Method and apparatus for electronic commerce using a telephone interface

• Main Authors: PARTOVI HADI, WALTHER ECKART, SCOTT ANDY, MCCUE MICHAEL S, PORTER BRANDON WILLIAM, GIANNANDREA JOHN, KOH EUGENE, DAVIS ANGUS MACDONALD, BRATHWAITE RODERICK STEVEN
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 20.05.2008
• Subjects: CALCULATING; COMPUTING; COUNTING; DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS OR METHODS, SPECIALLY ADAPTED FORADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORYOR FORECASTING PURPOSES; ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRICITY; PHYSICS; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE,COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL, SUPERVISORY OR FORECASTINGPURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION; TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHICCOMMUNICATION

A voice portal supporting telephone to web server commerce is described. The voice portal allows users to access web servers using a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), optionally including the use of a secure sockets layer (SSL) protocol, to complete commercial transactions. Additionally, embodiments of the invention can employ a one word commerce model that abstracts the particular model used by various electronic commerce vendors' web sites. The one word commerce model permits a user to identify a product and signal her/his purchase intentions with a single word, phrase, or touch-tone command. The voice portal can then complete the transaction supplying the electronic commerce vendor necessary information about the purchaser, e.g., her/his address, telephone number, electronic mail address, credit card information, etc. As needed, the voice portal can prompt the purchaser for information.