including secondary qualifications which may be
considered preferable but not necessary by the employer user for
the job or contract. As an example, an age range for the voice
to be provided may be used as a consideration for including or
excluding a voice talent user from the subset to receive
invitations. A voice talent user who specializes in teenaged
voices may be highlighted or included in the pool subset to
receive an invitation for a contract to voice a teen character
in a cartoon. Similarly, a voice talent user who specializes in
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elderly voices may not be selected for the pool subset for a
contract for a child voice-over role.
Once a suitable pool of eligible voice talent users has been
compiled by the system, this pool may be ranked/narrowed using
the secondary considerations to determine the subset of pool
members to receive the targeted invitation. The secondary
considerations may be used to exclude some of the voice talent
users already in the pool. Alternatively, the secondary
considerations may be used to rank the voice talent users in the
pool and only the top-ranked x voice talent users would be
considered for the pool subset to receive targeted invitations.
For this ranking, a voice talent user in the pool and with other
qualifications which meet the (possibly secondary) requirements
for the contract would be ranked higher than voice talent users
15. who do not have such other qualifications. Ranking may, of
course, be accomplished by the number of qualifications that a
voice talent user has relative to the requirements or
preferences of the contract. As an example, if the contract has
3 requirements and 5 preferred qualifications for a total of 8
required/preferred qualifications, voice talent users may be
ranked based on how many of these 8 qualifications he or she may
have. A voice talent user with all 8 qualifications may be
ranked high while a voice talent user who only has the 3
required qualifications (i.e. the bare minimum required) may be
ranked relatively low in a listing of the pool of qualified
voice talent users.
One alternative method for ranking the pool of voice talent
users would be to use a scoring method that assigns higher
points to required qualifications as opposed to preferred
qualifications. The voice talent users in the pool would then be
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ranked based on their resulting score. As an example, if a
contract has three required qualifications (e.g. English in
LANGUAGE, female in GENDER, cartoons in CATEGORY), a match in
the primary qualification for each of these may be configured to
achieve a score of 25 for each voice talent user with a match
while a match in the secondary qualification would result in a
score of 15 for each matching voice talent user. Thus, voice
talent user A whose primary qualifications include being able to
voice English female voices in cartoons would result in a score
lb of 73. Voice talent user A would thus have 25 points for
English as the primary language, 25 for a female voice, and 25
for cartoons as a primary category. Voice talent user B, on the
other hand, who can perform in English (as a secondary language
qualification) with a female voice (as a primary qualification)
for cartoons (as a secondary category) would have a resulting
score of 55 (i.e. a score result of 15+25+15 = 55). Based on a
scoring of the primary qualifications, the pool of eligible
voice talent users may thus be ranked with voice talent users
having higher scores being at the top of the pool. To further
narrow the field, secondary considerations may be used to
further rank the top percentage of voice user talent in the
ranked pool. These secondary considerations may also be used to
score each voice talent user and the resulting scores, a total
of scores for both primary and secondary considerations, can
thus be used rank each voice talent user among the pool of
eligible voice talent users. The ranked list can then be used
to determine which eligible voice talent users will receive
targeted invitations to apply/audition for the open contract.
As an alternative to ranking and/or secondary considerations or
in addition to such methods, a skip count concept may be used to
determine which eligible voice talent users will be included in
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the subset. A skip count is a counter associated with each
voice talent user profile and it indicates how many times a
specific voice talent user has been in a pool of eligible voice
talent users for a job or contract but was not selected to
receive an invitation. Every time a voice talent user is
selected to receive an invitation to a job or contract, that
voice talent user's skip count is reset to zero. On the other
hand, every time a voice talent user is in a pool of eligible
voice talent user and is not selected for an invitation, then
that voice talent user's skip count is incremented.
It should be noted that the skip count concept can be used to
order or rank the pool of eligible voice talent users for a job
or contract. Once the pool of eligible voice talent user has
been determined (using the contract requirements to select which
voice talent users are to be in the pool and which ones are to
be excluded), the members of this pool can then be ranked based
on their skip count. The ranking may be on a highest number
first, i.e. the voice talent members with the highest skip count
are ranked highest while voice talent users with the lowest skip
count are ranked lowest. This ranking allows for a more
equitable apportionment of chances to be selected to receive an
invitation. Of course, once a voice talent user has been
selected for inclusion in the subset to receive invitations,
that voice talent user's skip count is reset to zero.
Similarly, if a voice talent user has been selected to be in a
pool of eligible voice talent users and is not selected to
receive an invitation for whatever reason (e.g. the voice talent
user is ranked too low to be in the invitation subset), then the
skip count for that voice talent user is incremented by one.
This increases the chance that this voice talent user will be
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selected for the next open contract for which he or she
qualifies.
Once the ranked list of the pool of eligible voice talent users
has been obtained, a predetermined percentage of the top ranked
eligible voice talent users can then selected as the subset of
the pool to receive invitations. It should be noted that the
predetermined percentage slated to receive the invitation to
apply or audition for the open contract may be based on how many
applicants are desired. As an example, if the pool of eligible
voice talent users has 1000 members and the employer user only
wants to review a maximum of 10 voice talent users/applicants,
and if a response rate/application rate of 10% is expected from
the invitations, then only 100 invitations should be sent out.
From the 100 invitations sent out, the expected 10% response
rate would yield 10 applicants to the contract. Since only 100
invitations are to be sent out from the pool of 1000 eligible
voice talent members, then only the top 10% of the ranked pool
members should be selected to be in the subset to receive
invitations.
In one implementation of the invention, the number of desired
applicants to an open contract can be set by the employer user.
Based on this entry of desired number of applicants, the system
can determine how many invitations to automatically send out
based on an expected response rate. The response rate (i.e. the
expected percentage of invited voice talent users who will
actually apply) can be determined based on historical data or it
may be set by a system administrator. Prior to sending out the
invitations, the system can provide the employer user with the
number of invitations to be sent out and the employer user can
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be given the opportunity to increase or decrease the number of
invitations to be sent.
It should be noted that once the subset of the pool of eligible
voice talent users has been determined, the system can
automatically send out the invitations. The invitations can be
by email and each email can contain an identification of the
open contract, the requirements of the contract (i.e.
qualifications required and qualifications preferred), the rate
of pay, and an identification of the employer user setting out
the contract. The email can also contain a dedicated link
which, when activated, automatically redirects the voice talent
user to the webpage which allows him or her to apply and/or
audition for the contract. Also, instead of an email providing
the details of the open contract, the email may just indicate
that an open contract is available that the voice talent user
may find interesting. A link may also be provided that
redirects the voice talent user to the open contract on the
system website.
As an alternative to email invitations or as an addition to such
invitations, the system may send out notifications of such
invitations to selected voice talent users by way of other
channels of communication. As an example, a text message may be
sent to a voice talent user that he or she needs to check his or
her profile as an invitation has seen sent out. Similarly, a
text message alerting the voice talent user of an emailed
invitation can be sent by the system.
A further method for equalizing the chances of an eligible voice
talent user to be in the subset is to randomize the listing of
the pool of eligible voice talent users. The randomization can
be performed once the pool is created or it can be done before
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any ranking is performed or it can be done before the subset of
the pool to receive invitations is selected. Note that
randomization of the pool results may also be skipped.
The functions relating to targeted invitations may be performed
by the invitation module or by another module that operates in
conjunction with the invitation module and with relevant
communications modules. The relevant module in a server, when
called with relation to an employer user's open contract, can
- receive employer user preferences (if any) for the open
contract (e.g. how many voice talent user applicants
should there be),
- analyze the details of the open contract,
- extract the relevant details (e.g. the required
qualifications and the preferred qualifications),
- search the database of voice talent user profiles to
form a pool of eligible voice talent users (i.e. voice
talent users who have the requisite qualifications),
- rank the members of the pool based on implemented
ranking protocols (i.e. whether the members of the pool
or eligible voice talent users are to be ranked using a
scoring method (e.g. scoring using primary and/or
Secondary considerations), whether the members are to be
ranked using a skip count, or whether the members are to
be ranked using a combination of skip count and scoring
of qualifications),
- select the top x percent of the ranked members of the
pool as members of the subset to be sent invitations,
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- prepare and send communications (whether by email or
other means of communications) to the members of the
subset, and
- adjust voice talent user profiles based on the actions
taken (e.g. adjusting skip counts to zero for those
receiving invitations, incrementing skip counts for those
in the pool not receiving invitations).
Open Contract/Job Postings
If the employer user does not want to do a targeted invitation
for a job/contract, he can post the job in the job database (see
Fig 6 for the user interface for posting a job). The job
database has entries for open jobs/contracts for which employer
users are looking for voice talent users. Each job database
entry identifies the employer user posting the contract, the
rate of pay for the contract (or a range of pay), the
requirements of the contract (what specialties may be required
such as specific voice age, accents, etc., etc.), a time frame
for the completion of the contract, any conditions covering the
payment (e.g. if partial payment is to be made upon the
completion of specific milestones), and, if the employer User
wishes, a sample of the script. The entries are also tagged by
specific keywords derived from the type of contract, the rate of
pay, the specialties required, time frame, and the employer
user. Voice talent users who are looking for specific types of
contracts can search the job database for specific keywords. As
an example, a voice talent user who is looking for a contract
that only involves recording the names of people in a directory
for use in a voicemail system can search for the keyword
VOICEMAIL in the job database. All the open/available entries
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in the job database that involves voicemail related contracts
should then be presented to that voice talent user.
It should be noted that the search results from the job database
may also be ranked using multiple criteria. The search results
may be ranked by the pay range, the final product delivery time
frame, by the employer user posting the contract, by the type of
work required, by the requirements of the contract, or by any of
the other characteristics of the contract. Of course, the voice
talent user may also simply search for contracts posted by a
specific employer user. (See Fig 6A for a sample search result
screen and see Fig 6B for a sample job/contract description and
see Fig 6C for a sample job/contract posting)
Once the contract is awarded to a voice talent user, the
employer user may send the full script. (See Fig 513) When the
contract is fulfilled, the voice talent user can upload the
final product (usually a sound file) to the system for delivery
to the employer user (see Fig 6D). The employer user can then
pay the voice talent user using the payment module.
Payment Module
The payment module is how the voice talent user gets paid for
the contracts fulfilled. Once a contract is fulfilled, the
employer user deposits the funds with the organization hosting
the online system or with a trusted third party. The employer
user then authorizes the release of the funds to the voice
talent user. (See Figure 7 for the user interface)
Another possible scenario that may be used is to have the
employer deposit the funds with the organization (using the
payment module) or the trusted third party once the contract has
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been agreed upon. The voice talent user is then notified that
the funds are there and that she/he can proceed with the
contract. Once the contract is fulfilled and the employer user
has received the final product, the employer user can then
determine if the final product is suitable for their needs. If
the final product is acceptable, then the employer user
authorizes the release of the funds to the voice talent user.
This scenario ensures to the voice talent user that the funds
are there and that the employer user only requires the final
product before releasing the funds.
A further scenario, again using the payment module, is to
release funds upon the completion of specific milestones in the
contract. The employer user may deposit either the full
contract amount or specific portions of it with the organization
hosting the online system or a trusted third party. Whenever
the voice talent user fulfilling the contract finishes a
previously agreed upon milestone (e.g. finishing a specific
portion of the contract and delivering the portion to the
employer user), then the employer user authorizes the release of
the agreed upon portion of the payment. As an example, if an
employer user needed a voice talent user to voice record 150
names for a voicemail system, the milestones can be once the
voice talent user every third of the list. Thus, for the first
fifty names recorded and delivered to the employer user, the
employer user authorizes the release of one-third of the final
agreed upon price. Once the second fifty names have been
recorded and delivered to the employer user, the next third of
the payment is released and so on. This ensures that the voice
talent user does not have to wait until the end of what could be
a long contract before getting paid.
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The employer user can deposit funds with the organization using
the payment module by using a credit card. If the funds are to
be held in trust for a voice talent user, the organization (or a
suitable third party) can act as an escrow agent for the funds
and can charge the employer user a suitable fee for this
service.
Once the contract has been fulfilled and payment has been
released, both the voice talent user and the employer user can
leave feedback for one another.
The method steps of the invention may be embodied in sets of
executable machine code stored in a variety of formats such as
object code or source code. Clearly, the executable machine code
may be integrated with the code of other programs, implemented
as subroutines, by external program calls or by other techniques
as known in the art.
The embodiments of the invention may be executed by a computer
processor or similar device programmed in the manner of method
steps, or may be executed by an electronic system which is
provided with means for executing these steps. Similarly, an
electronic memory means such computer diskettes, CD-ROMs, Random
Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM) or similar computer
software storage media known in the art, may be programmed to
execute such method steps. As well, electronic signals
representing these method steps may also be transmitted via a
communication network.
Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in any
conventional computer programming language For example,
preferred embodiments may be implemented in a procedural
programming language (e.g."C") or an object oriented language
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(e.g."C++"). Alternative embodiments of the invention may be
implemented as pre-programmed hardware elements, other related
components, or as a combination of hardware and software
components.
Embodiments can be implemented as a computer program product for
use with a computer system. Such implementations may include a
series of computer instructions fixed either on a tangible
medium, such as a computer readable medium (e.g., a diskette,
CD-ROM, ROM, or fixed disk) or transmittable to a computer
system, via a modem or other interface device, such as a
communications adapter connected to a network over a medium. The
medium may be either a tangible medium (e.g., optical or
electrical communications lines) or a medium implemented with
wireless techniques (e.g., microwave, infrared or other
transmission techniques). The series of computer instructions
embodies all or part of the functionality previously described
herein. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that such
computer instructions can be written in a number of programming
languages for use with many computer architectures or operating
systems. Furthermore, such instructions may be stored in any
memory device, such as semiconductor, magnetic, optical or other
memory devices, and may be transmitted using any communications
technology, such as optical, infrared, microwave, or other
transmission technologies. It is expected that such a computer
program product may be distributed as a removable medium with
accompanying printed or electronic documentation (e.g., shrink
wrapped software), preloaded with a computer system (e.g., on
system ROM or fixed disk), or distributed from a server over the
network (e.g., the Internet or World Wide Web). Of course, some
embodiments of the invention may be implemented as a combination
of both software (e.g., a computer program product) and
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hardware. Still other embodiments of the invention may be
implemented as entirely hardware, or entirely software (e.g., a
computer program product).
A person understanding this invention may now conceive of
alternative structures and embodiments or variations of the
above all of which are intended to fall within the scope of the
invention as defined in the claims that follow.
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